Sam, I Am Three!

We had so much to celebrate on Sam's third birthday! He has passed so many milestones, seemingly all in the past couple of months. With his speech delay, I tried not to put a timeline on his progress, but I hoped, secretly hoped, that we would hear words from him by 3. And we did! I recently posted about his speech progress, and already I must add to his list of words he says on his own, something I could likely do daily!   (nose, toes, tickle tickle tickle, banana, I love you, shake, eyes, hot, coat, sit down) It's so fun now to watch others with him, like he's a new game. His brother and cousins love asking him, can you say this? Sam, say this. Recently he even said Annabelle. So let me tell you about Sam, because there is so much more to him than the words that come out of his mouth. First off, he is the biggest snuggler! Particularly in the morning. He will come into our room and crawl up on my side and lay down on top of me, literally fully body on my body. Or if he wants to snuggle up on the couch, he finds his greatest comfort sitting up on my chest. While not always the most comfortable for me, I do love it. In many ways he seems younger than he is, and it's allowed me to keep him a baby for a little longer. It's amazing to watch him play more with others and want to engage in activities. Before, it seemed he would prefer to play on his own but now he's becoming more curious, more daring, more eager to participate. At playgrounds, he now climbs and slides instead of only wanting to swing. He loves dogs. He recently discovered (and loves) escalators. His recent fascination is with Wii bowling. Not to play but to watch, and Adam is always happy to fulfill his requests (he brings us the Wii controller). If you miss some pins, he says Oh No. But if you get a strike or spare, he repeats the audio's Nice Spare! We are almost-there with a spoon. He knows how to use it but doesn't like doing it on his own, so I assist by applying just a little pressure and guidance to his elbow. He occasionally will still chew books. Adam is always on alert for this. Ironically, though, he loves baths! Ok, not the hair washing bit which is still traumatic for him, but he is always eager to get in the tub. He doesn't mind the splashing (just don't add bubbles), and it's not uncommon for me to give him a bath even when I didn't plan to. You start taking off his clothes and he runs to the tub... sometimes too eagerly. His favorite food is Life cereal. Or maybe it's popcorn. (Eating is still a challenge for us; he's very picky and won't try things he doesn't recognize.) He has a great memory, and in the car I can ask him which way? and he will point the direction we should turn. Or, if he wants to go to the park, he'll point to the road as we pass it. It sometimes works against us, though, as he will start to fuss if we even slow down near the pediatrician's office or the barber. (He still hates haircuts.)

He doesn't sing (yet) but he fills in the words. I'm a little...sunshine... He will ramble on and on, though, in his own little language. He certainly knows what he is saying.

He knows his letters and letter sounds and shapes and colors. He can draw circles and lines and can write his name. Michael will write other simple words on his chalkboard to have him start tracing those lines and learn other letters.

Here are his 3-year stats:
Height: 36" -- about the same as Adam at the same age (36.5")
Weight: 31.2 lbs -- and just a little heavier (28 lbs)
20/20 vision
Great health

And for your viewing pleasure, here's a fun video of his neatest trick:

We of course had to have a little party to celebrate him! A very special THANK YOU to the Williams, Mauneys, Uncle Daniel, Gramma and Grampa for helping us celebrate!

Halloween Happenings 2015

Halloween was a fun occasion this year, as Adam was really into it. The day fell on a Saturday and the weather was perfect, so it allowed for a lot more community and socialization with neighbors.

Adam wanted to be a demolition man for the weeks leading up to it, so I picked up the construction costume. Then he decided he really wanted to be a miner. (I don't know where he gets this stuff.) We added a headlamp, and voila! a miner! (Which, by the way, is the perfect Halloween costume -- headlamp and reflective vest make for ideal safety wear!)

