a little on Olivia

Today ECI came out. It wasn't one of our routine visits, but a speech evaluation for sucking/swallowing problems. I had mentioned to my case worker on a previous visit that I have been hesitant to feed her finger foods because she tends to choke a lot. This led us into a discussion on her eating behaviors amongst other things and the next thing I knew, we were having a speech consult. I have to admit, I was dreading it but now that it is over I am glad they came. I am also overwhelmed a bit. There are several things Olivia has always done that I just chalked up to "her being her" but now that I have talked with a speech pathologist I realize these things are all related somehow and it will affect her not only with eating but also with speech. And let me say that I am so thankful for my teaching background! It has helped me so much in the past 11 months in being able to decipher statements like "She has a disorganized eating pattern". I guess all those ARDs I sat in and Special Needs children I had in my classroom were preparing me for this. God has a funny way of doing that to us, ya know? Anyways, they recommended a few things, one of them is a Modified Barium Swallow Study where they will x-ray and video her actually eating/drinking. I am working on getting that scheduled. They also gave me these chewy tubes for her to use. I never even knew such a thing existed! They told me chewing was the best way for her to strengthen the muscles she needs in eating and talking. They also showed me a technique when feeding her baby food that will help with using her tongue correctly when getting the food off the spoon. They shared a few other ideas and they are all things that are doable and I will work on implementing into our day. I tell ya, I never really knew what a speech pathologist was before or why their job was needed in this world but now I am SO THANKFUL they exist! Moms never think they are going to have a child with special needs but when and if you do become that mom, you are thankful for any and every resource you can get your hands on. At least I know I am! At times, I get down feeling the huge responsibility of making sure Olivia has everything she needs on a daily basis and fear that I am not doing everything perfect like working with her enough on her motor development (she is still not crawling) or her language development. But then I have to remember that I am doing the best I can and I know that there are parents out there who would love to have only these type of issues to deal with. For theirs are much more cumbersome and tedious and draining. My heart goes out to them.

On a lighter note, the kids and I went to the pool yesterday and had a good time. There was hardly anybody there and we packed a lunch so we could stay a while. Olivia did great in her turtle float and Jacob enjoyed running around the splash pad (as usual). He is also now wanting to go into the "big pool" and will hang on the edge and go around. This is a huge step for him! He has always taken so long to warm up and usually it isn't until the end of the summer when he feels comfortable. So we are glad he is venturing out in the pool a little bit. Here are a few pictures from our day.