Rowan update...finally pee and poop! :D

Ok so I do have an update. She finally pooped after 2 baby suppositories on thursday...can you believe that crap!! Yes and a lot of it!! That kid was stuffed to the brim with crap. Anyhow, we talked to the Ped. the whole way through it all, he suggested one more suppository before we took her to the ER...and finally she pooped...and once she pooped, she finally began to pee normal again. Weird huh! Anyhow, so things are well, and today is the only day so far since that she hasnt pooped a big one...Im guessing that since the night isnt over, its coming soon. LOL! :D Well, anyhow, so thats it for now. :D

Rowie Bowie...

So for the past 2 weeks Rowan has been a pill...whether it was her cold, or teething...she has just been unhappy. Well her cold is gone, her teeth still arent through, but oh well...Sunday night, I noticed that she was extra whiney...for no apparent reason (well at that time...) until later on in the evening when I was changing her diaper...she smelled like she pooped, but no poop...so just farty...then I thought to myself, maybe she is constipated...I felt around her stomach and it was rock hard, and you could feel the poop in her stomach, all around. I felt so bad for her. Anyhow, I gave her one of those baby laxative dissolvable strips, gave her a bottle, and put her to bed. Then comes Monday...just a little poop in her diaper...not much, just a few rabbit turd type balls. Anyhow, I called the doctor, and they put her on a baby version of Miralax, because she has had constipation issues before a few times...so I go pick it up about 2 hours later. She got her first dose monday afternoon. Then before she went to bed, I gave her her 2nd dose. I figured an awesome poop would be all over by morning. Well this morning rolls around (Its Tuesday about 11:30pm right now) and just a couple little rabbit turds again. I figure it has to be coming soon. She eats breakfast and lunch really well, which for a couple days she hasnt been eating much at all. I cant get her to drink any juice or water, but she has 3 5oz bottles throughout the day. I noticed when it was time to put her down for her nap, her diaper wasnt wet...odd but nothing that I really worried about too much...well when she woke up, she had a couple little hard turds again, but nothing to be excited about. Not too wet, but maybe a pee in it. Anyhow, then I gave the kids their baths and changed dipes again around 6pm. At 9pm when I was putting the kids to bed, Rowan still hasnt peed. I am a little worried, but she did eat dinner and hasnt been acting too whiney today compared to the past couple days. She wouldnt drink her bottle before bed though. Anyhow, I am calling the doctor tomorrow morning if she hasnt pooped yet, and definitely calling if she hasnt peed still. I dont want to take her to the ER just yet (unless she wakes up and things have changed attitude wise), because she is acting ok and doesnt seem dehydrated, still has tears when she cries...and her disposition is ok. But first thing in the morning is the docs...and from there maybe he will have us take her to the ER for an IV since I cant get her to drink any liquids. Anyhow...I guess thats it for now...a weird not pooping not peeing update on Rowan. Cross your fingers that she wets at least a little through the night!! I'll update you guys on anything that happens.

For Nicole. :)

I forgot to post about Rowan's leg! Sorry!!! Anyhow, it was my fault, I had her in our Bumbo seat on the counter, and she rolled out of it! Right off of the island onto our tile floor. That day sucked!! We got rid of the Bumbo the same day. ;) Anyhow, here is the journal entry about it. :) Anyhow, its all healed up and fine now, she has one more appointment in December to check the growth, but they dont think there are any problems. :)


http://taterandrowansmommy.blogspot.com/2008/07/really-bad-day.html

Its getting cold. :(

I know, I live in Ohio...I should just get used to it. But I HATE the cold. I hate winter. Everything about it...the slush, the slippery roads, how it kills all the flowers. :( I love Summer, Spring and Fall are ok. :) It snowed on Saturday, not enough to stick, but enough to make me want to throw up. :P

Anyhow, so things are going good. Really good. On Wednesday after Taysen's Early Intervention, his speech therapist there took me aside and said that she did some basic evaluation with him that day, and that he may not qualify for Help Me Grow preschool!!! Yay!!! Im happy! Why, you ask?? The reason is because he passed the evaluation with flying colors and he may not even be considered "delayed" anymore! :D :D :D Now, it makes me very happy that he might not qualify. BUT I really really really want him to go to preschool because it is really helping him, and she agreed too, she said that they might let him in anyhow since he meets the deadline so close. Or something like that...lol. Anyhow, I hope they let him slide through!! I really want him to go to preschool. I mean, he will go either way, I would just prefer I dont have to pay for it if I dont have to! LOL! Help Me Grow is a free program for delayed/handicapped children. I dont think SID really counts, especially since SID kids can grow out of it. Which Im really hoping he does. But anyhow...so thats the good news. :)

On to other things...Rowie is pulling herself up to her feet now. Like on low toys and the time out bench...LOL..she is a shortie. :D Anyhow, she is still really wobbly and almost always falls over after a few seconds, but YAY ROWAN!! I am really hoping she is walking or close to it by her next leg appointment which is Dec. 18th or close to it, so that she doesnt have to go to physical therapy or anything like that. Anyhow...so she is doing good. :) Im proud of my little cupcake!

So if you want to see something cute and amusing...ok maybe only to a mother...last night Taysen, Rowan and mommy were watching Alvin and the Chipmunks...and at the end when the credits came on, the kids started dancing like crazy fools! It wasnt even asked of them, they just started moving to the beat, it was so funny I had to get out my camera...of course by that time the moment was over, so I rewinded the TV so they could hear the song again, and again they started shaking their booties...not as crazily as before, but at least it was something...lol. Anyhow it was cute...thought Id share...dont mind the mother in the background saying "Rowan, DANCE!!" lol...she was over it by the time I came around with the camera. LOL. :) Ok...here is the links :D There are 2 videos...both short. :) (The quality isnt the greatest, I should have turned the light up...sorry!!)

http://www.dropshots.com/taysenandrowansmommy#date/2008-11-16/19:43:21

http://www.dropshots.com/taysenandrowansmommy#date/2008-11-16/19:43:26

Anyhow..it was so cute...I hope you enjoy it!! :D

OH and Carmen, SID (Sensory Integration Disorder or Dysfunction) is a neurological disorder that causes problems with processing information from our 5 senses. Basically, kids that have this have their 5 senses, they just process it abnormally...some examples 1-an itchy tag can feel like a knife cutting into their skin...2-different textures in their mouths may totally gross them out and make them not able to stand the feeling in their mouth...3-their sense of smell may be so strong that the smell of normal foods may make them nauseated and want to throw up 4-someone hugging them gently can make them feel like they cant breathe because they are being squeezed to death....5-lights may seem super bright to them, daylight might hurt their eyes...6-normal day to day noises might sounds extremely loud to them, like the humming of a fridge may be so loud to them that they cant focus on anything when they can hear it...so I guess add a few of those things together and you have a kid with some serious problems. Another example...lets say a little boy goes out to dinner with his family, the restaurant is packed, and everyone is talking in normal voices, but to him all he can hear is the people all over talking and its really loud and he cant concentrate, the lights are so bright he is getting a headache, and the smells of other peoples food is making him sick to his stomach. He isnt going to last long before he is totally overwhelmed and just breaks down. Now Taysen, he has major texture issues, whether they are in his mouth, or even just on his hands or body. If he gets a speck of food on him, he is freaking out wanting it wiped off. There have been times that I have had to pull over on the expressway because he had to have cereal dust wiped off of his hands. Most kids would just wipe it on their pants, or not even give a crap about it in the first place. Like the other day, his occupational therapist was coloring with him with markers, he got some on his hand, he brought me his hand I would bet a good 30 times in that morning after his therapy for me to wipe it off...I wiped it, but it just was stained on his skin for a little bit...its gone by now thank god, but man it ruined his day that day!! Another thing, Taysen seeks movement and sound...he does it in spinning things, having the fans on, tv on, pacing...he just does these things a lot through out the day, especially having fans on...his therapist said that it may either be the little bit of wind that is in the room that he is seeking, or it may make a bit of a buzzing sound when the fan is on...we dont really know, because he cant tell us yet what is so great about them...lol. But its an obsession for him. All house fans are turned on the second he wakes up...And during the night, he has his ceiling fan on and a heater too now, because the fan makes it cold!! If I turn off that fan, it would be a nightmare...his EI teacher said to just turn it off and make him deal with it, to learn that I make the rules...but honestly, it isnt hurting anything to have his fan on, its his room...LOL. Plus it saves me the fight. I am soooo picking my battles with this kid. I might just be too easy on him, but ya know what, he is going to have a bit of a rougher childhood than a normally developing kid, so if the ceiling fan being on is gonna make his day, its fine by me. And also, he does have some small social problems, but they arent too bad, they are way better than they used to be.. He gets anxious when there are a lot of people around him, like when he is in EI, and the kids are all doing an activity together, Taysen will sometimes just stand there anxious and sometimes flaps his arms, when the kids back off a little, he does fine and does the activity, he just needs his space. But he is doing really well on the social part. He used to be the kid that if someone even looked at him, he was literally screaming and running in the other direction or crying, and now, he is the kid at the grocery store that says "HI!!" to every single person we pass. In that aspect, he is a totally different kid. If someone told me 6 months ago that he would be saying Hi to random people, It probably would have just made me upset because I didnt think that he would ever be friendly to people he didnt know. SOOOO anyhow, lol...I guess Ill just shut it about it all now, because I think you get the drift. LOL. Anyhow, all kids with Autism have SID, so thats why it was hard to see a difference before. But now that he has come so far, I do really feel like the doctors are right. :)

I cant believe its been a month!

