Family Update - Elliot

I guess I'll start the family update with our littlest member. Elliot is now 21 months old. He has a mouth full of teeth and is a chatter. Here is a list of words he is now saying:

Isaac

Mama

Dada

Molly Mo

hot

door

meow

bye bye

baby

please

Toodles

milk

Elmo
apple

I think that's it. He's turning into such a little person. Out of nowhere, he's become attached to a stuffed dog ( his "baby"). Even brought it to school twice. His teachers love him and talk about how lovable he is. He loves to dance and he loves Mickey. His favorite book is Pat the Bunny. He loves the outdoors. He loves to play with balls, especially soccer (which makes his Tat very happy!) He loves to watch the Saints and LSU play and even yells at the tv with us. haha. I can't believe how fast  he's growing and I love to watch his little personality shining through.Oh yeah and one more...still no haircut. I can't bring myself to do it :).

Starting with his first birthday party last November. This seems like forever ago! I have to share though because everything came out so cute. 

Here are some pis from our family beach camping trip Easter weekend. He had so much fun!

 Austin's Angelman Walk in May

More Summertime fun:

Hoping to stay up to date now :)

Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Isaac is totally into reading books right now. He wants to read one after another. And he's at the stage where he's memorized some of them so he pretends to read them. haha. This is one of his favorites and him counting and reading along. Don't mind my annoying voice.

Conversations with my love

Isaac is talking up a storm. And sometimes he blabs, and I have no idea what he's saying. With this new job, I'm able to pick Isaac up from school everyday. He gets so excited when he sees me, and I love it :). After I pick him up and we get in the car, I always ask him about his day. He tells me what he colored and he pulls out his paper, "I color this!"

Today he told me he went to chapel-they go every Wednesday. I asked him what he did and he put his hands in position and said "I pray." haha.

And the funniest thing...yesterday he told me that he prays at school. When I asked him when, he said "When I eat sandwich."

Our afternoon conversations have been one of the favorite parts of the day. I am amazed by how much he's talking and how insightful he can be sometimes. He comments on people's feelings, even Molly..."She's sad."

I'm so proud of my boy.

Family Update!

I realized that not only have I not been updating the blog as often, I also haven't been keeping ya'll up to date with everything. So first thing's first. Isaac is talking like crazy! Early Steps ends at three so he'll be evaluated soon to see if he will need to continue speech. He is speaking sentences on his own and his annunciation improves daily. Some of my favorite sentences from him so far:

"Omi, you have to listen to me."
"It's Isaac's turn for tv."
"Mooooooooommmmmyyyyyyy...what you doing??"

He's so much fun :)

Next, I just started a new job. And I mean JUST. Today was my second day. It's a clinical position at Children's Hospital in New Orleans. It's completely different from what I was doing, but I feel like I'm learning so much. I also work better hours which makes life at home a lot easier. I've been busy with my nutrition blog as well: ABC's of Mealtime. If you haven't checked it out already, please do. And don't be afraid to comment! It keeps me motivated.

Andrew just finished his summer classes, so now he'll be staying at home with Isaac until they go back to school. He's also waiting tables as a side gig :) He's working hard on subjects that I hate: Calculus and Physics. I told him I can help with Nutrition 101. HAHA.

Our family has been awesome helping us with Isaac. We had a couple weeks when camp ended and we didn't have a sitter. We are SO very blessed to have family that can help. I hope all is well with everyone. Here is a pic of Isaac just for fun :)

Hearing Test

Since Isaac will be turning 3 this year, they are starting to transition him from Early Steps. In order to see whether he would need to continue speech therapy he needed to get a hearing test. A couple weeks ago, they tried but he had fluid in both ears. They did it today and he passed with flying colors! (Despite still having fluid in one ear) This leads me to believe that it's just an articulation issue. His speech therapist agrees with me. He is saying more and more by the day and even more importantly, he's starting to pronounce things better. He used to just call Andrew "da" and now he says "da-ddy." And it's very clear (and cute!) I might add. He tries to call Molly (although it sounds more like "Ahhhh-eeee").

