Breakthrough

We had a breakthrough today at occupational therapy. I usually don't get to take Will because I'm working, so today was a treat for me. Will did some things I'd never seen him do before. His therapist has been working with him putting these little pegs into holes. He usually just threw the peds or put them in his mouth. Today, he actually put them in the holes and then let go of them. He never lets go! That is one thing that we've really been working hard on. She also tries to get him to drop the checkers into the stacker in the game Connect Four. He usually won't let go of the checkers or puts them in his mouth. If he does try to put them into the stacker, he usually gets frustrated and screams or hits himself. Well, today he put them into the stacker and let go. His therapist, Rose, said she could really see some improvement in his skills and his attention span. Both of those are big praise reports. She also suggested using brushing and joint compression to help sensitize Will's nerves. She said this would help him be less sensory defensive. The hard part about it is that you're supposed to do this every 2 hours while he's awake. This means that we'd have to get the school to agree to do it while he's there. They are very sweet and accomodating to all the kids special needs, but this would really interrupt Will's day. We're going to talk to the teacher and see what she thinks. If any of you have experience with this, let me know how it's worked out for you.

Mini-Laps 2007

Today was The Little Light House's Mini-Laps 2007. It is their big fall fundraiser they put on each year. So far the school has raised about $139,000, and we have a corporate sponsor who will match up to $150,000. The theme was "Somewhere over the rainbow, dreams really do come true." The kids all dressed up as characters from the Wizard of Oz. Will went as the Cowardly Lion, and his stroller was decorated as an apple tree from the forest where Dorothy first met the lion. Each child made a lap around the yellow brick road. The kids even got to pick prizes in the order of the highest amount raised. Will raised about $2100...not too bad for our first year. Will was 15th highest out of 64 kids. He got this cool Little Tykes tricycle that goes from a rocking toy to a trike with a handle for the parents to push to an independent trike. It also came with a helmet. We all had a really good time. And, the best part is that Poppy flew in and suprised us by arriving at Mini-Laps in time to see Will make his lap.

Dentist Visit

Will had a dentist appointment today. He had never been before, so I wasn't sure how it would go. He was supposed to be sedated so they could clean his teeth, but I guess the dentist didn't think he needed his teeth cleaned because he didn't sedate him. Anyway, we got a good report. No cavities! Yea! We are to see him again in 6 months for another check-up, and this time I'm going to demand his teeth be cleaned.

Doctor's Visit

Today Will went to see Dr. Dahshan, a pediatric gastroenterologist. We'd been waiting for 3 and a half months for this appointment. You see, Will had really bad reflux and chronic constipation. The doctor was really concerned about the constipation. He also wants to make sure that Will is spitting up only because of reflux and not because of any other condition or disorder. In order to do this, Will is going to have to have an abdominal ultrasound, a barium enema, an EGD (upper endoscopy) with biopsy of his stomach, and an MRI of his brain to see if the cyst he has in his brain has grown or if there are more of them. He also had some blood work and urine analysis today. Many of the possible outcomes of these tests will require surgery of some sort. It's a lot to digest (no pun intended). Right now he has put Will on Miralax twice a day to get him pooping everyday and is continuing his Prevacid to help with his reflux. We go for the EGD on October 17th. He'll be put under conscious sedation for the procedure. He'll also be put under conscious sedation or possibly general anesthesia for the MRI. Pray that all of these tests and procedures go well.

Big News!!!

Today was a VERY big day for Will. He pooped in the potty at school! This is something that most parents of 3-year-old little boys take for granted, but not us. I know this was probably a happy accident, but I don't care! I honestly never thought this could happen. I had just imagined my life, changing my son's diapers when he was a teenager. Now, I realize that I might not have to. I know we're still a long way from being potty trained, but praise the Lord! I hope we'll have more milestones like this to share soon.

Our Story

Welcome to the wonderful world of Will! He is the most amazing little boy you'll ever meet. Will was born on August 30, 2004 at 12:28 pm. I had a completely normal pregnancy and delivery with Will, and there were no complications. He came home from the hospital and immediately began blessing our lives. For the first few months Will did everything all babies do. Then, around 6 months old he began being delayed in his motor skills. He wasn't rolling over or trying to sit up. He has low muscle tone. His doctor and I decided to take the "wait and see" approach since not all kids do everything right at the same time. At his 9 month well child check Will still wasn't sitting up. We decided to get early intervention services at that point. Will started with SoonerStart (Oklahoma's early intervention program) at 10 and a half months old. He was sitting up within a month, and we were thrilled! However, it was months before he made any more progress. He was also becoming delayed in his speech at this time. Will finally started "army" crawling at around 18 months and started crawling on his hands and knees at 21 months. He began pulling up at 26 months. All this time he was getting occupational, physical, and speech therapy at Children's' Medical Center in Tulsa, OK. Will would make a little progress, and then nothing for several months. It seemed like it was just long enough for me to get discouraged when he'd reach another milestone. Cate, Will's little sister, was born April 10, 2007. That really spurred Will's development. He started walking in May, at 33 months old. He still has a wide-based ataxic gate, but he can walk! Will said his first word in June. It is "juice!" So far it's his only word, but he's working on "look" right now. It's coming out as "ook" but he's trying. Will's developmental pediatrician, Dr. Edward Gustavson, diagnosed him with DAMP syndrome about 6-8 months ago. DAMP syndrome is a disorder that combines ADHD with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Will also was autism, so this puts him into the severe DAMP category. He sill gets occupational and speech therapy and just started school at The Little Light House, a christian developmental center for children age 0-6 years with special needs. It is an amazing place filled with God's love. I hope you've enjoyed hearing our story and will want to get to know our family, and especially Will, more.