I've got good news & bad news...

Which do you want first?

The good news...Liam is talking non stop. At home and at school.

The bad news...I can't remember everything he says. There are times when I hear something and I think, wow, I've never heard that before and it's so exciting that I'll definitely remember it...and then I sit in front of this computer and my brain just turns to mush...

as evidenced by that HUGE RUN ON sentence that I just typed. My apologies to the syntax freaks in the audience.

Anyhow, here's a sampling of Liamisms from the past few days.

"I'm going to check on Baby Beckett."

as we sorted laundry in the laundry room.

"Nice sharing with Beckett."

as he gave Beck a toy to play with.

"I'm climbing, Mama!"

as he climbed on top of my car (see above photo!)

"Beckett, are you okay? I love you Baby Beckett."

as poor Beck bonked his head on his Exersaucer.

"Oh my gosh, Baby Beckett!"

as he watched him play in the Exersaucer.

"I have two horsies. Look, a cow!"

as he played with his farm set from his Auntie Mandy. He has finally grown into that toy! At one point the horses were having a conversation and he was referring to them as Sandy and Spongebob. I couldn't make out the conversation but I know some pretend play was happening.

"Where did the horsies go? Come out right now!"

as he searched for the missing horses.

He is beginning to point out numbers...at the grocery he points to the aisle markers and calls out "7, 2, 3" whatever comes to mind. Sometimes he's right and other times he isn't...but in my mind I'm grateful that he can differentiate between numbers and letters. He has a set of stick on numbers that he plays with in the bathtub every night. It's just one of those little things that makes me feel so much better. I've seen way too many evaluations where his "cognitive ability" has been assessed as below average. That has always scared me very badly, even though I know that his communication issues really prevent therapists from assessing him at times. They just don't know if he can't communicate or if there's a coginitive issue that keeps him from answering the questions or completing a task. I've seen so many little breakthroughs lately in Liam that make me feel relieved. It feels good to exhale.

No means no

I missed yesterday's update! It was quite a busy day.

Liam had his ears checked again at Dr. Wampler's office. He still has fluid in his left ear. Grrr. I talked with Dr. Wampler about alternative therapies and he says it can't hurt to try in this case since he no longer has an infection. I need to get him back to Eric for some more adjustments and look into some homeopathics. He goes back in 6 weeks to get a recheck; if the fluid is still there then Wampler wants us to see an ENT. I really do not want to go that route; I'm sure they would suggest tubes. So keep your fingers crossed that the alternative therapies will help!

Okay, so Liam always gets excited when we go to the dr's office...I guess because he doesn't associate the dr's office with shots. For those of you who don't know, Liam is only partially vaccinated. We started out with a delayed vax schedule to a) give his immune system a chance to develop naturally and b) because we were very leery about all of the chemicals and heavy metals that are in vaccines. It never made sense to us personally to give a four month old four shots at one time. Anyhow when it became clear that Liam had some communication issues, we put a halt to the vaxing. Dr. Wampler has always supported our decisions for selectively/delaying vax. He agreed with me at Liam's 3 year old visit that there will be no more vaxes until we get Liam on track as far as communication is concerned. That may be a very long time...thankfully Friends School is fine with his lack of vaxes (since there are lots of other kids in the same boat!) and hopefully wherever he ends up later will be too...otherwise there's always homeschooling. Now if Liam is in a public school (which is highly doubtful) he can get a religious exemption to avoid the vaxes but private schools don't have to accept this.

For those of you wondering what in the world a religious exemption has to do with vaccinating, well, it's interesting. First of all, many Catholic parents choose not to vaccinate as some vaccines are cultured from aborted fetal tissue (MMR, Varivax, Hep A to name a few). Many Wiccans choose not to vax as they worship nature and believe that disease is a part of nature's creation and should not be obliterated. Some Christian Scientists choose not to vax and so on...and then you have the people like me who really have no other alternative. Now if I approached the Board of Health and said, "My son has severe communication disorders...I have read research which suggests that his brain may be affected by some of the heavy metals that are in vaccinations and I really don't want to risk that..." they would say, "Too bad, nutjob." So I have to say that I object to vaxes because of my religious beliefs. Thankfully I don't have to state what those are. Yes, I realize I may be going to hell for this, but it's better than the alternative at this point.

