Over Fifty Words, But Something's Still Missing

I really have meant to keep up with this blog, but it has been very busy lately with no end in sight.  I know, I think I said something along those same lines in my last couple of posts.  It really is hard to keep up - with everything.  It's finally gotten to the point where this morning, I couldn't remember what clothes I had  worn yesterday while I was getting ready to take Bud to run errands.  I can't go by what's in the closet and what's in the hamper, because I even forget now to sometimes put the stuff in the hamper.  Yes, I am that much of a hopeless basket case now.  

We are getting ready to move to Maryland late August/early September, and hopefully, since hubs is reaching the end of his military career (four more years!) this may just be one of our last moves.  So, if you have ever moved, you know all of the work that comes with that.    I am also busy with trying to help my mom to move and there's been a lot of stress with that as well.  We are both still trying to process my dad's death, and I'm wondering if I have even processed some of it at all.  

On the positive front, Bud is now up to fifty words that he now says with meaning.  I will not post my list here, but we are pretty excited about it!  He also has a two word phrase, "Big Poopa," yeah, it just had to be a bathroom phrase, but we are happy.  That is his only two word phrase and we are still working hard with him.  And that's where the catch comes in...  it just seems like it's taking a long time to finally get it. A lot of stuff with Bud is all about what he feels like doing, and being two years old just aggravates the situation, but it was when he started a two day preschool program and I got to watch him with kids his own age that I wondered if we needed to do something more.  He is still so small for his age.  It really throws me for a loop when I routinely see kids his own age and I'm thinking that they are at least three or four, and then I'm blown away when I begin talking to the kid's mom and find out that they are Bud's age.  Bud eats extremely well, all day long.  We are told that he just has a fast metabolism.  He is also still clumsy and he walks like my grandfather did when he was eighty.  I hate to put it that way, but he just does.  He doesn't run or jump without his feet partially staying planted onto the ground.  And I know that he should be putting more two word phrases together and he just isn't doing it yet.  It didn't help to have a really crappy speech evaluation with this chick a couple of weeks ago who basically told me that he was on the low end of normal for speech and she believed that his language gap would only increase in a year. However, the report states that he is performing normally for his age and is on level with his peers.   Not happy about that visit at all.  I was also not happy with the fact that I asked her for suggestions and she only wanted to bring up his "behavioral issues."  He didn't want to take the portion of the test where he had to look at pictures and point to the object that is called out.  Prior to that portion, he was actually doing pretty well with the behavioral portion, feeding and hugging the teddy bear, etc. We had been in this closet-sized room for about forty minutes before the actual test started.  He was actually doing really well playing and talking before he had to sit in the chair and take the test.   She has been the first negative person we have worked with so far, and let's just say that she was less than encouraging.  Let's also just say that I have no intention of ever interacting with her again either. 

So anyway, after talking with our AV therapist, who brought up Bud's need for sensory input a couple of weeks ago, I am in the process of trying to set him up with an occupational therapy clinic that specifically works with kids.  I am really thinking that there is something else going on with his motor skills that could also be affecting how his brain is processing everything, including the realm of speech.  It makes sense when you think about how his whole vestibular system is out of whack due to the enlargement of his ear canals and the malformation of his cochleas.  He's still doing really well, and he is always making improvements simply due to his stubborn personality.  He is set on overcoming all obstacles!  He is also enjoying his preschool program, but unfortunately we have a month long break in June before we start back in July.  He loves being around kids and people and I am truly thankful for that.  Right now, I am in the middle of researching Johns Hopkins, where we will be sending him for mappings, etc.  Finding a new preschool will also be on the agenda, but it's crazy how quickly they fill up and you have to get on a waiting list.  I do realize that there are several oral/deaf schools in the Maryland area.  Believe me, I have given much deliberate thought to that.  Right now, it's going to be a matter of availability, because he has taken off with his language almost overnight after he began school.

I will attach a  video of Bud in action once I can get it to work on this site.  He is very much into standing on stools and turning the lights on and off.  He says "Yight" for light,  "Hep" is for help, and of course, there is "Big Poopa," which I have not been as fortunate to catch on video as of yet.  I'm working on it!