Back home

We are finally back from our combination Joplin-Eureka Springs trip and trying to settle back in. I say "finally" because we had some fun on the way back Wednesday when our car overheated on I-44. We had to be towed into Rolla, where we stayed overnight while waiting for our car to be repaired. The experience added about $700 to our vacation budget for repairs, towing, motel, and food, not to mention an additional day off for Mike. Maybe next time we'll pull over at the nice, populated exit before the car overheats. At least we could have avoided breaking down on the side of the interstate.

We had a nice trip, though, and Dominick behaved very well. He didn't have any issues with people, partly because we got him out of the house while the bridal shower for my sister was going on. I think it would have been a wee bit much for him. Dom slept fabulously while we were away, never once crying when we put him down to bed. He also showed off his new vocabulary and ability to sing and count. Since most of his time in Joplin was spent going up and down the stairs to look at fans (my parents have far more fans than we do), it was nice to have other people to help. The fan obsession turned nasty when Dom stuck his finger in one and learned a valuable lesson. Anyone know a good way to get blood out of clothing?

In Eureka Springs, Dom's age somewhat limited our activities. Taking him into the fancy little shops or on long tours was out of the question, so we pretty much stuck to outdoorsy kinds of things and eating, which is always popular. Apparently Dominick is not much into animals, as he spent most of the time at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge looking at fans, walking up and down a small hill, and generally not paying attention to the lions and tigers. We went out to Lake Leatherwood, which really wasn't much unless you want to fish. We also saw Pivot Rock and Natural Bridge, which were interesting rock formations out in the woods. And we looked at Beaver Dam. In retrospect, it doesn't seem like we did that much, but when you consider our afternoons were mostly given over to two-hour-plus naps, and we were there just under two days, you can see where the time went. When Dom's older, he might be more receptive to going on the train, boat or cave tours, but we thought he might not be ready for those now. Still, it was nice to get away for a few days.

Dom's speech continues to improve. He's suddenly copying a lot of what we say, just like Monica wanted him to do. With help, he can count to 40 (49, actually, if he doesn't lose interest). He asks for books by name. I would love to start hearing some sentences. Much of his speech still sounds pretty primitive for a 2 1/2-year-old, but at the rate he's going, he'll probably catch up soon. I'm curious whether he'll end up qualifying for the Special School District when he turns three. We don't know much about that program yet but will hear about it at the August 14 meeting. He wouldn't be evaluated until much closer to his birthday, and a lot can happen in that time.

Oh, and is it scary that Dom has been to Target so often that he said "Target" when we parked there today?

Action words

Last time, I was talking about Dom's need to start using some verbs. Well, he's done it a couple of times since then, and all by himself. First, he pinched his finger between two doors last night and said "finger hurt." Then today, on one of our many trips to visit the fan upstairs, he sat down on the top step and said "sit." Actually, I think he's also said "chase," like when he's on his tricycle and wants to chase me (or Mike) or have us chase him. He'll say "Mommy chase," regardless of who he wants to do the chasing.

We'll be seeing family in Joplin this weekend, and I'm excited for them to hear the difference in Dom's speech since our trip two months ago. At the time, he was really only saying little words like "up" and "Pop." So much has changed since then! I hope he does better being around people this time. He had some intense moments in May when we were there, but things have improved lately, so maybe I don't need to worry.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Meeting scheduled

I spoke with Carol today, and we have set up Dom's IFSP review meeting for Monday, August 14 at 2:30 pm. That was the only time both Monica and Jacqui were available, and it works out for us because it's during Dom's naptime. It sounds like one or two representatives from the Special School District will be here to answer any questions we might have about the program. Carol is also going to invite Brandie, our parent educator. Our living room will be packed!

Also today, we had our regular speech session. Monica hadn't seen Dominick in two weeks and was impressed by how his vocabulary had grown in that time. I told her how he has started stringing three words together, counting to 20 by himself (we're working on 30 now), and properly using plurals and possessives. She thought all of that was great.

Our goal for now is to get him to start imitating more, especially when it comes to verbs. He does very well labeling things, but most of his words are nouns and adjectives. The only verb in his repertoire is "eat." If he can start using verbs, he'll be able to communicate that much more effectively. Monica believes that Dom does have a little bit of speech apraxia, which is why he doesn't do much imitation. She was working with him on some picture cards today, and he'd respond immediately with words he knew, but anything he didn't recognize, he wouldn't repeat. Even though he does repeat some things with us, it's not to the degree that I've heard other toddlers do. So we still have a way to go, not only with vocabulary but with articulation, but that will come later. I have noticed a few improvements in that area: "ommy" became "mommy," "ouse" became "mouse," and "uck" became "muck" (milk). Maybe Dom will figure that out on his own in time.