Okay, I so did not mean to get on a vaccination soapbox. Moving on.

So, Liam likes to go to Dr. Wampler...because he loves the SUCKERS. At the check out desk they have a big basket full of those wonderful suckers with the paper looped handle...delicious. I actually look forward to getting them as well! My ped from childhood used to hand them out too. Yum. Anyhow, our name is called and we're trekking back to an exam room when Liam sees that basket and starts asking for a sucker. Here's our conversation:

Liam: Sucker, please. Want a sucker.
Me: No, you can have a sucker AFTER you see Dr. Wampler.
Liam: Want a sucker.
Me: AFTER you see Dr. Wampler.

So we have the crying. The pleading. The foot stomping.

I walked away. And, HE FOLLOWED ME! I was giddy! I was afraid I was going to have to hand Beckett off to a nurse and peel Liam from the floor.

So after we visited with Dr. Wampler, he got his sucker. Cherry.

Then he wanted mine...which wasn't going to happen. No means no.

Roll Call...

This morning on the way to school we were talking about all of the friends he would see at school.

Me: Kristie, Coco...
Liam: Evie
Me: Tyler
Liam: Kenton
Me: Nora
Liam: BJ

We pulled in the parking lot and he announced, "Friends School!"

He seems so much more "with it" lately...like remembering his classmates' names! That's huge for Liam. :)

Supplements...

We've also started the following nutritional supplements for Liam, on Dr. Wampler's recommendation (and Dr. Eric's too :)

Udo's Oil http://www.florahealth.com/flora/home/canada/products/R7980.asp

DMG http://www.herbalremedies.com/dmgnndimglyc.html

He's still taking his Juice Plus daily as well.

Q&A

Sorry about the weekend hiatus. We had no internet service for part of the weekend. That makes blogging difficult. :P

Liam had an appointment with the pediatric opthamologist today. Our appointment was at 2:45 and we FINALLY saw the dr at 4:15. Yes you read that right. So of course I was by myself with the kids and it was extremely unpleasant for all parties, me, Liam and Beckett. Liam kept coming up to me and saying, "Ready to go home, mama, hold my hand," where he would try to drag me toward the door.

So the dr comes in and evaluates his eyes, which was an interesting process. His pupils were dilated and she used a number of lights, tools & lenses to look into his eyes, after which she announces that he needs glasses. He also has astigmatism in both eyes. She said that if we did put him in glasses now it would be very stressful for him (and us!) given his delays...so we should wait a year to help him mature, but no longer. Great. Something to look forward to I suppose. <--sarcasm here.

One bright spot--the dr offered him a sucker.

Dr. Fishman: Would you like a sucker?
Liam: Okay
Dr. Fishman: Red, yellow or purple? (she held them up)
Liam: Purple (pointing to the purple one)

He only took the purple one, which is a major accomplishment. He usually takes all of them from my hand at once!!!

Okay, so on to the weekend updates. We had several good exchanges of information. I am noticing that he is able to answer questions more regularly. There are times when he doesn't understand what you're asking...and when he doesn't understand, you get your question repeated back to you. Sometimes it's tough to find a way to rephrase.

Me: Want to help me with the laundry?
Liam: Help me with the laundry? (pronoun confusion too)
Me: Help me with clothes?
Liam: Okay (follows me to laundry room and helps pull laundry out of dryer)

On Saturday morning he sat at the table eating his pancakes (or comecakes as he calls them???). I was cleaning up dishes so I said...

Me: Liam, are you okay?
Liam: I'm all right, Mama.

Big deal here...he didn't repeat part of my phrase. He said "all right" instead of okay. :)))))

More questions...

Me: Liam, do you want some Life? (Life is cereal for those of you wondering)
Liam: I want Raisin Bran.
Me: We don't have any Raisin Bran. (I felt horrible about this)
Liam: Okay.

The kid loves Raisin Bran. He demands a raisin in every spoonful and will hunt them down in the bowl.

