1. The GOG!
As we were walking into the pool, Spencer started talking (unprompted) about everything he was seeing. This is so incredible, because when Spencer does talk, we usually have to prompt him with "what is that?", or "what color is that?" and he will generally respond without looking up or pointing at what we are asking. But today, as we walked in he IMMEDIATELY saw the frog slide, looked up at me, pointed and said..."gog", next he pointed to the little buckets and said and signed "ello" "een" "boo" and "ed" (that would be yellow, green, blue and red). This is so cool, not because he is talking, he has been using these words for a long time now, but he is attempting to engage in a conversation by giving eye contact, pointing at and labeling what he sees without even being asked. VERY COOL!!
2. The Deep End
Generally Spencer likes to hang out in the splash pool; they have all these really neat water sprayer things, a slide and other cool things he LOVES. Well, he was hanging out doing his own thing, but I noticed that every so often, he would stop and look over at the diving boards and watch Parker do his tricks. I think after an hour or so, he had had enough with that baby stuff!! All of a sudden he got out and sort of walk, run, hopped, over to the diving boards with me doing the mommy speed walk to try and catch up to him (not a pretty sight in a bathing suit--a little too much jiggle-ha ha!). Now, Spencer can't really swim and we keep a life jacket on him when he is in the "big pool". He has learned to get around pretty good in his jacket and we have even taken it off of him a few times to let him jump off the diving boards. But, I have always been there to help him to the side. I didn't quite get there in time and he was already on the board and ready to jump in. So, instead of breaking out into a full on sprint (again, not a pretty sight), I decided, what the heck, let's see what he can do!! Well wouldn't ya know it, he jumped in and swam to the side all by himself!! Way to go buddy!!
3. Brotherly Love
I was also amazed at watching him "play" with his brother this week. Now, I use that term very loosely. Spencer doesn’t really know how to play with other kids and will generally just ignore anyone around him. I caught him not once but twice engaging with Parker.
First was when he and Parker were going down the slide at the pool. Parker being 10 thinks its fun to try and bend the rules, you know see how much he can get away with. This time, he was going down the slide backwards. I knew he was going to get called out by the lifeguards, but before I could say anything to him, Spencer was right behind him doing the SAME thing. It was so neat to see Spencer doing everything his big brother did, even if it would eventually get them in trouble.
The second time, it was a very rushed and hectic morning as we were heading out for school on Thursday. The boys were sitting in the chairs by the back door and were SUPPOSED to be putting on their shoes, while I frantically gathered all our crap to load up the car. Instead Parker, like any 10 year old, started mocking and making funny faces at me. Well wouldn't ya know Spencer thought it was so funny he started to laugh and make some of the same faces! That stopped me dead in my tracks and before you know it we were all in full on laughter. Needless to say we were late to school and work, but it was SO worth it!! The best part of this was seeing a little glimpse of a sense of humor in Spence. Albeit at my expense, but I'll be the butt of any joke if I get to see something so priceless!! A smile, a laugh and two brothers enjoying each other!! What more could I ask for!!
4. Are You Ready for Some Football?!?!
Spencer LOVES sports. He loves all kinds of sports. What ever sport Parker is currently playing, Spencer will really get into (football, basketball, baseball, golf, whatever).
During baseball, he will get behind the back stop and squat down like the catcher, act like he is at bat and swing when the ball is pitched and will pretend to run the bases.
During basketball season, he develops an uncanny ability to find the exact spot he needs to stand on to make a basket, and can make about 90% of his shots.
But, our favorite of all sports has to be football. Football brings so many great feelings, don't ya think? And right now we are ready for some football!! Parker had his first official practice this week and as we drove up to the field, Spencer said, unprompted, "boo-ball" and kept saying it over and over again. One of Spencer's favorite things to do at practice is get in a 3-point stance and you have to get down across from him and say "down, set, hut" and he will run toward you and tackle you! It is SO fun, because he will start laughing and have this HUGE smile on his face! It also comes in very handy when you want him to move a little faster...all you have to say is "down, set, hut" and he will start running. If you are ever at the Cinco Ranch Target you will know us when you see us. We are the crazy family in the parking lot, going "down, set, hut" run, run run, "down, set, hut" run, run, run "down, set, hut" all the way into the store. Now, this only works during football season, the other 9 months of the year, doesn't work.
