A Pot Pie of Updates

Phew...we have so much to update you on! We have been a very busy household lately and I'm sure it's about to get worse as the holiday season officially approaches.

Yesterday, Colin and I played hooky all day while Chris joined us in the afternoon for a couple of big things. First, we had Colin's 6 month IFSP meeting to review his goals over the past 6 months and to establish new ones for the next 6 ahead. I can't tell you how much I love our EI team and I couldn't feel more honored than to sit with such a wonderful group of women yesterday as they discussed Colin's progress. They all truly care for Colin and believe in all that he can do and will do. We do not discuss numbers at these meetings anymore, but rather, the fact that he IS improving with time in all areas and then set realistic short term goals that we will work on to help him achieve. Numbers used to mean a lot to me, but I am proud of myself that I can look past the numbers, not even really want to know the numbers, and just focus on the progress that I can see Colin making all of the time. Because Miss Darlene will be leaving Early Intervention (Colin's DI), the suggestion was made to drop that service and increase Speech therapy with Miss Amy (who we absolutely love) to 2x a week instead of bringing in someone completely new. I loved this idea and am confident it's the best path for Colin since there is so much overlap with the two therapists.

Afterwards, we went to the endocrinologist to check on the status of Colin's little thyroid gland. Based on the blood work that we had done in September, we are going to keep with the dose that Colin is taking now (25 mg) of Levoxyl. This medication is a thyroid hormone used to treat hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. Although the doctor is not really sure at this time whether Colin actually suffers from hypothyroidism or if his numbers were off previous to the medication just "because", it is safer for us to treat with the medication because of the potential adverse affects on brain development in the 1st three crucial years of life. We have gotten into such a routine with the medication that we are content with this and will continue to have blood work taken ever 3-6 months (depending on the next set of results) and will adjust the medication if needed. When Colin turns 3, we will take him off of the medication and see what happens. At that time, we will be able to determine if Colin will need to take this medication for life, or if in fact, he does not have hypothyroidism.

After Colin and I both took a nice long nap, we woke up to have Chris home shortly after and had some fun doing yard work together. We needed to bag our leaves and clean up the yard one last time before the winter season comes. Although yard work is really hard work, it's so worth having a yard to take care of. Colin loved being outside, even though it was windy and a little bit chilly, and did his part to help out (or mess up) the leaf piles.

Afterwards, we had a yummy dinner at the Bonefish Grill with Mema and Penka who so kindly treated us. What a great way to end a packed day!

Some other "this and thats" about Colin lately...

Today when I picked Colin up, his teacher told me that he was smooching all of the ladies today! One of the little girls had gone over to him and gave him a kiss right on the lips, to the point where every time Miss Stacey would turn around, they would be kissing again! When this little girl would walk away, his original girlfriend, Allison, would come near and Colin would kiss her! I thnk we are in trouble!

Speaking of trouble, Colin knows how to bite now :( We are very stern when this happens, but today, he caught me while I was changing him into his pajamas. He bent down while I had him sitting up and with me thinking nothing of it, he leaned over and bit my stomach! I have to say that due to being so tired and just so taken aback (and it hurt!), I teared up. We are definitely handling this new issue, but wondering what some of you approaches are if you have a biter...I know this is often a "typical" thing that happens with children, but I also don't want it to become an issue.

Finally, to end on a positive note, it's no surprise how much Colin loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We have found that he is completely imitating the song and the way the characters dance in it. If you watch, most of the characters swing their arms from side to side while they are dancing and put their hands up in the air at certain moments. Although this video does not capture the full range of imitating that Colin will do, it does show you how much he loves dancing to his favorite song. Now I just need to get him to wear his Mickey Mouse ears that Nana and Grandad got him in Disney World that has his name on it while he is dancing!