Weekly wrap up: Poplar Grove Halloween Festival

I am slacking and feeling a little sluggish this week so it might show in this blog, I apologize.

This was our 2nd year to visit the Poplar Grove Plantation for their annual Halloween festival and we enjoyed it very much. The hayride didn't get as many smiles and thrills as I thought it would, but I think everyone was still trying to wake up from the drive down. The girls are only interested in the open spaces that they are allowed to just take off in... always in different directions too. Last year Jake and Hunter entertained themselves with all the inflatables but this year Hunter was more interested in the pony rides. Patches got a lot of our money that day. This picture of H on Patches may have influenced his Pop's and Grammy to get some horses along with the baby goats they've promised the kids with their upcoming move. A couple hours at the festival was good enough for the kids and we had plenty of time to catch the OSU/Texas game on TV at home.

H also had his cardiologist appointment in Wilmington this week. Because of Kawasaki's there could be damage to the heart, but since we caught everything in time there was no damage done in the hospital and after the EKG that he had on this day it showed everything as normal. No more visits to the cardiologist and no more aspirin!! I think we are more excited about the aspirin than anything else... crushing, dissolving, and getting him to drink it was getting very old. He has seen his Pedi several times since being discharged and he has done great, but the cardiologist was in the same hospital he was admitted to and I think he could tell. His mood changed and he turned in to quite the tantrum thrower... I can't really blame him though.

I guess I need to come up with a few other posts in between the weekly wrap up's because they are all I seem to post lately.

H started his speech therapy this week, which is super exciting and even more so because he loves his therapist. After weeks of testing and evaluating, he qualified for the program and we are starting once a week until he turns three. Hunter did everything so quick as a baby... sat up, crawled, walked, and even showed signs of talking early, but then his words went away and now is non existent. Not only will we be working on speech but his following direction, transitioning, and attention. After answering some of her questions she had for me in the beginning I realized how much of an enabler I was/am to his growth in the communication world. I literally do everything for him. I never ask him to go get things or have him follow any kind of direction. But, we have started asking "more" of him and he actually loves it! We cannot wait to see what comes of therapy.

Here is a little activity I saw/came up with for his attention and focusing. I then had him try to sort/seperate two colors. All you need is play doh, raw spaghetti and fruit loops.

What happened to speech therapy?

Today was speech therapy day! As most of you know, Hunter is experiencing a little bit of a delay in his speech. At 22 months he can say "buh" for bye(and blows kisses) and "haw" for hot(holds hands out). He was saying "ta" for thank you, but has recently stopped like most of the other words he has lost(ball, dada, mama, Tucker, uh oh, hi). Hunter has always done things early, but talking seems to be a struggle for some reason. As a mom, panic sets in and self diagnosing occurs. But, thanks to family and friends I can honestly say that my mind was at ease... Until today.

Maybe I wasn't mentally prepared for this appointment or educated enough on how these things work, but I sure did get my hopes up. First off, I woke my(still recovering from a stomach bug) little boy up TOO early from his nap. So, he was not really in the mood for this lady to evaluate him. She recorded a detailed history of his birth information to present time. What foods he likes/dislikes(what does that have to do with anything?), does he throw temper tantrums(ummm.... He's 2 lady!), what are his sleep patterns, favorite toys, and things he likes to do at a park?

I'm not going to bore you with the details of this hour long session, but here's the verdict I received. She said Hunter is known as a "squishy" child. Um, excuse me? "He has no muscle tone", she says. Ok, apparently I missed the memo on toning your toddler. Also, he is a sensory seeking child, which is actually a disorder. This being said because of his need to constantly rub ears, fall off things, splash in puddles, wrestle, tickle excessively, and be "squished" between things. Minus the ear rubbing, I thought that was all pretty normal. So, she suggested him seeing an occupational therapist. Hmmm... Oh wait, let's go ahead and add a physical therapist in there for his feet. By this point I was frustrated we hadn't covered his speech problem and I was becoming more emotional with everything she was pointing out about Hunter, so I have no idea what was wrong with his feet. To me, I see nothing.

So basically, we go back in two weeks for speech therapy and then possibly start OT and PT. If it is a positive experience next time we will continue therapy, if not then maybe we can find someone else. But, as we drove away today and tears are falling from my eyes I see my sweet boy in the rear view mirror wearing my Ray Bans and a big smile. I think that was Hunter(and Gods) way of letting me know everything will be ok.