Progress! For the past couple of weeks it seems like all we've been doing is waiting - waiting for meetings, waiting for people to call me back, waiting for stuff in the mail, etc. And yesterday it all came at once!
1) We got James' marks back for 3rd year, and he passed! We were pretty sure that he had, but we had never had to wait that long to get his marks back before (he took his test Feb 26) so we were sweating it a little bit. That means that James is officially in his last year of apprenticeship, and will get a raise (from 70% of the journeyman rate to 80%). That also means that we can go ahead with buying a house! I'm in the process of finding a realtor right now, and James and I have been scouring MLS. We've got a few places in mind and our fingers are crossed that we'll find something suitable. Our budget is definitely in the "teeny tiny" category, which limits us a bit, but I think we'll find something that works. My strategy is that I keep my standards low, and then I won't be disappointed. ;)
2) I heard back from the nurse at the Glenrose, and they will be mailing me a prescription for some anti-anxiety medication for Emmett. He really struggles with anxiety, both with little everyday things and big scary things (haircuts, medical appointments). These pills will hopefully help him with those big scary things when they happen.
3) I met with Emmett's teacher, SLP, OT and PT yesterday to write up his IPP for school (ah, the land of special needs is full of abbreviations!). Basically, I sat down with everyone who works with Em at school and we discussed his strengths, weaknesses and made some specific goals for him for the rest of the school year. It was so great sitting down with these women who have been getting to know my son and had some great insights for me. I was happy to learn that Emmett has a little group of friends in his class and he loves to spend time with them and do what they do - he has some issues participating and trying new things, so watching his friends do things is going to be huge for him. He's happy at school and his speech is really improving...at home I've noticed less and less of using just one word and a big jump in using short sentences. The staff at his school are so nice and accommodating - they didn't even seem to mind that Seth was in the meeting or that he continually added his own opinions, at top volume!
Life is so busy right now, and it looks like it will continue to be in the months to come. I am really looking forward to summer in my own place, with my own (landlord's-dog-poop-free) backyard, with everything unpacked and just being able to relax with the boys. I can feel that time is coming, but there is a lot to be done first!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
And the journey continues...
It's 2:30am, and I can't sleep (it seems a lot of my blog posts are a result of insomnia!). Four years ago exactly I was tossing and turning as well. I was in the hospital, extremely pregnant and with my waters broken, waiting for my baby to make his or her long awaited entrance into the world. I wasn't in labour, just being monitored and watching for pot to boil, so to speak. I didn't have a private room so James had been sent home and told to come back if I made any progress (you can guess how much sleep HE had that night...zero!). I was so excited (I'm going to be a MOM!!) and nervous (this thing is coming out of me, and I'm going to be solely in charge of it! Are they nuts??!?). Of course that "thing" turned out to be Emmett, who finally arrived on the scene around dinner time that day. It was an exhausting and emotional day, and I will never forget the moment I looked at my son for the first time, saw he was a boy and James and I said to each other "Emmett! We have a little boy, Emmett!".
Now I'm up again in the middle of the night, after another long and exhausting day. We had the family conference to wrap up Emmett's assessments and get a diagnosis. Essentially, Emmett is about 25 months old mentally. He is severely delayed in his communication and learning. We're not sure why, but we suspect the cause may be genetic. We will probably be undergoing some genetic testing to see if we can isolate the cause.
I'm still processing everything...a lot of the behaviors that I'm concerned about, and that were leading me to believe he may have a form of autism, could be explained by the fact that mentally he's only 2. They aren't totally ruling autism out at this point but right now he doesn't meet the criteria for that diagnosis. We also aren't sure what this means long term...he will continue to progress but he has been classed as having below average intelligence and will probably never fully catch up to his peers.
So that's where we're at right now. Obviously, it's upsetting news and not what we wanted to hear, but it's reality. The good (great!) news is, Emmett has been blessed with SO many family and friends that love him and will support him. He's in a great program with excellent teachers and other professionals. He's got all the tools he's going to need to live up to his full potential in life, whatever that may be. We are clearly living in the "right" place, at the "right" time...there are so many programs and resources we can access.
Today is Emmett's birthday, and we are going to celebrate him. He has changed my life forever, and if I had the choice of doing it all over again, I would without a doubt. That sweet child is and always has been a huge blessing to our family, and I love him for exactly who he is.
Now I'm up again in the middle of the night, after another long and exhausting day. We had the family conference to wrap up Emmett's assessments and get a diagnosis. Essentially, Emmett is about 25 months old mentally. He is severely delayed in his communication and learning. We're not sure why, but we suspect the cause may be genetic. We will probably be undergoing some genetic testing to see if we can isolate the cause.
I'm still processing everything...a lot of the behaviors that I'm concerned about, and that were leading me to believe he may have a form of autism, could be explained by the fact that mentally he's only 2. They aren't totally ruling autism out at this point but right now he doesn't meet the criteria for that diagnosis. We also aren't sure what this means long term...he will continue to progress but he has been classed as having below average intelligence and will probably never fully catch up to his peers.
So that's where we're at right now. Obviously, it's upsetting news and not what we wanted to hear, but it's reality. The good (great!) news is, Emmett has been blessed with SO many family and friends that love him and will support him. He's in a great program with excellent teachers and other professionals. He's got all the tools he's going to need to live up to his full potential in life, whatever that may be. We are clearly living in the "right" place, at the "right" time...there are so many programs and resources we can access.