Okay, so its November...I didn't post once in October!! That is bad!!

Sooo...news news! Taysen is not autistic. :) He has been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Dysfunction/Disorder. It was a couple weeks ago that we found out, but its just been busy! Also, Taysen started Occupational therapy in October. He goes twice a week. He has a busy little schedule now!

Mon- Early Intervention 9-11a
Tues-OT 8-9a and Speech 9:30-10:30a
Wed-Early Intention 9-11a and OT 4-5p

Thursday and Friday he doesnt have any set appointments or therapies (unless they are just normal once in a while checkups) so those are just our lazy days where we sit around watching Noggin all day because we are exhausted. Haha.

Rowan has finally started the normal crawling...and it only took her about a week to fly through the house on her knees. Her little knees are so dried out they are like white callouses! Ill be glad when she can use her feet! She is starting to babble a lot, her only word right now is Uh Oh...haha. She makes lots of sounds though.

Taysen has come really far in the last month. He is talking so much that we are really starting to understand a lot of what he is saying. For example two mornings ago, he was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal (BY HIMSELF WITH HIS OWN SPOON!!!!YAY!!!THAT WAS JUST TACKLED THIS PAST WEEK!!! GO TAYSEN!) and he starts singing this song...at first, Im just thinking he is goofing around, until I really pay attention, listening and watching. He says "Cap Cap Cap" (while clapping his hands) Then he says "Wol Wol Wol" (then rolls his hands) then "Pat Pat Pat" (as he pats his thighs) yells "Stom Stom Stom!" (while he stomps his feet) then says "AND STOP!" (and puts his hands on the top of his head...) Then he reaches his hands up says something and I almost fell over because I could understand what he was saying "weech up high to da sty!" (Reach up high to the sky) And to top it off he says "Awight!!" while he waves his hands up in the air! It was so stinking cute! I wish I had a video camera for that moment. Then on Sunday he had an open house at his school and I asked his teacher and therapists about the song, asking if they sing something like that...and they both get all giddy and say "Taysen's singing our song!!" and then Heidi, his speech therapist says "He has never ever sang that in class with us, he just stares at us like we are crazy!" So Im sure that made her day...haha. Made mine too. :) So at least we know he is paying attention! Haha. And also, he has learned how to count to three. :) He sometimes says "toot" for two...lol. He knows a couple shapes now, heart, start, square, circle, and triangle. Im so proud of him!

Ok well I guess that is it for now...I cant really think of anything else right at the moment. But I promise I wont wait another month to post again!

(OH and last, that little button I added on the side, MckMiracle, is a blog that I have been reading for about a month now. I first found it and thought her kids were adorable, so read a little, then read about her pregnancy and how her baby boy had a heart problem that was figured out at her 20 week appt and they told her basically her baby would die. Anyhow, I kept reading hoping that her little man would come out ok at least long enough to get surgery to help him, and what do you know, she had her little boy, and he is fine and never even needed surgery or anything at all!! So I just thought I would add it on here, its a nice little blog with some adorable kids on it!! )

Hope you are all doing well!! :)

No more Ici!!

That would translate out to be Binky. :)

So I am so sick of hearing the phrase from my son "Iwan Ici!" Or just "ici" in a small quiet voice because he knows it isnt bedtime or naptime...that I finally decided Binky's life needed to come to an end. LOL...Our dear binky's life was finally complete on saturday morning. Well...he had little bit of a drawn out death, but he is finally dead. LOL. Ok...so saturday morning, after Taysen requested his binky one too many times by only 10 o'clock in the morning, no where near naptime, I went in the other room when he wasnt looking and cut off the tip to his beloved bink. :O At first I was a little nervous, scared, then a little mad at myself because I knew I wasnt ready for this struggle. Well...I set it on the floor when Taysen wasnt looking so he could find it for hisself. I didnt want him knowing I killed it! Haha...anyhow, he finds it in record time, and brings it to me all sad..."Ici ouchie" and "Ici bote" (broke) lol...it was so adorable and cruel at the same time. I felt so bad for the kid, but he has to drop the binky sometime this lifetime! So anyways, for the next couple of hours he reminded me endlessly that his binky had an ouchie and that it was broken, over and over and over again. Saturday afternoon after his nap and while he wasnt watching I trimmed the tip, because he still wanted to keep it his mouth, just not sucking it, but holding it in with his teeth. He still took it to bed, but couldnt barely keep it in his mouth because the nub was so short. Finally sunday morning when he woke up, I scooped up the bink and put it in my pocket...then into a drawer in my room for him to see when he is 30 and I am telling him this story. LOL. He has sucsessfully gone two full days and two full sleeps without his binky! He asked for it last night when he went to bed, but I reminded him that it was broken, and he dropped the issue. :) He has been so great, no tantrums, no whining, nothing. Its like he never had it. So the long love of Binky is finally over!!! :) (And yes, we have been limiting Rowan to hers, just because we dont want it around to tempt Taysen in any way! Haha...she is strictly only allowed her binky at nap and bedtime now. And with Rowan, she seriously could care less, she screams whether or not its plugging her mouth. LOL...and really, it may make it easier to get rid of when she is a little older too. I've actually been thinking about getting rid of hers now too totally, but not sure if thats right or wrong...like for sleeping...does she still need that sucking? I dont want to be mean, she is just a baby still...well somewhat. Haha...any insight girls??)

Anyhow so I guess thats it for now...no other big news. :) Hope youre all doing well! :D

The pics. :)

Ok these are just the proofs. :) They havent been edited yet...(Josh's foot will be cut out of the one of the kids together...Tate's dark one will be lightened. Stuff like that...:) ) Pics didnt go so well this time around. LOL...Taysen wanted nothing to do with getting them done! Wednesday Kris (my close friend and photographer) came over to our house and got some shots of the kids...Tate wasnt happy...(see pic of kids together. LOL...he would NOT smile for me...but thats the best we could get, and its ok with me...haha) Anyhow then thursday night I cut his hair. Then Kris called me and sent me a couple proofs of the good ones, but there was nothing of Tate alone that was great, so we met again on Saturday morning at a park....hence his different hair style. LOL! Anyhow, he was the same and didnt want to do anything but pace around. Soooo finally about 2 minutes before we gave up, Kris started chasing him and playing tag and then he started smiling and running away and to her...so his shots are all of him being goofy with her...and they turned out the best!! :) Anyhow...the pic of the two kids on the bench is hilarious...Taysen wanted nothing to do with a together shot, and he was screaming and mad, then when I saw these pics, it totally cracked me up and Im ordering it! They look like they are both thinking "Dont touch me! What are you looking at!!" Haha...sibling rivalry at such an early age! LOL! :) Ok...well thats it for now! I hope you like them...remember tho, they aren't edited! :)

Its been a while.

So I know its been a while since I have posted. :) Sorry!

