Cordy Archives - Page 34 of 56

Oct 31, 2008

Haiku Friday: Halloween!

By Christina ·

It’s Mira’s second
Halloween – this year she will
go trick-or-treating

Last year she cried out
“Help me Obi-Wan, and get
me out of this thing!”

(Best photo)

This year a rag doll
Again with a hat because
she still needs more hair

(Cutest costume under 2)

The one with curls, though?
She wants to be a robot
now. Where’d the bat go?

Too bad for her, ‘cuz
if she wants candy then she
will be Super Girl.

(Cutest costume over 3)

Tonight is trick-or-treat, and this is the first year both girls will be coming with me to get candy. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to keep track of them both without losing Mira to some welcoming house. (You know she’d do it, too.) Wish me luck, and have a happy Halloween everyone!

(Photos above are included for the Parent Bloggers blog blast this weekend, and are labeled for their costume contest, sponsored by Blurb. You have until Sunday to enter this blog blast with pictures of your kids’ best costumes as well.)

To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:

1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.

2. Sign the Mister Linky below with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your main blog URL). DON’T sign unless you have a haiku this week. If you need help with this, please let me know.

3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button at the top.

REMEMBER: Do not post your link unless you have a haiku this week! I will delete any links without haiku!

Filed Under: Cordy, holidays, Mira ·

Oct 29, 2008

I’ve Been Tricked By My Four Year Old

By Christina ·

For a reason I’ll never understand, Cordy likes to make people think she’s incapable of doing anything. Ask her to lift something? She’ll strain and grunt and exclaim, “It’s soooooo heavy!” when five minutes before I watched her lift something three times as heavy without any effort. Ask her to count to 10? “I don’t know how” she’ll say even though she was counting to 30 earlier in the day. Ask her to kick a ball and she’ll make a large effort and miss the ball, falling to the ground in defeat, even though she’s an expert at kicking our soccer ball into the net.

Anytime she’s asked to perform on cue, it seems that she suddenly forgets how to do whatever it is you ask her to. This can be a real pain, especially when it comes to cleaning up her toys.

Every Wednesday I volunteer in Cordy’s preschool classroom. I like to help out her teacher, and it gives me a chance to see what Cordy’s doing at school, too. Recently they’ve had a student teacher helping out, and a few weeks ago she asked if she could do a full evaluation on Cordy to gain the practice she needs at this task. I agreed, but warned her that Cordy often likes to underperform.

As expected, Cordy tried to underperform on the first part of the evaluation. When asked if she knew her own name, she sighed “I don’t know” and continued the chain of “I don’t know’s” through the first several questions. Her preschool teacher, a woman Cordy respects, overheard this and sharply told her, “Cordy, you know your name! Answer the questions, you turkey.” At that point Cordy began to answer properly.

This week, the student teacher needed to do the other half of the evaluation, and this time she brought in candy as a reward. For each section Cordy completed, she was given a piece of candy. I watched her evaluation out of the corner of my eye while I helped the other kids with their art projects, wondering if the reward would convince Cordy to cooperate. From what I could tell she was answering most of the questions and doing what she was asked to do.

After I cleaned up, I wandered over to the corner of the room and stood out of Cordy’s sight to watch the remainder of the evaluation. At this point the student was showing Cordy a page words – all of them the names of colors, but all of them in black lettering, so there was no clue to the color name written. She asked Cordy to read each color’s name, and I immediately thought, Wow, she’s doing stuff way over Cordy’s head now…

Imagine my surprise when Cordy looked at the words and started naming them: “Red. Blue. Green. W…w..white. Bl…black. Pink. Yellow.” After naming nearly every color without any help, the page was turned and another page of words greeted her – each was a number spelled out, and they weren’t in order. Cordy got one without any problem, but then stumbled on the next one, because she expected two. She was getting tired and losing focus at this point, but she did manage to name about a third of the numbers with a little help.

Afterwards, I walked over to Cordy’s teacher and said, “I had no idea Cordy could read the names of colors! When did you teach her that?”

Her teacher also looked surprised and said, “We’ve never taught that yet, so she didn’t learn it from me.” We both laughed. “You know,” she added, “I think Cordy can read all of the days of the week, too. I’ve seen her looking at them and pointing to each one as she says the word. She knows a lot more than she lets on.”

The teacher’s aide overheard us, and said, “Just yesterday she read a word on another kid’s shirt. She pointed to his shirt and said ‘trouble’, which was the word written on his shirt.”