Sam wasn't too into it, but I was just happy he wore the cape I made! I planned on him being a fireman (Adam's costume from a couple of years ago) but two days before Halloween, out of the blue, Adam told someone Sam was going to be a magician. (I had previously commented that Sam looked like a magician in his tuxedo shirt.) Adam's idea stuck with me and I knew I had to do it! It's not Halloween unless I'm whipping up a costume the night before! (I was overly excited about the top hat I made... until it didn't fit him...boo.) Samuel walked around without his hat, wand and rabbit (did I really think he would wear/carry them?), so he looked more like an adorable Dracula instead.

We started the evening with some pizza with Adam's schoolmate, and then some enthusiastic trick-or-treating! So many neighbors made the occasion an event, with fire pits and lawn chairs in the driveways. One house was even giving away hot dogs to anyone that came by. It was a great way to meet some new neighbors and reacquaint with those we don't see very often.

One house was giving away full size candy bars, and Adam chose a big Hershey bar to take home. Later, when I was emptying his bad, I asked him where it was. Answer: "I ate it."

Yep, that's Halloween for you!

Sam Speech, 36 months

So much has been happening in little Sam's life and development! It's really exciting to witness and fun for his therapists to see notable progress even after just a couple of weeks.

We added Occupational Therapy to his routine to help sort out some of his sensory issues and hopefully help improve his pickiness in eating. He goes to OT every other week where she works on different textures and working with utensils with the fundamentals of gross motor play, which he loves most. This helps center and regulate him for additional therapies. Unfortunately we had to drop music therapy for the time being to accommodate the OT.

He continues with his private Speech Therapy, and we tried out a Speech social group his ST put together, thinking it would be ideal for his social skills in preparation for preschool. After 4 sessions we decided that his time with his therapist is better spent individually, as he had trouble sitting with circle group and engaging in the group activities.

Sam aged out of the the Help Me Grow (Ohio) program at 3, when he gets turned over to the school system for intervention. (Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to our home therapist, who has been so great with him for the past year and a half.) Sam had a home evolution by the local school's psychologist which led to an invitation for further evaluation at the school. We took him to the school where he was observed by a speech therapist, occupational therapist, developmental specialist and school psychologist, all trying to get him to do different tasks. We cooperated very well and, I think, showed a true representation of how he typically is. A few weeks later we were back to review the results, with all the above parties, plus the school assistant principal, his Dept of Disabilities caseworker and his Help Me Grow therapist. It was really moving to have this wonderful team of women surrounding him and intervening to make him the best he can be.


Each of the specialists reviewed their observations, combined with other tests he's had and a survey we completed. All came to the conclusions that, from an educational standpoint, he should be classified as Autistic, but acknowledged he would be on the low end of the spectrum. (The only other classification would be Developmental Delay, but aside from the speech delay he doesn't exhibit enough disability, plus in some areas he's already ahead of his peers (shape, color, letter, letter sound recognition. There are also so many more programs and opportunities available to the Autism diagnosis than Developmental Delay.)

We accepted the diagnosis after some discussion, including whether any ceiling would be placed on him and worries that he would carry the diagnosis throughout his school career. (He'll be reevaluated every 3 years, with a new Individualized Education Plan (IEP) every year.) With all that discussed to our satisfaction, he was accepted into the school system preschool program!

We met once more, this time with the school principal, his preschool teacher, and the speech therapist and occupational therapist assigned to his classroom, to review his IEP they created for him. Each reviewed their area and the goals set for Sam during his time with them. He will have speech therapy twice a week for two 20-minute sessions and occupational therapy once a week for 20 minutes. His therapists will also be on hand if he needs additional assistance in the classroom during regular learning activities. He will be in a blended class with typical children, attending 4 days a week, half days, at the same school as Adam. (Unfortunately their school times don't correspond as conveniently as we hoped, but we're adjusting.)

We are thrilled for this opportunity for him! We feel so good about the staff that has been put in place around him and like them all so much. (I even told Michael I wished we could have them all over for a barbecue... fun people!) We expect wonderful changes in Sam.

