Other concerns...

Wow, 3 blog posts in one day. I promise this will be the last one, and I'll stop being such a worrywort. I just wanted to write out "other" concerns I have re: Isaiah. Mostly doing so for my own record. That way, when mommy-brain strikes (which it will), I can look back here for reference. Of course, if anybody has any feedback, I'm all ears.

* Still frequent meltdowns (screaming/sobbing) over little things, not all of which we understand. I feel they are more than just typical toddler tantrums. He is either sobbing a broken-hearted cry. Or is in a sheer panicked frenzy. You can see the anxiety in his eyes.

* Hates getting dirty unexpectedly. Total meltdown.

* Hates changing clothes. It's a fight most mornings to get his night-time diaper off, even when he poops. (Thank goodness he's 100% day-trained!) If he spills juice on his shirt, he screams because it's dirty... but then screams when we try to take it off.

* When one of the above happens, it takes him a while to calm down, even after it's passed. He'll often shut down, getting very quiet, won't talk at all or answer you.

* Still very sensory-seeking, orally. Everything goes in mouth. Licks, tastes and smells anything and everything. Chews on shoes, licks inside of dishwasher, tries to taste icky kitchen sponges (now locked up).

* Proprioceptive problems(knowing where his body is in space). Constantly running into walls and doorways. If there is a single toy in the middle of the room, he'll trip over it repeatedly. Ollie gets bowled over at least once an hour. He's just now starting to get better on this, but still has a lot trouble getting in the position for me to put his diaper on.

* The above gets a lot worse when he's distracted. Doing an activity at the table, he's falling off his chair. He's like a rag doll when we go out somewhere. He trips over his own feet, hard to walk in a straight line, very floppy.

* Part of the routine thing, but repeats certain things over and over. When I get done vacuuming, he immediately stops what he's doing and races to unplug the vacuum. Every. Single. Time. for the past year or more. I've never encouraged this, he just does it. Same thing with when the microwave dings, he runs to open the door (doesn't seem interested with what's inside most of the time- he just wants to open it, then scampers back away)

* Lately, he's been doing similar with labeling things (which is good in a way, yay words!). For example, Every. Single. Time. that I go to the bathroom, he follows me, and will point out everybody's toothbrush. "dada" "mama" "aa-aa" "me". He's done this dozens of times in the past month. Another recent example: I have a shirt that has a little boy and girl on it. He'll point and say which one's him and which one's Abbie. All day long, every few minutes that he's around me, he gets really excited and points them out as if he's never seen the shirt before.

* Listening and following direction is still a big issue. If he's focused on something, he goes into "deaf mode" and it's like he literally doesn't even hear me. I can actually scream his name and he doesn't respond. I have to repeat myself constantly.

* Still utilizing techniques such as physically holding him in a "time-in", or physically removing him from a situation. Particularly in the kitchen, as he repeatedly reaches up for the hot pot, or a sharp knife.

I think that's about all the major things. We are continuing doing therapeutic brushing, as well as some OT-type activities around the house. For his birthday in a couple weeks, I'm making him a weighted blanket and lap pad. (The last one I made has disappeared, and besides- I don't think it was heavy enough). Since we don't qualify for school-provided OT, I'm going to call around and see about private therapy (although I have a feeling it's not going to be feasible, financially).

I hate feeling like I'm obsessively worrying about what's "wrong" with my Boo. And maybe I do worry too much. However, I also hate seeing my son so unhappy so much of the time. Having to comfort him through meltdown after meltdown. Watching him WANT to do things and TRY to do things, but can't. I just want to be able to make him happy, learn how to help him learn, give him the best possible chance, just like all my kids.

Can you spot the difference?

Can you spot the difference between this photo...

and this one?

Isaiah could. Pretty cool, uh? I had placed that CD case up there after the kids went to bed the other night. The next morning, Isaiah walked into the living room, and instantly spotted it (from 2x as far away as I was when I took these photos). He had no reason to look up there in the first place- it's just the same junk that's always up there. It actually took me a minute to realize what he was pointing at since I had forgotten, and didn't see anything of significance at first.

