Therapy, Lots of Therapy

Here we go again. It's been two months (and two days) since I last posted. It's always on my mind, but I never seem to have the time. Besides just daily life with two kids, I'm juggling endless amounts of therapy and therapists. It keeps me busy!

Tali and Eli in the ball pit at Tali's sensory gym.

It all started this summer with Eli but has expanded to Tali who now gets twice the amount of services as Eli. Since Eli was not crawling or even standing and his weight was a big concern, I got him evaluated for physical therapy (PT) and nutritional counseling through the county's Early Intervention (EI) program. This program offers services free of charge to children who qualify. The pediatrician was on the fence as to if he would be approved, but he was! Thanks to H's excellent persuasive skills (that law degree comes in handy), Eli was granted physical therapy three times a week for 45 minutes each time. He was also assigned a nutritional evaluation quarterly. Because of his therapist, he learned to crawl, walk and now run. She's wonderful, even if Eli has been protesting lately because it's hard work and he's lazy.

While Eli was initially getting tested for services, the PT noticed Talia's behavior and sent me down a new path with her. After some private occupational therapy (OT), we decided to get her formally tested through the school district in a program called CPSE, which, like EI, is free for children who qualify. This one, however, is funded by the school district instead of the county. At the beginning of the school year, we learned that she qualified for OT, PT and a SEIT to come to the classroom three times a week. Tali has been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and is labeled "sensory seeker" (click here for a good explanation of what that means - it describes her perfectly). Her various therapies help her learn to how to take control of her sensory seeking issues, how to focus in school and how to interact with others. In addition to all of her therapies, it was strongly recommended that I keep her stimulated with physical activities every day.

Tali before gymnastics class.

This week, Eli started another therapy - speech. He's 19 (almost 20!) months and still doesn't speak. He's had one visit so far and it went very well. But adding this therapy to my schedule is starting to make my head spin. This is my weekly therapy and activity schedule for the kids:

Monday - Tali's SEIT at the school, Eli physical therapy in the morning, Tali stays late at school for a gym class, Eli speech therapy in the afternoon
Tuesday - Eli play group in the morning, Tali OT at home immediately after school, Tali ballet in the afternoon
Wednesday - Tali's SEIT at the school, Eli physical therapy in the morning, Tali stays late at school for a nature class
Thursday - Tali OT and PT back to back at a therapy gym immediately after school
Friday - Tali's SEIT at the school, Eli speech therapy in the morning, Tali gymnastics immediately after school
Saturday - Tali ice skating (H takes her because this southern girl has only strapped on skates once in her life)

And somewhere in this busy schedule, I need to find time to run errands, take care of the house, grocery shop, cook, clean and pay just a little bit of attention to my kids and my husband.

Funny

Tali was just running past me to get to the kitchen when she accidentally bumped into me. Without missing a beat, she said "Oh, sorry Mommy" and kept on going into the kitchen. I stopped and started laughing.

Four Sentences

This morning, Tali woke up and said an entire (short) paragraph to me. I didn't set it up for her. All I told her was that Daddy is home and in his office. She did the rest. It's amazing how fast her language skills have developed. She told me:

Get out of crib, please. Go see Daddy. Ask nicely. Play with keys, please.

To explain, we have a small box of keys in H's office that Tali likes play with. Specifically, there's an empty key ring that she likes to wear as a ring.

Speaking Clearly

Ever since Tali turned two, her language skills have exploded. Yes, she's been speaking for a while, but now words that were only understandable to me are now clear to everyone. For example:

blahties is now blanket
darfur is now downstairs
car is now cair (chair)
boop is now book
catid is now cocolate (chocolate)
sow is now snow
snat is now snack
Mata is now Samanta (Samantha)
Ice is now Eloise

And so on. There are some words that H and I work on with her, but most of the words just magically morphed into the correct (or close to correct) pronunciation. Unfortunately, there are some words - like mateo instead of tomato and matawoh instead of vegetables - that we just can't seem to fix. But, as H says, she won't go to college mispronouncing these words.

