Baptisms and spending time out and about

We had the babies baptized at our church, St. Benedict Episcopal Church, this past Sunday and I think it went so well. We had my best friend Brenna in to be their godparent and it is a role that she takes very seriously, which just lets us know that we chose the right person.
Dash went first and George Anne, our vicar, poured Holy Water over his head. He didn't make a peep.
Delaney went second and we were a little worried about how she would handle it but she did great. We explained to her what George Anne (we call her Georgie, and Delaney is familiar with her) would do to her with the water.
After the water, the babies were christened with an oil called chrism. My favorite part was that Dash smelled like the oil for a few days after.



We had a small gathering at our home after the baptisms, and after all of that, we were exhausted!
We got up the next morning and Brenna and I spent the morning taking Delaney and Dash to Kindergym. I was excited to show Brenna kindergym and let her see how much fun Delaney has there.
After that, my wonderful and helpful father in law, Jerry, came over to spend the afternoon with Delaney and Dash while Brenna and I went to Seattle. She hadn't been to Pike's Place Market yet and we wanted to check out the Capitol Hill neighborhood. We had a blast. I don't remember ever laughing so hard. I told someone today that I probably lost three pounds laughing at Brenna the whole weekend.

We got home after the kids had gone to bed and we tried to go to bed early because we'd planned to go to the Portland Zoo and take Delaney and Dash. We met up with my friend Ruth there since she lives in Portland and loves the babies.
The zoo was so much fun. We are working on toilet training Delaney and she was able to stay dry the entire time. We just stopped and used a restroom each time we saw one. She didn't fuss or fight when we let her know that it was time to try.

some concerns about Dash..

I took Dash to his nine month well child checkup last week and I had some concerns about his physical development, mostly gross motor. Well, all gross motor. He hasn't gotten close to crawling and he just recently started supporting weight on his legs. I talked with our pediatrician, Lauren, about it and she felt that it was appropriate to do a physical therapy referral. She wrote a prescription for a private based PT and also recommended that I call the Birth to Three program in our school district.
At the checkup, I filled out a screening form that my doctor uses at nine months to potentially identify children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. I filled it out and thought nothing more of it.
Lauren called me yesterday with the news that Dash scored below average in symbolic communication and communication. Needless to say, I was upset. She asked if the Birth to Three program was scheduled to visit and I told her that the appointment is scheduled for 5/12. I asked her if we were potentially looking at some red flags for Autism and she said that she didn't think he would be a low functioning child with Autism but that he may possibly have an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
This was really hard news to hear. This is what I do for a living and the thought of experiencing special education from the other side just stinks. There's no other way to put it. But, I'm thinking that five years working in the school district has equipped me to handle it and I know my way around the system.

We had our Family Care Coordinator come out from the Birth to Three program yesterday and I'm really happy with her. I feel like she understands us and I l feel like we click well. We did a interview style screening and I answered some questions about Dash's strengths and areas of need and concern.

So after our appointment yesterday, the family care coordinator recommended a full evaluation. This will be an "arena" style event where the Speech Therapist, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Teacher, and School Psychologist are in the room and playing with Dash and I think we'll be there to answer interview style questions.

The thing is that this is what I do for a living. I know just too much to be cool and calm about it all. I know that we wouldn't be recommended for a full evaluation if the family care coordinator didn't think there were a need.

I don't think that Dash has "autism"; my gut says that if we can do early and intense intervention now, then hopefully we can pick up those two language areas he was low in. My biggest goal right now is to help him out and get him on the right path and hopefully avoid a label in six years. Maybe he'll be a kid somewhere on the Autism Spectrum and if so, he's in the right house where his momma is equipped to deal with it.

My gut also says that he does have delays and right now I'm thinking it's more a global (all around) delay instead of an Autism Spectrum Disorder. In truth, if he were Autistic, he wouldn't be diagnosed until much much later anyway. If he gets a label at this point, he will be labeled Developmentally Delayed.

I feel like I've been saying I've had a newborn for a very long time, and after going through the screening with the family care counselor, I see why. There are a lot of things that he should be doing that he's not. The good news is that these delays are all around. If he had some areas of high and some areas of low, I might be a bit more worried.

And, he's in a great place because I know what he's federally obligated to receive in terms of services from the school district.

I'm feeling better today. No tears :)