He's always been very observant and perceptive. I remember a similar incident when he was no more than 18 months old. I had laid a small bottle of lotion on the super-cluttered dresser after he was asleep. The following morning, mere seconds after his little eyes opened, he was pointing and grunting at it.

He'll point out a tiny bug walking across the ceiling, cows seemingly miles away from the road as we speed past, a rogue balloon in the sky that I can barely make out.

Although, he doesn't always seem that observant. If there is a single toy in the middle of the room, he'll trip over it, multiple times. He constantly runs into the side of doorways, into walls- he might as well be running around the house with his eyes closed. He's very perceptive in the visual sense, but his proprioceptive sense (aka knowing where his body is in space, and in relation to his surroundings) seems to be lacking. I have several more examples, but baby is getting fussy... so I'll have to blog about them later.

Anyhoo, what I'm getting at, is the above issues aren't going away, and I'm starting to see them affecting his/our lives more and more. I'm not exactly sure what to do. We talked with an OT back in October, and have done some of the sensory diet ideas. Although, honestly, we've slacked off a whole lot for various reasons. Since this resurgence of issues, I've decided to start doing the therapeutic brushing and joint compressing religiously, as well as integrate some more high-input activities throughout the day (swinging on the swingset, pillow hugs, etc.) to see if it helps any.

He'll be receiving [home-based] speech therapy via the school starting in the fall (blogged about here). Should I push for occupational therapy as well, (even though Early Intervention didn't see the need for it, apparently)? Should we make an appointment with a developmental pediatrician and try to get an "official" diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder, and then pursue services?

I think being perceptive is an excellent trait, and it's one of the many qualities of Isaiah that proves that he's SO intelligent. I just need to figure out how to help him gain control over it, so he's only reaping the benefits, and not constantly stumbling over the drawbacks.

Care for some eggs?

Remember my post about Isaiah making breakfast all on his own? And how I said he'd be frying eggs by his third birthday? Well, apparently Isaiah reads my blog when I'm not looking, and decided to experiment with aforementioned hen fruit.

The other day, I heard the fridge door open and shut. As Isaiah loves stashing his sippy cup in there, it really didn't phase me. It wasn't until Abbie yelled "Oh no!" that I broke into a sprint. As I turned the corner, I saw... Isaiah stooped on the floor beside a broken egg, using both hands to shovel in as much ooey-gooey raw egg into his mouth before I could conviscate it.

Yum.

I dumped some salt over it (a trick that I didn't learn until my 482nd broken egg) and turned around to grab some paper towels. When I turned back, there was Isaiah, now attempting to shlurp down the salty congealed goo.

*twitch*

If there are any mommas of sensory-seeking children out there with gross stories to tell, please feel free to share them in comments. Maybe it'll make me feel better that my kid puts so many yucky things into his mouth. XD

See Isaiah Run

Okay, first we need to hit the rewind button and go back a couple months, because I totally forgot to blog about this awesome milestone...

Isaiah hates shoes. Up until this past December, he absolutely refused to wear 'real' shoes. It was physically impossible to even put them on him, as he would arch his foot, curl his toes, and kick away. The few times we pretty much forced them on, he would drop to the floor, sobbing, refusing to even stand up. So, we got by with him wearing Robeez and (as of last summer,) Crocs. Not the best footwear for winter, though.

At the beginning of December, my dear friend Leia sent a box of hand-me-downs from her 3yo, including a pair of shoes. They were still in nice condition, yet were very well-loved and worn. We offered them to Isaiah, and like usual, he wouldn't have anything to do with them. One day, we suggested he wear his new shoes... and he allowed us to put them on!! He very gingerly walked around the house for a bit, getting used to them, but after that, seemed okay with them!

Unfortunately, they are starting to get a little tight now. I tried a few pairs of shoes on him at Walmart the other day, but he refused to walk in them. Then again, they were just cheap ones, and weren't very flexible at all. I figured I was going to have to save up and splurge on more expensive ones, or he could go back to wearing Crocs for the time being.