Updates Updates! :)

Taysen is doing extremely well since he got his tubes put in! He is starting to really put together some sentences and we are starting to actually understand what he is saying. :) He says "I want" like twenty million times a day now. Whether its "Iwan juuuiceeyyyy" or "Iwan Ici!" (Ici is what he calls his Binky...we can even get him to say "Buh" and "Keys" but then when you say "Say BINKY" he still says with all his might "IICCCIII" LOL...anyhow, he is wanting things all day long. :) He is starting to learn his colors, we just started really working on them tonite with flashcards, and he will match toy fruits and veggies with the color on the card. Like grapes on purple and a tomato on red...we thought he was doing really great for the first night we really tried at least! :) Anyhow...he now will tell us when he poops. :) Yay...isnt that sweet. :) He comes up to me and says "MomMom I poots" LOL...yes he calls me MomMom...its so cute! Unless he is yelling at me...which is often. Then Im just MOM! Haha...anyhow I love that he is starting to talk so much, and even though I know his problems are far from over and probably will never be totally over, but at least this is a start. He makes me so proud when he walks out of speech therapy and you can hear him coming down the hall back into the waiting room talking about me...and then when he walks in he says "HI Mom!" And all the old people in the waiting room waiting for their turn for physical therapy are Awwing him and Im all...yep thats my boy! :) Its so stinkin' adorable I could cry everytime. :) I just dont know what I would do without that kid...he is my heart thats for sure. :)

On to Rowie...:) Now that her cast is off, I had been freaking out about her because she is now officially a year old and she wasn't even showing an interest in crawling/getting around. Granted she had a cast on for a good 7-8 weeks but I still freak out about everything especially since if you have one kid with Autistic tendencies, you have like a 10-15% chance of your other children having it also. Anyhow, like 2 days later Rowan finally started crawling!!! Thank God! Its the army crawl, but at least its something!!! But Rowan is always doing a hand thing, opening and closing her hands, mostly in excitement, her hands and feet are always going. Her hands just open and close constantly, she doesnt do it on purpose, she just does it. But like I said, her feet go at the same time, just moving to the same beat of her hands...so I freak out a little. I just wish she would stop it. I know I am just a paranoid mommy because of our situation, but if she would stop that one thing I would be happy! She is babbling like crazy, so I dont think she will be speech delayed like Taysen is. She doesnt really do any other weird things other than the hand/feet thing, so Im not too worried. Last week on thursday Taysen's caseworker for Help Me Grow was here for a meeting about him, and she watched her a little and she said its nothing to be worried about yet, and that we should give her a little time on the crawling/walking since she did break her leg. Anyhow, she said that if there is anything at all going on with Rowan, it will be caught early and we will get her into any and all the therapies she will need if she needs them. It just sucks to even have to worry...but it just comes with the territory when you already have one child with problems.

I ordered the book The Elephant in the Playroom tonite, I am looking forward to getting it. I have been having a rough time lately when it comes to my kids and thinking about everything and worrying and it just gets overwhelming sometimes. I just dont understand why my child has to have something wrong with him. Its not fair, ya know? Why? We arent bad people. We did everything that you are supposed to do when you get pregnant and have your child. We do everything that we can to do right by our children and its just not fair...ya know? I just dont get it sometimes and I take it personal. Its hard not to, right? I know I could have it worse, but its hard to look at it that way when you are toting your kid to appointments almost every day of the week most weeks. Its just exhuasting and makes you want to just shut the world out and keep inside so we dont have to deal with it and see all the normal kids who are progressing oh so perfectly...It just sucks...oh well...enough whining I guess. Sorry Im a buzz kill sometimes guys!!

Anyhow...Taysen has a meeting to get transitioned out of Early Intervention and into our local Preschool. Thats exciting. Im happy for him but a little scared of how he is going to take the change. Preschool is 2 full days here. Right now, he does EI for 2 hours twice a week.

Today we got new professional pics of the kids. My adorable son wouldnt cooperate for crap. He just wanted to pace up and down the garden and trees and wouldnt sit down next to his sister for anything. I finally called my friend who lives down the street and asked her if I could use her yard (she has a nice pond with a dock) so that we could get some pics of Taysen throwing rocks into the water, because thats better than pics of him pacing. Hopefully we got a couple decent shots. I wont know for a day or two. Rowan did great smiling wise, but she kept putting everything in her mouth...sand, rocks, sticks, grass...even a piece of bird poop!! I was so disgusted! I prayed and prayed for a child who would eat anything and I sure got one. *barfs*

Oh and Rowan is ONE today!! :) Isnt that crazy!! I hope some of the pics turn out nice. I cant wait to post them. I cant wait to see them first though!!! LOL! OK I guess thats it for now...Im sorry if I whined through 90% of this!!

Nothing new...but some pics. :)

So nothing really new...

Taysen is acting great...hasnt really had too much of a problem with his tubes. He doesnt like the drops I have to put in his ears, but the Dr. said he wouldnt. Anyhow, Im not really even giving him any tylenol/ibuprofen just because he isnt acting like he needs it.

Rowan...really crabby this evening...after the kids bath, I was getting her dried off...I put on her diaper and then wiped her head down with the towel to dry her hair, well she got ticked off about it...oh well...I put on her lotion...she was still mad...but not crying to any alarming extent. Well then I was rubbing her lotion into her arms, and she starting crying to the point where she is holding her breath...I didnt think anything of it, she does this sometimes when she isnt getting her way...well then I hold her up and say "Rowan!" because she was still holding her breath! She finally gasped and sobbed for like a half of a second and then was really quiet and looked like she was sleeping! I screamed at her and shook her (not like shaking baby syndrome shaking, but enough to try to get her attention...) and she snapped out of it...then she started screaming like crazy. I have no idea what the heck she was doing! I have heard of kids getting so pissed they scream themselves unconsious...but it was just freaky! I was worried I was going to have to take her to the ER she was freaking me out so bad. But after she finally stopped crying, she started acting normal, so who the heck knows what she was doing. It scared me though!!! If she does that again, Im so spanking her!! (Just kidding...lol) Anyhow, she isnt sick or anything like that...she was totally just not getting her way...but it was so weird. She better never do that again or I will be afraid to make her mad!

Ok...anyhow...I guess thats it. I thought Id add a few pics too. (Now that I finally figured that out. Haha)

My Tater Monster

And my little Princess :)

Rowan's cast off/Taysen's tubes in

The past week has been pretty busy. Catching up on work from being on vacation. Rowan got her cast off on Thursday morning. The X-rays show her bone is healed perfectly...they want to check it in 3 months to make sure its growing correctly, but after that X-ray, as long as everything looks good still, she will be all done with the leg drama. :) Yay!

Then Thursday night we went to the fair in Pemberville, the little town Josh's parents live in. Taysen's grandparents (Joshs parents) bought tickets for him to ride rides. He rode the carousel 5 or 6 times! He loved it. All of the other rides just looked too big for him. He wasn't sure about the carousel the first few seconds of his first ride...but after that he loved it, and every time it stopped he freaked out wanting back on. Man that was a long nite! LOL! Luckily his grandparents are saps for the kids and kept buying tickets until mommy couldnt stand going around in circles anymore. I seriously had a pounding headache! Anyhow...it was fun and a new thing to do with the kiddos. Yes even Rowan rode and loved it too. :)

Saturday we went back out to Pemberville for the Parade (for the fair week.) Taysen loved it and collected a bunch of candy in a cool little Cars bag that I picked up for him. It was hilarious because he tried to walk away with a few of the marching bands. LOL! He was so cute running out to pick up the candy that was thrown from the floats. :) Then we went back up to the fair, my parents and Hayden went this time and lucky for Josh and me, they are saps for the kids too and bought a bunch of tickets for the rides. (Those silly rides cost like 3 bucks per kid to ride!! Totally crazy for a two minute ride for a toddler!) Anyhow, with Hayden there, I felt that Taysen might ride some of the bigger rides since he sort of looks up to Hayden. :) (Its quite adorable actually...Hayden pets Taysens head, and Taysen just lets him do whatever...its so funny...) Anyhow there was this Firetruck ride that Hayden wanted to do, and Taysen kept screaming "racecar" in his Tater language. So he wanted to do it too. I was totally terrified, because you know how fair rides can be sort of unsafe! Well I put Taysen in the inside of the car because that door didnt open, so he wouldnt be able to get out. Hayden sat on the side with the door. It started up with a jerk, but Taysen and Hayden both loved it! It was so cute! Taysen would scream "Woah!" and "Wheeee" as the trucks went around the track! I was so proud of him because he, at least to me, was being so brave! I thought it was going fast for a kid his size! Anyhow, he ended up riding that 3 more times throughout the evening, and the guy at the ride gave the boys a free ride because Taysen was screaming so much after it ended. Haha...even strangers give in to my childs shreiks! But it was really nice of him to do that. :) Anyhow, Taysen also rode the super slide with Josh and he did the fair version of the Ocean Motion...(like the big boat that swings forward and backward. He loved that too! It was enough that I got a tickle in my stomach when we would rise and fall, and when we did, Taysen would shake his hands and scream because he was so happy! He is going to be a roller coaster lover after all! It was a really great evening.

