Update: It's been a while

My Lord, it's been a long time since I've updated this blog! Lot's has happened. We moved to Decatur, so we could register the boys in a better school district. This meant renting our house out, putting lots of stuff in storage and renting an apartment. It's small and dated, but it's in a great neighborhood with lots of parks and awesome schools. I'm so excited about it. The boys and I have been loving the nice days and the chance to get out and walk to parks that are full of children and fun things to do. We also have a great (not quite New York great, but almost) pizza joint on the corner. It's like Heaven!

In August Gary will be in pre-K, and Will is going to be in a Head Start program for 3 year olds in the same school with his brother. I'm not going to know how to behave with all those kid-free hours on my hands. I'll be busy, but it's going to feel like such a vacation not being on referee duty ALL DAMN DAY!

To update on the boys: Gary's speech is coming along nicely. He has a really great vocabulary, but he's still having issues with articulation. He will continue to get speech therapy in school. He has been self-correcting quite a bit lately, so he's aware that he's not pronouncing things correctly. That's a start. Will has added a few words or word approximations. Here's his list: Mama, boo!, go!, up, kirka (for circle), ba for ball. I'm still convinced he has apraxia of speech, but that hasn't been diagnosed yet. He has been given a diagnosis of PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified). It's too confusing for me to try to explain at this late hour. Google PDD-NOS if you're interested. Evidently, it's on the Autism Spectrum, but it isn't autism. Confusing, I know. Anyway, the diagnosis is ongoing. It could very well turn out to be wrong as we watch him grow and mature a little bit more. It is also entirely possible that a severe speech and language disorder along with some sensory integration problems are the crux of his problem, and that it's not anything close to autism. Next on the agenda for Will is a sedated ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) test April 20 to rule out any sort of hearing deficit. After that he will be seeing a Developmental Pediatrician for a second evaluation and opinion. I'm hoping he can refer me to a speech and language pathologist with experience with PDD's for a speech evaluation. 

I can handle whatever this turns out to be, but I want to know what exactly we're dealing with, so we can go about getting the appropriate therapies. Stay tuned for further updates.

We are going to the tiny but famous (childhood home of Oprah Winfrey) town of Kosciusko, MS for Easter. We'll be driving 6 hours tomorrow, staying in a hotel tomorrow night, visiting quickly Sunday with family and then driving back to Atlanta. Gary should be nice and tired to have to go into work on Monday. The boys and Ree Ree and I can sleep in.

Gary's Buddy

I took this picture first thing this morning while Gary was drinking his "ya-ya" (that's toddler speak for Yoohoo, which is really chocolate soy milk) and watching Curious George. He had the whole couch to sit on, but he made Clara move over and make room for him. I guess he wanted to sit right next to her for warmth since our living room is like an ice box in the mornings. Funny thing is the boys can't walk on the new wood floors in their sock feet because they keep slipping and falling. It's either socks and shoes or cold feet. They usually opt for the cold feet. 

Doesn't Clara look like the tolerant, dutiful dog that she is? She's the best.

December 1st Will has an appointment with a pediatric neurologist for an evaluation. Crossing my fingers that it's not a waste of time or that he doesn't recommend a bunch of tests that my insurance refuses to pay for. I can't wait for Obama to start kicking some you-know-what to get out country's healthcare system on track. I hope my vote wasn't wasted. I'm counting on him to come through for me.

My 36th Birthday Dinner

Well, I've had another birthday. I'm not quite as old as I feel, but I'm closer. We (that would be myself, Gary, Little Gary, Will, Rick, Ree Ree and Grandma Betty) celebrated with dinner and cake. Mom cooked spaghetti with cole slaw and garlic toast. Yum! She was going to make me a caramel cake, but I didn't want to disappoint the boys by not getting the traditional transfat-filled birthday cake from the grocery store and vanilla ice cream. What's better than Crisco mixed with sugar? (Really, don't think about that one too long if you ever want to enjoy a birthday cake again.) 

Neither my mom nor my mother-in-law would let me post pictures of them, so you have to take my word for it that they were here. Vanity knows no age limit I guess. Anyway, I had a nice birthday with my family, and here are some of the pictures.

William Everett

Just wanted to share some cute pictures of Will sporting orange, his best color. He's trying so hard to talk, but we're not there yet. Sometimes we hear what we hope and want to believe is Mama and Dada (or Daddy). I've heard "ball" a few times--I think. Tonight he was playing with the telephone handset that's on the fax machine, and it sounded like he was saying "Hey". I told him to say, "Hey Ree Ree!", and I swear it sounded like he said "crazy". You know, come to think about it, the kid may be talking after all. (Sorry, Ree Ree!)

Anyway, he's beautiful and funny and full of life and energy, and he's so loving. He's perfect even if he never talks. His brother even loves him most of the time, as long as he stays away from his toys

. 

Budding Artist

Gary walked up with his Magnadoodle the other day and said, "Look, Mommy! A bird."

Can you see it?

Gary, the friendly lion, goes Trick-or-Treating.

Little Gary got dressed up tonight as a lion, and we hit Uncle Rick's neighborhood for Trick-or-Treating. Boy, did he score! For the last 30 minutes or so of the night he had us carrying his pumpkin for him because it was too heavy. 

He did well saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you", but he wasn't loving the houses with the scary decorations. Uncle Rick tried to encourage him to go to those doors, but he was having none of it. 

Ree Ree got worn out from all the walking, but everyone had a good time, and we'll have plenty of candy around for a couple of weeks. Woo hoo! Happy Halloween!

Utter Cuteness

I caught this picture of Gary tonight while he was watching "Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie". Wouldn't you love to recapture a 3-year-old's sense of wonder? He's blissful sitting there in his M&M-covered dinosaur pajamas watching Winnie the Pooh. These are the moments to remember.