Apparently my daughter is starting to read and hasn’t bothered to tell anyone yet. We read books together every day, and I always point to words and ask her what they are, but she never knows. Why she would choose to be so secretive about this skill is a mystery to me, but she proved today that she can read several words, and she is pretty good at sounding out words she doesn’t know, also. The student teacher said she did great on all of the exercises – she’s a smart kid.

Now I wonder what else she knows that she’s holding back from telling us?

And I thought she was just looking at the pictures…

Filed Under: Cordy, school ·

Oct 26, 2008

My First, Slightly Neglected, Children

By Christina ·

Long before two wild daughters came into my life, I had slightly smaller, furry children. One of the very first things I did when I moved out on my own after college was adopt two kittens from the local shelter. One of those two was a Siamese, and since then, I’ve loved the breed and now have two Siamese cats.

Siamese, if raised properly, are actually very sweet and affectionate cats. They’ve had a lot of bad press thanks to Lady & the Tramp, and while they do like to get into everything, they aren’t mean. They’re like the dogs of the cat world – they love their people, they need to be around people, and if left alone they quickly become depressed and bitter.

Our two cats (we actually have three cats, but the third is like a ghost – we know she’s here, but others often don’t see her) and our two kids are usually friendly with each other. Dante, the older Siamese, has been with us since before Cordy was born. He was a little unsure of her when she first came home from the hospital, but after he got used to her they were always together.

Cordy and Dante, 2004

Kit, our younger cat, didn’t come along until Cordy was just over a year old. Siamese often like to be in pairs, and Dante was a little tired of having to share my attention with Cordy, so we found another Siamese for him. Kit is more high-strung and energetic (psycho kitty is what I often call him), but he’s also just as sweet with the kids. Mira pulls his tail all the time, and he generally doesn’t mind unless she tries to lift him by the tail. Even then, he doesn’t scratch or bite – he only tries to get free.

Cordy and Kit, 2005

Both cats do more than just tolerate the kids – they genuinely enjoy being with them. Some nights Cordy insists that he come into her room with her so she can sleep, and he willingly goes in and lets her shut the door behind him. Hours later, when she’s asleep, he’s meow at the door for me to let him out. When she’s awake in the morning, he’s often the one to let us know by meowing at her door. And Kit will often position himself next to Mira or Cordy in the living room, knowing they might pull his tail, but they might also pet him, too.

They’re attention whores, so they’ll take any attention, even if it’s a one year old pulling a tail.

And when they’re sick of the kids, they retreat to a high perch to cuddle together for warmth.

All together now: aww…

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King Corp.

Filed Under: Cordy, daily life, Mira ·

Oct 23, 2008

Visiting The World Of What Could Have Been

By Christina ·

Cordy had her annual check-up with her pediatrician two days ago, and this time it was with the ped that saw her during her entire first year of life. OK, she’s actually a pediatric nurse practitioner, but typing that out every single time will cramp my fingers, so let’s just call her the ped, OK? This particular ped left the practice due to family issues when Cordy was a little over a year old, and just recently came back to work again. I was thrilled to see she was back, so I made sure to schedule Cordy with her.

(I’ll also add how thankful I am that we have a great pediatric group. They’re not covered by the state insurance that the girls now have, but the office worked out a reduced cost visits deal with us so we wouldn’t have to change peds until we have better insurance again.)

Cordy always has a problem with the doctor’s office. But she has matured a little, so I hoped it wouldn’t be as bad this year. When we were called back, things started off very well – she actually took off her shoes and stepped on the scale to get height/weight measurements with only a little prodding. We once again confirmed that she is maintaining her Amazon status: 43 inches tall, 45 pounds. She’s only 5 inches away from riding most adult roller coasters and sitting in the front seat of a car – and she just turned 4!

But when the nurse led us into the tiny examining room, Cordy’s discomfort with the situation began to get to her. The nurse tried to take her blood pressure, but only got as far as wrapping the cuff around her arm before Cordy started to squirm and beg to take it off. The nurse tried to calm her down, but she only got more upset. At this point, the nurse turned to me and asked rather sharply, “Is there some behavioral issue or condition I should know about?”

I was a little taken aback by the wording, and stuttered out, “Well, yeah…uh…she has autism,” and then quickly added, “but is high-functioning and has made a lot of progress.” Like I needed to justify it or something.

The nurse stepped back and took off the blood pressure cuff. “Ah, well, then I won’t bother with this. Did they take her blood pressure last year?”

“Well, no. They were kind of afraid of her at her appointment last year. But you can see she’s doing much better now.”

The nurse nodded, asked a few more questions and then left. Cordy started to get manic in response to the situation, climbing on the exam table, spinning around to rip the paper, and standing up on the table. The minutes it took for the ped to come in felt like days.