Well on to this morning. We woke up really early because today was Taysen's ear tube surgery. I was excited because I have been wanting the kid to get tubes for the longest time, just didnt switch peds fast enough! LOL! I was pretty nervous though...just because no matter how small the surgery may be, its still your kid going under! Anyhow, we get there, they weigh him and do all that stuff. Put him in a room and turn on cartoons for him, and lucky for him The Wonder Pets were even on! He loves that show. Then we changed him and a few minutes later they went over the anesthesia paperwork with us. A few minutes after that they came and got him to give him the anesthesia. He didnt even have to have an IV. :) That was the best part...no pokes! A nurse came and got him, he cried when they took him away, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Josh, Me, Rowan, my mom, and Joshs mom all sat watching tv and chatting for I'd say a short 20 minutes at the most, and here comes the Tater...all done! He cried a little bit when he first came back, but that was to be expected. When we got in the van, we started up the Wonder Pets on the DVD player and he went ballistic. We couldnt figure out which episode he wanted...he kept saying "the Roo's" (kangaroos) but even when we would put it on he just screamed like we were idiots because that wasnt the one he wanted...it was like that the whole way home. Im sure he was just anxious and his ears probably hurt. Anyhow, once we got home I forced some Ibuprofen. After a bowl of cereal and about 20 minutes passing, he was as good as new. :) It seemed like he got frustrated easily today, but nothing too out of the norm. He took a nap around noon...slept until 4:00pm. After he woke up, you wouldnt have even known he had anything done today! He didnt really want to eat much after he woke up, but oh well. Thats nothing out of the ordinary. He took a bath, I read some books, and now he is sleeping. :) I think he did great! :) Now, hopefully in a few short weeks, maybe we will notice a change in his speech. We will find out. If not, at least we know that we shouldnt have too many ear infections to deal with anymore, if any at all! That is one great thing! Im soo happy for that...an ear infection every month or two gets old. Well...cross your fingers for the speech aspect of it all!

Well I guess thats it for now...I better get to bed...he has speech therapy in the morning and its getting late! :) I hope youre all doing well! :D

A couple pics of baby Elliott from Mal!

Ok here he is! The chunkerbutt!



One with him and Delta...so cute!



One with Mal.



One more with Delta...:)



(Yep I finally figured out Photobucket. I think at least!)

Ok there they are. There wasnt a whole lot more...if Cindy puts more on her dropshots, Ill copy the good ones. :) Just thought Id show you girls because I dont know when Mal's gonna be able to get back online. Didnt want to torture ya!

Finally!

Elliott is here! :) Mal was in labor for 16hrs. She had him this morning at 8:15am (or something close to that...not totally sure on the exact time.) Anyhow, he was 9lbs 4oz! 21 inches long. :) A big boy!! Anyhow, I dont have any pictures yet...but she said he looks just like Delta did. (OH she did get to have him vaginally. :) ) Ok I guess thats it! :) Im sure she will give you a full blown update soon. :)

Back from vacation...and some updates.

And by the way...A pic of Rowan w/her cast is up now...I just took off her old pic and put up this one. I put a new picture of Taysen too...he doesnt look the happiest, but its still cute. LOL...he wouldnt smile for me. Haha!

Anyways...we were on vacation all last week. Hence the not updating. :)

OK...so before vacation Taysen had his ears tested. His hearing came out to be normal to near normal. I dont think he could hear the quietest tones during the test, because he was just looking at all of the cars in each corner of the booth thing waiting for one of them to light up. (During the test, there would be a tone, from either the left, middle, or right of the room...each location had a toy car that would flash a few seconds after the tone was played.) Anyhow, he loved it and was kicking and screaming in joy everytime a car lit up. Anyhow...when the quiet tones went, he was just looking from side to side waiting for a car to light up. When they were louder, he would look right to the car that had the tone before it would light up. Anyhow, his hearing still turned out normal to near normal...but the ENT still suggests tubes because there is a lot of fluid behind his ears and he thinks it will help Taysen at least with his ear infections. So we are doing it! Which I wanted to do from about the time he was 15 months old! But the old Ped. said it was too dangerous. I even mentioned that to the ENT and he said "Well it might be dangerous if he was to do it since he isnt an ENT." LOL...I laughed. And told him I didnt like the old Ped. opinions on much anyways. Anyhow his surgery is scheduled for 8/18! Yay! I cant wait.

For Rowie..she gets her cast off on the 14th of this month. Well she gets it off, then goes for an x-ray, then as long as it looks good, she will get to keep it off. :) Im sorta guessing everything will be ok because the kid picks up her whole cast leg and slams it on to the floor over and over again...almost like she is trying to break out of the thing. LOL. One plus though, at least I think so, is that she seems to have gained pretty good back strength from the weight of it, because before she got her cast she was just sitting up and always fell over, but since she got it its almost like it gives her a little pull back so she doesnt fall. Haha...and now she is even trying to crawl! Yay! Im happy. Im guessing once she gets it off, she is going to be all over the place. :) Fine with me!

Ok so anyhow vacation went pretty good. We were there with Josh's whole family. It was actually a lot of fun and we didnt have as many flying attitudes like we have had in past years. We did have ONE major problem though. The only bad thing is it seemed like we were the only ones that noticed it! Blake, one of Rowan and Taysen's cousins is a total terror. He is Josh's brothers son. He just turned 2 a couple weeks ago. Anyhow, this kid is the meanest little kid I have ever met! Its horrible! And his parents dont do crap when he is bad! For instance...on wednesday night we were sitting outside on the deck while the kids played on a little step2 slide. (Just Taysen and Blake were playing.) Anyhow, they were taking turns going down. Anyhow, Blake must have gotten impatient and pushed Taysen right off the side of it when he got to the top! Taysen was crying and scared, but didnt get hurt. Anyhow...of course, he didnt get yelled at. Then not even 10 minutes later, they are both up on the deck with us parents. The kids were just playing with some little toys. Anyhow, Taysen was standing at the top of the steps of the deck like maybe he wanted to go back down....he might have just been looking at the lake..who knows, anyhow he was just standing there, being quiet and staring. Anyhow, Blake is on the other side of the deck and runs at Taysen and shoves him right down the steps! He shoved him so hard that he flew right over every step and landed on the cement below! Josh and me both jumped up and grabbed Taysen, we thought for sure we were going to be taking him to the hospital for something whether it was a broken bone or stitches!! Taysen was screaming so much his face was turning blue, Josh yelled at his brother "What the F**K is wrong with your kid!" And what do you know, Blake got a time out. Wow...a whole 2 minute time out. Can you believe that crap. He needed a freaking beating! (Luckily, somehow all Taysen got was a huge scratch on the back of his arm and a little one on his leg...nothing serious at all...that was total luck Im telling you!) Anyhow, the same night he pushed Ellie (one of Joshs sisters 1 yr old twins) off of the couch! The next day when me and Andrea (Joshs sister) were cooking in the kitchen...Ellie was in there with us. Blake comes running through the kitchen and screams "MOVE!" and pushes Ellie into the cabinet! Andrea was pissed and grabbed Blake and screamed "Quit being so mean!" He is a total terror. He has these toy golf clubs and he goes around swinging them at people! Its freaking ridiculous! I dont know what I would do if that was my kid. And I dont know why in hell they think that its ok for their kid to do things like that. He even says "move" to adults when they are in the way! God he is such a brat. And they want to have 4 kid!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE GOD NO! Josh and his brother didnt talk for 2 days after the steps incident...because we literally had had it from Blake after that point. Its one thing to be a toddler and not share and occasionally hit...but for all of the other kids to be flinching and putting their arms above their faces as sheilds when he walks by, shouldnt that be signaling to his parents that there is a real problem here? I dont know what they are thinking...but they are going to regret it when he is kicked out of kindergarten for being such a mean bratty kid. Uh...just the thought of him makes me want to go buy a whipping belt! The sad thing is, his father (Joshs brother...) doesnt respect anyone...and he is teaching his son that he doesnt have to respect anyone either. Its just wrong! Ok...vent over.