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It's been two weeks since Sam started school, and there have been no tears at drop-off! We get little day-to-day feedback about his day, though the first day we were told that he "communicated well and participated in circle time." After his first OT session, we had a note in his backpack that while he did not like the tackiness of the stickers they worked with, he did great overall. And his speech therapist gave a very optimistic report about his attentiveness and participation, eye contact and alerting to his name.

Just within the past two months his sound output and word vocalization has spiked, and he has over 30 words now. He repeats everything he hears and since starting flash cards with him we realize he knows a lot more words than we thought!

A running list -- Dada, Mama, Adam (Ad-duh), ball, bear (Bah), milk (mm-k), shoes, socks, outside, car, cookie, go, cereal, Oh's (cheerios), all done, star, pumpkin, no, door, up (up-ah), off, on, Sam, more, slide, apple, baby, diaper, cheese, please, nose, Elmo, bye bye, carrot, cheese

He doesn't sing songs but will fill in the blanks, like high, star, sky, are on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Adam is so great with helping him, often challenging him to say something (the other day he had Sam saying pineapple) or exclaiming when he hears Sam say a word.

He knows shapes, colors, animals, letters, letter sounds. He can count to 20 and backwards from 10, and each time his pronunciation is better and more distinguishable.

Sam has greatly reduced his stimming, where he would track horizontal planes with his eyes. He still likes to align objects but we can now enter a building with automatic doors without him wanting to stop and watch.

He can write letters! We bought an easel, wrote his name and was shocked when he traced the letters. He now writes his name on his own.

I need to take some updated video of him. These videos are up to 3 months old so just imagine how much more he's doing:

Sam counting down from 10, video from October

Samuel playing with automatic doors, video from September

Sam writing, August 2015

Sam talking, August 2015

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Next up: In December we return to the DDBP (Dept of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics) for what I'm assuming is his annual assessment. Curious to hear what they say about our boy!.

Kindergartener

My kid is in real school! Like, he has to be there. No more casual, skip-a-day-for-fun daycare. And with that comes a whole new routine for the family. Checking backpacks, bus schedules, occasional homework projects, reading logs... This is our future for the next 15 years!

Adam was more than ready and more than excited for his first day of Kindergarten. Daddy took him to the bus stop (the bus!) and said he climbed eagerly aboard without a look back. And second and third days and all since then were just as easy.

Adam is in a half-day Kindergarten program, and we were really hoping for the full day option because of how prepared he is. Alas, we didn't win the lottery for that (still sitting steady at #10 on the wait list) and after debating the private school option, we decided for social and emotional reasons it would be best to be in a class of his peer and neighbors. We sometimes forget he's still a five year old.

Two days before the start of school we had orientation where we took him in, showed him around, met his teacher and visited his classroom. I had a moment, just a short wisp, really, when the assistant principal was assuring us parents that there would be plenty of people on hand at all times to look after our precious ones where emotion washed over me. Blink, blink, look up, exhale, blink. Ok, whew. I'm good. We're good. My 5-year old is growing.

His favorite parts of his day continue to be recess and riding the bus. (He is so afraid of missing the bus!) Once a week he enjoys Library, too.  I really miss not being in his classroom each day, as I was for preschool. Even those short pick-ups and drop-offs were a great way for me to familiarize myself with what's going on in the classroom, recognize other students, and chat with his teacher casually. Now I feel removed, and it's discomforting.

Early in the year the school conducts MAP testing to gauge the students' levels coming into Kindergarten. Adam scored in the 99th percentile in both math and reading, and we just got word that this classifies him in the school district as gifted. Strangely, this is designation that will remain throughout his school career, even if he tests lower later. Unfortunately Kindergarten doesn't offer any gifted services for this age at this time, but in future grades those programs will be available.

