Movement is coming soon . . . .

Well, Nathan has started going up on his hands and knees more often now. He did it once a few weeks ago and didn't do it for a while, but yesterday he did it a bunch of times in a row (I never saw it, but Brian and Lynsey testify to it:)) and he's done it a few times this morning. This is a bit sooner than Lynsey did it, so we might have a hands-and-knees crawler before eight months this time! We'll have to see! He had his six month shots yesterday (although he's actually closer to seven months) and he was 19lb 7oz and 28 inches long. He's about the 70th percentile for weight and a bit more for height, so a big boy! He doesn't seem big to us because we look back at pictures of Adam at this age, well, most of you will remember:). I just looked up Adam's weight and surprisingly he was only about 3 pounds ahead of Nathan. He seemed a lot bigger than that! I guess three pounds at this age makes a pretty big difference, too:).

Lynsey loves Kindergarten! She looks forward to going, and while we don't get a ton of information from her about what she does all day, we hear a bit here and there about "circle time" or having a different teacher for gym class, or how she really wants to be the "kid leader" but it's not going to be her turn for a while:). We are still walking her back and forth every day, which has been great because the weather has been fantastic! I have also lost a few more pounds now after being stagnant for a long time, so I guess the extra 35 minutes of walking a day is finally tipping the scale in the right direction:).

Adam had his second assessment at the Children's Hospital last Wednesday. I brought him and Lynsey to play in the play place they have there, and the therapists met us so they could observe him in a social setting. It took him a long time to warm up to being there - he was not happy. He did eventually de-stress somewhat and separate from me to go play a bit. Again, I felt they saw how he often is in an unfamiliar environment with other kids. He actually got a bit aggressive with another kid that was trying to play with his toy which was a bit out of character for him, but all in all, he was Adam. They asked me a bunch more questions and I gave them some questionnaires that Brian and I did, so it was still mostly information-gathering at this point. We have not received much feedback yet, apart from the odd comment here and there. On Monday, he goes in to have a formal speech assessment. I really wonder how this will go, but this is what she does so she's familiar with how kids are supposed to respond etc.

Some of you might be wonder how are we feeling about all this? Well, you'd have to ask Brian to know how he's doing, but I will tell you that I am ready to hear the diagnosis. I don't think that hearing the words "He has Autism" will be a devastating blow to me at all at this point. We have known for some time that Adam is different, and while I could not love him more for who he is, I just want him to get some help so he can learn to cope with the world around him. The world isn't going to stop using vacuum cleaners and other loud noises just because he's around. The world isn't going to clear the room because he walks in and doesn't want strangers talking to him. I am very optimistic that this help he can get will teach him skills that we don't know how to teach him! One of the few observations the therapists made was that he seems interested in other kids (as in, he looks up at them when they're walking by etc.) which is a good sign, but he just doesn't seem to have the skills to engage them, so he doesn't try. It makes me sad to think that he would want to play with another kid but wouldn't try because he just doesn't know how. Every mother wants their child to have confidence and flourish! Some children need more help to do this than others, and I have no problem accepting this help on his behalf:).

Change is in the air!

Well, it's happened - our little girl is officially in school! She did great, I did great (a little sentimental, but no tears:)) and we are officially on a school schedule! Labour Day weekend was fun for all of us - Brian and Lynsey had a great time camping (even slept in the tent every night despite some cold temperatures!) and I had a great weekend with my boys:). It was indeed a quiet weekend like I predicted, and I realized how much work my little girl must be! I always thought she was my easiest child, and in some ways she is, but she definitely requires a lot of me still because I felt like I had it fairly easy this weekend with my two youngest:).

Nathan has been doing so well - he's just a happy baby! We are in a bit of a transition sleep-wise right now as it seems we need to start cutting out his third nap, but he sleeps great at night (had his first 12 hour uninterrupted stretch a few nights ago!) and does pretty well at nap time most days. He seems very interested in what we're eating and I think we will be transitioning him to table food sooner rather than later (had some potatoes the other day and I gave him a bit of meat sauce today - definitely seems ready for some new flavours and textures!). On Saturday, I was at a day retreat for youth leaders, and Brian witnessed him getting up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth a few times. We think that crawling might not be terribly far away at this point! He has also started saying "da-da" in his babbles (and no, he is not referring to Brian!) so his development is coming right along:).

I have not written about this on the blog yet, but I feel like it's time to talk a bit about our journey with Adam. We have been on the list for an assessment with the Early Childhood Development Team since last September. It's been well documented that we have many struggles with communicating with him and handling his tantrums etc., and the more time passes, we feel like we could use some help in these areas. We're not sure if he's on the Autism spectrum, but definitely feel there may be some delays that we could use some help addressing. Anyway, we had our first in-home assessment this morning with a speech therapist and an occupational therapist. It went pretty well - I felt like he behaved very much like he always does, giving them a good idea of what we're dealing with as far as his strengths and weaknesses go. This is just the beginning of the process, so on Wednesday, we are bringing him to the Children's Hospital where he will play in this play area with other kids so they can observe him in a social setting. I feel like help has finally arrived, and that is a big relief! I'm a bit unclear as to how everything will work out if he does end up with a diagnosis, but I'm just concentrating on the next step right now, and when that's done, the step after that. It's definitely a bit of a bureaucracy which I can imagine could get quite frustrating to deal with! Fill this out for THIS type of funding, oh and if you want THIS kind of help, fill THIS out, blah blah - we just want the RIGHT help for Adam! What do we fill out for that?? Anyway, I'm confident that we're on the right track with him now and we WILL get some help, and that is what really matters!