Whoa, where has time gone??!

Has it really been almost a month since my last post? Well, it has been a busy time for me..

Connor's therapy is going so well. I'd say that he is now speaking about 80% of the time, compared to the 10-20% he was doing back in September. He has new words/phrases all the time. A new cute one, anytime there's something going on that he wants to be a part of- he raises his hand and waves it (like a child in school) and says "I do, I do!". It's adorable. His SLP said that he'll need on-going articulation therapy for awhile. John said he had this as a kid, and hated it! So now, I'm nervous.

Last week I had to 'sit in' for Jake's classs, do the Homeroom mom thing, because the teachers were having a break during a Holiday Luncheon. Yeah, that was scary. I truly think that I may have glimpsed hell. And it is inhabited by the spawn of Satan himself. I have never seen so many unruly 5/6 year olds before! There were about 5 well behaved kids out of the whole lot- and, thank God, Jake was one of them. One child kept us on our toes the entire 2 hrs. He was biting, fighting, and well- anything else he wanted to do. Oh, and I had Connor with me- whom I managed to lose in the school at one point, for about 5mins. It was scary, but I knew he was in the school...somewhere. The worst part, I had asked some other moms, who were just hanging out in the hall chatting, if they had seen him. They just replied "no, sorry.". No "OMG, let us help you find him!". Seriously, thanks for the concern. He had found his way to another kindergarten class, and was just fine.

Looks like it's time to sign off, the boys are in a fort under the coffee table, and I hear crying...(sigh).

So Blessed...

Connor is attempting his name! Hallelujah! This is something I've wanted and prayed for for so long, just for my baby to be able to say his name. And it's happening. He says "Nerner", but I love it. I love that he is even trying! Connor is also putting two and three words together, independently, at times..."Mama blue ball". He has so many new words, I can't even list them all. And he has most of the letter sounds down. Connor tries so hard and is so proud when we've jumped a hurdle. This boy is such a joy :o)

Jacob is recovering from a bout of Strep. Between these boys and the illnesses they've had, I've yet to get them their yearly flu shot. I'm wondering if it's too late now to even do any good. It'll be the first of December before we can actually get it, when Jake's off the antibiotic and gets a clean bill of health...Hmmm...

We're hosting my Dad's side of the family for Thanksgiving this year. So I'll be doing much cleaning in the next few days!! My kitchen cabinets, alone, killed a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser... I've got my work cut out for me!

Faithfulness

God is so faithful to provide as His word says He will. Connor has done amazingly well. His SLP is thinking that maybe she mis-diagnosed him- that's how well he is doing! He still has some troubles, like dropping the end sound off every word. But we're working thru them and I am confident that we will push thru to the other side, after all, we've got Jesus pushing right along with us... He is now putting 2 and 3 words together at a time, this is so exciting for us!! I've learned a lot from Laura Mize at teachmetotalk.com, she is a very generous and kind woman. An SLP that has put together a wonderful website chock full of resources and information for parents of speech delayed children. Anytime I email her she is very quick to respond, and so kindly too. They even sent me their DVD ($40 value) completely free- I love to see God use people to help people. It was just as if He audibly said "I'm with you thru this Steph, I love you and Connor, here's another resource to help you...enjoy this gift from me." I know that God created Connor with a voice, and that he will use it. I speak that over him constantly. These Carlovich boys are going to do great things for God, and I am very privileged to be apart of that!

God is Amazing

I have to say that God never ceases to amaze me. Connor's improvement in the past two weeks has exceeded my expectations. Especially since he has not actually been able to sit down with our SLP yet. Her schedule, at this time, has her only availability at 1:00 pm- nap time. So far Connor hasn't been able to hold out for her visit, last week he fell asleep 15 minutes before she got here! I ran across an interesting article on the effects of fish oil regarding the progress of apraxic children. Fish oil, of course, is linked to brain developement and is believed to help create those neuro pathways in children with speech disorders. Connor has been taking it since September. I attribute some of his progress to the fish oil, but I know it's all God. This boy has only ever used words to communicate his needs with one specific word, 'apple'. He's always said 'apple' when he wanted one. But last week, he wanted juice, instead of the usual signing/grunting/pointing method that he goes thru to get his needs. He pulled on the refrigerator, when Iasked what he wanted he said "juuu"!! I was thrilled!! This is only one example, he now is labeling the things he sees, saying the name instead of the sign. We're very excited :o)