We met with his teacher for parent-teacher conferences, and we were told that he is at a mid-first grade level and his reading ability is at a second grade level (comprehension level, though, is first grade). Skipping grades was mentioned but is not something we want to do. He's above the other kids in his classroom, so the challenge becomes how to engage him and interest him during more basic lessons and not have the attitude that he's better than his peers or even teacher. He tends to be very impulsive, having trouble waiting his turn to answer and keeping quiet once he finishes the work. While classmates are working on writing the word of the day, his teacher has him writing sentences with the word. She started him on an online reading program where she can read stories and answer questions, and she can follow his progress. He's had to work on using appropriate voice volume in the hallways and in the class and patiently sharing with his classmates. We've made some changes to his home routine to assist in this effort (and sharing with his brother is a work in progress), and this is all the more reason that he remains with his same-aged peers to get a handle on the social and emotional requirements of school.
 


Some things about Adam right now:

Current favorite movie: Monsters University

Current favorite phrases: And Guess What? (repeat this every other sentence when telling a story)

Current favorite toy: Anything Lego. He loves watching YouTube videos about Legos, he loves looking at Lego catalogs, and his Christmas list contains several new Lego sets. He is also very aware of the recommended ages on each Lego set. (This one's 5-12! or Mommy, do you think I could to a 6-12 set?)
He is overly concerned about the battery charge on devices, and if it's anything less than 89% he needs to charge it asap and/or will only use the device while it's plugged in.

Not into superheroes but blue collar workers instead (construction workers, garbage me, truck drivers, etc). These are his career aspirations.

He still takes piano lessons weekly and is starting to read music and recognize the appropriate keys.

He is very observant and picks up quickly on advertising slogans. The other day he wanted to play the "Discover App" game, where he pushes the Freeze button and I stop and wait until he Unfreezes me. If you've seen the commercial you know what I'm talking about. Or, he'll say "Awesome Sauce" from another Discover card commercial or that something is a "Two in One", like the Intel commercial. So, maybe it sounds like he watches a lot of TV... but he takes after me and has marketing in his genes! The other night he even made up a commercial for a random toy, complete with sale price and website for purchase.

American Ninja Warrior -- this was huge for him over the summer when the episodes were on, and we couldn't go to a park without him creating a Ninja course and scaling obstacles. On a number of occasions he wanted to take his shirt off, because most of the Ninjas race shirtless. He can tell you all the names of the competitors, their nicknames, their occupation, etc. His memory is unreal. While he's no longer engaged in the show like he was a couple of months ago, it's now Sam's preferred show.

Snow boots -- Yep, still loves those dang boots! And most recently has loved a pair of UK blue pants with a white stripe on the side. He loves to dress himself, and we've had to tell him that not everything matches these pants.

Wii -- recently he has discovered that there is more to the Wii than MarioKart and really loves Wii Sports and Wii Resort, particularly the Bowling, Boxing and Sword Play. Sam loves watching and will often bring us the Wii controller to have us turn it on (Adam is always happy to oblige).


All in all, we couldn't love this kid more! Watch out, world.

The Nina, The Pina (but not) The Santa Maria

Fourteen-hundred-and-ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue. We recently took Adam to see replicas of Christopher Columbus' famous ships that docked in town for public tours. The Nina was built by hand without power tools and is considered to be the most historically accurate Columbus replica ever built. The Pinta was actually built larger than the original. Both were created by The Columbus Foundation. I was most struck by how tiny these ships are! I cannot imagine spending months onboard on an ocean crossing. No windows below, very small deck space, the smell of pine tar (which seals and makes the ships black). These ships are actively in use by the crew of volunteers who sail with the ship and lead the tours from city to city. Because the crew lives on board, we could not go down below into the private cabins. I had hoped to see it set up as it would have been with supplies, livestock, sleeping arrangements, food prep, etc., and I think it would have given us all a better picture of how primitive life in that time was like. Volunteers run the tours now in exchange for free room and board. One girl I spoke to had just been on board for 2 weeks, and another girl had been there for 6 weeks. Both said it was an awesome experience. I think Michael wanted to sign up and cruise around the country for a stint. For me, the thought of going on a river cruise on this boat made my stomach turn, honestly. (I'll prefer my cruise ships with a solarium and silly towel animals, thankyouverymuch.) Adam had a great time running around the ships, using the pulleys, and manning the cannons. Sam had a great time with his feet firmly planted on dry land. (Sam and boats don't mix.) It was pretty neat to see them docked alongside the skyline of a modern city and wished we had seen them in motion with all sails down. It must be an impressive sight.

