Two year pictures/Portraits by Pisano

I don't post much about my son other than his developmental delays, but let me share some of our two year pictures with all of you.  They were taken in Mendon, MA and we used a family friend /Portraits by Pisano. If any of you live in MA, RI or nearby CT, she was very kind and patient.  She has really a good eye. As happy as I was with the session, I was even happier with the way the pictures came out. She edited them in a beautiful way. Thank you for the lovely pictures :)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (As spoiler free as I can make it)

     I saw this movie today. Yesterday morning my son and I watched this: https://youtu.be/AHPn5d7wRtk because obviously he is way too young to see the actual movie.

     Before I talk about the actual plot, let me just say Joss Whedon, I love you.  I have been a fan for a long time now.  Dollhouse, Firefly, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., you are the man. I understand you must move on from the MCU and I am going to miss you. I look forward to your next project. Thank you for the fun ride.

     It's actually sort of hard to review this movie because I don't want to spoil anything.  I will digress one more time to discuss the twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff.  Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. I think their superhero names are alluded to with visual clues more than once although I don't think they are ever actually said.  I like the rebooted storyline for them, but they will always be Magneto's children to me.  Scarlet Witch has always been my favorite Avenger.  I will admit her "Hex power" is the ultimate deus ex machina, but it is an awesome power.  I don't like later in comics where she becomes an actual witch like character.  Ever since the first Iron Man movie I have been waiting for her to be onscreen.  Her character was excellently portrayed.  For those of you not familiar with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, they originally started off as villains of the X-Men where they were working with Magneto. It was revealed he is their father. The two then join the Avengers, then they find out their father is the true villain, and eventually join the X-Men.  Scarlet Witch though, she was just too cool when I was a kid.  I wanted to be her.  She was not as straight forward as Wonder Woman, who I also liked. She had some baggage.  Also, her and Vision have some interesting adventures in the comics.  It was hard not to giggle when she first sees him. I wonder if Elizabeth Olsen was aware of this and tried to convey it on screen.

     Second diversion, while I was watching this movie I had a few side thoughts.  I again realized why I like comic books and superheroes so much.  We all have our strengths, but we all have our secrets, or in other cases our weaknesses.  In particular I thought about Reggie Lewis.  There are of course, several other examples.  Stephen Hawking comes to mind as well. He is awe-inspiringly smart, but suffers from ALS.  Some of us have suffered losses so great that they are like millstones around our necks to us, but we keep moving. It is extremely hard to see Captain America on screen and not think of soldiers affected with PTSD or other afflictions.  Maybe we don't have green giants impervious to pain in us, but maybe we live with guilt over ways we have brought pain to others in the past.  The comic books touch upon this, but these new movies really bring it home to me. Superheros are just like us. They are people who have been through the fire, or carry secrets, but still do good.

     Disclaimer: I am not terribly familiar with the Ultron storyline or Ultimates storyline. I am going to try to keep this as focused just on the movie as I can. I have read Avengers and Nick Fury Man from S.H.I.E.L.D comics as well as watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  If I stray too far off course, please forgive me, and if I don't come close enough please also forgive me.

     Let me not keep you guys in suspense, I loved this movie.  I have read mixed reviews of this movie and went in with a negative outlook.  I have read reviews that rated this movie from okish to skip this movie.  I loved the banter, the action, the storyline, the costumes, the everything.  What I thought was lacking was the fact that there is a few cut scenes and you can tell where the scenes where cut.  It is almost distracting. There should have been more background given as to what happened then just "Avenger disappears, then is somewhere weird doing a strange thing, HEY look now he is back!"  There are some scenes that are definitely rushed and/or oddly edited.  It is not very distracting, but it is noticeable.  All in all though, the main plot progresses in a timely pace.  There are some surprises which is always nice.  There are some cameos of characters from other movies, but then oddly some probably key side characters are missing. Again, not distracting, just noticeable.

       Tony Stark wants to use technology to help improve the world around him.  Sometimes our actions however noble they seem can be quite detrimental.  Tony Stark inadvertently creates Ultron who quickly goes from a global peacekeeping system to "KILL ALL HUMANS". This is a familiar trope, but always entertaining.  There are shades of a division, an internal war almost, between the team, but they manage to fight together against Ultron.

     Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D has shown us that Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker who we saw in the mid credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier has been experimenting on people.  Oddly two people volunteered, and survived his experiments. They are Russian twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.  As Maria Hill states "He is fast and she is weird."  They work with Ultron to defeat the superhero team.

     I am not sure what direction the MCU is headed in, but we see the Mind Stone, one of the Infinity Stones.  We saw the the Space Stone in Captain America and the first Avengers movie. The Reality Stone was featured in Thor:The Dark World. The Power Stone was seen in Guardians of the Galaxy.  We have not seen the Time Stone, or the Soul Stone yet..............or possibly have we? Are these a McGuffin or essential plot point?

     One more note, there are an insane amount of in jokes. If you are a comic reader, or watched the other movies, or the TV show, you will be rewarded for your efforts.  Some references were over the head, under the feet for me, but some I got.

     In a very fast paced movie filled with satisfying action sequences and witty fast paced banter as both sides seek to reach their goals.  The movie is incredible.  I can see why some won't like it, but I loved it and will watch it again as soon as it hits Netflix.  I deliberately left a lot of the plot out of this review because sometimes the internet is too spoilery.  I can tell you there are a few things you will be disappointed if I come right out and say.  I will not address the deaths that I heard about myself before seeing this movie because only one is sort of on screen, but I have frankly seen worse injuries in action movies. If you like comic books, witty banter, action movies, Guardians of the Galaxy or the X-men, I highly suggest this movie.  There are scenes of violence, as well as mild language so use caution with allowing young children to see this movie. 10 out of 10 stars.

   

First Speech Therapy visit 04/15/15

     What a week for us! Monday was the first OT visit, and today was the first Speech Therapy visit.

     If you want to know why we added speech therapy some reasons are here  http://momlovesscifi.blogspot.com/2015/03/why-speech-therapy.html.

     A. who is the EI coordinator came with M. the Speech Therapist today.  My son just loves A. so much. He gave her a big hug again as his custom. We never met M. before so he was a little shy with her.

     Since this was the first visit M. told us what we would be doing today. She did not do a formal evaluation as my son is too young to really be able to evaluate. Also, given that he has been receiving services for a year now, she can base where he is based on the assessment of her coworkers.  In addition, the neurologist recommended her services.   She said she will do one later, unless I am really looking for her to asses him, but based on the background that she is aware of, we qualify for services so it is not really needed.  I told her I agree and we can do the official evaluation when she feels it is appropriate.  M. asked me what my primary goal is and I would like my son to identify at least one object. We are not shooting for the stars here, I like to set reasonable goals.  I would really just like to say, "Get the ball." for example and have him get it. Or at least look at it.  M. asked if he has had a hearing test and other than the one given at birth, no he hasn't.  She said she likes all her parents to get their children's hearing tested and gave me some numbers to do that.  A. did say that my son had a nasty ear infection last year and before that he had about 10-12 words he said. After the ear infection, he lost all his words. Actually, after the ear infection it was a source of major concern because my son lost all his skills. He wasn't walking yet, but he stopped crawling, he stopped being interested in a sippy cup, he had a major regression.  He had the flu earlier this year, and after he recovered, he didn't want to walk, he didn't want the sippy cup, and his language regressed even further.  M. suggested the hearing test will see if maybe he has fluid in his middle ear. She thinks he can hear fine, but if he has fluid in his ears, he may need tubes put in. Basically the fluid can alter how children hear sounds which affects language development.  She also wondered out loud (this is not her area) if fluid in the middle ear can be affecting his balance, if there is any, and that is why he doesn't want to walk after a sickness.

      A. read and played with my son while M. observed and asked questions. M. asked what toys my son likes to play with.  Basically he likes all the electronic toys, and all the other toys we have discussed here on this blog already. She also asked if he likes books. I told her he adores books. She said that is great.  She also asked how he interacts with other children. I told her that he doesn't even when he is around them.  She asked if there are any food textures he avoids and I told her not at all. He eats everything.