He actually asked me a question this weekend...BIG deal for Liam. On Sunday I had to work at the Kenesth Israel/Adath Jeshurun Health Fair for Birth Care Network. I was drying my hair, watching the clock and trying to keep Beckett entertained as he howled next to me. I'm sure I looked pretty stressed out...I turned the blow dryer off and heard Liam asking me...

"Mama, what's the matter?"

Obviously he saw the look of stress on my face and knew something was up. I was in a hurry, Beckett needed to eat, I had no time, he was tired & I knew Brad would be stuck with two unhappy kids. I was pretty happy that Liam could read the emotion in my face and know that things weren't right.

So on Sunday afternoon he took his Buzz Lightyear tent downstairs and climbed all over it. He discovered if he laid it down flat he could climb inside of it. This provided hours of amusement.

Liam: Come with me. Want to see Buzz Lightyear?
Me: Okay. (he takes my hand)
Liam: Sit down.

So we sat near the Buzz Lightyear on the tent and admired his eyes, teeth & mouth. I got up to walk away and heard, "Come see Buzz."

When you have a speech delayed child, it is so very difficult to say no to something when they begin to make requests. I spent more time than I wanted coming back and sitting on that tent...but if I want him to continue to ask me questions I need to give him incentive. You ask a question=you get a response. Now it won't be like that forever, I know...

Later we heard:

"I climbed in the tent." (his head was sticking out of the tent). "I'm stuck!"

Two more little stories that make me smile. Last night in the bathtub he broke the little basket that holds his toys.

Me: Liam, you broke my basket. (I held up the the two parts to show him).
Liam: Let's fix it!

And another...after picking at baby Beckett and spending time on the piano bench for time out.

Me: Liam, please do not bother Beckett.
Liam: Sit on the bench?

This morning after we had a talk about pushing, he said, "Don't push Beckett. You hear me?" That was kind of funny, to hear what you must sound like.

Good job this weekend, Liam...keep it up sweet boy.

Today was a slow day on the language front...

but an exciting one nonetheless.

Liam woke up this morning wanting a bagel. "Want a bagel, Mama?" he said to me as we snuggled in bed. Each morning he comes to wake me up after Brad leaves for work and we go back to his bed and cuddle & sing until the baby wakes up. Shortly after his request, Beck woke up and nursed and we were off to Panera Bread.

On the way to Panera he said, "Going to school, Mama?" I tried to explain that wouldn't go to school for a few more days. I sensed a meltdown was coming but he handled the news just fine. We got to Panera and got our bagels. One of his favorite things to do now is to hand the cash/card to the cashier in the store. That may seem to be very trivial for some, but it really thrills me to see him do this. I was putting him in the car when he said, "The sky, Mama." I turned around and sure enough the sky was open and blue and just, well, there. "Yes, that is the sky." He then started to label everything in close range; trees, flowers, butterflies (he calls birds butterflies). And I love how he ends each of his phrases with Mama. There were days early on when I wondered if he would ever say Mama...and now he says it all the time. I will never take that for granted.

Later on that afternoon I explained to him that he would be going to Mimi's house. He immediately grabbed my hand and said, "Let's go to the car." Again, I explained that Mimi would be coming to our house to take him in her car. He insisted that we get in our car. Eventually he lost interest in trying to drag me to the car and began to admire the flowers. At one point he started counting them...that was so cute!

I had put a baby swing on the front porch to give back to my mom. Liam approached it several times and considered sitting on it, but reminded himself "That's for baby Beckett." I praised him for remembering and told him he was a big boy.

My mom arrived and when she walked up the driveway he ran to her. He was so excited to see her...he again grabbed my hand and starting saying "Get in the car, get in the car." He knew he was going with her and just could not wait.

He spent the evening with my parents while I taught my last Bradley class. He came home so exhausted that he didn't say much more. There's always tomorrow. :)

So much to say...

Okay, so I forgot to mention a few things that Liam said/did today. The funniest by far was telling Beckett to "take your fingers out of your mouth baby." Beckett was not amused, nor did he listen.

