No Pics, No Fancy Title

I debated whether or not to even make a post about this, because I don't want to seem dramatic or seem like I am trying to exploit my son in any way. And I don't think I want to include this in the yearly blog book that we publish... But, that being said, it feels weird to ignore it altogether. So I won't. I will just try to state the facts as I know them. I am still learning, so something I say might not make sense...

At Corbin's 3 year appointment last November, I told his pediatrician that I had some concerns about his social development. We had recently been to a birthday party that ended in me leaving in tears. All of the other kids were mad at him for disrupting the soccer drills. He just wanted to do his own thing- not listen to the instruction... He wanted to line up all of the cones and count them. And try as I might, I could not convince him to follow any direction. Whatsoever. I apologized to the hostess and we left.

Likewise, we enrolled him in the 3 & 4 year olds' gymnastics class at the Y. All of the other children were able to follow the instruction, but he was not. He wanted to run all about the gym and do his own thing.

At any rate, his ped put in a recommendation for a psychologist's appointment through Children's Hospital. This is like a screening process to see if he even needs to be evaluated at all. They played with him, observed him & asked us questions. At the end of the appointment, it was recommended that we go through an interdisciplinary assessment to test for developmental disorders.

Last Tuesday, he was seen by a speech therapist, a psychologist, nurse, psychometrician and a behavioral developmental pediatrician. It is there that he met the criteria for a PDD NOS diagnosis. Here are a couple of helpful links to understand the diagnosis better: Autism Speaks & PDD Briefing Paper

He has been referred to Occupational Therapy for an eval for fine motor. I don't really see many deficits there, but he does use a palmar grasp to write. He has also been referred to Physical Therapy because he drags his right foot slightly when he walks. Neither Jon or I ever noticed it, nor our playgroup friends or the grandparents, but now that they've pointed it out, I can see what they are talking about. He will get speech therapy services for his echolalia/ expressive language.

We are trying to get him enrolled in the special needs preschool through the school system. There, he would receive therapies. It's 4 days a week for a half day & it would be free to us (with the exception of the taxes that we already all pay).

We have also contacted the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities to get a service coordinator assigned to us. S/he will help us find the resources to fund all of these treatments, as autism treatments are not covered by our insurance.

On top of all of that, we are responsible for finding our own ABA aide. ABA is Applied Behavior Analysis Services- "a method of teaching skills to children, in particular those with autism, that relies on managing rewards to reinforce the use of language, social behaviors, and the decrease of repetitive or inappropriate behaviors. Often skills are broken down into discrete steps and taught in such a way that each step triggers the next, so that the child becomes independent in the use of the skills. Ongoing analysis of the acquisition of the skills or management of the behaviors is a hallmark of ABA, allowing for teaching methods and rewards to be modified as needed by the individual child." I got that from this website (although we are not going to that clinic)http://www.ccbtcolumbus.com/pages/services/Types_of_Services/autism_spectrum.shtml

Anyway, so we find our own aide, get them trained through the autism center & pay them whatever we arrange.

We probably won't get him into the preschool until fall, so we will probably start all of the other therapies & continue them until he gets into the preschool.

Our next appointment at the Autism Center is on April 4th, where we get all of the quantitative data. He had an IQ test and language comprehension test at the last assessment, but he was only able to complete about 80% of the testing because he was having meltdown over the letter T, which was apparently in the room being used as a reward.

The psychologist did recommend to get rid of any isolative activities that Corbin would otherwise engage in. So, we removed most of the alphabet toys from the house. He doesn't need any further reinforcement in that area. He knows all of the letters. He knows whether they are vowels or consonants. He knows the basic phonics rules... it's the language part of it that he needs encouraged in. Anything that will draw him into interactions with other people.

The past couple of days have been really tiring. My mom and I have gone shopping at OUAC & bought some toys that encourage imagination or interaction. He was really digging his new-to-him soccer net this afternoon.

It feels like we've seen a lot of improvement already, but there's just so much to do.

It can be quite overwhelming at times- all of the different disciplines involved, all of the suggestions from the professionals that have been told to us... I have a huge amount of information that the autism center gave to us that we still need to sift through. It's a lot.

Corbin has tried two new foods in the past week, which is a huge milestone. He hasn't tried a new food in a couple of years, I think. Anyway, it's little things like that that are actually huge to us. One step at a time...

I love that boy. I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago that really helped prepare my heart for this. One thing that really stuck with me is how in unconditional love, there is nothing that the person can do to make you love them less and there is nothing that they can do that will make me love them more. So no matter if he improves in his weak areas or not (which I am very encouraged that he will), I will love him no more and no less. I will just love him forever. And ever.

Toledo Weekend in Early February

Yes, this happened weeks ago, but I have been procrastinating very badly lately. I'm just so worn out by the time that the kids are in bed that I just want to veg on the couch watching a movie or a recorded TV show with my husband. And yes, I realize that I could blog at the same time, but sometimes uploading photos can be a pain & I just don't feel like dealing with it!

The first weekend in February, we went to Toledo to attend 3 parties in one day. The plan was to leave early in the morning, drive the 3 hours to Toledo, hit the three parties and then leave at the kids' bedtime. You just can't imagine what a logistical mess it can be to travel with 3 small children unless you're currently living through it. There are snacks to bring, sippies, medications (mine and the kids'), outfit changes in case of accidents, diapers, wipes, booster seats, blankies, pack n plays... and if it's an overnight trip, we need extra clothing, toothbrushes/paste, etc. And most importantly, I need to know exactly where each item is at every moment in case of an emergency/meltdown.

