I keep meaning to post some pictures of Alex and Amelia!
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| This is one of my favorites from this past summer 2014. They were getting ready to go to the beach! |
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| Here they are on a ride-on at the zoo. I love the facial expressions! |
Friday, September 26, 2014
Summer 2014 Photos (A Couple)
Alex! Talk To Me!
It's been six months since I've written a post. I try not to go this long without writing, but these few months have been full of some changes, so I've spent most of my mental energy on other things lately.
At the end of May, I started a new full time job. I haven't worked full time since before Alex was born, so this is a big change for me as well as the family. I love the job, but figuring out the schedule with the two kids has been quite challenging. I don't even want to begin getting into how stressful that portion of this change has been, because I'd much rather talk about how Alex and Amelia are doing. I will say this: I wouldn't have been able to make this job (which, I repeat, I LOVE) work had it not been for Michael being able to be somewhat flexible with his schedule, and had it not been for some amazing friends of mine who've stepped up to help with my kiddos. You know who you are and you know I love you!
I'm feeling really good about Alex's current progress! This past summer wasn't nearly as difficult as the summer before when he was having daily tantrums. He actually did quite well with the changes; at least there were no outbursts of behaviors this time. It was more that he seemed tired and floppy a lot of the time, and he stopped answering questions and following directions. It was a clear regression, but I was prepared for it this time, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. He did especially well considering he did his summer program at his new school instead of at the preschool he was used to. Plus he was with babysitters during the day a lot more because of my new job. We threw a lot at him this summer and he handled it like a champ.
Then, not long after school started (and incidentally, he started taking a probiotic around the same time,) I started to notice that his eye contact, attention, and language got significantly better suddenly. It's always been rare for him to say a phrase which is independent or not echoed or memorized, and he doesn't say much if no one is prompting him to do so. Lately I've noticed that he's more in tune with what's going on around him, particularly when it involves his sister, Amelia. As an example, the other night, Amelia was feeding me broccoli because she thought it was hilarious, and Alex was watching. He never used to be visibly amused by things like this, but he started laughing every time she fed me a piece, and after a few times, he said "Mommy broccoli eating!" That. Is. Huge. It might be hard to understand why that is huge, but it is for so many reasons. It was almost strange hearing a phrase like that come out of Alex's mouth, because it wasn't grammatically correct (he usually says only what he's been taught to say by adults.) He built the sentence like a 2-year-old does, with the words switched around. While most parents would probably not be pleased if their 5-year-old started talking at a 2-year-old level, I am absolutely thrilled! The fact that he was interested and amused enough by the situation that he felt compelled and motivated to say something about it is amazing for him! He's never been very interested in what others are doing, nor has he felt any desire to share his feelings out loud. Or it could be that he didn't know how to express his thoughts, or he could have wanted to pay attention to others, but couldn't focus because of the other feelings in his body distracting him. There are so many possibilities and so many things at play. Whatever is happening, I couldn't be happier about it!
It's funny how this happens: I've noticed that, just when I start to see progress in him, someone or some situation will point out how far behind he still is. It's like seeing tons of progress, but then going to the playground and watching typically developing kids play. It's inescapable. I don't let it get me down any more though; I've learned to be satisfied with knowing that I know what's going on with him more than anyone. I've known him from the beginning and I can see the subtle differences. Anyway, his school van drivers and aids at school keep saying lately "he's such a quiet kid" or "he doesn't say much." Yeah, they're right. He doesn't say much. All I can do is smile and know that my sweet boy is doing great.
Then there's Amelia. Oh, Amelia, my little girl who is going to give us a run for our money. Unlike Alex, Amelia never stops talking. At two years old, she talks circles around Alex but she speaks for both of them. As time goes on, I'm more and more sure that God sent Amelia to Alex as a friend, a helper, a voice, an advocate, a caretaker, and more. As siblings should, she gets a rise out of him better than anyone can. He watches her and laughs, and they play and giggle together. She also annoys the heck out of him sometimes, again, as siblings should! She's in the habit of making sure she speaks for him too - "Mommy, I want a green popsicle. Alex wants a red one." or "Mommy, I want two cookies and Alex wants two cookies." I'm curious to see how their relationship will progress. I think that Amelia has just started to notice that Alex doesn't talk as much as her friends at daycare. Recently, she was asking him a question over and over, and getting in his face, trying to make eye contact because he wasn't answering. Finally, she grabbed both sides of his head and said emphatically, "Alex! Talk to me!" On one hand, it was sad to watch. I wasn't sure whether to intervene, but I don't think that she's ready to understand that her brother is different from her friends. On the other hand, it's good that she's noticing because if he's going to listen to and take direction from anyone, it's probably her! I think I ended up telling her that maybe Alex didn't feel like talking right now and that she should give him some space. I'm going to have to give this some serious thought because it will probably be happening more and more.
A note about Amelia's allergies - we got her tested for the sunflower seed allergy that I suspected and the blood test confirmed a moderate allergy. She's really good at listing what she's allergic to now, and she'll tell us that she can't eat peanuts, tree nuts, or sunflower seeds because they'll make her sick. It won't be long before we can teach her to recognize these foods and know that she needs to avoid them. Now, she continues to get hives sometimes after eating foods with none of those ingredients. Like, for example, banana muffins. I can't figure it out because I've made different batches - with or without oil or butter, made in clean/new muffin tins to avoid cross-contamination, and she still gets hives every single time. I swear that she's not allergic to any of the individual ingredients because she has all of them in other forms without any issue. I don't get it! I've read about people having an allergy to raw bananas but can eat them cooked, but not the other way around. If I ever solve the mystery, I'll write about it!
