When You See Us

When you see us in public with our son, please don't

Stare

Let your children stare or point

Make rude or uninformed comments

Be afraid

Be embarrassed

Pity him

Pity us

When you see us in public with our son, please do

Smile at us

Say hi

Ask if you must

Look beyond the scars and behaviors

Accept him

When you see us in public with our son, please know

This is hard

This is worth it

He is trying

We are trying

He loves us

We love him

"If a man loses pace with his companions, 

perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.  

Let him step to the music which he hears, 
however measured, or far away."

~Henry David Thoreau

Picture Of The Day

Sorry this is blurry, but it made me laugh out loud when Craig sent me this photo from his way home:

He called it "Precious Cargo."  Secured in Emilia's car seat is our delicious Chipotle dinner.

Frugal Mama's Clothes Recovery

I don't think it's a secret that I am a pretty frugal person.  I grew up in East Germany where the motto definitely was "Waste Not, Want Not" and where we often spent weeks, if not months, looking for a purchase.  Even though I am in completely different economic circumstances now, that mindset will, to a certain extent, always be with me and guide my choices.

For example, check out these clothes.  The Old Navy jeans fit Rex perfectly and were brand-new with tag.  I paid 50 cents for them.  Their only flaw?  A factory defect of a torn knee.  Frugal mama's fix: a two dollar iron-on patch.  The dress is Carter's from a yard sale.  I don't recall what I paid, but very likely $3 or less because that tends to be my rule of thumb for single items of clothing.  The problem?  Three small, but noticeable stains.  Frugal mama's fix after washing options failed: a few dollar's worth of adorable iron-ons and voila.

Call me crazy if you will, but I am kind of proud of my frugality which I came by honestly in the GDR.

IAC 245 & 246 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 245 which was held on February 6, 2013:

1) Italian dossier from January 2009 referred a female child aged 5 years and 11 months

2) German dossier from October 2009 referred a female child aged 4 years and 11 months

3) US dossier from January 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 7 months

4) US dossier from January 2010 referred a female child aged 2 years and 3 months

5) Spanish dossier from March 2010 referred a male child aged 6 years and 8 months

6) US dossier from April 2010 referred a female child aged 2 years with features in health status

7) Italian dossier from May 2010 referred a female child aged 5 years and 11 months with features in health status

8)  Italian dossier from May 2010 referred a female child aged 2 years and 9 months with features in health status

9) Italian dossier from June 2010 referred a male child aged 7 years and 8 months

10) Italian dossier from December 2011 referred to male children aged 6 years and 11 months & 8 years

11) Italian dossier from April 2012 referred a female child aged 6 years and 3 months with features in health status

12) French dossier from April 2012 referred a female child aged 6 years and 6 months with features in health status

13) Italian dossier from October 2012 referred twin brothers aged 9 years and 5 months

14) Italian dossier from November 2012 referred a male child aged 9 years

15) US dossier from January 2013 referred a waiting child (#514) with a profile on the MOJ site

16) US dossier from January 2013 referred two waiting children (#1887 & 1889) with profiles on the MOJ site

17) US dossier from January 2013 referred a waiting child (#1018) with a profile on the MOJ site

18) US dossier from January 2013 referred a waiting child (#1862) with a profile on the MOJ site

19) US dossier from February 2013 referred a waiting child (#1691) with a profile on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 246 which was held on February 14, 2013:

1) Spanish dossier from February 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 6 months

2) US dossier from May 2010 referred twin sisters aged 3 years and 8 months with features in health status

3) Italian dossier from June 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 6 months with features in health status

4) Dutch dossier from September 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 6 months with features in health status

5) US dossier from October 2010 referred a female child aged 7 years and 7 months

6) Italian dossier from January 2011 referred a male child aged 3 years and 11 months with features in health status and a family history

7) Italian dossier from January 2011 referred a male child aged 7 years and 5 months

8) Italian dossier from September 2011 referred a male child aged 6 years and 8 months with features in health status

9) US dossier from October 2011 referred a waiting child (#1944) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) French dossier from May 2012 referred brothers aged 5 years and 7 months & 6 years and 10 months with features in health status and a family history

11) US dossier from June 2012 referred twin brothers aged 2 years with features in health status

12) Italian dossier from December 2012 referred a male child aged 9 years and 2 months with features in health status

13) US dossier from December 2012 referred a male child aged 3 years and 3 months with features in health status

Look Who's Talking Now

After 15 months of us waiting, hoping, wishing and working, in February Emilia was finally ready to venture into the world of speech.  It just happened one day when we were playing ball and I kept using the word and suddenly Emilia repeated "baw."  Since that day, Emilia has added a number of new words that she is using consistently, including bee (baby), ba-boo (balloon), up, hup (hop), appuh (apple), and boo (shoe).  A few days ago, she spoke her first sentence: she picked up Craig's sneaker, showed it to me and said, "Dada boo."