Well, doing the trip all in one day ended up being one of the smartest moves we've made. We absolutely exhausted the children and ourselves, pumped ourselves full of caffeine before we hit the road, and the children snoozed peacefully all the way back to Columbus. The best part was that we woke up in our own beds the next morning & had an entire weekend day left to relax and enjoy!

Party Day was very fun indeed. We made it to cousin Ethan's 3rd birthday party right as it was starting. We did forget to bring the eggless cupcakes and ice cream, but Aunt Jeni came to the rescue and stopped at the store for us on her way in. It ended up that we didn't even need it because we needed to make a hasty exit when the twins started melting down because it was naptime.

Here are some photos from Ethan's party:













Then the twins took a nap at Great Grandma and Grandpa Montgomery's house while Corbin played in their basement with their toys. We had to wake the twins around 3:45 so that we could stop by Grandpa Rick & Judy's house, where they were celebrating Great Grandma Kranz's birthday. They were all supposed to be at Marble Lake that weekend, but there were so many cancellations that they just decided to stay local this year. So, we stopped in to say our hellos and give our love to the birthday girl.




They were all playing poker. It's a shame we couldn't stay longer, but we had to go to Grandma Kathy's big 60th birthday surprise dinner by 5.







She was totally surprised. The boys were pretty good, but by bedtime, they were spent. We changed them into their pjs at a gas station before we left town & they were out like a light.

So much going on!

It seems like we have been really busy ever since Christmas. The twins are into everything. They are so active right now. We are constantly trying to keep them out of the cabinets and trash cans. We've babyproofed as much as we can, but there are just some things that seem un-baby-proofable. And we have one child who thrives on negative attention. He just giggles and giggles when he knows he is doing something that we will disapprove of. Jamie has even developed a new little throaty laugh.

So, now he also sounds like a trouble-maker. Cameron got his first haircut on January 4th! The stylist, Jen, over at Cookie Cutters gave him his first cut. She also did Corbin's, so now I feel obligated to book her for Jamie's first haircut. Cam didn't do too well. He was pretty much traumatized. But I got pictures! LOL

Before pics: His Justin Bieber 'do!





A little uncertain...



The crying begins!



Jamie did so well while both of his brothers screamed through their haircuts... He'll get his turn someday!



All done- so handsome!



The certificate, with a little lock saved:



The boys have really taken to hugging each other lately. We just have to say the word "hug", and someone grabs for someone else!

Ready? Hug!









And now for some other business... The twins had their 15 month check up earlier this month. They both seem on track. Jamie is almost done teething for a while. He is 23 lbs, 12 oz, head circumference of 19 inches, and 30 1/2 inches long. He is pretty much right on track with his growth chart- about 35th percentile for weight, 50th percentile for height. He is saying a lot of words appropriately. Cameron is 20 lbs, 4 oz, 19 inch head circumference, 29 3/4 inches long. He is between 3rd and 5th percentile for weight (same as always), 25th-ish for height. He is saying just a couple of words, but he mostly just grunts right now.

Corbin is still doing great with his reading. I took him to a hockey game last night. We passed Buca di Beppo and he read the sign aloud, "Buca, Italian restaurant." I was floored that he could read the word, "Italian." He did really great at the hockey game! We stayed for 2 full periods. He needed stuff to keep him entertained, but he sat in his seat really well. He was easily bribed with french fries and M & M's.



He even started a couple of spontaneous "Let's Go Jackets" chants. He really loved it when he heard one starting.

Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas this year. As you saw in a previous post, Corbin and I had fun this year doing Christmas crafts. Here is another one, which was inspired by a craft that I saw in Jon's cousin's house over the holiday season. I thought it was so darling that we had to try it, too.



And Corbin had so much fun finding that Elf every day! In fact, he is still hiding in our house, spying for next year. We just haven't had the heart to stop hiding him. As soon as he bounds into the kitchen every morning, he squeals, "Let's go find the Elf!" and then he is so proud and happy when he finds him.



Christmas Eve and morning was spent in our home. We had our annual Christmas Eve traditions of Bingo and eating appetizers. We tracked Santa all day, sang karaoke Christmas tunes with Corbin & left cookies out for Santa this year (although Corbin paid no attention to that detail).







Christmas morning was fun, although Cameron woke with a fever.

Here is Corbin's reaction this year to all of the presents that Santa left him under the tree:



Here are the boys opening and enjoying some new gifts. They are so lucky!
















Here is a pic of poor Cameron that morning



After our Christmas morning, Jon and I packed up while the twins took a nap & then we headed to Toledo for the Kranz Christmas party. They all were thrilled with Grandpa Rick's main present to them: a homemade Duplo/Lego table!



Here are the kids awaiting the distribution of the great grandparents' gifts to them:



And here is Jamie, enjoying his new owl, Turner. He loves stuffed animals!



The next morning, we celebrated Christmas with Grandpa Rick, Judy & Jon's brother and sister.





Then we went to Grandma Kathy's house to celebrate with her, after the twins had their morning nap. Most of the pics from there didn't turn out for whatever reason, but here is a pic of Corbin and his cousin Ethan.



Then we went to dinner that evening to their Great Grandparent Montgomery's house. It was the year for Jon's cousins to travel to Ohio, so we got to see everyone in one spot.













Playing some piano...



Singin' in the Rain...



An adorable pic of Cam and Great-Grandpa







And before bed on Sunday evening, Corbin sat in Grandpa Rick's lap for a while playing with this writing toy. He was purposefully answering questions incorrectly & then giggling when the toy would scold him for it. LOL



Whew! I got this post in just before the new year started.

2010 was great! Here's to a very happy 2011!