He's always talkative in the bathtub. Tonight he was telling me again about having fun. I have fun on the slide, I have fun at school, he mentioned Mandy's name again (lucky you!). We started talking about his classmates. I mentioned Nora, Evie, Tyler, Coco...and he says "And Kristie." Awww...Kristie, he's really loving on you lately!!! Then he told me "No pushing Coco." I don't know if Coco was pushing someone at school or if someone was pushing her...anyhow when I picked him up today Kristie said that two boys were pushing, so she read the special "no pushing" book to them (this book was actually created in Liam's honor by Bernice, who is a special needs assistant at his school--it's a book with pictures that teaches kids not to push--it's referred to in special ed circles as a "social story"). Liam came up to them and said "No pushing!" then ran away. It's as if he had to offer his commentary. I guess he was glad that for once, he wasn't in trouble for pushing. hee hee

About the slide--when he came down he said, "That was so much fun!"

After school we went to Target to get diapers for Beck. We *always* stop at the Starbucks inside...we have made friends with a woman named Cheryl who works there. She always has a cookie saved for Liam and he gets really excited (I get excited too cuz it's free!). Unfortunately she wasn't working today so I had to buy the thing. While I'm getting my money out I hear him say "What a great picture, Mama!" a few times and my heart just sank. Echolalia is a symptom of autism spectrum disorder. Some kids with autism repeat phrases over and over and it's thought that they do it for a couple of reasons. First, they are trying to make sense of the phrase and trying it in new situations to see if it works. Second, some kids use echolalia as a means of self stimulation--maybe saying the phrase feels good. I looked up to give the cashier my money and noticed that he was pointing to a picture that was drawn on their little chalkboard. It was a summertime scene of some people having a drink. I wanted to cry with relief. Thank God, it *really was* a picture he was looking at.

His recent echolalic phrase is "Great idea!" He says it now and then. I'm trying to put it in a context for him, but it's so abstract that I don't know if I can help him to understand. Before that it was "What's your name?" He asked poor Beckett "What's your name, baby?" about a million times a day not too long ago. Beckett always had this perplexed look on his face, like hey, kid you know my name, quit clowning. I hope we can get "Great idea!" conquered and the echolalia will leave us alone for awhile. :(

Oh, one last bathtub story for your Thursday evening...he was going on and on about something--I couldn't exactly figure out what. So at the end I said "Are you serious?" and he replied "I'm serious!" Yay for proper pronoun use! :)))))

Another language explosion...???

Well, last night Liam continued his chatterboxing. Is that a word? It is now. :P

Some of the highlights:

After dinner he told Brad, "Be right back!" as he ran from the table.

He tripped on Petey and reminded him, "Petey, be careful!"

I was pretending to cry and he said, "Mama, what's the matter? You alright?"

He saved the greatest comment for last...Liam has never, ever commented on an event that has happened in the past. His speech is always focused on present events, which is concerning to me and has concerned his therapists. He was jumping on the bed last night and kept saying, "This is fun!" Sidenote--he jumped in the circus tent at Friends earlier as part of the circus activities. Kristie, his teacher, got in with him and she told me that they had such a great time. She said that he did NOT want to get out, which is not surprising for most of you who know Liam and his fondness for jumping. :)

So in the bathtub last night he says, "I had fun with Kristie." My heart just melted...

So our conversation went like this:

Me: Yes, you did have fun with Kristie. You jumped in the tent.

Liam: I have fun with Drew.

Me: Yes, you do have fun with Drew. You go swimming together.

Liam: Mandy's house.

Me: Yes, you go swimming at Mandy's house.

Liam: I have fun with Mandy.

Me: Yes, you have fun with Mandy. She loves you and takes you places.

Liam: Fun with Mimi.

Me: Yes, you have fun with Mimi, you swing at her house.

And so on...it was as if his little memory was picturing all of the people he loves and remembering the good times he has had with them. It was one of the sweetest moments of my life and I'll never forget it. It was like having a real conversation.

This morning he ate a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. Scarfed a bowl of oatmeal I should say. After he finished it he said, "I ate it all, Mama! It's all gone!" Again, this is a HUGE thing because he used "I" and "it." He's never commented on this before, although I have said to him in the past "YOU ate it all. It's all gone." For him to be able to repeat the phrase in a correct context, plus change his pronoun, well, I'm just thrilled about that.

