Gaines' Big News

First, my apoligies for dropping the ball right after I said I was going to post pictures.  My dad ended up having pretty major surgery the next day and my little world and to do list just had to wait.  We were at the beach the next weekend and just got back on Monday.  Trying to do something like uploading pictures during the week just isn't going to happen.  So, here's hoping that I get some up this weekend.  I'm pretty sure I will but I'm just not going to promise any more. 

A few other housekeeping details, you all need to have your skin checked once a year and wear SPF sunscreen.  I had two moles "biopsied" last week and while thankfully they were ok and only "abnormal", the whole thing kind of shook me up.  I'm not sure if you all are aware but I have a bit of a vivid imagination and it is not alwasy a good thing.  Anyway, I wore sunscreen at the beach and the world did not end when I did not come back tan...weird.  I also did not come back sunburned which was a nice change of pace.  So, there is my skin care PSA.  Take care of it. 

I had something else riveting to say but I forgot it.  So moving on to Gaines' big news...

Gaines' speech therapist did his 6 month evaluation the other day and he did so well! His score was 26 out of 29 months. The test has two different pieces, one that focuses on what he’s understanding, and the other on what he’s able to articulate. The articulation piece was 27/29 and the understanding was 26/29. I am really, really pleased with that.
I kind of kept it to myself before but, at his first evaluation in speech, that understanding piece was 13 out of 24 months. I knew that part of it was Gaines not cooperating that day (he’s just not going to do what he doesn’t want to do-working on that) but honestly, it also kind of scared me and I didn’t want anyone to know about it. So…I am super excited with this result. This score means that he no longer qualifies for Early Intervention and will only have one more session.

The therapist did mention that if we were still having trouble understanding a lot of what he says (like right now “mama” sounds like “baba” which is common in all kids) around the time he turns three, that we might want to have someone look at him to see if he needed help with his sounds. She said that right now he was too young for that to be a concern. We’ll cross that bridge when and if we need to but right now I’m just so excited that he’s catching up and understanding.

There have been a lot of unknowns with Gaines that we’ve had to be patient with and watch unfold…I mean, his sats were LOW (like do you want us to call in the chaplain low) the day he was born and he had to be resuscitated his first night…that doesn’t bode well for lots of things brain-wise. But y’all…he’s getting there and overcoming all the concerns one at time. First by holding his head up and sitting, to walking and now this. I could not be more proud of my littlest boy! God is good!

Love to all,

Brittany