His birthday was so much fun. We had a big cookie and ice cream, but best of all Grandma and Grandpa were in town. Carver LOVES his Grandpa E. It was such a great treat! We had a fun day together.
Here he is, trying to open a present with his beloved Buzz lightyear gun.
Well-check. Of course I forgot to post back then, but better late than never. So I also forgot to ask the doctor if she'd recommend a genetic screening of sorts to rule out any medical condition. I wasn't excited about that, but honestly I just forgot. Pretty lame mom moment, but it's the truth. I love the stats, so here they are:
Height: 38 3/4 inches (90-95th percentile)
Weight: 42.8 pounds (above the 97th percentile)
Body Mass Index: 20.1 (above the 97th percentile)
There is some concern there. Obviously, he's a big kid and he's both thick AND tall. But the BMI worries the doctor a bit - thankfully, she's a wise woman who said we have enough to think about right now. Portion size is the greatest way to help him out, but it's terribly hard to say "no" to a grumpy SPD kid who won't leave the kitchen. I'm not too concerned right now, but I also see that his size doesn't help his coordination and motor skills any. I'm not WORRIED, but it's on my mind.
The most interesting part of the well-check was how different it is now to me. It was very bland after evaluations/therapy. I felt like it was important and I wouldn't skip a well-check, but my concerns with Carver are mostly non-medical. I told her about speech therapy, preschool, etc... I think I did most of the talking! And even his eczema/molloscum contagiosum spots are something that I've already dealt with enough to know there's nothing more anyone can do. I have been used to seeking counsel at these appointments, getting answers, but this time I caught HER up on what we've been doing. I hadn't seen this doctor before, but trust the clinic and was really impressed by her. We'll go back again.
So PRESCHOOL is great. I can't even express how wonderful it has been for all of us. Cute Ellie is counting every day we have together in the morning. Today was our "8th mommy daughter date." Do you think preschool is blessing more than just Carver? Absolutely. The time just FLIES by. :) He loves to go and comes home so happy, very fulfilled and then he crashes. I'm getting good naps from him every day! But part of that is probably his lingering cold, as well. Either way, it's been great.
What is weird is not knowing what's happening there. I've emailed the teacher a couple times to check in and I'm trying hard not to bug her often. I was really excited to see PT (physical therapy) homework come home today. We need to work with ball skills: bouncing off the wall and catching it, bouncing into a bucket, catching, throwing, the basics really. Too bad the weather is turning nasty. What wall should I find to bounce balls off? Maybe his room. It's not decorated/painted yet. :)
I'd gotten used to the style of speech therapy where all 3 of us (sometimes plus Grace and/or Ellie!) would play and interact together. I knew what to work on, asked my questions, got tips. This is a whole new scenario. But not a bad one, just different. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the stuff that comes home with him. A cute spider craft and a mini pumpkin he used a sharpie to color a face on. Or the glove filled with popcorn and candy corn. It's so much fun. Today he got off the bus, absolutely thrilled with a book in his backpack. "cows!!" he kept saying. Sure enough, it was a book about a boy who swallowed a fly (and everything else) and there were cows on several pages. Yesterday he brought home a flyer about a play put on at the junior high, that classic school "junk mail" and I so I recycled it. He was worried about that. So worried that today when he got out his backpack for school, he ran to the recycling bin in the pantry and I knew he was looking for it. I fished it out and he was happy as a clam. Even without many words, I know how much all these details mean to him. He's just like his big sisters! He feels so grown up. And I'm SO grateful for the attention he's getting at school.
And we're back to the yum-yum (pacifier). After a couple of weeks without, I saw him sucking his thumb more and more often til he wouldn't go to sleep without it. I just couldn't let that happen. It wasn't easy to go back, but I'm glad that we did. What it comes down to is Carver's individual needs mattering more than what people think seeing a big 3 year old with a binky. I'm still trying to use other things throughout the day and he definitely does NOT take it to school, so he gets it for his nap at home and usually during his movie time, then bedtime. And really grumpy moments, too.... :) Okay, he has it a lot. But we're working on it.
FAVORITE Carver tricks right now:
he gets up way too early and climbs into bed with me. Rarely he falls asleep, but usually it lets me wake up slowly (which I need) and he doesn't kick much anymore. It's gotten to be something I actually look forward to.
he loves to talk about "empty" - a new concept for him. Great word. His pretend play has exploded. It's very exciting, as well. He mops with his stick horse, eats birthday cake with his stacking cups. I love it!
he calls the girls for dinner or today when they got off the bus, he cupped his hands around his mouth and started calling out "spiders!" because we'd seen one on the way to the bus stop and he wanted to show them.
HARD things right now:
he's figured out doors. He can open ALL of them and it's really a pain. closets have to be Carver-proof now and it's only a matter of time (days?) before he learns to unlock the front door, which is the only way he's staying inside. The garage is bad enough. And the kid is NOT afraid of the dark. He just flips on the light and heads for the van.
hitting and pushing again. sometimes this is for attention, either theirs or mine. Almost always because he's frustrated and not getting what he wants. The time in the corner was working well, but not anymore. I might have to do straight up to his room for a minute. But that's hard to do when Grace is grumpy and I'm making dinner. I just usually scold him and give him that negative attention. Sigh. Parenting is a MILLION times harder to actually do than talk about.
No comments:
Post a Comment