Christmas 2014
Merry Christmas to everyone!
We had friends and family over for an early Christmas dinner today (Oh, what a feast it was! Ham, turkey, pop-overs, home-made rolls and cookies, mash potatoes, gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, just to mention a few items). Rebecca and I worked on this little gingerbread house this week after putting Xavier down for the night. Building a gingerbread house together has been on our date list for a long time. It was a fun time building it together. We used it as the table's centerpiece for the dinner.
Xavier slept in this morning until 8:30. After yesterday's puking and eating issues and a turbulent night Christmas Eve, the extra sleep for his parents was welcomed. When Xavier did get up, he toddled into the room where the stockings were hung with care. Looking around, he took on a look that may have communicated "what's going on? I think I might like it."
Taking his stocking down, mom assists Xavier in figuring out what to do. It was not intuitive; perhaps if we had added some small electronic items to the stocking, it might have been.
When Xavier found the flashlight Grandpa "Santa" Danny sent him, he was done with his stocking for a while. He knew how to turn the light on and off (he has practiced with one of Mommy's for months). That turned out to be his favorite toy from the stocking. Even the foam sword did not interest him as much as the flashlight.
Eventually, we coaxed Xavier back over to finish exploring what remained in his stocking. He got through the rest of it with Mom's help, most of the while holding onto his flashlight.
We took a small break to eat breakfast before entering into Middle Earth, where the light of the Christmas Tree shone upon all the wrapped and decorated items. The first item Xavier saw (it was hard to miss, actually) was the wagon. We did not know how he would react, but I am glad I had camera ready because I would have missed some great opportunities.
The wagon, a gift from Xavier's Grandma Penny, stole the show. Upon seeing the wagon, nothing else mattered. As captured by camera, Xavier ran over and gave the wagon a lasting hug. He then grabbed the handle and started dragging the wagon to the door to go outside. The pull was a short one, the door leading out was closed. Instead, he did the next best thing. He pulled all the gifts (his gifts) loaded in the wagon onto the floor, then crawled in. There he sat while everyone opened their gifts.
When he wasn't obsessing about which cup holder in the wagon should hold the jar of huckleberry jam his grandpa sent us, Xavier did open his packages, albeit with some parental help. The dump truck he is opening here we thought was the show-stealer as he drove one like it up and down the aisle at the store we bought this one at; the enthusiasm he showed is why we bought it. Alas, the wagon overshadowed this toy also.
There was one toy which did pull Xavier out of his wagon. A little wooden train. He opened it up while in the wagon, but as soon as Mom put it on the floor and pulled it along, Xavier nearly vaulted from his wagon to get to the train.
Xavier opened his crayon set (these crayons slip onto the finger) while on the floor. He has gotten into coloring (and eating the tips of crayons) recently, so these had a big appeal.
Xavier's grandpa sent him a onesie and pair of overalls. The onesie had manly prints of tractors on it. It will be a few months before Xavier fits into the overalls (by the way, dad loves dressing Xavier in overalls; they look cool and have a built-in handle to direct Xavier with), but these will come in handy as Xavier plays in the yard (which he wants to do more and more). Here, Aunt Chellie keeps Xavier still long enough to get a picture of him in his new onesie.
Christmas Eve 2014
Merry Christmas Eve to all, and to all a good night!
We have been looking forward to this night for some time. Xavier goes to bed and falls asleep, visions of sugar plums dancing in his head. Mom turns on Christmas carols to play quietly in the background. Dad dons the fake white beard held to his face by a thin elastic strap, then heads for the room we call Middle Earth, where the Christmas tree stands decorated and Xavier's one gift needing assembly stands sealed in its box.
The box has stood against the wall all week, and Xavier has played on top of it many times. It stands tall enough that he can play with the rheostat light switch, a device that fascinates him. But now that the Wee One is asleep, it's time for the box's content to make their appearance.
Ah, dreams. The substance of life, or so the round tells us. From the time he got up this morning, Xavier has been throwing up. Four times today at last count, and all but one Mom has had to change clothes too. He has been tired and cranky, and who can blame him with all his phlegm-dredging coughing and his upset stomach. Late in the afternoon Rebecca took him to the clinic. Now, he is on antibiotics three times a day.
So tired throughout the day, he actually fell asleep on Dad while in church. Wow. Rebecca says he has done that before, but I cannot remember it. Tonight, with Mom, Dad and Aunt Chellie sitting around him at the dinner table, Xavier fell to sleep in his highchair. Not even Mom's delicious Beef Burgundy (which usually he devours ravenously) could scare away the Sandman.
We woke him, changed his diaper and got him into his night clothes, fed him (a tenuous move given today's history), then got him to his crib. At last, the dream could commence! With family gathered around, the boxed item got opened, its contents sorted and laid out, the parts compared to the list printed in the assembly instructions.
The first problem besetting us was the list of tools needed: a hammer. What?! Xavier just got to sleep, and that was no easy feat this night, not after waking him from the highchair. OK, so move to the basement? Move to the patio, in freezing temperatures? Rubber mallet—O, it's still packed somewhere! Pound quietly was the solution we decided to go with.
The sparsely noted instructions were written in three languages. Lots of pictures with arrows and rotated views. No real directions of any kind, except in every panel where it warned the assembler that the wheels must be put on correctly. At least those oft-repeated instructions had three languages to get that vital point across. How to build the wheels correctly was an exercise left to the assembler. Led down a wrong trail by the arrows in the diagram, the first fubar took :20 minutes to back out, and backing out looked grim for a long time. All the while working to back out a wrongly assembled axle, those three-language warnings repeatedly taunted us. Correcting the problem left one thing certain: those back wheels aren't coming off except by means of a cutting torch or shaped explosives. That fubar worked through, we had no others the rest of the assembly.
Advancing Beyond Eating
Greetings to everyone.
Today, the three of us met with Mrs. Robin, Xavier's speech therapist. It's been several weeks since Xavier last saw Robin; even longer since I attended a session. We had determined that Xavier showed better advancement if he did not see Robin every week.
Today's meeting was not another session of helping Xavier figure out how to chew, swallow and eat with age-appropriate skill. Today was a language assessment.
Xavier got to play the whole session while Mrs. Robin asked Rebecca and me many questions. Our answers provided the basis of where Xavier is at speech-wise. The questions took nearly the full hour to get through.
Xavier is a little behind for the 18-21 month grouping, but nearly spot-on for the 15-18 month grouping. Xavier will now be seeing Mrs. Robin once or twice a month for a while (we have an approved referral for 21 visits through May 2015), these sessions to catch him up on speaking. His delay in eating skills helped put him behind a little in speaking. Mrs. Robin also mentioned that having him in preschool will help with his speech also, as other children his age will have success with teaching him English. We already have several "exercises" to work with Xavier; these are easy games which easily integrate into most interactions with Xavier.
Mrs. Robin also gave us some sound advice for managing Xavier's leaning toward vestibular sensory input. He is a kinesthetic child, and does very well when learning and teaching accommodate this fact. Mrs. Robin did a number of tests with Xavier while asking us her language questions (his responses to her tests impressed her several times). The advice she gave us concerning Xavier going to school and sitting through a church service (for example) we will put to use. It all involves special and directed types of activity. This will even help when bringing him to a dinner table.
She also recommended an occupational therapist see Xavier. This will not be like his previous OT, but someone well-suited for Xavier's disposition, someone who can work with Xavier and explain to us how best to manage and direct him for his best interests in his need to be active.