Easter Dresses, Callapitters & Journey

Well we registered Nicky for Kindergarten Wednesday. They did some kind of evaluation, because they separate the kids based on the results. Not sure how I feel about that. Guess I will see how it goes (if we end up staying here).

Thursday we took the girls to their follow-up PT visit:

Gabi is now able to crawl on her hands and knees, using both legs, so that was great. But she is still only using her right leg to get up to standing. So we need to work on helping her get used to also using the other leg.

Lily CAN crawl on her hands and knees, but doesn't. So they want us to work on that by keeping our hand under her belly to remind her to keep it up. We'll also put her down in just a diaper. That's what we did with Gabi. That way they can't easily slide around, so they crawl on their knees instead. Lily is mostly crawling on her elbows and knees right now, but we'll work on that.

Then we noticed Lily might only be standing using her left leg. We need to watch her to see if she can use them both or not, and if needed we'll help her use the other too.

And finally, both girls are still rolling one of the feet in while standing. One is doing it on the right, and the other is doing it on the left. If we knew we were staying here they might wait till the next visit to see how they were progressing, but since we might move, she went ahead and measured them for shoe-inserts that should help support their foot better. That will give them more stability as they learn to stand independently and walk. We'll go back in 3 weeks.

Finding their Easter baskets (notice Gabi's crawling):


Standing in their Easter dresses:


Directly after the girls' PT appointment we had Nicky's ESE staffing. This was where we got the results from the evaluation in March.

His speech and language are fine. He did have several areas though where he was showing significant enough delays to qualify for ESE. They were all areas we anticipated, those that require focus and attention: personal responsibility, fine motor, and attention & memory skills. He also had some issues in personal/social interactions. They said the same thing as everyone else: he's very smart and creative, but he has a really hard time focusing and paying attention.

Anyway, it's enough to get him an IEP (Individualized Education Program) up until he's 6 years old (in Florida, they thought GA might actually accept Developmental Delay for more years). So we'll be meeting with the Kindergarten within the next month to set up an IEP with goals and accommodations. He would still be in the regular classroom though, and we're not planning to redshirt him for the year either. I had been considering that, but everyone agrees he would likely just get bored.

We've been sitting on the referral to a psychologist about getting him evaluated for ADD/ADHD. I wanted to see what the staffing showed first. Now I think we might pursue this and see if he really qualifies as ADD or ADHD. I don't plan to medicate him at this point regardless, but it would help ensure he gets the accommodations and support he needs beyond age 6 (because the developmental delay only covers till then).

So how do we feel about this? Well, it's never great to hear that there is an issue with your kid. But he's still the same sweetheart he was before we had the official label. I think everything he scored poorly on really have to do with his attention difficulties. Even the fine motor issues which were based on his holding scissors wrong, not being able to trace well, etc. That's because he's too busy doing his own thing in his head to notice how it's supposed to be done, or to practice. And with the social stuff too, it's hard to make friends when you can't pay attention to them or to the activity you're doing for more than a millisecond at a time.

So yeah, on the one hand not thrilled, kind of feel like a crappy parent because surely if I was a good parent he'd be excelling anyway (see, I know that's not true, but it feels that way anyway). But on the other hand, it's really good to feel validated that there IS an issue here. A measurable issue that isn't just in my head. And that issue will help us make sure he gets a teacher who will be structured, but tolerant and patient, and who will make the accommodations he needs to succeed.

Because really, my kid is super awesome.

In a nutshell

Last week was a bit insane for us, and this week will be only slightly less insane.

Last week I had a doctor's appointment. Turns out that even being on the pill I'm still having cystic ovaries. So that's fun. But luckily we're done having kids, so as long as it doesn't cause too much pain, we can deal with that. It does explain the odd pains though, so that's good. Sometimes it's just better to know what it is, and that it's not all in your head.

Then we had Nicky's appointment Tuesday. This was the big one about the circumcision. We were pretty convinced that this was simply a formality and that they'd be scheduling surgery for him. But the doctor took a look and said he's fine and while they'll do it if we want it done, he's likely to outgrow it and be totally fine. What a relief! So we'll check back around age 7 or so if there is no change, but she didn't seem at all concerned. No surgery for now!

Wednesday was nearly normal for a nice mid-week break.

Thursday I flew out of state for an interview. I was nervous as the trip involved two planes and a train, but it went very smoothly and my luggage and I both arrived everywhere on time, together.

Friday was my interview. I think it went well. I certainly have no trouble talking. Put me in a room with a bunch of people who want to hear about me...well, I am a Leo after all. :) I very much enjoyed the location, institution and people I met, so I have high hopes about that. I should know more in two weeks.

Then I traveled home Friday. The trip home wasn't quite as smooth. A few delays with the planes and my leisurely layover became a mad dash through the airport, but I totally made it home on time. And I actually had time to read two books by one of my favorite authors during the trip. That was a great perk!