Meet Tati

Who is Tati? Well, Tati is what Tali calls herself. But it's also what she calls Jackson. She can actually say his name, but she chooses to call him Tati. I've tried and tried to get her to call him Jackson, but she simply wants to call him by her name. If you ask her "where's Mommy?" she'll say "mommy" and point to me. Same with Daddy and Tali (but she says "Tati"). If you ask her where's Jackson, she'll point to him but instead of repeating Jackson, she'll say "Tati."

She asks for "Tati" if he doesn't come into her room with me in the morning when she wakes up. She points to him and says "Tati" when she wants to pet him. And she'll say "Tati" when she's playing tug with him.

I can only assume that it's a sign of affection that she's calling him by her name but it is a bit strange. She'll grow out of it eventually. In the meantime, she might just give poor Jackson an identity crisis.

Bless You

This morning I was coughing while making breakfast (had a cold last week and the cough always takes forever to leave) and Tali looked at me and said "bless you" each time I coughed. It was very cute and made me smile. So, thought I'd share.

Parrot

These days, Tali is a parrot. She repeats almost everything I say, whether I want her to or not. Since got back from vacation a week ago, she's learned at least three or four new words a day. It's impressive how many words she's accumulated and how she knows when to use them. Some of her favorite words are:

music (moo-see)
more
mama
toes
shoes
blanket (blah-tees)
puppies
no no no
light
help (hep)
mango (mamo)

Her vocabulary is quite large now, but these are the words I hear at least 20 times a day. This is such a fun age. We're having a good time together and Tali makes me laugh all the time. I wish I could just keep her at this age.

Words

The words have finally started coming. They started about two weeks ago and now there is a new one every day. Some words are things I've worked hard to teach her - such as go, shoes and yes - and others she just picks up. Yesterday's word was "Gia." She said it all day. Over and over again. She doesn't really know what it means but she just likes saying the word. (If I ask her to find Mommy, Daddy or Jackson, she'll point to the right person/animal. But if I ask her where Gia is, she just stares at me.)

Here are two recent words. The first one H taught her because she babbles a lot with the "g" sound.

Tali Speak

Tali is finally starting to say some words and it's very exciting. However, unless you are me, you won't understand most of them. So here's a little dictionary to help you out:

Done: done
Bah bah: bye bye
Zzzzz: vacuum
Nah bah: too bad (what I say to Jackson when I punish him to his crate - she repeats or says it if he goes into his crate on his own)
Uh ah: uh oh
Uh uh: this is naughty/wrong (but I'm going to do it anyway!)
Dah dah: dog
Da: what's that

First Words

I'm sure many of you have been wondering if Tali has said her first word yet. She's almost one (can you believe it?) and I haven't written about that yet. Well, to answer your question - Yes.

Tali's first word was "ma ma." The reason I didn't write about it is because she originally started saying "ma ma" as just sounds about four or five months ago. Then, about three months ago she actually made the connection. For some reason, I never got around to writing about it. Yes, I was excited that I was her first word, but it just never made the blog.

Tali's second word was "da da"(about a month ago) and she knows who that is. On Wednesday, Tali uttered her third word - "Jackson." No, she didn't say his full name. She calls him "esss" - that's the only letter of his name she can pronounce. But, it is clear that she is referring to him. It's very cute. Now she can say his name (sorta) and pat her leg when she wants him to come. She's learning quickly now.

First Taste of Dairy

When: Monday, August 24

Where: At home

Details: Monday was Tali's eight month birthday and that meant she was officially old enough to have dairy. It's recommended that you start babies on yogurt (cultured, easy to swallow, etc.) so that's what I did. I gave her some pear-flavored yogurt and it was the typical "new food" routine. Confused at first, then happy.

First Bites. The voices you hear are her Aunt Ilana and me.

After a few bites of yogurt, she was hooked. Then she was talking and playing with the lion attached to the tray of her high chair.

Watch out cows, here I come!

First Phone Conversations

When: This evening

Where: In the living room after a feeding

Details: While feeding Tali, I was on the phone with my sister. When Tali was done eating, she began reaching for the phone and cooing! She and Aunt Cara "chatted" for a few minutes before Cara had to go. Since she was still talking away, we called Gran and Grandpa (my parents). Tali helped me hold the phone and she talked to each of them for about five minutes! Of course there were a few awkward silences and some button pressings, but overall Tali did well and really seemed to enjoy it.