This was not the most productive visit by a long shot, but we got to talk a bit about the two year checkup. You can read about Monday's checkup here.
C. the COTA and M. the Speech Therapist came by and my son came to the door with me to greet them. The last few times he has an been very upset to see them. When I opened the door, he smiled broadly at C. and grabbed her hand. He was babbling to her and was super happy, until we came into the living room. As soon as we all sat down, he started crying and clutching at me. I got him some Annie's White Cheddar Bunnies and water as a snack and M. and C. observed him eating. He picked up his little snack bowl and tipped it into his mouth. M. stopped him from choking. My son countered by sticking his hand into the bowl and grabbing literally a fistful of bunnies and tried unsuccessfully to mash them all in his mouth. C. started rationing his bunnies one at a time.
As he ate, I told them about the Pediatrician's concerns about his weight. They both looked surprised and said he looks propionate and he has a pot belly. M. said both me and my husband are a compact little couple so we probably aren't going to have a large child. C. suggested giving my son Ensure as well as increasing the amount of milk he drinks from two cups to four, or more cups per day. M. suggested ranch dressing made with whole milk as a tasty condiment that also gives calories. C. suggested to use condiments and have him learn how to dip food in them so he slows down a bit while eating. M. said that the same thing happened with her child and she gave them a scoop of ice cream after lunch. She said kids this young don't have cholesterol issues so it isn't that bad to do. I told hem I bought sour cream and I was stirring that into his food, only about a spoonful, and also I add olive oil to most of his food as well. C. said we can use snack time as a way to connect. We can work on eye contact, and fine motor skills, as well as language skills. For example, I can make him ask for more using either sign language, or eventually words.
I also told them about the Autism screening. M. looked surprised and asked why I think that is a good thing. I told her if my son has Autism, it would be good to know so then we can start focus helping him instead of just giving general help for a delayed child, and if he doesn't have it, that is good to know too. C. said that I should not be very surprised if it takes more than one visit to the CNDC to get a diagnosis, or to confirm he doesn't have Autism.
When I told them about his potential upcoming surgery, M. said to let them know so all services can suspend until he is healed which takes about 2 days. They both said it is pretty routine, and more than likely it would be laproscopic.
By this time my son was done eating/mashing bunnies into the rug and was drinking his water. We took a quick time out for me to vacuum and finally, halfway through the visit his actual therapy could begin.
But my son was still not feeling it today. They used the sensory ball which he usually likes. Finally they were able to use the Melissa and Doug Peek a Boo Farm puzzle to get his attention.
We had some actual success today. My son usually just bounces on his legs but today he held my hands and actually jumped on the floor. He lifted his feet clear off the ground. They are going to tell T. the Physical Therapist about this.
My son showed C. and M. how his climbing is getting better by climbing up on the couch all the way up so he could look out the window.
I told M. that my son said "hug I love hug" to me and then hugged me Monday night. It melted my heart to hear that. I told C. how he paralleled played with three little girls that we know over the weekend. The girls range in age from 3 to 7 and they had a stuffed pig. My son watched them play with the pig and the four kids picked dandelions and shared them with each other. That went so well, we are going to try to make with the parents so the kids can play again.
I think that is all that happened this visit.
