Razorbacks and Therapy

First of all, the Razorbacks are going to cause Rob to NEED therapy. 

But, having awesome friends, like Justin and Debbie and Becca and Drew, who threw AWESOME tailgates sure helps.

The spot they got us had SCENERY! What????

And a picture of a Hog pushing an Alabama thing in the ground. The team did not see this play apparently. Sigh.......

Now lets talk about an area of our life that we are WINNING! I am sure that, as faithful blog readers (bleaders?), you remember that we have had our ups and downs in the speech department with Rylan. There was the 2 year visit where the doctor didn't think there was a problem. There was screaming of the word "NURCH" in JC Penny, there was the moment Rylan asked me "what you doing?" that I, literally, cried because I read that asking a question is an absolute positive sign that all synapses in the brain are firing on demand.

At Rylan's 3 year visit, the doc agreed he needed speech therapy. The long therapin' process began January 2012.  We live in the boondocks, and live off one income, so we chose to go with the local Speech Co-op rather than drive 30+ miles and pay out the whazoo for therapy. This is helpful on the driving and moolah front, but seriously unhelpful in the "too many kids, not enough therapists, too much work, not enough pay" category of life. 

They told me he would need to get evaluated for both developmental and speech therapy. I thought he'd sail through the developmental and qualify for speech in 12 different ways. Ummmm....he qualified for developmental therapy in 3 categories and qualified for speech in only one. I was wrong. 

It took them FIVE. WHOLE. MONTHS. to accept Rylan to speech and developmental therapy. Lots of evaluations to work through. Lots of tape. Lots of crappity crap. They accepted him May 20. School let out May 28. They work on the school's schedule. Where am I going with this? They took 5 months to accept him, and accepted him in time to take a 3 month break. 

Over the summer, I did what I could with Rylan. I got lots of worksheets from sister Tammy (who, by chance is a speech therapist FOR KIDSSSS whoop whoop), worksheets off the internet, and we got Rylan (and Max) in an actual preschool that has provided lots of classroom time, lots of playtime, and lots and lots of social interaction. From our home-work and his 2 days/week at school, Rylan's speech has gotten so much better.

Now we are in September. School is in session. So is speech and developmental therapy**. We have a lady that brings us Hippy work (basically "preschool at home) on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays and Thursdays we go to the local elementary school for speech. When Max goes down for a nap, Rylan and do extra work so that we can show the Hippy teacher and the therapists just how awesome he is. 

I am amazed at Rylan. He is a hard worker and very good and attentive with his teachers and therapists. And, I am so, so, so, so thankful that all of these things have started. It is stressful to have somewhere to be and homework for a 3 year old, but GOOD stressful. For 2 years, Rob and I have carried this weight on our shoulders and it feels like there are many people helping us carry that weight now, and at the same time the weight is getting lighter and lighter.

Practicing cutting. I got a free subscription to Martha Stewart magazine a while back 

and I am more than happy to donate that stuff to Rylan to cut the shit out of. Martha is 

not my people. Her stuff is too difficult and she has an attitude. It carries through in her magazine.

 I do appreciate her help in getting Rylan mad cutting skills.

And brother gets a little developmental therapy as well. Side note.: Don't give Max scissors. If you like your skin, hair, table, cocker spaniel ect.

**If you are wondering why Rylan, who could climb to the top of a jungle gym at 1 year of age and has been able to get himself in and out of his carseat since he was 2 and can throw trash away, put stuff in the laundry basket for me and already knows his left and right feet qualified for developmental therapy in lots of categories, I'll tell ya. Rylan has trouble with things that go in order. He gets overwhelmed. He can't count to 10, but he can stack 13 blocks. He can't say his full alphabet at almost 4 but he can recite his favorite song. If I give him a paper with several items on it and ask him to count them, he starts out fine and then just names every number he's ever heard and looses patience. He doesn't hold a pencil right, he holds it like a baby does, with a fist instead of three fingers but he can work just about any toy he was ever given. In an older person, he would probably be tested for a form of dyslexia. Developmental therapy is helping him with this. And it is getting better. The best thing is that this is what they are good at and they give me direction for how I can help him. Thankful. Thankful. Thankful.