Saturday morning Nicky and I were up early to go fishing! This was our first time at this event and we had a great time. Nicky caught 6 fish! One little brim and 5 catfish. He nearly caught one more brim at the end, but he ended up flinging it off the hook before we could take it off, so I told him that one didn't count. They were all small, about 6 inches or so, but it was enough action over the 1-2 hours to keep us happy. And it was catch and release anyway, so no worries about having them eating-sized. I think we'll have to do this again! (just pretend there are photos here, because I was a bad blogger mommy and did not take even ONE photo)

After fishing we cleaned up at a gas station (cause fish slime + raw bait = ew!) and bought slushies. Then we had a picnic at the park and Nicky worked out whatever remaining energy he had (I had NONE by this point).

Sunday the Easter Bunny treated all the kids right, and even hid eggs for Nicky in the front yard. Nicky and I dyed about 36 eggs in the morning too. No fancy dying for us, just made homemade dye with boiling water, vinegar and food coloring. Oh, and used white crayons to draw on the eggs. That was the first time he did that. It was a lot of fun.

The girls' baskets, that's Lily in green.


Nicky's basket. That's his "Easter Style". He totally dressed himself, and put his shirt on backwards on purpose.


Now today was Nicky's last day of Pre-School. He 'graduates' on May 2nd, but he's done with classes already. No more driving him to school and working out a carpool to pick him up at my lunch time. Life should be a little easier travel-wise, but of course that also means Tom has no respite during the day either.

This week is much less hectic, but we do have to register Nicky for Kindergarten on Wednesday and then we have both the girls' PT follow-up and Nicky's staffing (the results of his evaluation) on Thursday. We're also working on getting 8 estimates from HVAC companies and insulation companies to get some work done on the house that should save us on our electric bill.

So that's what we've been up to in a nutshell. A very very busy nutshell.

Baby Blue Eyes

There's Lily with her new face she's been sporting for a few days. I think she's doing it because of her teeth. Both girls are getting their bottom front teeth very soon. You can see them coming up.

Notice the nice bruise on her forehead though. She decided to take a nosedive off the recliner and hit her poor head on the bottom shelf of the side table. Poor baby. She seems totally fine about it, but what a mark! It didn't bleed or even raise up much though, mostly just a little line of a bruise. It has made it easier to tell them apart the last few days though. Not my preferred way to do that!

One more thing though. Here's a closeup photo the same day from Gabi:


And Lily:


And for comparison, here's a closeup of Nicky from when he was 11 months old (thier age):


Notice their eyes. Tom's been insisting since practically day 1 that the girls would have blue eyes. Nicky's stayed blue for a long time too, but his did eventually change. I was looking back to see about when they changed and found the photo above. It seems his were definitely starting to change about that time. Maybe the girls really will stay blue. We shall see.

Good mornings

Saturday morning:


So then the girls go to their first Physical Therapy evaluation Monday.

And Tuesday morning:


So cute!

Returning to the Routine

We just had the girls' PT evaluation today. Looks like Lily is doing pretty well. The only thing they want to watch on her is her rolling her feet in towards the arch when she stands. With Gabi, she rolls her feet too, but their main concern is her asymmetry with her feet. She really is only using her right foot to crawl and always leads with that foot when standing as well. She has the power in her left leg, but for some reason doesn't use it. So we have some exercises to do with her for the next two weeks and then they both go back for a re-evaluation.

Nicky headed back to school today after his spring break. He spent the whole week with Nana! I was worried we'd get a call asking to pick him up, but he did great! Then Saturday he went to Colin's birthday party at an ice skating rink and had a great time. Of course I didn't get any photos, I was lucky to get there at all. I ended up arriving an hour late (luckily Nana dropped him off there for me). I was trying to follow two sets of directions (one to Nana's house and one to the skating rink) and the GPS kept trying to send me all over hell and back. Next time I drive anywhere I'm taking an old fashioned MAP.

Other than that, I suppose things are rather quiet here. We're just trying to settle back into our routine. Tom has a job interview this week so we're very excited about that. It'll be interesting getting the girls into daycare, but we have some ideas we're working on.

Nicky's going back to his Kung Fu class in another hour. I bet he'll sleep good tonight! Hopefully so will the girls. We started putting them down awake at night and letting them cry it out. The first night took about 10 minutes. Not so bad after that. We're also trying it for naps, but right now they're still fussing in there. They are overly tired I think. PT evaluation fell right during bottle/nap time. They were angels during the whole thing though. We must have been there for well over an hour! Now they just had a bottle and need to settle down.

Next we try to wean them off bottles. Now that will be fun. I need to go back through my blog and see what we did with Nicky! I can't remember it at all.