Firefighter Ice Cream Social

Firefighter Ice Cream Social

We couldn't turn down an invite to a local firefighter demonstration! Adam is interested in just about anything to do with firemen and firetrucks, and I'm interested in just about anything to do with ice cream.  Clearly this event was made for our family.

Adam had a blast exploring all the different era fire trucks. Kids had a chance to use a real fire hose to put out the "flames" of a house. The fire department lit a car on fire and demonstrated its response and how it puts out the flames. One of the fire trucks was available for painting. And did I mention there was ice cream?

Sam was only really interested in the bounce house.

click to enlarge

It was a very organized, fun event. We left before the pie eating contest (oh darn!) and we'll definitely look for this again next year!

This summer.

I've been away. 

Not to any place in particular; just, you know, around. Busy with kids, afternoon parks, therapies, soccer and piano. Busy with work, little bit of traveling. Busy with Life. And maybe you missed reading new posts. Maybe you didn't. But, a lot happened this summer. A lot of cool, interesting, beautiful, special things. No big beach trips or European vacations for us. But lots of family time, old friend time, new friend time, explorations and developments. 

Sam, oh our Sam. He deserves a post of his own for all the mind-blowing things he's surprising with us with lately. I forget that he's almost THREE, but in my mind he's still clinging to my leg and nuzzling in my lap. But in just a few weeks he'll be off to preschool. Our big boy. Our hearts are so full of this little being. 

And Adam. What a mind in that kid. The other day he described a color Lego he was looking for as the color of the "inside of a banana". His little 5-and-a-half year old brain may not know this color as, say, beige or off-white, but he created this beautiful description to tell me the color he was needing. I'll post about him, too. He's our big Kindergartener now. (And the coolest things about it are the bus and recess.) 

Highlights of our summer as follows:

This girl. Oh my, this little girl. Niece Annabelle Lynn arrives and time is flying too fast. I've already missed bunches of her growing -- she's already rolling and giggling and smiling -- and I don't like it one bit!

This man. My husband is the best at finding little adventures for us to go and explore locally. It's one of the things I love most about him -- his excitement to just Go. Explore. Find. Create an adventure out of an ordinary Saturday when I may want to stay home and catch up on laundry. But he drags me out and I never regret spending the day, usually outside in the beautiful weather, with the 3 of the most important boys in my life.

This job. I'm grateful for my work and the work culture that puts employees first and allows me to balance home with career without too many demands. Occasionally I travel, and this summer brought me to Chicago. M took me there 15 years ago for a Reds-Cubs baseball game, and we returned 10 years later with our 11-month old after Christmas to see the city in lights. But I hadn't really looked at the city itself or introduced myself to the skyline or really felt the city life like this trip. A riverboat architectural tour by myself was really awe-inspiring. Chicago, you won me over. But next time someone else drives me there.

These people. People who make it a point to be a part of your life. People who check in, not just with what you are doing but how you are doing. I'm so grateful. They may never know how much I appreciate them all for making the time and effort and the distance to be with us.

This community. This summer our city really shined with the MLB All-Star weekend. We loved exploring the redesigned riverfront and taking part in some of the festivities. We also made a point to take in local events, fun attractions and new establishments in the surrounding community.

These boots. If you've been paying attention, you may have noticed that Adam hardly went anywhere this summer without this Crocs snow boots. These were definitely his footwear of choice, even in 90-degree weather. Go ahead and look back. Hiking, fishing, parks, and yes, even the water splash pad. As my sister said, "those dang boots!"

Soccer Fans

We wrapped up Adam's soccer season in May, and I'll have to say, it was pretty successful.

The season started in March and it was cold -- muddy fields from the ice and layers upon layers to stay warm.