     I did ask her about television watching.  We only watch maybe two hours of children's television per day divided between Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger and Dinosaur Train.  The television doesn't hold his attention long and with all our appointments I try to get his play time in as more of a priority.  Also, now that the weather is nicer we go for walks in the mornings.  I basically wanted to know if television viewing is detrimental to a child with language delays and/or how to make less detrimental and what should we avoid.   She did answer my question, but first gave the disclaimer of not to add to his viewing habits based on what she said.  She also said that studies show children who learn from a traditional teacher and teacher on an electronic medium, like an I-Pad, the traditional teacher model is still more effective. I think that is interesting since so many schools want to veer away from traditional teaching.  Then she said shows like Sesame Street or Dora The Explorer actually use good language models since there is so much repetition and that is how we learn language.  She said to avoid shows like Curious George that the main character uses sounds not words.  She said except Curious George, most PBS shows are not detrimental to children with language delays.  Again, I am not using the TV as a babysitter, nor as the primary way for him to learn speech, I just use it for a little entertainment in the mornings when I am still waking up a bit.  She said music is a great way to learn language and some of her parents have enrolled their children in music classes. She also hinted that music classes would also be a way for my son to interact with other children.

    Speech therapy will occur three times a month.  Most of the visits will overlap with other services.
    For us to work on for next time, when reading, I am to point out some picture on each page and point to it and repeat what it is.  The hope is in time, he will point to that item when I say "Where is the x?".  Also, we are going to work on naming physical objects, like a ball or a cup.  So I will hold two objects, and name them, then ask him, "Where is the x?".

   I think this service is also going to help us greatly.

   

First Occupational Therapy Visit 04/13/15

     Mom fail, I completely forgot OT was coming yesterday. We went for a nice long walk, ate a late lunch and then my friend called. I was putting him down for a nap and chatting with my friend when someone knocked on the door. It was A. the Early Intervention coordinator. I was kinda surprised and let her in and then she said C. the COTA was on her way and should be here shortly.

    While A. and I were waiting for C., we discussed my son's weekend. Friday we went to the park with a friend and her daughter who is roughly six month older than my son.  He engaged in some parallel play but was far more interested in the wood chips on the ground than the little girl.  We did try the slide, but he wanted to lay down, not sit so I went down with him. He was laughing his head off.  We tried the swings but it got bad fast so we stopped that.  Saturday he went to the park with my husband while I scanned 173 old photos for a family tree project. He just wanted to walk around mostly.  Sunday, we went to the park as a family. He loved the slide, but the swing he is now deathly afraid of.


    When C. arrived, we discussed my son's history with A.  My son walked around, picking up a toy, looked at it, tossed it, repeatedly.  We have the Fisher Price Stride to Ride Puppy and my son played with that and one of those wooden activity cubes.  He also played with this A's help.
     (image from ebay)

A. read him The Very Hungry Caterpillar about four times.  My son loves turning pages and after each reading he would just sit and turn the pages.

    C. and I discussed my son's sleeping habits.  C. suggested giving him milk before bed as opposed to at supper which I meant to try last night, but fell asleep my self and messed up his night time routine. (I have been not feeling well at all for the last two weeks.)  C. also suggested writing down my son's schedule and scheduling in two snacks a day.

    We also discussed the sensory issues my son has. I discussed the terror inducing swing experience of this weekend. C. suggested taking my son to the park and having him help me push and empty swing to get used to how it works.  She also said taking a toy and putting it in the swing and showing him nothing bad happened to it.  She also suggested us sitting together on a regular swing and slowly working up to swinging together.  We also discussed bath time. My son shrieks in terror while having a bath. I am not using hyperbole. It is not the whiny cry kids use when they don't like something, it is full on blood curling shrieking and howling.  He clutches at you when you try to bath him and he tries to angle every part of his body out of the water.  She asked what temperature bath he gets and if we adjust it. We have tried everything from freezing to lukewarm baths.   She asked if we adjust the depth of the water. We have tried from a tiny puddle up to enough to float boats around the tub in an effort to make him play in the bath. It didn't work. She suggested not filling the tub prior putting him the water. She said put him in an empty tub and then put the faucet on. She also suggested showering with him, or turning the shower on when he is taking a bath. I will try all her suggestions and write about how things go.

