School Evaluation, Potty Training, and more testing…

We met with the school system last week to discuss Henry’s recent developmental evaluation and his eligibility (or need) for special pre-school services. It was determined that Henry does not qualify for additional services beyond his normal preschool setting. This does not mean, however, that Henry does not have any developmental delays. It simply means that his delays do not impact his ability to learn or function in typical day-to-day activities. In other words, he should achieve all his milestones in his own time without the need for intervention. Delays were noted in the areas of Adaptive Behavior, Social-Emotional, and Physical. In regards to Adaptive Behavior, delays were noted concerning self-care/self-help skills, such as feeding (use of a cup, utensils), dressing, and potty training. In regards to Social-Emotional, delays were noted concerning Henry’s difficulty in vocalizing his frustrations as well as his hesitation to fully participate in group activities with his peers. As far as physical delays, Henry has reached all his milestones, but has poor body strength and is not as well balanced as other 2-3 year olds. The good news is that Henry was considered average (consistent with his peers) in cognitive and communication skills. So after this week, Henry will no longer be receiving any more therapies.

Overall, Will and I are very pleased with the outcome of the evaluation. We suspected that Henry would not qualify for additional services. In regards to his delays, we expected that his feeding skills would be behind, but considering the obstacles and difficulty he has had to overcome with his allergy and GI condition, he has made progress with feeding in leaps and bounds! We also feel that it is Henry’s personality to prefer to play alone some of the time. Henry has always been this way, even as an infant. We are very happy that his speech is on target. He has made noticeable progress in his speech abilities since getting the tubes in his ears in September. In fact, a recent hearing screening revealed that he no longer has moderate hearing loss, which can be contributed to the drainage of fluid allowed by the tubes. And as far as the physical delays, Henry has come a long way from 1lb, 10oz!!

Henry has very little interest in potty training despite the fact that he know exactly what he’s supposed to do. How do I know this? Here’s a conversation Henry and I had the other day about potty training:
Me, as I was changing his poopy diaper, “Did you go poop in your diaper?”
Henry, “Yes.”
Me, “Did you go poop in the potty?”
Henry, “No.”
Me, “Does Mommy poop in the potty?”
Henry, “Yes.”
Me, “Should Henry poop in the potty?”
Henry, “Yes.”

And this weekend I thought I smelled something as Henry was playing quietly in the living room, so I asked him, “Henry, are you pooping?” He jerked his head up with a huge smile on his face like I had caught him doing something wrong and says, “No! Be quiet!” LOL!!!! Almost every time I ask him if he wants to sit on the potty he responds, “Nope.” I’ve even offered to let him wear underwear, which he declines. Up until now we haven’t pushed him to potty train because things have been so hectic adjusting to three kids! But I’m really starting to get tired of having two kids in diapers and changing poopies! I think we may need to get firm with him and have a potty weekend!

So I was going to try and post more often about the fun stuff and less about the medical stuff, but unfortunately, the medical stuff is such a large part of our lives. In my January update I commented that Henry hasn’t gained any weight since getting the tubes in his ears in September. He has gained a few ounces, but nothing significant and we are still confused as to how he can eat so much but not gain weight. And although the vomiting doesn’t occur with the frequency it used to, it just isn’t normal for a child to vomit so easily and as often as Henry does. In fact, Henry had a cold last week and over the course of 5 days vomited at least 10 times. We spoke with his Pulmonologist last week and agreed that it would be worth getting him tested for Cystic Fibrosis. CF is an inherited disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. My previous knowledge about CF was that it seemed to be more of a disease that impacted the lungs. Since Henry hadn’t had any serious issues w/ his lungs, I had dismissed CF as a potential issue. I was not aware that CF can also have a significant impact on the digestive system. And now that we’ve learned how important the Flovent inhaler is for Henry’s health, we now have a “lung” component in addition to the many digestive issues Henry has. Of course, there are other potential reasons for Henry’s low weight and Flovent needs… it could be a combination of his allergy, Eosinophilic Gastritis, and the fact that most of my side of the family is small stature (especially my paternal side). In addition, Will suffers from asthma and the Flovent could just be the first signs of a potential asthma diagnosis later. However, we decided that the CF test, which is not evasive, is a potential diagnosis that we’d like to rule out. Henry visited UNC this week for the test and the results were normal… he does NOT have CF. By the way, just thought I’d mention that CF is now included in the newborn screening for NC and was not at the time Henry was born in 2008.

Just some other tidbits about our day-to-day activities! Stewart’s teacher will be retiring in March, so he will have a new teacher for the last 9-wks of the 2nd grade. We have signed Stewart up for the Spring outdoor soccer season (in addition to his continued involvement with indoor soccer at XL Soccer World). Henry has broken our TV. It was working every now and then, but it appears that the frequent toddler abuse is taking its toll and it hasn’t worked for several days now! Callie is doing well! She is now about 9lb, 14oz and is eating great! She is also sleeping through the night! However, with 3 kids, it isn’t uncommon for at least one of them to have some kind of issue at some point during the night! I start my new job on Monday, February 28th! Right now we’re getting ready for Henry’s 3rd birthday this weekend! We took some video of the boys reading books together the other night… they were so cute! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quPzgjHZkEA


Please say a prayer for my neighbor’s family, Bryan, Sherrie, Emily and Rachel. Bryan has been fighting brain cancer (Glioblastoma Multiforme) since July 2009. An MRI last week indicated that Bryan’s battle may soon be over. Bryan and Sherrie have been our neighbors for almost 8 years and we have enjoyed watching their girls grow up and occasionally chatting outside on nice days. We are praying they find strength and comfort in their family and friends during this difficult time.