Speaking of the boy, he's just woken up from his nap as he did this morning, calling for me. Today was the first time he's done this. I much prefer it to the usual crying.

Obsessions

Mike is away on a guy trip this weekend but will be back late tonight. Fortunately, Dom's behaved pretty well, so I haven't felt too stressed by the lack of a break. The exception was when we stopped at a garage sale yesterday morning, and they had some good puzzles I really wanted to look at for Dom, but he would not cooperate. It's to be expected. Despite his brilliance, he's still a two-year-old.

Do all toddlers obsess about objects the way he does about fans and vents? He's about to drive me crazy. Several times a day, he asks to go upstairs, where he'll spend his time running between rooms, pointing to the various wall and ceiling registers and the fan in our bedroom. He'll turn the fan on and off repeatedly, then go visit some vents, then come back. When this is all finished, he faces each object in turn, waving and saying "bye bat" or "bye fat" or "bye door." Then we can finally go back to the first floor, although this usually involves several false starts. Once we make it back downstairs, he goes to the basement door. We do the same things down there, only with speakers, fans, the clock, Spiderman (on Mike's arcade game). I guess Dom think he's telling me something I don't know when he shows me the two fans several times. (Really, I can see them!) The last time we were in the basement, I was forced to carry him upstairs kicking and screaming because he desperately needed a new diaper but wouldn't tear himself away from all the stuff. How glad I will be when Mike is home!

This brings me to speech. Dominick is putting three words together now. Here are some of the things he has said recently:

"Mommy fat off" (Mommy, I know I turned on the fan, but I want you to turn it off.)
"Bats at upstairs" (The vents upstairs just came on. He's so observant.)
"Horse eating flower" (This was when showing me a picture on one of his farm-animal puzzle blocks. He may have said "eat" instead of "eating," but I don't remember for sure.)

He is also very conscientious about plurals and possessives. It's really quite impressive. One time he said "bat offs," then corrected himself and said "bats off." There's my little grammarian!

This week we'll be back to our regular therapy schedule, but next week, we will most likely be gone for both sessions, so I hope we can reschedule them. Carol from First Steps left a message last week regarding our upcoming six-month IFSP review. This is also the time to decide about transferring to the school district when Dominick turns three. If we are considering that, we will need to have a representative at the meeting. Carol suggested doing both meetings at the same time because they'll be due so close together. We haven't set anything up yet, but the meeting will probably occur during the week of August 13.

Oh no!

If you needed any proof that Mike is Dominick's dad (and you know I don't mean it in that sense, so don't even go there!), this is it. Yesterday, Mike was shooting baskets with Dom's Little Tikes basketball goal, and after a shot, Dom would say "he shoots, he scores." How scary is that? Cute, because anything said in that sweet voice has to be cute, but scary all the same. I worry that, like Mike threatens, I'll be hearing Hootie songs and "Kung Pow" quotes out of my little boy before too long. I don't think I could bear that!

What else is going on? Obviously, Dom is talking all the time now. He can really communicate effectively with words, which makes things so much easier. (If only he always listened as well!) We're trying to get him to say "I want ___", though usually he just fills in the blank, rather than saying the whole sentence. He can be very polite at times, asking for "more [food, stories, truck, pieces] please," and then other times he is very impatient and demanding, like when he shouted "watermelon! watermelon!" (It was canteloupe, but whatever.) Dom is working on the alphabet song and counting to 20. Some of his current favorite words are stop sign, fire hydrant, vent (still), applesauce (still), straw, light, that way, big truck, car, wagon, paper, and upstairs. Then there's my favorite...Mommy.

Definite improvement

We were invited by some friends (a couple) to come to a barbecue at their house on Sunday. Another friend, a guy, would also be there. We accepted the invite but knew it would be a real test because, for whatever reason, Dom has had more problems around these two men than anyone else, even when he's not going through one of his rough phases. They're both nice guys and have never done anything upsetting to Dominick other than talk to him or laugh around him.

So we went, and by some miracle, things went better than we could have hoped. Dom had a couple of near-moments when people laughed, but otherwise he stayed remarkably calm. It probably helped that there were two cats in the house (not so great for me--I'm still feeling it), and Dom had fun chasing them around. One even lunged and hissed at him, and he wasn't bothered at all. Later, we were outside playing with those little firecracker things that you throw on the ground. Dom found them hilarious. It was really nice to see him laughing and having fun around other people, especially people whose last impression of him was hearing him scream at the sight of them. Finally, they got to see the other side of Dominick.