Evaluating Haddon

For a while I felt bad that I wasn't getting Haddon into speech therapy immediately after moving to Oregon, but now I'm glad that I did. I mean, I would rather he hadn't any interruption in the speech so that he could be further than he is now, but I think the process would have been overwhelming to me.

But now we are getting him into it, and since he had his third birthday, he needs evaluating.

There have been concerns with Haddon, especially figuring out what he understands and what he doesn't. If he doesn't understand a command or a standard that he has to be held to, then he can't be expected to obey it until he does. Does that make sense? Nonetheless, there have been times in which we have needed to require certain behavior, and he seems to get overwhelmed. An average three-year-old would understand, but we were finding it seemed more difficult for Haddon. Above that, he just isn't communicating as he should- yet.

So, after an initial screening, it was determined that he would have to do an extensive evaluation, and it would take about 2 hours. Well, the appointment was yesterday, and it was intimidating but good. I was intimidated because these days children are, unfortunately, labeled very quickly and easily. I didn't want our son labeled as something that he may not be just so that the powers at be could proceed with some sort of plan that may or may not meet his individual needs. I was nervous that they would not see our son's gifts or understand how far he has come.

What was good was that no labeling with any disorder or anything was done. They simply did tests to see what Haddon was understanding was. He did better in a couple areas that I didn't expect- namely understanding the words "in", "out", "on", and "off". I haven't been sure if he understood those concepts, but he showed that he did. But for the most part, everything confirmed what we already knew about our son, and actually helped pinpoint some things that helps me understand where Haddon has room to grow.

He understands simple nouns like "ball", "baby", and "dog", but has a harder time either understanding or expressing that he knows what "running, "drinking" and "playing"- action words. We could tell because when he saw a picture of a dog, he would point and say, "doggy!" but looking at a page of children doing things and asked to identify the actions, he got overwhelmed and didn't want to answer- possibly that he couldn't.

So, he will have a plan set up to help him with cognitive understanding as well as verbal communication. Within a few weeks someone will call to set up a time when we can sit down and establish an education plan. If Haddon follows suit with what how he has responded in the past, I believe that he will catch up. He's a smart kiddo. I think that he processes things differently, and as parents and his first teachers, we need to identify how to best educate him and help him understand. I'm glad that we will be learning how to do that, and hopefully, be able to communicate that to grandparents, and other important people in his life.

Please be in prayer as we seek to do the best that we can for our son. I personally am so proud to be his mommy, and he is such a special and precious part of our family. I would not change one thing about him! Pray that we will be wise advocates on behalf of our son, able to help give a clear picture of where he is and what we see in him. And please be in prayer that the professionals working with our son will be the right person(s) to work with him with patience and love and understanding.

Our Leftover Chili

So tonight I wanted to use up our leftover shredded pork. I had just had a pulled pork bbq sandwich, and I didn't have any buns, so that was not going to happen. I came up with this combo, and it was very good. You can use pork or chicken.

"Leftover Chili"
choice of shredded meat: chicken or pork
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can diced green chiles
1 tsp. minced garlic
a couple handfuls of diced onion
chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, and black pepper to taste

Put it all in a big pot, and stir it all up. Simmer for 20 minutes and it's ready!

This was so easy, and it was really good!

Quote of the Week

The quote of the week comes from Norah:

*"Oh no! Where are my pants?!"

*She had gone to the bathroom, and was wearing a long shirt. When she pulled it up to reveal her belly, she was genuinely surprised to find that she wasn't wearing pants.

Splashing

At Waterfront Park there is a splash pad.

Haddon stayed dry.

Norah got wet.

It was smashing.

Well, it was splashing.

Is it Mardis Gras?

Norah made a mask.

Haddon likes wearing the mask.

A Growing Family

Don't get too excited from the title. We're not adding another HUMAN member to our family... just fish.

Casey took Norah out and they got some fish. Sadly we lost our strong fish Salt and Pepper. Salt passed away a while ago, but Pepper held on longer and perished while we were on vacation.

So let me introduce 4 new fish...

From Left to Right:

"Blackorice" (pronounced like licorice), "Fishy-fish", "Orangey" (the orange one swimming away), and No Name.

Yeah. Norah named them. We're working on a name for the mostly white one. We'll keep you posted.

UPDATE: The mostly white fish with the deep orange spot on its head is named "Spot".

Brilliant, aren't we?

Men-i-Vans

On our way back from vacation at Eaglecrest, we stopped in Bend to visit Andy and Sara Purscelley. We got a visit, and so help me, the children played with Linus and Owen so wonderfully. They all got along, and it was a delight to just visit with adults knowing your kids are having fun.

Andy is very proud of his newly acquired minivan (as he should be!), and since we have the same model, and since men are proud to drive minivans, these former college roommates had to pose for a few shots.

"T & C"