Thursday, February 14, 2008

Busy Week

It's been a busy week in our household. Clare has had some sort of thing going on every day, we've had some wicked weather, and poor Simon is still sick.

Between freezing rain, icy cold temperatures, snowfall, and flooded streets, we've been fairly housebound all week. Jamie had a snow day on Wednesday, so three days in a row without school has been tough. He is definitely at the age where he is not content to just be at home all day with me and the "little" kids anymore. Everyone goes stir crazy being cooped up in the house all day. With Simon being sick, plus everywhere you go is a sheet of ice these last few days, it has not been ideal conditions to even take a break by going to the bookstore, mall, Target, anywhere!

My sweet happy baby finally turned into a monster. I jinxed myself by bragging what a good boy he was even with all his ailments. By the weekend, he spiked a fever and was miserable (to put it mildly). He stopped taking naps and slept horribly at night. By Tuesday, he had also developed a deep, hacking cough and sounded wheezy when he breathed. So it was back to the doctor's office to add diagnoses of a double ear infection plus a worsening skin rash, which in turn means antibiotics and steroid cream. Slowly we are seeing our Simon come back to us from this red, speckled, unhappy baby we have had all week. (Spattergroit, anyone?)

Clare has had a busy week. Besides OT on Monday and PT on Tuesday, the feeding team came out on Wednesday, and she had her special education evaluation with the school department on Thursday. The feeding team spent an hour and a half at our house, and the only thing we got out of it was to try adding pureed cauliflower to Clare's macaroni and cheese. Shawn and I were not as impressed with the feeding team this time. We both feel Clare is at a point now where she physically has the oral motor skills to eat almost every kind of food. However, she is at the picky, opinionated 2-year old phase of life, and we see her exerting her control over what she eats and, more importantly, does not eat. Clare does have a lot of sensory issues going on when it comes to food, so her OT has been working weekly on that with Clare. I think Wednesday was our last visit with the feeding team. Although they scheduled a six-month follow-up for August, I just don't feel the need to have Clare seen by them anymore. I feel it is a waste of time for everyone involved. Clare will be discharged from Early Intervention in six weeks, but we have already arranged with her OT to continue feeding sessions once or twice a month. They have a good rapport and her OT is enthusiastic about coming up with new ways to get Clare to at least explore different foods, so I feel comfortable continuing with this route.

Since Clare was already evaluated by OT, PT, and speech last month, the school department only needed an evaluation done by a special educator. The educator did the same tests that Clare has done a million times, and Clare certainly acted like the kid that has been there, done that. For example, the educator asked Clare to stack blocks. Clare stacked two, gave a bored look, and questioned, "All done?" For each activity, Clare did the bare minimum, then stated "all done." She would then sit in the little chair with her chin rested on her folded hands on the table and just stare at the educator until a new activity was presented. I thought it was rather comical. I am not too concerned about what the educator writes up because Clare's January evaluations are very thorough. The next step is to meet with the school department's team, go over the results of the evaluations, and discuss Clare's placement in the preschool. Then one week after that meeting (which is in early March), we will sit down with the team again to write Clare's IEP. Six weeks and counting until the first day of school.

One day and counting until the weekend!

7 comments:

Penny said...

Wow, you have your hands full

Julie said...

Sounds like you guys have alot going on. I know that hand foot and mouth stuff is nasty. Lexi just went back to school today. She lost 7 lbs while she had it.

Noel said...

You have been busy! I hope that Simon gets over all the "junk" he has had pretty soon.

Spring is just around the corner...right?!?

Noel

Anonymous said...

Poor Simon! (& mommy!!) I pray the monster runs it's course, & is gone real soon. As for Miss Clare....what can I say?? She sounds like a very intelligent girl who knows the routine! How funny that must have been to watch her 'mock' the interviewers!!?? lol I hope the weekend brings a little relief to the cold, and you can get away for a few minutes! love to all......Aunt Joan

Amy said...

Dead on with the eating! Avery is facing similar eating issues, it puzzles me that she won't swallow a raisin (merely chew it and spit it out) but swallow other things with the same level of softness. All I can do is keep offering! Some nights I offer Avery 6 different items just to fill her up and TRY to get some veggie or fruit in her! Oy vey. She eats a little of this, a little of that, none of THAT, more of this. ARGH!! But she is eating most of the time so that is great, I guess. The mind of a toddler, I don't get it. lol.
Amy

Michelle said...

I can't believe Clare is going to pre school in six weeks. Holy Moly! She's growning up way too fast! I will be praying for a smooth transition for all of you!

Lisa said...

Sounds like we were all sick together