Andrew's diagnosis

Well, long time no blog. It's because I've been busy, both with photo shoots and with appointments for my children. Anyway, the biggest news right now is that after our 2 day assessment at the clinic last week, it has been determined that Andrew has motor dyspraxia. Motor dyspraxia affects particularly the fine motor skills, and Andrew, while testing high on all other IQ assessments, tested in the first percentile for writing. He is at the level of a 15-30 month old for fine motor skills. Andrew turned five on August 25th. So what the plan of action is is to move forward with weekly Occupational Therapy appointments. They will work on things that Andrew has trouble with (writing in particular, but also buttons, zippers; cutting with scissors).

Dyspraxia affects boys more than girls. Four out of five diagnoses are boys.

They also stated that he has SID (Sensory Integration Disorder) and that there are some issues there, but nothing too serious (we notice that he loves long sleeves and that may just be an "Andrew" thing and certainly nothing that will negatively impact his day-to-day functioning). He fights us when he gets his hair washed, nails clipped, or teeth brush -- so that could be a sensory thing. He has issues with noise -- I.E., when I went to his classroom last year on Dr. Seuss' birthday and we all read books out in the halls of the school -- Andrew covered his ears and said, "it's too noisy, Mom" even though it was really just the noise of a lot of people reading at once. He could not focus.

He is being monitored for ADHD -- but not diagnosed with it at the time. He is also being monitored for dysgraphia, which is the inability to write or the inability to write clearly. OT and time will tell how well he does there. As of right now, he can trace letters, but cannot replicate or write out any letters.

The staff were so helpful and great and I'm very hopeful that Andrew will "fit in" just fine. He already is having a better school year this year than last (I am hereby recommending ANYONE with doubts on whether to send their young child to kindergarten early -- please hold back your summer birthday boys for a year because it will help them so much in the long run) and has many friends he plays age appropriately with. Last year, for comparison, he would only play at the sand/corn table (sensory) and didn't want to do anything else. He also had more outbursts/tantrums last year and this year he's holding it together.

So there you have it. Andrew will not be treated any differently by us as his parents and we hope that he succeeds and finds that one thing that interests him and goes for it. He may not be in sports, but maybe he will be a good writer someday. He's very social and makes everyone around him smile with his charming personality and questions he asks.

Business & busy-ness!

Yep, business and busy-ness. :)  I've been busy with photoshoots lately. I just finished up another great one yesterday with a fun family and three older kids (not older older, but not toddlers either).

This weekend was a lot of fun. We went to the parade on Saturday, or I should say, I gave my hubby a nice break from the kids from 10:30 am - 3:00 pm (big parade) and the kids had a lot of fun. Elise was a little scared of the noise at first and I don't think she remembered the parade from last year because the first thing she said when we got to our spot (by my mom; family) was, "Mom, time to go home." The two minutes later it was, "I want to take a nap" so I put her in the back of the double stroller and reclined it and she looked like she was going to fall asleep but kept peeking through sleepy eyes with an unsure look on her face. A little bit later, I looked over and she had peed her pants, and she always tells me when she has to go so I think the noise was scaring her. Good thing I brought extra clothes, but of course, then the stroller was all wet back there. It was hot!! For the end of September, this is what us Northerners would call "an Indian summer". We all had jeans on and had them rolled up to our knees because the sun was beating directly on us. Jameson seemed to fare well at the parade and didn't mind the noise. Andrew very much enjoyed dancing in the street and running to get candy. He had several meltdowns when he either didn't get any and other kids did, or if they handed candy out to his cousin and not him. I tried to re-direct him and tell him the parade wasn't over yet and that seemed to do the trick.

We went down to the fest Saturday night after settling the kids for bed at my mom's. So we were only out about 2.5 hours. I had 3 Mike's Hard Lemonades within a half hour so I was feeling good and dancing (I don't like to dance unless I'm buzzed because I'm a dork). I then cut myself off (3 is and has always been my limit). DH had fun as well and we partied with my aunts and uncles. There was a good band playing: all 80s and 90s hits.

Yesterday was nice. We went to the grandparents' house and Grandpa made brats and hamburgers -- very good. I like a good juicy brat with kraut.Yum! Then I had that photoshoot at 4:15 and it went swimmingly well. I stopped on the way home to take some pictures of the area bluffs because the fall colors are at their peak. We went with the kids to Subway because we didn't feel like making anything and that outing went relatively well. LOL, I always feel like my kids are so NOISY compared to other kids but I think I just don't like drawing attention to ourselves, nor does DH. They do say some funny things that sometimes turn heads for a chuckle.

Last night I was so pooped after a long weekend! I edited some photos and went to bed early for me (11:30).

And now here we are on another Monday morning, the first day of October. It's so hard to believe!