His coach rotated the players around each quarter of each game, and they all wanted to be goalie. He held his own pretty well in that position. Thankfully. This Momma held her breath every time a ball went near his goal. I was so proud of his defense but more relieved that he did so well, for his sake.

Occasionally we caught him being less-than-focused. I once had to extract his cleats from the goal net while he was playing goalie. He's five.

And his absolute favorite part of the game was the snacks that came after.

It was so much fun to spectate. I don't know how many times during the game we yelled Adam, Adam, Adam, Adam to get his attention, to remind him of his position and purpose. 

He was one of the stronger players on the team, and by the end of the season he was getting more aggressive in getting his feet on the ball.

I'm not sure who was more excited about soccer, Adam or Daddy.

Adam still loves baseball best, but I don't think he's hanging up his soccer cleats any time soon. When are Fall sign-ups anyway? 

Sam's Speech, 30 months

If you were to take a peek into Sam's world these days, you'd find a boy that is more vocal than ever! He may not be making discernible words, but when we sit back and look at where we started and the growth he's shown over the last year, he's really come a long way. I really feel like he's starting to blossom these days, in new and wonderful ways. In fact, his speech pathologist commented that he seemed more comfortable in his own skin at his last appointment. I love that. I love that other people are seeing that, too. Maybe he's figuring it all out.

When he's not thinking about it, he's actually quite chatty. Common babbling includes the repetition of sounds such as ab-a, on-a, neh, good (remember that one?), da, uh, duh, ma, ba, pa, deh, tuk, guh, ott and more. This is more sounds than he's ever made, and he's even starting to combine sounds. On rare but exciting occasions he'll actually say a real word, and it's so unexpected that it really stuns and thrills me. Like his speech pathologist says, we think the words are in there; he just has trouble getting them out when he's thinking about it. She's heard him say her name (Amy), wash, rawr (what a lion says), and pop. Gramma has heard Grampa, and I have heard down, on, hush, good and mama (but he'll only say mama if you say it first; he won't call for me with it. For Dada he does the sign for Dada (open hand with thumb on forehead), but instead with both hands on his temples... apparently Daddy is a reindeer. Ha!) Technically, he has no consistent words but all promising sounds.
We continue to give him all the resources available to him and have really appreciated how our behavior therapist through the Help Me Grow program works so closely with our speech pathologist at the children's hospital. She will also bring along another HMG Occupational Therapist or Speech Therapist on occasion, who offer different observation and perspective on therapies.