His teacher told Andrew today that Isaac has come so far. Her exact words were "He is not the same little boy he was when we first met." That makes me so proud...and so grateful for him to have such great teachers and a speech therapist. I'm not sure where we'll go from here, but I do know that I feel very positive about his progress so far and have every reason to believe that he'll do just fine :).

Oh yeah, and one more thing. He's finally saying another word! That's right, he's saying "mommy." :) Some of you may remember some of the older blog posts of him rebelling against this word. What's SO funny about what he's saying is...well, it's "Bobby." He has problems with his m's. But either way, I don't care. It's funny, it's cute, and I know what he means!

Little Parrot

I originally started this blog draft a couple days ago with a list of words that Isaac is saying. He is talking SO MUCH more lately! We went to Lafayette this weekend and when we got back and I tried to add to the list, I couldn't keep up. haha. We went to the grocery store tonight and he's repeating everything I say. He's even linking words together! Here is the list that I attempted...obviously they're not all clear as day but he's definitely saying most of the word.

-ma -da -hop -sit -yuck -pop -cheese -food -eat -milk -bye -hi -frog -Tat -oval -Elmo -up -baby -book -yeah -no -Jake (& the Neverland Pirates) -uh oh -eye -shoe -sock -bath -turtle -hat -more -bubble -ball -Diego -Jack -cat -food -G :)

He's pointing out colors now too:

-red

-yellow (ye-ow!)

-blue

-green

The first words he put together without repeating word for word was "I love you!" He also said "Tat truck" and "Da truck." We are so grateful to be able to get speech and have such a great therapist with Rachel :) We are so proud of our baby!

Oh yeah!! And there's one more phrase that he's saying! Check it out:

Follow Up

Today we went to see Dr. Niyazov (geneticist) for a follow up appointment. After the visit in November, he took a lot of blood and sent everything out to get tested. It was a lot of chromosomal stuff and took a while to get the results. Well, they came in and we went over them today.

It appears that everything is normal, chromosomal-wise. At this point the diagnosis is ketotic hypoglycemia. It seems that this is basically what's left when other disorders are ruled out. Now, he also mentioned Glycogen Storage Disease Type O. He didn't diagnose him or anything, but I guess it's a possibility. I honestly don't think it's that black or white. If you're interested, you can click on the link...but honestly, I don't think it really matters. Either way, we have to be mindful of his glucose and make sure he eats regularly. If he gets cornstarch before bed (we usually put it in oatmeal or yogurt) and he's not sick, then we won't have to really check his glucose.

To tell you the truth, I have to feel really comfortable to NOT check it. I just feel like since it doesn't wake him up...what's the harm? I mean, seeing my child seizing is not something I want to see again. If a simple poke on the finger helps to prevent that, then why not?

The doctor was very pleased with Isaac's development so far. His weight and height are good on the charts so even though his growth hormone is a little low, he's not concerned. His head circumference is almost on the charts now (it was over). Also, he was very pleased with the improvement of speech. So even though we don't really have answers, we're relieved. If it is ketotic hypoglycemia, it's something he'll grow out of. Thanks for all your prayers!

Here's a video of Isaac in the doctor's office. Andrew's been working with him to say "I love you." Halfway through he stopped and said "cheese" for the camera, thinking I was taking a pic. haha. he is TOO cute.

Progress!

This week Isaac will start receiving speech twice a week. We're hoping this starts to speed up the process. Since switching schools, we've noticing him doing better. He usually doesn't use words spontaneously, but he'll repeat. Here is a list of words he is saying:
-ma
-da (usually "DA!!!!!" haha)
-hot
-hop
-cheese
-hippo (although it's more like "hip")
-Elmo
-poo poo (just recently)
-up
-here
-yea

He also said "Suzy" which is my cousin's dog's name. haha. And he said "oval" a few times and "apple" a few times. Animal noises include:
-moo (more like "mbooooo")
-woo woo (woof woof)
-baaa
Rachel notes that he says "hat" but we haven't heard it.