Anyhow...so I guess thats it for now. I cant really think of anything else...plus Rowan woke up and is crying so I better go get her. :) OH WAIT...Rowan got her two bottom teeth this past week! :D Took long enough! Haha!

I hope youre all doing well! :D

Tate-speech therapy...Rowan-new cast

So Taysen started Private speech therapy today. :) He hated it at first. Well let me re-word that...He did ok while we walked to the therapy room...then I left, thats when the screaming started. LOL...I figured that would happen though. So me and Rowan sat in the waiting room and waited because his appointment was only 30 minutes long. Not really funny, but occasionally I would just sit there and laugh under my breath because people kept making comments that the therapists must be torturing that little kid thats screaming...haha...yes you could hear his shrill screechy scream all the way out in the waiting room. He screamed for the first 15 minutes...then he finally quieted down and you could just hear a scream once in a while. Haha. Now, yes, I did feel bad for him for being upset...but at the same time, Tate is a screamer...so its not like I dont hear it every single day. But according to his therapist, he did quite well during the end of the class and warmed up pretty good. He even got a sticker for his shirt...he really liked that part. He was so happy about that part that when he got back out to the waiting room he ran up to Rowan to show her his sticker. :) Anyhow, I called this afternoon and asked if we could move his appointments to an hour instead of a half hour since we only get 20 visits per year...so I want to get the most out of this torture as we can. They were ok with that too. :) Im pretty happy...I figure if he screams for 15 minutes every appointment, he will have 45 minutes of productive therapy...instead of 15. So things are good on that front. :)

Next...update on Rowie. I took her to the Orthopaedic Doc yesterday to check over her cast. Instead they put us in the casting room to get a new cast. At the hospital they had just did a splint type cast, the bottom was really hard but the rest of it was just wrapped in the ace bandage type things. So she has a real cast now, and its hot pink. At least she gets to look cool. :) I wanted purple for her, but they only had pink, lime green, blue, or black...pink was the most fitting for her. I would have liked lime green too, but she doesnt really have much that would go with that. Haha...its her new accessory...it might as well match. She has to wear it until the middle or end of August. So looks like she wont be swimming when we go on vacation this year! (The 1st week of Aug...) Oh well, not like she really gets as much out of swimming as she will next year.

And Dena, when you were saying how we should be happy it wasnt her head...believe me, I was saying the same thing the whole time. I am very very thankful that her head was ok. She has a little bruise above her left eyebrow, but I think when she rolled out of the Bumbo, that her head hit the counter. At least that wasnt as far of a fall as the one to the floor!

At the Orth Docs office, the assistant who put us in the casting room said that she has 6 grandkids who all use a Bumbo...and she said when she saw the report, that she was wondering how the heck a baby got out of that. She said that either it must have been a really fat baby or else a really skinny baby...haha. But Rowan isnt either really....maybe a little skinnier than most kids her size, but she must just be a quick baby.

Anyhow...I guess thats it for now. I will try to get some pics up here sometime of both of them. I wish I knew how to post a video...because I have the cutest video of Taysen singing. :)

A really bad day!

Ok so today sucked...and really really bad!

This morning started like every morning, the kids are both making little noises so I go take a shower while they wake up. I get dressed, make Taysen's breakfast and set it in the living room, make Rowan's bottle and set it on the couch. I go upstairs and get the kids Taysen in one arm, Rowan in the other. I set them both up on the island like I do every morning. Taysen sits playing with a toy while I change Rowan and get her dressed for the day. I put her in the Bumbo seat right next to us. Then I change Taysen and get him dressed. I go to set Taysen on the floor and halfway down I see Rowan roll right out of her Bumbo seat and off of the counter, and she lands on the tile floor. It happened so quickly I didnt even have time to react other than to scream. Immediately she starts screaming at the top of her lungs, which is totally a normal reaction to what just happened. I scoop her up and try to console her. Nothing is really working, she is flailing her arms and legs and practically purple from screaming so much. I take her into the sunporch to give her her bottle because if she ever bumps her head or gets scared, a bottle always makes it better. She stops crying right when the bottle goes in her mouth, so in my head I was thinking "Phew!' But she didnt even get two ounces down before she started screaming again. I called my friend Meredith that lives down the street to come watch Taysen, and I called my friend Robin to meet me at the ER so I didnt have to be there alone with Rowan. I hated the thought of even calling Josh because I just broke our child! But we both always put her in the Bumbo every day, and never once has she ever rolled out of it...never once has Taysen ever rolled out of it or even Hayden for that matter! Ive used it with all three of them. I never imagined that would happen to me. Anyhow, I called Josh and of course he wasnt mad, but wanted me to leave now. I told him to stay at work just incase she is just still shocked. I would call him as soon as I figured anything out. Anyhow, we get to the ER and I go straight up to the desk, they took us straight back. It seemed like we waited forever (maybe 5 or 6 minutes in reality...) until the doctor came in. They checked her out, and of course she is screaming the whole time. I notice that she screams the loudest when I switch her from one arm to the other, so they ordered a cat scan for her head and an Xray for her pelvis. The only bruise she had on her was on her elbow and she was moving both arms so we knew it wasnt an arm. Anyhow her cat scan came back normal and so did her pelvis. The doctor checks over her body again and she is still screaming. They just want us to wait for a little for her to calm down. So I laid down on the bed with her on my chest and she fell asleep. We were in there about 20 minutes or so and they came in and said that she is probably really sore from the fall and probably still really shook up. So even though in my head I really feel like they are wrong and something is not right because of how she was screaming, I go with the flow and sign the discharge papers. They told us to take our time getting her dressed so she isnt upset from us waking her up. So I laid her on her back on the bed, we talk to her for a few minutes while she gets out of the grogginess and play with her with her bear...she is laughing and giggling and being happy. She is moving her arms around playing and rolling a little to the side to see Robin, and stretches out her right leg. She is happy as a clam. Then I go to put her clothes back on and when I moved her left leg she starts screaming in pain. Robin and me both say that we are not leaving. I go get the nurse and I said something still isnt right. So the doctor comes back in, she is happy again since we arent moving her leg, so I move her leg for him so he can see how she is reacting. Finally someone is listening and he orders Xrays for her leg. She gets her Xray and I feel so bad because they are moving her leg all over to get the pictures. Not even 2 minutes after we got back in the room he comes in and tells me I was right. She broke her leg. Her left thigh bone (femur). Luckily, its right above her growth plate right above her knee and not on the growth plate itself, so she didnt need surgery and they think it should heal pretty quickly. She has a cast and looks so pathetic. Luckily her little attitude is pretty happy unless you are moving her, she is still pretty sore I imagine. Anyhow, I feel like a horrible mother. But at the same time, I never thought that would happen to me. And whats worse is its not like I set her on the counter and left the room, she was right in front of me, but it just happened to fast to even grab her. Anyhow, hopefully 2-6 weeks and she can get her cast off. It was a clean break so they dont think that it will take long for it to heal. Cross your fingers it doesnt. Now the kids never going to crawl since I broke her!Oh and one last thing, I threw away the Bumbo seat.

Finally, the Ped. I wish we had for the past 2 1/2 years!