Meanwhile, I had suspected for quite some time that Emilia's muscles in the jaw, tongue and cheeks have low tone as evidenced by her continuing struggles with chewing solids and apparent inability to form certain sounds (note the predominance of Bs and Ps in the above list of words).  I also detected some signs of apraxia in her language development because the gap between her receptive and expressive language has been quickly widening and she is lacking precision and consistency in her use of spoken language.  If you remember, I used to mention how she could clearly say a variety of words, but only once and then we would not hear the word again for a long time, so very inconsistent.  The few words she has been using consistently over months have not been precise.  For example, eat has always been "eee" and no matter how I modeled and tried to get her to add a T at the end, it just didn't happen.  I can tell that Emilia struggles with motor planning because she clearly has the intent to make meaningful sounds now, in imitation and spontaneously, but simply cannot not form certain ones.  "L" and "la" are examples of such impossible sounds where she really attempts to move her tongue to get them out and just can't.

As you also know, Emilia has been attending weekly speech therapy at our local children's hospital for six months.  We have seen no progress from these sessions and the therapist has not adjusted her approach to try and meet Emilia's needs differently.  I even mentioned the apraxic qualities I was recognizing in her speech without receiving any actionable response or advice.  I was frustrated and began looking for a new option.

Enter Prompt Therapy.  Believe it or not, in our metropolitan area of over two million people, there is only one single provider for this type of speech therapy, so it took several weeks to even get Emilia in for an evaluation.  We finally completed the evaluation last week and Emilia is a great candidate for Prompt Therapy.  Prompt, unlike other speech therapies, uses precise tactile cues to teach the neuro-muscular structures of the face and mouth how to properly form sounds.  These movements, with practice, get wired into the brain, so that motor planning to produce sounds unassisted becomes easier over time.  I am very, very excited for Emilia to start weekly (or even twice weekly if we can work the logistics) Prompt sessions.  The therapist believes she has great potential and that we should see real progress within a month of attending therapy and supplementing with a home program.  Fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted.

Here's a little video from Emilia's first session today to give you an idea of what Prompt looks like in action:

Over the weekend, I attended a Prompt parent training course and after learning even more about the method, now I think it may be something to try with Rex as well.  The first step is to have him evaluated, so I hope to get an appointment for him soon.

Consignment Cornucopia

Every March, I get really excited for the annual consignment sale at a local elementary school.  Yesterday was the day. I was there right at 8:00 am, just in time for them to open the doors.  The people that show up this early for this sale mean business.  They arrive with laundry baskets and giant garbage bags and cardboard boxes that they intend to fill.  I merely had a large cloth grocery bag, but don't be fooled, I am a serious shopper, too.

Unlike in previous years, with my mom here this month, I was able to sort through the kids' clothing totes and get a firm idea of what's missing for this summer and next winter. Rex was in dire need of shorts and short-sleeved shirts while Emilia was pretty much covered for everything.  So, my priority was Rex this time around.  I bought him 9 pairs of shorts, 5 t-shirts, 1 long-sleeved shirt, and 1 nice sweater.

Emilia got 3 shirts, 2 dresses, 2 blouses, 1 skirt, 1 set of pajamas, 1 sweater, and 1 other top.  Some of this loot will fit this year and some next.

I also bought myself a shirt and a pair of shorts.  I never realized they had adult clothes, too.

And my grand total?  $42 for 30 items of clothing which is less than a buck and a half per piece.  Go consignment and go me!

This & That

Last week my Mama aka Oma arrived for a month-long visit.  The kids and I did some fingerpainting which I then turned into a welcome banner for the fireplace.  It looks really cute.  Sorry it's hard to read and please ignore the mess on the mantle.

I have a mile long to do list to tackle while my mom is here and can entertain Emilia during the day.  I plan to focus on one task per weekday.  Yesterday I cleaned out the pantry, re-arranged it, and created a shelf that's dedicated solely to GFDF.  My favorite part though is the new bulk spice area.

And just for fun, here's what's music to our ears these days: