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Brad ended up not being lucky enough to miss out on our lovely sickness, but lucky for him it turned into a nasty case of Laryngitis, so for about a week he could only communicate with us by whispering (on a good day) or pen and paper, it was awful, boy was I glad to hear someone else's voice besides my own once he got better!
Im doing ok, other than I think I am losing my mind, I found the kitchen sponge in the refrigerator, and the butter where the sponge goes, also, things around the house have mysteriously gone missing (probably my fault, who even knows were they will turn up?) Baby is starting to keep me up at night, she is still laying Transverse still so when I lay on my right side she pretty painfully jabs my hip. It's impossible to comfortably sleep on my left, because her head feels like a melon in my side, I hope she re-positions soon!!! She is also a night owl! Oh Yeah, we also picked a name, it is......Claira Grace Duncil ! I am such a sucker for the oldies!
As far as Ella goes, we had a meeting with a Speech Therapist and an Intake Specialist for the Infant to Toddler Program. Ella was kind of cranky that day, and just got done smashing goldfish crackers into the carpet, of course they showed up before I could clean it up, so that was a tab bit embarrassing! Ella did great playing with the therapists, stacking blocks, picking things up, making great eye contact, playing back and forth with a variety of toys...etc They did notice (something I have too, but our Dr said was normal) she is pretty clumsy, it almost seems likes she loses her balance, also she wasn't really trying to speak or make any verbal communication with them other than blowing raspberries.
There were points of concern, but on the flip side she was excelling at things that her age finds hard still. All in all the program people left with more questions about Ella than they came with, she just doesn't fit into any one mold. Granted she is still young, but she is missing some pretty strong markers for a disability, but shes also showing speech delay, to the extent that she qualified for the program and state disability. The next step is for them to have a meeting and a plan put together by their team of specialists, then they assign us a coach and any other child development expert that she needs. In 2 weeks they will be coming out to our house to meet with us and show us the "family plan" that they built for her.
My only concern is that I don't want her to be labeled as a child with a "development delay" or "autism" or any of those things that a kid gets stuck with their whole life! She is still so young, even too young for some of the tests that they used out to compare her to. I only want help with getting her to communicate with us better. Hopefully that goal will stay the main focus for all of us!
If all of that wasn't confusing enough....
As a requirement for consideration into the Infant Toddler Program we were referred to an Audiologist for a Hearing Test just to cross that of the list of possibilities. Now im not sure if this specific "specialist" just hasn't been around maybe children or what but the hearing test consists of sticking a plug into her ear for 2 minutes while she stays still and silent. Apparently, we aren't supposed to hold her still or anything like that, Im not so sure I know any 16 month old's that would let you stick something in their ear with out them pulling it out or making a fuss, much less for 2 minutes!!! So, eventually we gave up trying, she wants me to bring her in during her nap so we can do it while she sleeps...uhh...if I shut the door to loud during her nap she wakes up, she is not going to stay asleep the whole drive there, wait in the waiting room, and stay asleep while she sticks something in her ear. This lady wasn't helpful at all.
About a week after that whole mess Ella became a MONSTER, I mean a real terror, screaming about everything all day long, hear I am thinking Ella is teething her bottom molars, shes bound to get cranky, but holy-cow, I was about to call the Catholic Church out here for an Exorcism! Obviously something else was going on. Later that afternoon she started to develop a fever....uh-oh....Come to find out she has a double ear infection, and has had it for some time! There is no other way to make a mom feel worse :( So, now here we go, is it her ears? Has it been fluid in her ears this whole time? Here I am thinking, my baby has a neurological problem, when this could have been fixed and diagnosed the whole time! It explains the speech delay (having fluid at your ear drum muffles noises) so shes just not hearing us or herself right, it explains the constant clumsiness due to unbalanced equilibrium, it explains the ear rubbing (the Dr's thought it was just a self-soothing thing, or teething) it fits! So now, after she finishes this round of antibiotics we are shipping off to Seattle Children's for an evaluation for ear tubes. I hope and I pray this will help. I don't want my daughter to have surgery but if it's going to help her in the long run, it's worth it!
Well, as you can read, A round and a round was the perfect title! It's our life right now! Thank god we have support of some family and friends, otherwise, Im not so sure I would be sleeping at all! I would like to end this with some good news though, Ella seems to be doing better with the sensory thing, almost like shes just growing out of it, she doesn't have the same reactions to things that used to freak her out (like rinsing her hair) she is actually having the opposite reaction, now she likes to pour the water over her own head! She's becoming more out-going, and starting to come up to us more when she has a problem instead of just breaking down. One really good activity for sensory seeking kids is to let them squish their fingers, hands, feet, and toes in a bowl of un-cooked rice, it helps them get that tactile feeling in their limbs. We noticed one day while we were on the floor with Ella and the rice she wasn't squishing in and shaking like she used to, instead she was grabbing handfuls and throwing it all over the place, like a normal kid would! It was awesome! My vacuum didn't think so, but well worth it!
Is that a run-away baby in the yard?!
We are still holding out on the big play-dates and activities that include too much stimulation, due to her hearing, but as soon as we get the green light we will be back at the library, pool, park, and museum!! So, after a couple break downs, endless hours in waiting rooms, full calenders, and sleepless nights, we are getting somewhere!!!
Our backyard after only 4 hours of snowing!
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