It was great to see this ped again. She is gentle spoken and approaches children slowly with an air of friendliness. I absolutely love how she interacts with children. Cordy didn’t appear threatened as she looked at the ped and said, “Hi doctor, I have a boo-boo on my leg. Can you fix it?” (She has a scratch on her leg.)

As the ped looked through Cordy’s records, she asked us questions about Cordy’s autism, when and where we had evaluations done, and what therapy she currently receives. She paused when she got to Cordy’s growth charts, looking carefully at the head circumference chart and flipping back through various doctors’ notes at the same time.

“Were you aware of how big her head was when she was two?” she asked us. “I mean, her head size was already off the charts at 15 and 18 months, but look here.” She showed us the growth chart, which I already knew by heart. “At two years old, her head size makes a dramatic jump, way off the charts. Did the doctor bring it up at that visit?”

“No.” I replied. The truth is, after this ped left, we saw several different doctors and nurse practitioners after her. It seems like every time I tried to schedule a new appointment for Cordy, I was told that her previous doctor was no longer there, so I’d have to see a new one. I didn’t like the lack of a consistent pediatrician, but most of them seemed nice enough.

“And she wasn’t evaulated until she was nearly three?”

“That’s right. I decided to have her evaluated after Aaron and I became concerned with her behavior.”

She shook her head. “They really dropped the ball on this. If I had seen her head size at two years old, I would have immediately looked into screening for autism and ordered a CT scan to make sure everything was OK. A head circumference that large at that age is always seen as a concern. There is a correlation between larger heads and higher intelligence, but children with autism tend to have larger head sizes – and many have high IQs – and it can be an early indicator that can lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment.”

This bit of news only confirmed what I already knew. I remember Cordy’s well-checks when she was younger, and I remember watching her head circumference continue rising further and further away from that 100th percentile line. I was concerned, and I expressed my concerns, but I was waved off with a laugh and a “big head equals big brains, right?” from the peds at that time. No one seemed concerned, and so I continued to believe that her behavior was a result of inheriting her parents’ stubborn and strong-willed natures. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but I wish one of her doctors would have noticed or said something.

Cordy resisted for much of the physical exam, as expected. We measured her head circumference again, just to see how much it had changed from her two year measurement. They don’t have growth charts that track head size past three years old, but her measurement was very close to her two year measurement. The ped told us that since it’s been two years without much of a change in circumference, and since Cordy has shown progress at school in her behavior, she wouldn’t recommend a CT scan now. But she added that she’s really disappointed that no one else paid attention to the signs earlier.

I’m thankful that Cordy is a healthy child who rarely gets sick. And Mira is much the same way. They both have the occasional cold or stomach bug, but it doesn’t slow them down much. And I’m glad to have Cordy’s old ped back, and I think Mira will start seeing her too. I couldn’t help but notice at Mira’s 15 month well-check that her head circumference has gone up and is now hovering just under the 100th percentile mark, taunting us with the possibility of jumping over that line at the next visit.

I don’t see any signs of autism in Mira, though, and I hope none will develop. However, she is being evaluated in two weeks for a possible speech delay – at nearly 17 months, she still can’t fully say a single word. She tries hard, but words come out as a strange warped version of what she’s trying to say. The musicality of a word is there, but few of the sounds come close to matching. I probably wouldn’t be concerned if it wasn’t for the fact that I remember Cordy talking up a storm and starting to count at this age. I brought up the issue at her last well-check and her ped recommended an evaluation after hearing my worries.

I guess the lesson from all of this is that even pediatricians are fallible. The best advocate for your child is yourself – you know your child better than anyone else. Ask lots of questions, and don’t be afraid to push an issue. If I had pushed the issue two years ago, it’s possible Cordy could have started therapy sooner and be at a higher level of progress than she currently is.

Filed Under: Autism, being a mom, big issues, Cordy, Mira, people who don't suck ·

Oct 22, 2008

Halloween Test Run

By Christina ·

On Saturday we took the girls to Boo at the Zoo. It’s an annual event where kids come in costume and trick-or-treat at the zoo, costumed characters are available for pictures, and additional Halloween-themed events happen all weekend.

It gave us a chance to see how the girls would look in their costumes in the daylight, and it gave them a little practice in trick-or-treat etiquette. The result? Cordy’s always been the one to steal the spotlight from other kids, but I think she may have some competition now, because Mira was the one everyone cooed over. Get used to it, kid – your little sister is the comedian, after all.

They both had fun, though, and I now get to practice telling Cordy no when she asks for some of her candy every five minutes.