We know most our letters!

First Poo in the Potty!

She was in the bath, poking her butt, which is unusual, she usually digs in the front. Next thing I know I see small floaties. Yikes! I swooped her up and dropped her on the toilet. She sat like a good girl and finshed!

I have pics, but unfortunetly, she hid my memory card somewhere, so until I find it: standby.

However, she wasn't finshed. Afterwards, I cleaned her up and got her ready for bed as usual. I then put her in front of Shrek so I could get my shower done. As I was getting out she greets me with a handful of poo and a sad face. She knew she was in big trouble. Why can't she just not do it? Geez!

A random Silly: Just cuz I haven't posted one in awhile!

Her first Session!

Wow, it's amazing how much can be learned in 40 minutes.

An Occupational Therapist named Ashley came this morning, arms loaded with toys. The first toy she pulled out was a plastic contracption with 4 holes on top that you place balls in. The trick is you have to push the balls into the holes, so it's a challenge. So, Ashley begins passing the balls to Amelia and asking her to say please while signing it (rub circles on your chest). She did this over and over and over, until Amelia started doing it. It was the cutest thing! When she asked please she would rub her belly. Hee hee. And yes, eventually she got the balls in the hole without help and did that over and over...

Ashley also asked me about Amelia's tendencies to want to bang her head on things. Yes, she mostly does when she's upset or frustrated, but she does do it sometimes just because. She told me she may like the pressure feeling she gets from it. What I can do before I anticipate her banging is place pressure anywhere on her body. And of course, redirect her when she starts to bang. The pressure thing also makes sense in that she has recently picked up pinching (not to be mean) but just likes to pinch squishy skin, and spinning, which are all tied together in wanting to feel sensations.

And...she made me feel really good about her "A" diagnosis. She asked me what her official diagnosis was, and all I could say was "Ya know, as soon as the Doctor blurted out the "A" word I really didn't hear anything he said after that, so let me go get the report..." She pointed out that she was diagnosed as having PDD (perceptive disoder) which is at the bottom cusp of the "A" umbrella. Like boarderline, "she doesn't have it, but possesses a few of the symptoms" catagory.

I also have to say she is doing so much better in pointing. Because that was one of the doctor's main concerns was that she didn't point to things, I made a point to point it out to her! When we flip through books I ask "Where's the dog?" Then take her hand and make her point to the dog and say "There's the dog!" Before I always did the pointing, but making her do it makes a world of difference. It really is amazing. Now she points at random things, even if they're not important, ha ha. GOOD!

Her Speech Evaluation

Today she had her first appointment with HKIS, the state funded developmental program. Two ladies came for the eval. One played and tested Amelia while the other drilled me with questions. Amelia was very cooperative and did even more than I thought she could! She shared toys with me as well as them when asked, jumped on command, mimicked sounds they made and even did the puzzles...correctly! Ha ha. It took about an hour and a half, and when finished they went over it with me. Basically, as we know, she was on target for everything except speech and few minor communication areas (really?!) They want to work on getting her interested in book pictures and pointing to things when asked as well. That's something she really has no interest in.

So, overall, very pleased that someone that does this for a living was able to come to our home, see her in her element, and figure out what to do to help her! I'll be getting the official report in the mail in a few weeks, then we can draw up a plan special for her. Can't wait to begin!

I'm still warming up to the news given to me by the hospital on Thursday. Thank God Tammy was with me because otherwise I would not have heard anything the doctor said. To start, we arrived 20 minutes late because I got lost. Dr. Ching and a speech pathologist evaluated Amelia. She was good, but not doing the things they had laid out for her to do as well as I had hoped. After her little tests they sent us to the waiting room. Then they called us back and laid it out for us. Yes, she has a speech problem. But she also has a communication problem. She lacks the ability to relate to others, or relay her feelings. I guess, in a nutshell. So, he says it. The "A" word. And I lost it. He says she’s within the realm of an "Autism Spectrum Disorder". But diagnosing her with this can get her good help in good programs, even though she only displays some of the symptoms. She doesn't have any weird behaviors, but just needs help catching up. But still, it is so misunderstood, even I don’t. And I am not okay labeling her with that. Let’s just say she's slow, k?

Potty Introduction

We've had a long time bath routine. First we signal we're finished, I drain the tub, pick up the toys and wipe down all excess water from the floor (she is an excellent water kicker), then before I pick her up I ask her if she has pee pee and point to her vagina. She will look down and pee. So, we've established what pee pee is. Time to make the transition! Now, for the past few nights, after the bath I pick her up and place her on the pot (I have her baby seat on the toilet). No luck so far. However, just now after her nap I noticed her diaper was dry so I decided to try it. (For the record, she loves sitting up there, grins all around.) She couldn't resist digging in her vagina the entire time, but she did tinkle!! Very happy. :)

Her Evaluation Appointment

Her appointment at Tripler was this morning! She was a really good girl. The pediatrician's name was Dr. Chan, he conducted several small tests to test her language and cognitive skills. She scored average in cognitive and below in language (go figure!) I was able to tell him everything she does and doesn't do, and tell him my concerns which made me a very happy mama! So, we have another appointment to redo basically the same tests with him along with their speech pathologist on April 15th. In the meantime, he referred us to a state program that will come and evaluate Amelia from home to see if she qualifies. Also, we will be going back to get a hearing test done, it's routine anyways.



*Note the shapes in the wrong places, lol.

Droopy Drawers!

Still no talking!

So I decided to be proactive and call the doc to see if it could be hearing related. I thought it could be a start. She checked her out and seemed to see nothing wrong there (thank goodness). After filling her in on the things Amelia isn't doing at 20 months, she thinks she may have a learning delay. But does she? After all, she only learns what I teach her, right? So if she can't point to body parts, and I haven't really covered those bases, wouldn't it be my fault? She also never has to ask me for things because I already anticipate the things she wants. I may be an enabler.

Nonetheless, I will follow through with Tripler's Developmental Center. I want to know from a professional what I need to do to get her on track. She is a smart cookie, she is developing completing normal aside from the lack of verbal communication. We'll get there soon enough, I'm sure.