Weeeell, yesterday morning, I woke up to an email in my inbox from Sandier Pastures' blog. I had won her See Kai Run giveaway!! Honestly, I had forgotten that I even entered it, so it was such a surprise! I get to pick out any pair of See Kai Run shoes on their website. After a lot of pondering, I think I'm going to go with the Oliver style (and not just because of the name, *wink*).

Now we just have to see if Isaiah will wear them. >.< Sensory issues aside, he also has a hard time dealing with change. But, we'll introduce them to him slowly, and not push the issues, and hopefully he'll adjust to them. :)

Purple Milk!

Almond milk + frozen wild blueberries + a banana popped in the freezer for a bit = Purple Milk smoothie!

Kids absolutely LOVE it! I usually make it in the morning, as it's a fun way to start the day (plus I'm not a morning person and don't feel like cooking as soon as I wake up).

As an added bonus, helping me haul the 'heavy' blender from under the cabinet, feeling the cold bag of blueberries and the vibration of the blender, the noisy whirring, and sucking the smoothie with a straw make this treat a rich sensory activity.

Quite yummy as well. XD

Drinking applesauce!

Patty (from Pancakes Gone Awry) commented on my post about Isaiah's OT report with the suggestion of drinking applesauce through a straw as fun oral-motor sensory activity.

I finally remembered to get some applesauce and we gave it a try yesterday. It was a BIG hit with both Isaiah and Abbie. A bonus is that it makes much less of a mess, so less dribbles for me to clean up, and less chance of Isaiah flipping out over getting dirty.

(Yes, we use small mason jars for glasses, not just as an alternative to plastic storage containers. They are the perfect size for little hands, and we've yet to have one break!)

Report from the OT

We got back the report from our occupational therapy evaluation.

"Isaiah demonstrates differences in his sensory registration (low), sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, and sensation avoiding, more than other children his age. He also has a low threshold for some sensations. He also demonstrates differences in auditory, tactile, vestibular, and oral sensory processing. .... It is highly recommended that Isaiah receive regular, strong sensory input spread throughout his day to help reduce his seeking of some sensations and avoidance of others, as well as to help reduec his rigidity of daily activities."

We've been doing "brushing" every day since the OT showed us how, and he absolutely LOVES it. We do need to work on being more consistant with it, though, since that's a huge factor in its effectiveness. I need to find an online source for a couple more brushes, just so we aren't ever without one. I've found a couple, but they all seem to be come pre-packaged saturated in sugrical scrub solution. Not ideal for the kid who puts everything into his mouth.

There were quite a few other suggestions, both for providing deep sensory input and vestibular input, as well as for oral activities. Speaking of which, I ordered him another ChewyTube a couple weeks ago, and it's already lost. Grr. I guess I'll order another one and tie a ribbon to it.

For those of you who have little ones with SPD, I'd love to hear your ideas and suggestions! What are your favorite activites to do?

I think we may be onto something...

After an awesome session with our speech therapist this morning, we met with an occupational therapist, and I filled out a sensory profile questionnaire for Isaiah. Now, I knew he had little sensory-related quirks, such as not liking to get his hands dirty, constantly mouthing/licking things, lots of spinning in circles, and sleeping under pillows. But after talking to the OT as well as doing a lot of reading these past few days, it seems more and more likely that he has SPD (sensory processing disorder).

We talked quite a while, and she's going to send me a list of things we can do with Isaiah, based on his likes and dislikes. He craves, no, NEEDS lots of sensory-input, especially in the auditory and vestibular areas. He's also sensitive to certain types of sensations, although she said that would probably decrease as his other sensory needs are met.

I'm just excited that we might be onto something here. Not that I want him to have SPD, but that by following the OT's suggestions, maybe we can reduce the tantrums and meltdowns, and lessen the frustrations and tears over everyday tasks. At least... that's what I'm hoping.

Here's a picture of my little guy during his nap yesterday. I made him a weighted blanket since he always pulls pillows on top of him... and yet he still does, even with the blanket. LOL!