So today was the consultation with Taysen's new Pediatrician. (Rowans too, but today was just about Taysen.) His new Ped is Dr. Gladieux. His consult went very very well today, it was literally like a breath of fresh air. We (Josh and I both, and I think even Taysen) really really liked him a lot. Dr. Gladieux immediately noticed some of the things that Tate does, mostly because he did a lot of pacing in his office...and spinning his toy phone...plus I had brought my handy dandy notebook that has all my info in it, with my list of all of the things that Taysen does on a regular basis, quirks wise...haha, but he also noticed right away that he does have great qualities too like the eye contact with us (and he also looked at Dr. Gladieux and was giving him high 5's by the end of the visit...:) ) and the affection that he has towards us. He of course said he couldnt diagnose anything, but that he could tell by just being with him that he wasnt a classic autistic. He may be on the spectrum, but on the mild side. He mentioned Sensory Intergration Disorder (which Heidi, Taysens speech therapist at EI, talked to me about also...I am meeting with Heidi-speech therapist, Holly-occupational therapist, and Rhoda-his EI teacher tomorrow to talk with them.) Also, he mentioned that Aspergers is a possibility. I told him that Heidi-speech therapist- thinks I should hold off on taking him to a developmental pediatrician so that we can try a few other things first...and he said "I already like her!" Because I guess he was just going to say the same thing right before I blurted that out. Anyhow, I asked him, "well what about the language delay? Most kids with Aspergers dont have language delays"...and he said "With as many ear infections that he has had, he probably cant hear enough to have developed his language correctly." With Taysens track record on ear infections, he said that Taysen should have had tubes put in his ears a long time ago. (I so agree, and we asked his old ped. about it and he said it was too dangerous to do!! To which Dr. Gladieux said was bull****!) So we scheduled a hearing test (in the booth) for July 24th at 3:30pm and then at 4pm we meet with Dr. Merrill, and ENT specialist. So things are moving along! He did say that he agreed with me, that did feel like Taysen would be diagnosed with something eventually especially because he has a nice compilation of quirks and odd behaviors, but that we should give him a chance to talk before we worry about a diagnosis. BUT one thing he did say, was that the things that Taysen was doing (like lining up all of his books in his bedroom into pathways that he was walking on) was a "brilliant" thing for a 2 year old to be doing. We said, "We'll take brilliant!" He said that Taysen was doing some very smart things that most 2 year olds dont normally do, and that just made us happy. At least on the positive side-if he has to have something wrong with him, he gets to be brilliant. He used the word "brilliant" a few times when he was talking about Taysen. It was nice to hear. Anyhow, we also did get the prescription for private speech therapy too and gave me a few names of therapists who deal specifically with autistic kids, so he thinks that they would be able to really help him. At least that is who he recommended. So I am going to call them tomorrow to see if they take our insurance. I guess he (Dr Gladieux) is personal friends with those two therapists, so Im sure that he would know if they were good or not.

Anyhow, Dr. Gladieux seems like a great doctor who really has Taysens best intrests at heart, just as much as we do. We both felt so refreshed after seeing him. I think the consult lasted like an hour and a half! We werent rushed at all and he is just the type of doctor that we have been wanting for so long, one that is involved, and wants to be! He said that he wanted us to call him with updates on how things are going, and how his appointments with the ENT doc (tubes in ears) and how the speech therapy are going. That just made us feel so good that he wanted updates. He made a follow up appointment for September 3rd to see him again, to see what progress he has after the tubes are put in his ears. So now its just waiting a couple weeks for the hearing appointments. We are so anxious (in a good way) to get it all going!! :)

And girls, thanks so much for all the support. Its great to be able to get this all out, and just talk about it in general. The first few weeks that it really hit us (and after the denial finally left us) that we have a child that has something wrong with him, was very difficult and full of tears. But I think we have really come far already with dealing with it all and getting past that stage. Especially after today's appointment. It really felt like a good step forward. And I love that the doctor thinks that the things that Taysen is doing are "brilliant" and not just weird. (I really think brilliant is my favorite word right now. Seriously. :) ) We have a special little guy because someone must have known that we could handle it.



OH and Carmen...we have already started introducing Taysen to a gluten free/casein free diet. We just started about 2 weeks ago, and are gradually replacing things that he eats with GF/CF versions. Thanks for the link to that book though, because it really is proving difficult to find things that are both gf/cf and taste good! Ill give anything a try! :) Oh and Dena, Dr. Gladieux also explained to me that the vaccines no longer contain thimerisol. Which does make me feel a lot better. So I dont think that we are going to stop all shots. We are going to skip out on the unneeded ones, like the flu shot...just because its just an extra shot that the kids dont really need...but the other vaccinations I think we are going to keep on. At least thats what we are thinking for now. And Jodi, if I could hug ya back I would. :) Thanks for your comment, what I know for sure is that I am thankful that Taysen's problems are going to be manageable, and he will very most likely be able to grow up and live his life like any normal person, and that is what every parent wants. So we are thankful that its not any worse than it is. :) OH and guess what I found out today...Bill Gates has Aspergers. Isnt that dandy? :D Maybe Taysen will be the next computer genius!

The Tater Monster

Ok so here is the update that I promised. (and you dont have to read all of this...some of it, is just for my own record...)


Tate. My little man.

Ok...so EI is going well. Taysen is fitting right in. We had a few problems when he first started in March...a lot of crying. He hated it and didnt want to leave me. But...about a month later and a few support sessions for me, he actually started to do ok! Yes, its sad, I needed support sessions because his crying was just too hard for me to watch. Isnt that just so sad...the poor mother...but the child who cries the whole entire class doesnt get a support session...haha. Luckily he finally grew out of that, because I seriously almost took him out. Anyhow...he likes EI now and when I ask him if he wants to go he gets a big grin on his face. :) Its so much better than crying! Well, he has been in EI for 4 months now. He is progressing, just not as much as I had planned. I figured he would be talking like a whiz now, and that we wouldnt even still be taking him by now. BUT thats not the case. Taysen has really started babbling a lot now...before he was babbling...just not as much, and it was always "a ba...a ba" a lot of "a ba" goin' on here for the longest time. Everything was a "ba" and it was really difficult to tell one thing from another. Haha...he now has all kinds of sounds...he will talk to you for an hour, different sounds, different tones, gestures...anything you can think of, but you cant understand a whole lot. Haha...but hey, its progress! Also, he is now saying words. Really, the words have been really shining through in the past 3 weeks or so Id say...maybe even less than three! He has been trying so hard these past couple weeks. It makes me so happy. :)

Ok so the bad news is that we are pretty sure that Taysens problems are more than just talking late. We have just been watching him closely and just adding things together...and we are pretty sure he is on the autism spectrum. I dont think that its a worst case at all. Even a few weeks ago, when I was really diving into all of the research, I was so sad, it was just a horrible thing to even contemplate. I couldnt get off of the internet...I would do research for hours on end. Just to end up bawling my eyes out because I didnt want this to be happening to us, and especially not to him. I have literally done so much research now though, that Im not as worried. Im not as worried about him growing up and being normal. Taysen will grow up and be normal. I know that because 1-he doesnt have the worst symptoms....and 2-because we are going to do everything in our power to help him with whatever he needs now. I have met with his Help me Grow caseworker, and we are going to pretty much line up everything that we need to to get stuff done. We are meeting with a new pediatrician tomorrow...mainly because the pediatrician we have now doesnt even see a problem at all, not even that Taysen cant talk yet. (Seriously...) and then on wednesday we are meeting with his speech therapist from EI, his occupational therapist from EI, and his teacher from EI. So we are getting things going at least. Anyhow I did talk with his speech therapist from EI a lot last week. Mainly just pulled her aside to ask if she did private therapy because I thought that would be awesome for Taysen since he already knows her and is comfortable with her. Well of course she doesnt, darn...but we got to talking and the teachers had all talked about our concerns and they dont us to label him already. So thats the main reason we are meeting with the teachers/therapists from EI. Heidi (his speech therapist from EI) said that she honestly doesnt even see him on the spectrum...but I dont want to get my hopes up right yet. Mainly because they arent with him every day and dont see all the things he does. But like I said, he doesnt have the worse off symptoms (like mainly the worst social problems.) He just does all these quirky things that are just odd in general. The only social problem that he has is that he is really shy and if someone enters his personal space before he is ready for them...its just screaming and tantrums. Which its really hard to discipline him for that because he just isnt ready for people to be right up there and talking to him. And sometimes the first things people do to a cute kid (and he is so cute!!!) is to get right up in their faces and say "Whats YOUR name little boy!?!" "How old are Youuuuuuuuuu???" and man thats just too much for him. Anyhow...like I said, the symptoms are just the quirky ones. (Heidi his speech therapist, said that he may have Sensory Intergration Disorder...so we are going to try a few more things like private therapy before we have him labeled as autistic for the rest of his life....)