Okay, so I had the meeting with our SLP- her name is Brook, she's very nice, I like her. We're going to meet once a week for therapy and see how Connor is progressing in a couple weeks, using a vowel/letter sound approach. If he's not showing improvement she will change her strategy and use other tools to help him to progress. She did say apraxic kids (man I hate that label) usually just take off at 3 to 3 1/2 yrs age, and you'd never have known that they had problems. That was a nice confirmation. We devised some goals for him, that I'd like accomplished by the time he is 3. One of those is that he uses one word phrases, in our day to day, to get his needs met. Instead of grunting and pointing, signing, or playing charades (!). Also, I'd love for him to be able to say his name. It breaks my heart that he can't. So, anyway, here's where we're starting.

Jacob is SIX now!

Jacob had a great birthday! He received a Star Wars light saber, the kind you have to assemble. Every boy's dream, and apparently John's too... We had a family brunch here at the house and then he had a kid party at Incredible Pizza. All the kids had a great time :o)

I'm meeting with Connor's assigned SLP in about an hour. I'll update more after I've met with her.

Another Update...

Connor had a mandatory hearing test yesterday, that he passed with flying colors. His hearing is perfectly fine, but just something that has to be ruled out, so we can move forward. We will meet his assigned S(speech)L(language)P(pathologist) on Monday, the 29th. This 1st meeting will mostly be a meet/greet and paperwork meeting. Then, hopefully, Connor will start his sessions the following week. In working with him at home, I've noticed that he does have problems sticking his tongue out. Which I believe is why he has problems with "cuh" sounds like in "Connor" and "cat", etc.. He is (finally!) answering "yes" to questions instead of "uh-huh", it comes like more like "ess", but at least he is making the effort!

Jacob is so cute and so grown-up all at the same time. I've explained to him what is going on with Connor, he is so quick to praise Connor when he tries to say something correctly. I've never seen two brothers love eachother as much as these two! Jake will be SIX on Tuesday, the 23rd! Already! Am I old enough to have a 6-year-old...?!! Just doesn't seem right :o)

Connor's Evaluation

Connor had an evaluation today from SoonerStart. The qualifications are that he has to have a 50% delay in one are or 25% delay in two areas. A physical therapist and speech pathologist assessed him. He scored perfectly from the physical standpoint (no surprise there!). However, he did qualify for services in the speech area. His weakness is in expressive speech. His receptive speech (understanding, anwering questions) was right at average. But in expressive speech, he was at a 15 month-old level, and he is 28 months old. We will hear back from SoonerStart by Thursday next week, to see who our assigned speech pathologist is. The evaluating pathologist believes that he has apraxia of speech, or 'childhood apraxia of speech'. It is loosely defined as having a short circuit in the brain signals to the mouth to tell the muscles which way to move to form sounds. Both therapists were in love with Connor when they left, how can you not be?! And they were extremely impressed at his intelligence and attention span, and said that he was beyond his age level. After I meet with our speech pathologist, I'll have more information and will update again. :o)

Here's where we are...

Connor may be speech delayed. We don't know the severity or degree of it, he'll be evaluated on Thursday Sept 11 th. We do know that he is way behind his peers in speech/language development. However, Connor isn't delayed in any other areas. He very intelligent, uses sign language and other ways to communicate (has even made up his own signs). I know that we'll get thru this and overcome, that we've already been made victorious!

Jacob has entered into kindergarten this year. It was quite a jump to 6.5 hrs of school, from 2.5 hrs that he had in Pre-K, but he is really enjoying it. Well, except art class, he said it's "a disaster, all we do is talk about red and blue, I learned all this in Pre-K!". He's always got something to say.

John and I have also entered into a new area, we've been volunteering in the youth at church for about five months now. We really enjoy it, and I know that for me at least, the experience has been more fulfilling than I thought it would be. We'll also be celebrating our 10th anniversary this November. Also, I will be taking a leadership position in the MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group that I attend. I'll be on the Hospitality team, something I've never done before.

I've also been purposing to spend more time with God and His word. And actually listening to that 'still small voice'. The result has been a closer relationship with God (the best part) and also I've been more at peace in my day to day. A nice side benefit has been that I've lost 18 pounds since February!!!! That's exciting :o)

We've also added a new member to the family. John brought home a stray dog and Jake has named her Buttercup. She's very mild mannered and fits in with the family well. She's been a sweet addition.

I'm new to blogging, but I'm going to keep it up, and keep it current... stay tuned for future updates! :o)