All of this talking started up on Tuesday afternoon, after he left Friends. Now I don't know if that's what triggered it, but I sure do love that place. :)

"It's broken, Mama"

Okay, a lot of parents out there might cringe at hearing this phrase from their child. Not me.

This morning Liam was playing in the bathtub, getting ready for school. He was stretching and pulling a plastic headband that he had found. I was brushing my teeth when I heard him say, "It's broken, Mama." Sure enough, it had broken in half. I tried to keep the conversation going by talking about fixing it. He put the two pieces together but that was it, no more talking.

This comment was HUGE for Liam because a) he has never used the word broken before, but has heard it used in context and he remembered that this context was appropriate to use the phrase and b) he used a pronoun, "it." He had a speech evaluation last Tuesday at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Center and somehow my foggy brain told the evaluator that he doesn't use pronouns. He does use pronouns pretty regularly, as in he, she, it. He does have a very difficult time with me and you. He is still referring to himself as "Liam." I'm trying to teach him to call himself me; but he gets confused and says "you?" Just thinking about it stresses me out sometimes, just imagining his little brain trying to figure out all of these labels when clearly he knows he is "Liam." Something to work on in therapy.

Today at school Kristie read a book to the class about the circus. She said that she asked them a question about the book (she couldn't remember what) and all of the kids said yes...except for Liam. When she asked him what he thought he said "no" and laughed hysterically. Perhaps he was laughing at his classmates for collectively giving the wrong answer. Maybe? He was very interested in the Curious George book when I picked him up, demanding that we read it right then and there. Luckily he listened to April, the assistant teacher, and put it away so we could leave. Beckett was getting a little squirrely and would not have tolerated story time.

This afternoon he's done a number of activities; puzzles, Play Doh, Leap Frog and his stacker. He played with his dollhouse again...he loves it. He made a horse out of Play Doh, using a stencil. He made it gallop and exclaim, "Wheee!" He was very proud of this creation.

Since it's circus week at Friends School, they had a circus bouncing tent for the kids. Liam has been jumping on the bed repeating bounce, bounce and falling down occasionally, laughing. The last time he fell he shouted "That was fun!"

He just told me he's not going to push me. Thanks, Liam.

Blogging for Liam

Someone suggested once that I keep a diary of Liam's speech progress. At the time I thought it was a great idea and filed it away in my head where it was lost until this afternoon. This afternoon we were playing with a dollhouse that my mom recently purchased for him. He was saying so many things I was having a hard time remembering it all...so I started to make a list to share with Brad and my mom. I know there are a lot of hings he says on a daily basis that I either forget or miss...so "Liam Finds His Voice" was born. He had a speech evaluation last week and there were some questions that my tired postpartum mama brain had a really hard time answering. I hope this helps me to remember and celebrate those little victories for Liam.

When I picked him up from school today we looked at his clown picture (he made it using feathers & cotton balls). I told him that it was beautiful and he did a good job. Spontaneously he exclaimed "What a great picture!"

We came home and he wanted to decompress by watching an episode of Dragon Tales (or Dragons Tales as he refers to it). I put Beckett down for his nap so we could do some playing. we got out the dollhouse and he immediately started some pretend play sequences. One of the "Little People" is a cat who lives in the house. Liam immediately sat the cat on the toilet. I asked him if the cat was going to the potty. His response, "He's pooping." I almost died laughing, because it was funny and because he "gets" what the toilet is for.

We played a number of scenarios, where he threw the people out of the house and I begged on their behalf to be let back in. At one point I made the little girl cry "Liam, you hurt my feelings, let me in!" followed by some fake whining. He looked at me and said, "What's the matter mama?" Liam is just beginning to understand how to respond to someone who is sad or hurting.

Petey started to bark at one point...Liam's response..."Shut up Petey!" While I am excited when he makes spontaneous comments (that are appropriate mind you) we did have to have a discussion about rudeness.

We moved on to read Toy Story and afterward another exclamation, "What a great story!" We worked a new puzzle too, with shapes of all sizes & sorts. He picked up the first one, a pentagon and plugged it right in with "This one goes right here."

I have to go because he's here asking for more pizza. More tomorrow.