   We also discussed me playing hand over hand with him, which I already do.  We discussed our weekend with his cousins and she suggested I play with the kids to try to engage my son. I told her I did that. I got on the floor and played with the toys with the kids to show my son how much fun it was, but he walked away.  I told her we do hand over hand play with all his toys but when he is done playing with something, he is done.  I showed her a sensory box we have:

She likes this because everything has a different texture. She suggested mixing up what is in it. Adding tissues and scarves for example.  I am going to do this several times a week. I will add/subtract items.  On her way out she saw this puzzle in a stack of toys I want to get rid of

She said this is a good sensory puzzle.  Instead of getting rid of it, we will keep it now.


   All in all this was a great visit,  I think working with C. is going to help us a lot.

Since there is no writing prompt on weekends, here is what we did today.

http://www.valleybreeze.com/2014-07-23/cumberland-lincoln-area/monastery-trails-are-treasure-heart-town#.VSBs2fnF8wM

    I grew up in Cumberland, RI and do not live that far from there now. One of my favorite things to do was to walk on the grounds of the Cumberland Library. The library now sits on the former site of a monastery that burned down in 1950. The town converted the ruins to house a playground, and walking trails.

    When I was younger there were horses and one of the walking trails had "exercise stations". Sadly, the horses are gone and most of the exercise stations have disappeared.

    There is a bit of history in the woods as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Men%27s_Misery
I do have to say I know nothing about this war. I do have a very exciting looking scholarly tome that talks in depth about the war, but I haven't gotten to it in my reading pile yet.

     When I was younger, my mother used to take me and my brothers there in the summer and we were allowed one VHS movie each week. This was such a treat. I am eight and ten years older than my brothers and most of the movies we owned were "baby" movies. Of course, I was not allowed to rent say "Hellraiser" but this afforded me the opportunity to see movies that I would enjoy more than say watching "101 Dalmatians" for the 5555th time.  ("101 Dalmatians" is a fine film. But when you are 12 and you have watched it so many times you realize that Pongo has about four more spots than Perdita and you can recite the whole movie because you watched it 4 times a day for the past five years, it grates on you.)

     When my husband and I started dating, I took him walking on some on the longer trails. Now, it is a solo experience. I used to take my dog, but she had to have back surgery and can no longer do the trails.  I love walking for hours deep into the woods. It is so incredibly peaceful. You actually can walk out to a point where you cannot hear cars or see houses. It is so therapeutic to leave your phone behind and just walk with your water bottle and enjoy clean air.  I cannot wait to take my son out on some of the shorter trails this summer.  You can see rabbits and turtles, which for a kid who lives in the city, are pretty exotic. I have never seen deer, but you can hear animals running away from you as you walk and I imagine deer are watching us.

     This is where we went today. I was hoping we could actually walk, but there is a storm brewing off Cape Cod that made it quite windy in Cumberland today.

     Instead we went to the Cumberland Library. Well, first we went to the Friends of the Library Bookstore. We got quite a good haul.

Some of the books are for me. Wilkie Collins and Agatha Christie are for me to pour over and relish. I figured he can "grow into" The Little Prince, Bridge to Terabithia and Trumpet of the Swan. The Golden Fleece is to fuel his imagination. The Paddington book of course, is for now. No book is over a dollar and they have quite a good selection of books.

     Walking around the library was more of a chore than it should have been. He decided after the bookstore that we were kinda done.  I knew that I wanted to read some Kate Morton books so I took all they had. We went to the children's section where I selected, Is Your Momma a Llama, Daddy Kisses, and What's Wrong Little Pookie (I love you, Sandra Boynton). My son was going to get a DVD, although the library still has a healthy selection of VHS tapes, I want to restrict use on my VCR. I don't know if I can still buy head cleaner for it.  At the moment I tried to shepherd him over to the movies, he spotted some table toys for kids. He thought grabbing Lego bricks and hurtling them to the floor was a fun activity so we had to cut our visit short.

    We actually go to the library a lot. We try to go every three weeks because that is how long you can take out books for.  I like that in the winter it is a safe, quiet place that my son can walk around.  We just haven't been to the Cumberland Library in a while because it was a nasty winter and we have libraries closer to the house. Do you take your children to the library?