This is what we've done for him the last 6+ months: Weekly social group. The Department of Disabilities offers an 8-week social group with other children his age. We started the first session in January and he was the youngest one in the class. By the end of the winter session he started to catch on to the routine so we enrolled him in the Spring session, which just wrapped up. We're considering taking a break from the summer session since Adam will be home for the summer with him. A quick visit to an ENT last fall to check to see if his frenulum (the tissue connecting the tongue to the mouth floor) was too tight and restricting speech. His was clipped at his newborn appointment but it can supposedly grow back, but the doctor didn't see it as a problem, nor did he believe it would affect not talking, just pronunciation. Strike that off the list. Follow-up evaluation at the Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (DDBP) in December. This report was basically a compilation of his past ELAP exam and recent speech therapy reports, plus new observations. Nothing new to report, just that he's showing some progress but still has the deficits.  Started The Play Project (www.playproject.org) through the Help Me Grow program. This involves more hands-on training for Michael and I with two behavioral therapists. It's done in our house, often with video recording of our interactions with Sam, which are evaluated by other specialists trained in the program and then reviewed with us. The feedback is valuable to helping Michael and I make the most of our interactions with Sam. They really help coach/guide us to get more engagement from him. Through the program we've also learned a lot about sensory processing -- how Sam prefers to only eat dry or crunchy foods or foods that he recognizes, hates to have his hair washed, and dislikes getting his hands dirty. He also seeks vestibular stimulation through swinging, jumping, being squeezed/hugged, chewing on board books or clothing (for oral stimulation), opening and closing doors (particularly automated sliding doors), aligning objects in a row, and pacing along horizontal planes or picking up a linear option and moving it horizontally across his line of vision.  He becomes fixated on doors, and at his social group the organizer began covering the classroom windows because Sam just wanted to watch the automatic lobby doors the whole time. Twice a month speech therapy sessions. We felt for several months that he was really stagnant in development, but since the new year he has really shown progress. His play imitation is better than ever and his receptive language is much improved. Amy can now get sounds out of him where just a couple of months ago she couldn't get anything. It's always exciting to go to his sessions and see his progress. Weekly music therapy. We've been doing this about a month, and he does really great with it. Our therapist is also Adam's piano teacher, so she comes to the house for a half hour session with each of them. She carries in a keyboard, a guitar, and a bag full of scarves, toys, bells, drums, etc. I could do a whole post on the various techniques used, but all the songs require Sam to move, to make a sound, to make a prompt, to mimic, etc. This is another great way to engage and develop him. He particularly loves the songs using gross motor movement. ADOS-2 evaluation in April. This is an Autism Spectrum evaluation and was given with the general idea of ruling out ASD as a cause for the speech delay. Sam has a couple of "red flags" that his behavioral therapists were concerned about. These include the initial loss of language (he had babbling at 12mos but lost all verbal for awhile), obvious speech delay, and some sensory processing issues, as described above (which are exacerbated in unfamiliar settings, such as where the testing took place.) Results showed a "moderate to severe" concern that he may have ASD. The developmental specialist who conducted the evaluation said that "based on the impressions from the ADOS testing, autism spectrum disorder could be one explanation for Samuel's deficits in social affect, communication skills and functional play skills", but then acknowledged verbally that she wasn't convinced he has ASD. On paper, Sam was flagged as having ASD characteristics, but often his responses to certain stimuli didn't hold across the board for a typical ASD child. And the test didn't account for his many "green flags" of good eye contact, nonverbal communication, social interactions, etc. He seems to confuse the experts. We've been referred back to the Children's Hospital Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, who just said for us to continue our therapies and they'll reassess when he's 3. Upcoming evaluation with the local school district. The school district offers a preschool program for 3 and 4 year olds, and if Sam qualifies for an IEP (individualized education plan, which he should for his speech), he would be able to attend for free when he turns 3. This would be 4 days a week, half days, and would include speech therapy, which he wouldn't get at a private daycare. Plus, he and Adam would be at the same school. I'm really excited about this opportunity for him, as I think being around more children his age every day will be really beneficial. They also help with feeding and potty training, as well. We'll know more after August. Annual Help Me Grow evaluation. His behavior specialist came to the house with a tackle box of objects, and like his initial exam last year, she asked him to perform various tasks like stacking blocks, finding the object, etc. We'll get a full report, but immediate results showed good fine motor, gross motor, adaptive and personal/social skills, with delays in receptive and expressive communication and cognition.

with his behavior therapist Mindy from the parent camera at Speech watching the lobby doors staring at the lobby doors through the gym door

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So, yes! A whole lot going on with our Sweet Sam! He's 2 1/2 now, and I'm constantly surprised at how independent he's becoming (and how big he's getting)! Here are some of his recent antics and fascinations:

• Loves to RUN! Our neighbors often get to watch us chasing Sam down to the cul-de-sac because he's taken off on an impromptu run once again. A couple of them have helped "catch" him for us. On the plus side, it's been a great way to get to know the neighbors!

• Loves opening doors, often opening and slamming them over and over, sometimes at 6:30 in the morning. If the door swings closed by itself, it's even more fun (until he's stuck in the closed garage in the dark). He is also getting skilled at unlocking doors, which is a problem around the house, and we're having to get smarter about locking the front and back doors because he will escape. (Then see point 1.) He loves automatic sliding doors, and when we go anywhere that has them (which is most stores) he will wriggle out of my arms and race for them. Once I manage to pull him away from them he's constantly watching for them throughout the store.