Like I said, some of these things have only been said a couple times so far but he's trying. And it's not like it's clear as day...but we can tell that's what he's trying to say. We're hearing him make sounds that he's never made before and that's encouraging. We are so blessed to be able to get speech. Ms. Rachel is great! :)

Speech Update

Isaac's speech therapist comes to his daycare once a week and she keeps notes and sends them to me. Right now they have a goal to increase his number of words and to increase the use of his words. She is happy with his progress so far. I have noticed him babbling more and making sounds that I've never heard him make before. For example, this past week his therapist has him working on his snake sound "ssss". He also tries to imitate sounds. He is doing some signing as well. He signs "more", "eat", and "please." He probably does more but those are the notes that I have.

I know every parent says this, but I'm so amazed at how smart he is :). He follows a lot of directions and he helps me dress him everyday. He's getting good at puzzles and he loves to look at books.

I'll continue to keep ya'll updated on his speech.

Elephants

Isaac has been working with his speech therapist and I get the notes that she writes. One day as I was reading the paper, it said that he imitates an elephant. I've never heard him do that before so I asked him. It's hilarious! This is his imitation.

Speech Update

Well, he's still not talking much. But he did start saying one thing that makes me smile...MAMA! Yes. Finally! But there's no way I can get it on camera yet. He won't even say it in front of people but I swear, he says it! Early Steps came and evaluated him at home with Andrew a couple of weeks ago and they basically said the same thing that the speech therapist said. He's not using his consonants and he's behind but he's can definitely communicate with us. They also said his cognitive skills are great. We're waiting for a call to see if he got accepted for treatment yet. The evaluator said that he might not until he's two (that's when a lot of doctors actually start worrying about it). As for us, we're just putting our faith in God and trying to stay positive.

He is mimicking noises though and this video had me cracking up. I can't believe I caught it on camera! Nanny taught him the lion from his zoo toys. I've been working on the dog noise (even though it sounds more like a monkey) and who knows where he learned the trumpet from!

18 Month Checkup/Speech

Isaac had his 18 month checkup not too long ago. Now that we've moved back to New Orleans, he is able to go to my old pediatrician which is pretty cool. I didn't get to go to the appt because of work, but daddy took him.The visit went pretty good. He had to get a couple of shots but he did ok. He weighed 24 lbs 12oz and 31 inches tall. His weight/age is at the 25%ile, his length/age is at the 10%ile (ok, so he's short! haha). His weight/length is a little above the 75%ile. That makes me laugh because it means he's short and pudgy. And he's my cutie. One thing that the dr. was concerned about is his lack of speech. Isaac says "dada" and that's about it. He recommended a hearing test and to see a speech therapist.

I take things that doctors say with a grain of salt. And no, I don't think I'm smarter...I just take it with a grain of salt. I work with them and they're not always right. haha. So because of that, we decided against the hearing test. I'm pretty sure he can hear just fine. He follows commands and he dances to music. But we did follow up with speech. That appointment was today.

Andrew said it went well. She spent a lot of time observing Isaac. She agreed that Isaac does communicate with us very well and thought that cognitively, he was on track. He was able to point pictures out to her and was able to show her what to do with things (put a cup to his mouth, push a car, brush his hair, etc). She said that he plays normally which is a good thing seeing that with some conditions (like autism) you can see a difference in playing styles. So that makes me happy. She wants us to follow up with either another speech therapist to help him work on his actual physical speech skills (She is really really booked up for awhile). Or she wants us to look into Early Steps which is a program offered by the state for things like this. They come out to your house and everything...just not sure if we'll qualify.

Bottom line: He's behind on his speech but he is communicating with us.We were also encouraged to do some things at home. She wasn't too concerned yet and told us that some babies tend to start talkinga little closer to 2 years old and just like to take their time. SHe also thinks he may be a little behind due to his lack of being in daycare as...which is another post all by itself. :)

Say "MAMA" Part 2

This video cracks me up. I'm trying to get him to say mama...again.

Say "MAMA"

He's totally not interested in saying it yet. He just woke up in this video so he's all sleepy looking.

Babbling

So about 2 weeks ago Isaac started babbling like he's trying to talk. He makes "dada" and "baba" noises. It sounds like he says "baba" more but I think it's because we call him Bubba and Bubs. I try to get him to say dada because he doesn't sound like he's at all ready to say mama =)