OK here are the quirky things and problems that we have noticed:
-repetitive behaviors, like lining up cars, books, toys...just things he does all the time, all day long if you let him...
-of course, his language delay
-he self-tims a lot...he does it when he is excited or happy about things, he will tense up his whole body in joy...he does this a lot...like if you turn on the ceiling fan, or he spins something and it makes him happy, or if he just lined up his cars and he is so proud of hisself...
-obsessed with spinning things-ceiling fans, propellars...has to have ceiling fans on in the house or its totally panic attack time...
-obsessed with making things spin-for an example, he will take a matchbox car, flip it upside down, and spin it on the floor...over and over and over again.
-he likes to look at things out of the corners of his eyes while he walks. he will do this over and over again, pacing back and forth like under the table...its almost like he thinks the legs of the table are moving, but its actually him.
-he has an extremely long attention span for these things (lining up cars, spinning things, pacing...he will do it for an hour or two if you let him...)
-he is extremely sensitive...like you can crush his mood with just the wrong tone of voice....
-he has very frequent temper tantrums...not that most 2 year olds dont though...this one may just be a terrible two trait. ;)
-when he is upset, he will smash his head on the floor...mostly I think he does this just to get a reaction...the caseworker told us to completely ignore him when he does this, and lately he hasnt done it too much since we have been ignoring him.
-fascination w/trains
-cannot stand hands being dirty or sticky...if he falls down on the ground, he will freak out that the dirt is on him...or like if a hair gets on him (this could be part of a sensory problem...)
-plays with his fingers a lot...likes to watch them move
-very loud and shrill (but adorable...could be problems with his hearing...possibly fluid in his ears...gonna get that checked out too...)
-extremely horrible diet. he will only eat: cereal (dry or w/milk) yogurt, oatmeal, crackers, cookies, applesauce (occasionally) , doritos (occasionally), and a plain Mcd cheeseburger/plain McGriddle (he would eat these for every meal if we would let him...its the only food he wont turn down. (most likely sensory issues...at least thats what his speech therapist thinks...)
-chronic constipation...at least once every few weeks we have to give the poor kid either a suppository or an enema...(we just had to give him one on friday...on saturday I went to the holistic doc that I went to for my stomach problems a few years ago...she gave me a probiotic to mix in with his juice...and so far he doesnt notice it! :) hopefully it works!)
-chronic ear infections/butt rashes (going to ask the new ped. about it all tomorrow...)

Ok a couple good things...1-we can get his attention when he does these odd things, like the pacing...he isnt so zoned out that he is deaf to us, so thats a good sign. 2-he doesnt self-stim when he is uncomfortable with his environment, he only does it when he is excited and happy...I guess they are good signs.

Anyhow...we just dont want to just wait it out and hope everything turns out ok...because thats the worst thing that we could do to him, especially if he does need a lot more extra help. So we are just going to try every route we can to get him to progress as much as possible. We really think that once he can talk, that things may just start falling into place and he might start to drop some of his quirky behaviors...but its all a matter of time and seeing how long its going to take him to talk. We are going to get a prescription for a private speech therapist tomorrow at the consultation with the new ped. We are hoping to start him with the private therapy next week. He will still be going to EI also...they might add a few more hours or classes to his schedule depending on what we find out in the next couple of weeks. Now in a perfect world he would just be a quirky kid that needs tubes in his ears and some extra speech therapy. That is what I would so love to hear that new ped. say. I know its a long shot...but its really what I would love to hear. I know its going to take tests and stuff like that to get it all figured out...but oh well, we will get there eventually.

Ok also I made a list for the new pediatrician of all the words Taysen knows...even if he doesnt say them exactly how they sound. For some in parentheses is how he pronounces it. Some are animal sounds, but Ill take every word I can get!!
1-baby
2-feet (beet)
3-uh-oh
4-no
5-ball (baa)
6-eyes
7-bee
8-cow (ow)
9-doggy (goggy)
10-truck (kut)
11-choo choo (sometimes says ya ya-pure laziness i think!)
12-outside (ow-eyesh)
13-wow
14-Mmm (like yummy...haha)
15-ow
16-binky (icky)
17-cup (cu)
18-jump (da!)
19-boo (as in peek a boo...)
20-mom or mama
21-teeth (tee)
22-please (pees) AND signs it! so cute!!! he just learned this last week and says it all the time!
23-car (caa)
24-up (ubee)
25-down (daa)
26-bite (bie)
27-bath (ba)
28-Oswald (yes, as in the show...he says Owow)
29-moo (as in what a cow says...haha)
30-meow (maow)
31-dada
32-bus
33-airplane (aipee)
34-spoon (poo)

Ok I think thats all of them for now. So he is progressing...not all of his words are real clear, but that could be his hearing...hopefully its his hearing. I know its wishful thinking, but that would be such a better diagnosis than the other...With a lot of words, he says the beginning and not the end...will talk to the doc about that too.

Anyhow, with all that said, Taysen is a very loving kid...especially to family. He loves us and cuddles with us and hugs and kisses us all the time. When he talks to us, he looks us right in the eyes, unless he is upset with you, but I think thats just a normal kid behavior. Other than his little quirky habits, he is a pretty normal kid...its just that he has so many quirky habits. If it was just one, it would be less worrisome...but there are too many to ignore. We never noticed the early signs like the pacing in the crib, but we also took Taysen out of his crib at like 22 months or something like that because we switched him a toddler bed. But even the other day I was in Rowans room putting away some clothes and tidying up, and Taysen was just pacing back and forth on the outside of her crib, literally for like 30 minutes. Everytime I said "Taysen, what are you doing?" he would look at me and giggle...but its just the point that he was doing it at all...ya know? You just want your kids to be perfect in every way...definitely not stuck with a neurological disorder. Anyhow, just keep your fingers crossed that we can help him overcome whatever problems that he has so that he can grow up just like any other kid. That is our hope for him. We have put him on a few supplements to try to help even out his body...1-a probiotic for his intestines...to try and help with his constipation 2-liquid chlorophyl-basically like the goodness of greens in a liquid that i can add to his juice, has nutrients in it 3-DHA-basically nasty fish oil to help his brain...its strawberry flavor, and he actually takes this by dropper with no fight, can you believe that? 4-glyconutrients-basically the 8 sugars that your body needs to work correctly (not refined sugars...natural sugars...some that your body is supposed to produce and some that you are supposed to get through your diet...if you do research on them, they are supposed to really help the cells in your body communicate with eachother and work correctly...) anyhow thats what he is on so far. Down the road, if he is diagnosed autistic, we will probably do some detoxifying of his system of heavy metals. (Its supposed to try to rid the body of the mercury that is exposed to these kids from the vaccinations they get...and also from environmental toxins) I just wish I would have done some of this research before I had my babies...and before I vaccinated them. I know for a fact that from what I have read, that these shots have too much crap in them that they outweigh the benefits. I actually read in the book from Dr. Ken Bock that in the first shot they get on their first day of life, it has 36 times the amount of mercury in it than an adult should take in! Thats just the first shot! Plus thats in a baby's body...not an adults...so it has to be so much more horrible for these little babies! Its not just the MMR shot...I know that neither of my kids will be getting any more shots. Its just not worth it to me. And also I learned that the NE part of the country has the highest numbers of Autism...they believe its because of the amount of plants around here...especially diesel plants. Whats really nice to know, at our first house, we lived right around the corner from a huge refinery. Nice...there is so much I wish I had known...but its not like I can change anything now...just have to go forward from here.

Anyhow...so I guess this is where we stand for now. It really sucks just waiting and waiting. I really feel like things are clicking in Taysen brain with talking...just because it seems like he is trying to say a lot more words in these past couple weeks. As long as he keeps moving forward and doesnt regress at all, then I know he will be ok. So guys, please keep him in your thoughts...he really needs some luck right now! And whoever made it to the end of this post is definitely a true friend...or really really bored! Either way, I love you for that!! :D

Guess I should update...its been forever.