At the end of May, I started a new full time job. I haven't worked full time since before Alex was born, so this is a big change for me as well as the family. I love the job, but figuring out the schedule with the two kids has been quite challenging. I don't even want to begin getting into how stressful that portion of this change has been, because I'd much rather talk about how Alex and Amelia are doing. I will say this: I wouldn't have been able to make this job (which, I repeat, I LOVE) work had it not been for Michael being able to be somewhat flexible with his schedule, and had it not been for some amazing friends of mine who've stepped up to help with my kiddos. You know who you are and you know I love you!
I'm feeling really good about Alex's current progress! This past summer wasn't nearly as difficult as the summer before when he was having daily tantrums. He actually did quite well with the changes; at least there were no outbursts of behaviors this time. It was more that he seemed tired and floppy a lot of the time, and he stopped answering questions and following directions. It was a clear regression, but I was prepared for it this time, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. He did especially well considering he did his summer program at his new school instead of at the preschool he was used to. Plus he was with babysitters during the day a lot more because of my new job. We threw a lot at him this summer and he handled it like a champ.
Then, not long after school started (and incidentally, he started taking a probiotic around the same time,) I started to notice that his eye contact, attention, and language got significantly better suddenly. It's always been rare for him to say a phrase which is independent or not echoed or memorized, and he doesn't say much if no one is prompting him to do so. Lately I've noticed that he's more in tune with what's going on around him, particularly when it involves his sister, Amelia. As an example, the other night, Amelia was feeding me broccoli because she thought it was hilarious, and Alex was watching. He never used to be visibly amused by things like this, but he started laughing every time she fed me a piece, and after a few times, he said "Mommy broccoli eating!" That. Is. Huge. It might be hard to understand why that is huge, but it is for so many reasons. It was almost strange hearing a phrase like that come out of Alex's mouth, because it wasn't grammatically correct (he usually says only what he's been taught to say by adults.) He built the sentence like a 2-year-old does, with the words switched around. While most parents would probably not be pleased if their 5-year-old started talking at a 2-year-old level, I am absolutely thrilled! The fact that he was interested and amused enough by the situation that he felt compelled and motivated to say something about it is amazing for him! He's never been very interested in what others are doing, nor has he felt any desire to share his feelings out loud. Or it could be that he didn't know how to express his thoughts, or he could have wanted to pay attention to others, but couldn't focus because of the other feelings in his body distracting him. There are so many possibilities and so many things at play. Whatever is happening, I couldn't be happier about it!
It's funny how this happens: I've noticed that, just when I start to see progress in him, someone or some situation will point out how far behind he still is. It's like seeing tons of progress, but then going to the playground and watching typically developing kids play. It's inescapable. I don't let it get me down any more though; I've learned to be satisfied with knowing that I know what's going on with him more than anyone. I've known him from the beginning and I can see the subtle differences. Anyway, his school van drivers and aids at school keep saying lately "he's such a quiet kid" or "he doesn't say much." Yeah, they're right. He doesn't say much. All I can do is smile and know that my sweet boy is doing great.
Then there's Amelia. Oh, Amelia, my little girl who is going to give us a run for our money. Unlike Alex, Amelia never stops talking. At two years old, she talks circles around Alex but she speaks for both of them. As time goes on, I'm more and more sure that God sent Amelia to Alex as a friend, a helper, a voice, an advocate, a caretaker, and more. As siblings should, she gets a rise out of him better than anyone can. He watches her and laughs, and they play and giggle together. She also annoys the heck out of him sometimes, again, as siblings should! She's in the habit of making sure she speaks for him too - "Mommy, I want a green popsicle. Alex wants a red one." or "Mommy, I want two cookies and Alex wants two cookies." I'm curious to see how their relationship will progress. I think that Amelia has just started to notice that Alex doesn't talk as much as her friends at daycare. Recently, she was asking him a question over and over, and getting in his face, trying to make eye contact because he wasn't answering. Finally, she grabbed both sides of his head and said emphatically, "Alex! Talk to me!" On one hand, it was sad to watch. I wasn't sure whether to intervene, but I don't think that she's ready to understand that her brother is different from her friends. On the other hand, it's good that she's noticing because if he's going to listen to and take direction from anyone, it's probably her! I think I ended up telling her that maybe Alex didn't feel like talking right now and that she should give him some space. I'm going to have to give this some serious thought because it will probably be happening more and more.
A note about Amelia's allergies - we got her tested for the sunflower seed allergy that I suspected and the blood test confirmed a moderate allergy. She's really good at listing what she's allergic to now, and she'll tell us that she can't eat peanuts, tree nuts, or sunflower seeds because they'll make her sick. It won't be long before we can teach her to recognize these foods and know that she needs to avoid them. Now, she continues to get hives sometimes after eating foods with none of those ingredients. Like, for example, banana muffins. I can't figure it out because I've made different batches - with or without oil or butter, made in clean/new muffin tins to avoid cross-contamination, and she still gets hives every single time. I swear that she's not allergic to any of the individual ingredients because she has all of them in other forms without any issue. I don't get it! I've read about people having an allergy to raw bananas but can eat them cooked, but not the other way around. If I ever solve the mystery, I'll write about it!
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