It looks like rotavirus reared its ugly head. Both kiddos caught the bug. Fingers crossed, the virus is moving on. Fortunately, CB has been his usual self and doesn’t seem too affected except for the bowel issues, snotty nose, and sneezing. HB is quite a bit more needy and is having more troubles getting to sleep and staying asleep.
Common CB phrases:
I headed off to meet up with a Childhood Apraxia of Speech Mom’s Meetup, our first. It was so affirming to talk with moms with kids who have somewhat similar challenges. It also felt so good to hear about their struggles and triumphs. I’ve attended a couple of sensory processing disorder support meetings lately, as well. I think it has been deeply meaningful to reach out and connect with other parents.
Glowing Glances: Wow, it seems like so many positive things evolve around CB’s swim class. For today’s class, CB was attentive, responsive, and patient (for the most part). It was like, who is this child? He didn’t need to yell, splash, etc. He seemed quite comfortable just being and being there. A fellow classmate’s mom told me that she thought it was really good that CB is in her son’s class. She thinks CB’s fearlessness of the water helps her son.
Lousy Low: Accidentally, I served CB MSG. It was from a pickled veggies jar from a local farmer’s market. I know to watch out for the term ‘spices’ but I missed it. It turns out that MSG is listed on the spice packet they used. CB had an allergic reaction where his lower lip swelled up and turned purple. He also said his toes hurt and they turned red. We are not sure if it is the distilled vinegar although he has had pickles before, the MSG, or something else. It is very interesting how his body is now reacting to certain foods. We never saw this before starting the gluten-free casein-free diet. (UPDATE: The vendor of the pickled veggies called to clarify that he double-checked the spices they used and they do not contain MSG. The food that caused the allergic reaction is still a mystery.)
March 25, 2015 Allergy, Diet, & Supplements, Growth and Progress 0 Read more >
So something CB does that I guess other kids with sensory issues do is that he takes a large amount of cars with him to the car in some sort of container every time he goes to the car. He may play with them but most times, he either holds on to the container or dumps them onto the floorboard. It is a huge fight if he is not able to take the huge amount of cars. There is clearly some sort of attachment associated with them. If his brother gets one of the cars in the car, CB will grab it, look at it for 30 seconds or so, and then add it back to his pile. He doesn’t actually play with that car. Maybe they are his safety net. Maybe he likes the sound and visual effect from dumping them. Maybe they are just fun to play with or maybe I am a mama who has no clue and just doesn’t get it.
Promising Progress: Yay, CB had his first dry day – 100% self-initiated. He is sill in pull-ups. We plan to continue to let him be the driver in this potty-training race. Something has clicked and he has better awareness. The 2 days prior were not so successful, but this is a big step.
Lousy Low: Seeing him struggle in group ‘PE’ time at his preschool program for special needs children and not being able to help him. It unfolded like a story in a textbook. He was sitting among the other 20-30 pre-k kiddos with a smile and sitting calm. After 20 seconds or so, a specific tune played and all the kids started crab walking, except for CB, who was bear crawling. He still had a smile and watched the other kids but continued with the bear crawl. The tune changed and the kids sat doing something with their hands. CB followed along. Then the specific tune started up again and all the kids started crab walking again, except for CB. He started scooting around on his bottom. He looked around at the others, looked at his body and continued scooting on his bottom. After that, he started chewing on his shirt, yelling, moving all around, and making disruptive sounds. One kiddo scooted away from CB and another stared at him. The teachers called him to come sit on the steps by them. I felt so bad for CB. I can’t tell to what degree he understands and recognizes how he is different and that these motor activities are easy for others but are difficult for him. He clearly has some understanding and chose to leave the situation versus continue feeling the way he felt.
Short note on current priorities:
CB is 4 years old …
Earlier today during CB’s weekly swim class, he acted mostly like his usual self except he was more impulsive. He didn’t respond very well to his instructors and was trying to play with the other boy in his class. His play was spitting at him, splashing him, and screaming. Fortunately, for CB’s confidence, the other boy responded positively to CB by laughing. Unfortunately, it probably motivated CB to continue with his behavior. CB’s play is still quite limited. He enjoys big movements with loud sounds, getting others to laugh, lining and slowly moving his cars around, watching cartoons & parts of movies, hugging his brother repeatedly and often, reading books, collecting leaves, rocks & nuts, checking out cars, trains, construction trucks, and other big moving machines, reading car magazines, playing with others, hide and seek, tag/chase, looking for monsters, and sleeping w/lots of blankets, stuffed animals, pillows and toys.
We don’t have an official diagnosis for CB except for severe neuro motor planning speech disorder with developmental delay. He also has global motor-planning, sensory-processing, slower processing, auditory and visual issues. He is behind on his language, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and potentially some comprehension delays.
Since he is 4, it is hard to know how much behind he will remain.
Glowing Glances: CB & his younger brother played a game independently outside where they were talking the whole time, working together to achieve a goal, and greatly enjoying their time together without parental guidance. I am not sure what they were creating or building but it involved moving wood from 1 pile to another location.
Lousy Low: Reading through another evaluation that placed CB in the <5% for fine more skills.
Promising Progress: 1) Latest loose stool issue appears to be resolved. Changing CB’s supplements caused him to have loose stools for 3 days. We backed off the supplements and the issue disappeared. We slowly have reintroduced supplements and so far his stools are normal. He is skipping some days. (The extra vitamin C was the culprit) 2) Pooping and some peeing in the potty at school independently and 100% self-initiated. Keep in mind independently does still include help wiping.