Ok so things have been kinda whirlwind lately. Taysen is getting so big...ok ok he is still like 24 lbs but he acts so big. Haha...Rowan is just about 15lbs and she is already 9 months old! She is finally sitting up, but still wont crawl. She still hates tummy time with a passion, but I really dont care, I gotta make her do it! Haha...she will appreciate it when she has enough muscle strength to crawl and walk. ;) I want to get some more pictures of them done soon...just since now she can sit pretty. :) We got her ears pierced when she was 5 months old...and they look so cute. I love little girls with pierced ears. Anyhow, she is a total drama queen and cries at the drop of a hat...but she is also is totally easy to get to smile and laugh. Its crazy she is gonna be a year in a few months! Personally I cant wait...haha. I cant wait until she is at Taysens age...thats going to be so much fun! I really enjoy the toddler age so much. :)

Ok on to Tater. Things have been up and down...he is such a great kid. He just has to look at me to make me laugh. He has such a funny personality. He is just such a goofball! The kid cracks me up. The other day we were swimming at Lindas and he sees a ladybug. I just watched him. He goes right up to it, picks it up, and shows me. I say how cool its a ladybug...then he squashes it. Poor ladybug didnt even know it was coming! I hope it had a will. Oh well ya never know what a kid will do right? So now I am freaking out that he is going to try to pick up a bee or a spider. Ew...that would be so nasty! Boys will be boys! Anyhow, he loves swimming so much. Linda and Bob (Joshs parents) have an inground pool...and the first time we swam in it this year, he was so unsure and was clinging to us...then we took him again a few days later and he couldnt be out for more than 2 minutes! He would want out (by the steps) and then he would run around to the side and jump in! He is so short he goes right under the water. Its sad the kid knows someone will catch him so he doesnt even care that he cant swim. Little booger. He jumped in the deep end one time and I freaked out. But he thought it was hilarious. Note to self...get a lifejacket for Taysen! Then last week we went to another friends house that has a pool...this one is above ground...so he decided as long as we set him on the side rail every once in a while so he can fall face first into the pool, he was happy. Haha...he is a fish. He was in the pool from 1-5 the other day...no breaks...just hanging around with us adults. Skipped his nap and everything. It was so cool. Rowan was in for 20 minutes before she needed a nap...and she slept the whole time. So at least I got a little sun on my shoulders too. Haha...:)

I am going to stop here for now, at least in this particular post. I will post again soon about Taysen's progress with EI...its going good...he likes class now, but we are pretty sure his problems are more than just a language delay. We are working on it at the moment...trying to get things figured out. I will update you later....just because it will be one long post...thats for sure. Hope you are all doing well. :)

Another update on Taysens speech therapy

Ok another update. :) I got an email today that Taysen will be in an Early Intervention class...it will have 8-9 other little kids that have speech delays. His classes will be mondays and wednesdays from 9-11am. I hope that he has fun...Im sure the first couple will be stressful for him since he wont understand whats going on, but hopefully he will think they are fun and learn something too!! :) Im pretty sure he starts this coming monday. It may be the week after though. Either way, we have to make an appointment to meet the speech therapist and the occupational therapist that do the group class...then after that is when he starts. So really we are just waiting on the call to meet the "teachers" now. Im anxious in good ways and in bad ways about it all. Im anxious in a good way because I just want to get it all started and have him talk! In a bad way because Im just nervous for him that it will be overwhelming. I hope he does good though, because it will be good for him to be away from me a little bit. :)

Ok now Im gonna toy with this blog a little and try to get you all added to it!! :)

Copying from OD-Taysen update/speech therapy stuff

A quick one while they are both asleep!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Ok so Taysen has had his evaluation and a bunch of other meetings with the Help Me Grow people. He does have a speech delay (since he isnt talking much at all...) so they suggest putting him in speech therapy twice a week, basically a little preschool class with other kids who arent talking yet. She said its a class of 8-9 kids. So its twice a week, 2 hours each. Thats not too bad and I bet he eventually has fun. :) I have worked it out with Linda to keep Rowan on the days he will have EI (Early Intervention...its what the classes for him are called.) so that I can go with him. I wont actually be in the room for the 2 hours, I will probably just run to the mall or stay in the parents room, but I just dont want him taking a bus, so I will be taking him. Haha...sticking him on a bus at 2 yrs old seems kind of cruel. At least to me...figuring how he cant talk, I think it would be like abandonment to shove him off on a bus having no clue where he is going. Haha...Anyhow..so everything is good with him, just not talking. :) We meet the therapists who lead the class next week, so then after we meet them and Taysen meets them, then the following week he will start the classes. :) Anyhow, just thought Id update. I gotta get going, Rowan will be up soon! :)

Copying from OD-Taysen's 2...talking issues

I am so glad to hear that you guys are having issues with your kids and eating too!!! I thought I was the only one! Taysen hates most things...and goes in spurts of liking things. Once he liked macaroni and cheese...but it only lasted like 2 days...and now he wont even put it in his mouth. Really, the only things that he will eat no matter what is smoked sausage, bananas, and dry cereal. He wont touch an egg, no matter how you make it...he will eat PB&J occasionally...but it just depends on his mood. He doesnt like much sweets either. He likes mandarin oranges and applesauce. Its really just so hard. He used to be constantly constipated...until recently when he started liking juicy juice. :) Anyhow...meat wise, he will only eat smoked sausage...or chicken nuggets...which is just gross. LOL...I like smoked sausage, but not every night...ya know? So we make it for him like once a week. So he gets meat like once a week. Unless he gets chicken nuggets for lunch or dinner some nites. Anyhow it can be so frustrating. And Dena I saw Jessica Seinfelds book on Oprah and have been wanting to get it...just keep forgetting to order it! Im gonna try some things and I really hope it works out...even just a little would make me happy!
Next off...Taysen is 2 today. The words he uses daily are feet (he says beet), truck, and bite. He will say baby occasionally...and moo...like if you ask him "A cow goes...." and he says "boooo" meaning moo...Anyhow...I really have just been saying to myself...he will talk...eventually...he is just being stubborn. Well now that he is 2 and should be able to say 50-75 words...and two word phrases...and its plain out there that he is no where near that. All of his cousins are talking...and only two of his cousins are older than him. Anyhow...he knows things...he isnt "slow"...I dont know how else to put it other than that...but really...he is a really smart kid. He knows a lot of things...he just cant say it in a word...he knows his body parts, he knows animals, he knows characters...you can pretty much ask him anything and he will point to it. You can tell him to do something and he knows exactly what you are telling him...(he isnt going to listen to every direction...he is a 2 year old...haha) anyhow like the other day...he is coming down the stairs...and I tell him "Taysen, turn around and come down backwards...then you wont fall." And he turns around and comes down backwards. He knows what I am saying. Soooo anyhow, since we have that down...lol. (I just dont want you to all think he is this dumb kid that just sits here and stares...ya know??) So anyhow, I called a couple of speech therapists...and one directed me to Help Me Grow...its a program within each County...in Ohio at least. Maybe nationwide, I have no idea. Anyhow, I called and explained how Taysen is...and the woman says, "I bet he is a very frustrated child." And I know she knows how I feel. He is always so upset because he tries telling us what he wants and we just dont know what he is saying...he will talk to you until he is blue in the face, its just in his language that we have no idea what he is saying. Well she asks me pretty basic questions about him just to get an idea of things...she says it sounds like he has an expressive problem...well we know that. Haha...anyhow so she says she will put in a few emails and that within a week we should have a call for an appointment to be made. Well what do you know, the very next day we get a call and his appointment is next week on thursday. They come to the house and play games with him and do little exercises with him to evaluate him. Pretty much since he isnt talking, he will be qualified. Im pretty sure after that then a speech therapist comes to the house once a week for a session with him. Anyhow we will find out for sure...but I think that there are even little classes I can take him to to help him more. Anyhow...I am really excited for this appointment. I cant wait to hear what she has to say. Even she said it doesnt sound like anything is really wrong with him, just that he needs a little boost to get going with his talking. So anyways, the appointment is thursday at 10am. I really cant wait. I just cant wait to find out what her ideas will be and what I should be doing to help him more. I seriously cannot wait for him to talk!!
Sooo...I bet none of you are having this problem! ;) I just sometimes think I must be a really bad mom that my kid isnt talking...like I dont talk to him enough for him to pick up language skills. Ya know?? Anyhow I just cant wait!
So anyways...I just thought Id share a few little things that he does say but in his language-
truck-cuck (his favorite thing!) he also says this when he sees a train...or hears a train or truck horn
up- he pronounces is ub-bee it almost sounds like is is saying uppy...
baby-beebee
down-daa
feet-beet
mom-he can say this...but only says it when we are watching 2 and a half men...and the song comes on "Man, man, man, man, manly man, man, man..." LOL! He just goes..."mom, mom, mom,,," Its really cute. :)
He will say BA!! and point to things for almost anything...like if he wants the ceiling fan on, or the light on...or to watch tv, or to get a snack. He says it for so many things.
Anyways...I guess thats enough to bore you guys tonite...LOL! Im sure I will update soon!