• Recently he's discovered he can open the refrigerator and freezer. We store our milk in the door, at his level, and he'll sometimes come to me lugging the carton, which is really cute. What is not cute is finding refrigerator contents sitting out on the kitchen floor.

• Has started using sign language without prompting. (This is really exciting!) Typically he'll sign more or all done when he wants to continue or stop an activity. It used to be he'd do this only if we ask him but now he'll do this on his own. Most often he'll use more and all done when he's strapped into a swing or his high chair.

• Blows kisses with the "mmm-ah" sound! And the other day Michael said, "I love you!" and Sam blew him a kiss in response. He is a great cuddle and each morning he comes into our room, climbs up on our bed and lays right on top of me.

• Sometimes changes the intonation of sounds to sound like words. He may say a high-low sound for Thank You or a "uh-huh" sound for yes, without actually saying words. For a while, his No was a definite, firm (and rather rude!) grunt, but he only uses this occasionally now.

• When you ask him to say something specifically he has trouble but he can prompt us verbally. It's usually "pah" or "bah" whispered. Hopefully he'll begin to realize he can tell us things or that a verbal response is expected. 

• Is much more aware of his environment and responds. If he hears someone say Mama (and not to him as a directive to repeat it) he'll repeat it. If he hears a song that he knows he'll stop what he's doing and do the motions.

• Loves to throw rocks in the river, which has progressed to throwing mulch on the patio. He recently tried to throw decorative river rocks into a friend's swimming pool. He giggles the whole time. (See video below.)

• Typically does most fine motor skills left handed and more often than not, points to objects with his left thumb.

• His biggest passions, I think, are running, doors and the swing. He will swing until you get tired and he recently discovered the rocking chair is similar movement. Lately he wants to sit on my lap to swing and I love this cuddle time! (I usually get tired long before he does.)

• Loves to play baseball. He'll place a ball on the tee and then swing a bat to hit it. Over and over again. Or he'll chase down Adam's fly balls.

• Loves music -- Wheels on the Bus, Monkeys in a Tree, Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Speckled Frogs, Ring Around the Rosie, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Happy and You Know It, Row Row Row Your Boat, Wiggly Jiggly Car Song, Head Shoulders Knees Toes -- all songs that are interactive and involve gross motor.

• Loves playing with his brother and is starting to play along side him more. They particularly love to rough-house (ka-boom, hammer down and jump/throw on the couch) or chase each other. When playing alone he's typically lining up objects (shoes, cars) in a row or realigning my picture frames to the front edge of the table.

• No more pacifier! He chewed holes in his and they became less desirable. I tossed them and he hasn't seemed to notice. He still likes his little blanket-giraffe for bedtime and will often suck on it or his shirt front instead. We're trying to break that habit next.

• He may not be able to say it, but he sure knows how to show us what he wants by bringing us objects, or leading us to something, or placing our hands on an object he wants or needs help with... particularly shoes. He'll bring you his shoes as indication he wants to go out and he'll bring us each of ours to put on, too. If in the garage he'll stand by the car door as indication he wants to get in and go anywhere you'll take him.

I read a book called Late Talking Children, which profiles other families who have had their child in evaluations, speech therapy, specialists, etc., and all to say the child is completely normal, just speech delayed. Many of these children don't really talk until 3 or 4 or even 5 but otherwise excel in all other areas of development, sometimes beyond typical development for their age. It's been comforting to know that, while uncommon, his behavior is not necessarily abnormal. Likewise, when we had Adam IQ tested I mentioned to the psychologist that Sam was speech delayed, and he interrupted me to say that some of the delayed children he works with are extremely bright and don't start talking until 3 or later and often in full sentences. As our therapist put it, we're hoping he's just speech delayed and not language delayed, which would have longer lasting impact.

I know we are headed in the right direction, and I'm so excited to watch him on this journey. Here's a couple videos of him in action. He has the best laugh!