Today is Emmett's birthday, and we are going to celebrate him. He has changed my life forever, and if I had the choice of doing it all over again, I would without a doubt. That sweet child is and always has been a huge blessing to our family, and I love him for exactly who he is.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
A little bit of everything
I've been meaning to post for awhile, but didn't have anything "major" to blog about. So I figured I'd just update on a few little things:
Weight Loss
I lost another 3 lbs in February! I figure that's pretty good considering February was pretty insane for me...with James being in school I was pretty much a single mom and was transitioning Emmett into school at the same time. I just discovered this morning that my scale is broken, so this will probably be my last weight loss update for awhile. I'm not at my goal yet, but all my pants are too big so I'm happy with that. The next couple of months will be crazy as well, so I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing - watching portion sizes and making good choices most of the time. I'm also trying to carve out some me time a few mornings a week to work out at home...lately I've been kickboxing.
Seth
My little one is growing in leaps and bounds! He took his first steps a couple of weeks ago, and it's starting to dawn on him now that walking *could* be a better way to get around than crawling! He usually starts out walking and goes as far as he can with that until he falls down (which doesn't take much!) and then finishes with crawling. He also now says "Emmett" clear as day, which is so awesome! He usually goes down for a nap while big bro is at school, and often "Emmett" is the first thing he'll say when he wakes up...he misses his brother! He's turning into your typical annoying little brother, following Emmett around and bugging him all the time. Usually this does NOT end well, but once in awhile Em will play with him and it makes him SO happy!
Emmett
My eldest is SUCH a grump in the mornings, until I mention the magic words: "school bus". Yesterday I wasn't getting ready fast enough and I got "Come on mama, time for SCHOOL BUS!!" You should see him waiting in front of our house every morning, he's practically bursting with excitement. His bus drivers love him and it's a great start to his school day. He also understands the whole birthday thing this year, and is VERY excited for his 4th birthday next week. He's getting cupcakes at school, a friend party, *and* a family party so he's going to be in heaven! He is still obsessed with Cars (in fact we're watching it right now...sigh...) and we got him Mater, Sheriff, Red (the firetruck) and Chick Hicks for his birthday - he's going to flip when he opens them!
My Hubby
James survived school again this year...he got the highest mark in the class on his blueprinting project and passed all of his subjects. Now we're just waiting for his final exam marks...he thinks he did pretty well. He's back at work, but they've actually got him doing materials handling for the time being - a complete overhaul of their warehouse. Word must have got out that James was a parts handler for 4 years, because he's been put in charge of the project! James has a real knack for organizing so he's right in his element.
Assessments
Emmett's big appointments at the Glenrose are scheduled for Mar 8-10...I'm a bit nervous but looking forward to getting a complete picture of what he's dealing with and how to help him. I'll update on that once he's been assessed.
Weight Loss
I lost another 3 lbs in February! I figure that's pretty good considering February was pretty insane for me...with James being in school I was pretty much a single mom and was transitioning Emmett into school at the same time. I just discovered this morning that my scale is broken, so this will probably be my last weight loss update for awhile. I'm not at my goal yet, but all my pants are too big so I'm happy with that. The next couple of months will be crazy as well, so I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing - watching portion sizes and making good choices most of the time. I'm also trying to carve out some me time a few mornings a week to work out at home...lately I've been kickboxing.
Seth
My little one is growing in leaps and bounds! He took his first steps a couple of weeks ago, and it's starting to dawn on him now that walking *could* be a better way to get around than crawling! He usually starts out walking and goes as far as he can with that until he falls down (which doesn't take much!) and then finishes with crawling. He also now says "Emmett" clear as day, which is so awesome! He usually goes down for a nap while big bro is at school, and often "Emmett" is the first thing he'll say when he wakes up...he misses his brother! He's turning into your typical annoying little brother, following Emmett around and bugging him all the time. Usually this does NOT end well, but once in awhile Em will play with him and it makes him SO happy!
Emmett
My eldest is SUCH a grump in the mornings, until I mention the magic words: "school bus". Yesterday I wasn't getting ready fast enough and I got "Come on mama, time for SCHOOL BUS!!" You should see him waiting in front of our house every morning, he's practically bursting with excitement. His bus drivers love him and it's a great start to his school day. He also understands the whole birthday thing this year, and is VERY excited for his 4th birthday next week. He's getting cupcakes at school, a friend party, *and* a family party so he's going to be in heaven! He is still obsessed with Cars (in fact we're watching it right now...sigh...) and we got him Mater, Sheriff, Red (the firetruck) and Chick Hicks for his birthday - he's going to flip when he opens them!
My Hubby
James survived school again this year...he got the highest mark in the class on his blueprinting project and passed all of his subjects. Now we're just waiting for his final exam marks...he thinks he did pretty well. He's back at work, but they've actually got him doing materials handling for the time being - a complete overhaul of their warehouse. Word must have got out that James was a parts handler for 4 years, because he's been put in charge of the project! James has a real knack for organizing so he's right in his element.
Assessments
Emmett's big appointments at the Glenrose are scheduled for Mar 8-10...I'm a bit nervous but looking forward to getting a complete picture of what he's dealing with and how to help him. I'll update on that once he's been assessed.
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