Nothing New

Nothing is really new with us.  So here are a few fun photos from the past week.

 I can't complain about the weather when my parents still had snow a week ago.  But, I'm so ready for it to be hot.

Thinking about getting Kolton some sort of life or swim vest to wear around the pool this summer.  Just in case he were to fall in!  We didn't get this one but it was hard to resist with a smile like that.

He insists on taking Sophie out to do her business.  

Knocked out!  Why won't he do this with me?

Ruby Tuesday's

It's a sad, sad, world when one of my favorite restaurants is Ruby Tuesday's.  Its probably the nicest place I feel comfortable taking Kolton.  Hence, the shenanigans above! 

Baltimore Emergency

Oh, how I wish this photo wasn't blurry!  Don't they just look like two peas in a pod?  The truth is Kolton has been quite the bully to Sophie lately.  He lays on her, tries to ride her, and takes her toys away.

We spent Thur-Sat in Baltimore; special thanks to Kristin and Amy for their hospitality!  In my lottery dreams I think it would be nice to continue to own a house there so Kolton and I could live there part time when Mike has longer road trips =)  Kolton slept like a champ in his pack and play but he didn't really nap so by the time he went down for the night he was exhausted.  Overall it was a fantastic trip as usual.  But, I did have to make a trip to the emergency room....for Sophie!  She started puking up what appeared to be blood at 2:30 am Fri night/Sat morning. I was freaked out so off we went to the Falls Road Animal Hospital, a 24 hour facility.  Thankfully, they couldn't really find anything wrong and she was treated with fluids and antacids.  I just feel bad that I had to wake up Amy to let her know I was leaving for a bit in the middle of the night.  Kolton never knew we were gone.

On the Lighter Side

Sorry my last post was a little heavy.  After hearing about the bombing at the Boston Marathon my problems seem tiny, and a mile away.  So I thought I'd just keep it light today.

Kolton wants to be outside ALL of the time.  Although sometimes annoying its actually pretty cute.  We have a very small hill in the back and I think it's his mission in life to make it up without assistance. The yard isn't fenced in so poor Sophie is either on the leash or banished to the kitchen where she looks longingly at us.  I just don't trust her to stick around off-leash even though I'm sure she would for the most part.

Recently Kolton decided to unroll practically a whole roll of toilet paper onto the floor.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who just uses it that way until its gone!

The Sum of all Fears

Well, it was inevitable...I'm staring down the rabbit hole once again regarding Kolton's development.  Friday I met with a group of people from the school system to discuss my concerns and explain some of the history of his behavior.  It was concluded that he should be evaluated across all areas.  As I was leaving the school psychologist thrust a parental observation survey  in my hands.  "This helps us to determine if he has Autism"  she said.  "From what you told us, he is displaying some signs."  I wish I would have kept my mouth shut!!!!

Since then, I have been obsessed with reading each question and trying to convince myself that he doesn't have it.  But truth be told he does, in fact, display some symptoms.  More specifically...

1) Obsessed with things that spin

2)  Lack of speech-however he does communicate with gestures and points.

3)  Does not pretend play

4)  Becomes irritated by fabrics or tags

5)  Flaps arms when excited

I justify that some of these things are just normal 2 year old behaviors.  I'm sure there are plenty of normal two year olds out there that have thrown a fit over not wanting to get dressed.  And without the presence of dolls in the house how does a toddler boy pretend play?  He doesn't always flap his arms, sometimes he dances.  Then I cling to the fact that he is very loving, makes eye contact, smiles appropriately, seems interested in others, and responds to his name.  Does having these five symptoms equal an Autism diagnosis?

I've been thinking a lot about what I'm afraid of with all this.  Am I afraid I will love my son any less?  HELL NO!  Am I afraid of the work that might be involved on my end?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!    Am I afraid he won't be able to be a doctor, lawyer, politician, etc?  NOT REALLY

I think what it boils down to is I'm afraid he won't be socially accepted.  Today's youth can be so cruel.  I'm afraid he will be bullied for his short comings and that I'm sending him down that path.  I wonder though; now that Autism and other Autism spectrum disorders are more frequently diagnosed if there won't be such a stigma attached to needing special help like there was when I was growing up.  I certainly hope so.  I hope I'm not offending anyone with my ramblings.  I'm just trying to work through my feelings.

So to end on a positive note.  The weather in Richmond has been terrific!  And Kolton has shown a real preference for being outdoors.  

Approximations

Yesterday Kolton had his best speech therapy session yet.  I was excited for his therapist to witness all of his new approximations....thank you Katie for helping me find the right word to describe his speech! So he isn't saying the word clearly but I can tell what he is trying to communicate.   He has them for colors especially...red, yellow, green, blue, and pink.  He also knows numbers like 2 and 8; but can identify a lot more.  Then there is muffin (his favorite food), egg (after all the hunting for Easter), don't forget about cheese (like in the photo), and now fish (because she played a fishing game with him).  I have a meeting on Friday to start the process on getting him evaluated with the school system.  Its all pretty confusing but I really won't know more until after he is observed, and I have no idea when that will be.  Still, things are looking up!

Trying on for size

Mike and I did a little babysitting Saturday morning.  It was kind of fun to get a glimpse into what it might be like to have two kids.  But we also got to give her back to her Mom after a few hours!  I am going to be 35 this summer and I'm feeling like time is running out if we want another child.  I go through ebbs and flows over it.  Right now I'm just enjoying Kolton so much its hard to think about not being able to give him all of my attention.

He has gone through a tiny growth spurt and is now a 2T in shirts but still 12-18 months in pants!  He's such a skinny minny.  So I started to wonder if he's gone up a shoe size.  Last time I waited too long and had him in shoes 2 sizes too small.  Oops!  He measured only 1/2 a size bigger.  So, what do you do?  Keep him in shoes a little tight, buy him ones that fit exactly, or go up a full size and risk them being a tad big?

Resemblance

This is a picture of the picture so I apologize for the quality.  Kolton is holding an old photo of Mike at a similar age in the exact same outfit...yes, even the red shirt is at least 35 years old!  Mike's mom gave it to me as a shower gift.  Do you see the resemblance?!?!  We had these taken a couple of weeks ago but they were Easter gifts for our family so I couldn't post it until now.

Redeeming Myself

 

We had an awesome Easter Weekend!  Thank you so much to our friends Megan and Marshall Rumney and the entire Keyser family for welcoming us into your holiday celebration.  We are forever grateful for your kindness and generosity...especially for feeding us like Kings!  

 We took the boys to an egg hunt on Saturday where Kolton finally seemed to grasp the concept of collecting more than one egg.  

He also got to ride a little pony again.

  

The Easter Bunny did a great job delighting the kiddos with baskets full of goodies and eggs galore. Kolton spontaneously said "Cheese" for this photo!

Fixated on the sparkly ones.

After beating myself up for feeling like yet another holiday got off to a rocky start Easter 2013 couldn't have turned out better!