5. Supplements Galore
Today marks our first day on full supplementation! Woo hoo!! We are expecting great things to start happening. Okay, okay, I gotta admit, we haven't actually started the B-12 injections. We plan to this week; I'm a little freaked out about it, so maybe I'm procrastinating just a little bit, maybe! What does full supplementation mean, here ya go: (This is kinda fun, in a weird sort of way, I feel like a mad scientist!-mua-a-aaa (evil laugh)!)
Morning Smoothie
1/2 tsp calcium powder
1 scoop buffered C powder
1/2 tsp Vita Spectrum
1 probiotic capsule
1 P5P capsule
Evening Smoothie
1/2 tsp Vita Spectrum
1 tsp. Fish oil
1 capsule Zinc
1 capsule Magnesium citrate
1 5MTHF capsule
6. No More Pull Ups
I can officially say Spencer is about 90% potty trained. He has been able to stay accident free from the time he gets up in the morning until we get home from school. Now, that's pretty darn cool!! What about the other 10% of the time, weeeeelllll, we get really lazy when we are at home! Here's why....now when I say he stays accident free, I mean, IF we take him every 45 min or so, he will go every time and will stay dry (that's what they do at school, and I'm pretty good at doing in the morning). He is NOT yet trained to go on his own, but they are working on that at school. This is all fine and good and all, IF you remember to take him. Evenings are when we hit the wall....we are so exhausted and he really just wants to chill out. Okay, okay, I really have no excuse! So, alas, we will get better at this, I know he can do it, and honestly, I know we can too!! I also know that it will get easier at night when he begins to start initiating to go potty. We are on our way, again WAY TO GO LOU!!
7. The Big Decision
And last but not least, we have decided, made the leap of faith, are heading into unchartered waters and are going to send him to Spectrum of Hope full time in the fall. I am so very excited about our decision!! I keep thinking of all the really cool things the school can do for us, things that would not even be considered in the public school system.
Take for example all the supplements he is on. First off the school will not administer "supplements". Very soon, Spencer will need to have supplements during lunch time. There are currently several families in KISD that are struggling with the school nurses on giving supplements. It is really ridiculous and so full of political red tape! It is sickening that they can't give these kids what they need to function throughtout the day. Oh, but if it were a DRUG they would be all okay with that! Sorry, bout that soap box, it's just makes no sense at all!!
Second, we currently have to put Spencer’s sups in his smoothie. This is not ideal, because he is probably not getting the entire dose. There's concern that you lose a little bit of what is left in the capsule and any that might be stuck to the sides of the cup. It would be so much easier if he could just swallow them. I also think we will at some point have to give him something outside of a meal, on an empty stomach and you can't very well put it in a smoothie. So guess what, I am going to have SoH work on teaching him to swallow a pill!! And guess what, they will!!
I have to admit though; I had a little bit of a panic attack today when I had to notify KISD about withdrawing him from public school. It just feels so final, like there's no turning back (now I know that if it doesn't work out that they do have to take him back, but still it's a little scary). Today, when I picked him up and spoke to his afternoon therapist, I was once again affirmed that this is the right thing. Good things to come!
We have a pretty exciting week in store, tomorrow he is being evaluated for an ACD-that's an Assistive Communication Device. It's like a computer that he can touch a series of icons to form a sentence and it will give a verbal output of what he selected. There's a really cool program in Texas where if you have difficulty speaking you can get one for free. It's some how connected to the 911 service, so that everyone can have access to communicating in the even of an emergency, or something like that. I get it all confused, but hey, it's free, he needs it, and SoH will teach him how to use it!!
His brother is away at camp so he gets a ton of mom and dad time this week. We will be playing loads of "Wa-Luigi"--that's Mario Party 8 for the Wii--pretty cute whenever you say "Wa-Luigi" Spencer will imitate the sound he makes and say "eeeeeeeee" and give you a funny face! It's quite hilarious!!
His buddy from Barnabas is coming over to spend some time with him on Thursday. I don't really know for sure, but I think he's pretty excited about it. We have been asking him if we wants Mike to come over and he says "essss" and gets a big smile on his face!! So, yea, I think he's excited! I know they'll have a great time and we will too!! My honey and I are going on a date! Pappas peeps close your eyes; don't read any further....we are going to Perry's for a nice steak dinner! YUM!
Saturday night, the kids and I are heading up to Ft. Worth to visit my folks for a few days. We have lots of fun stuff planned...Hawaiian Falls, Six Flags, maybe a little golf. I'm sure there will be lots of fun stuff to blog about when we return!
Until next time....grace, peace, hope, love and prayers!
T
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12
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