Huge Update

So it's been awhile since I updated.
We haven't managed to get the swing built yet, but I did finally make a sensory bottle for the kids.
Momzi, PawPaw, and Grandma moved to Las Vegas. We helped them pack and got some free stuff from them. We've visited their storage units a couple times in the past couple months. Galen and Flint really enjoy being able to run around it freely while we work.

It's amazing how much can change in a month. Galen's really enjoying being outside all the time and is exploring more things, like daddy's ladder. We've had a huge problem with him being scared of the fenced-in backyard, so we had to go in the front yard all the time. Well, I left the back door open, after locking the cats up, and Galen finally came out on his own accord, and so now, he'll go into the backyard more often and have lots of fun.

Now for probably the biggest news since my last post. HISD finally got back to us about getting Galen into the preschool for children with disabilities program last week. He officially started Mon. I haven't posted about it. I was terrified that he'd be miserable all day. I've always wanted to do homeschooling, but all these specialists said it would be wonderful for Galen, so I felt like I had to at least try. Well, day 3 has come and gone now. None of these days have actually been the full time because of previously scheduled appointments and his normal therapy days. He's tried matching, and exploring the room, and only cried when it was nap time (which he doesn't do) on Mon (he hasn't been there long enough the other days), because the lights were turned off.
Yesterday he had a make-up therapy day and played with water in a bucket and actually enjoyed it. This is a win, a small one, but a win. He's petrified of baths still here. I bought a water toy for him, which we set up tonight, but he was scared of it. I have faith he'll love it in a few days.

Now, for the astonishingly good news...

Galen ate a blueberry waffle and considered a cutie orange at school today. He even tried to help clean up. And he isn't throwing his food on the floor before eating it either! Then, at therapy, we did food stuff again, and after avoiding the jalapeno Cheetos for the past 4 tries, he finally tried it and just kept eating them.

So, it would seem, Galen is doing awesome at school, and while I wanted to homeschool him, this may be the best place for him. Of course, I think we'll re-evaluate when he would start kindergarten. But by then, he'll hopefully be talking, and will be able to give us input on what he'd like to do.
It's been extremely weird without him here with us. But, we've made astonishing progress on cleaning up the sunroom and hanging out with Flint by herself and she even played outside by herself, because she never minded the backyard and we can see her.
The sunroom is slowly being converted into a kid's playroom. It will need some sort of air (window a/c) to make it more comfortable, especially with the horrid summer ahead. But, it'll be nice to be able to have a room they can really play in year round, that's not just a bedroom.

Sensory Board Completed!

Since my last post, we took the kids to the Homeschooling Park day and didn't manage very long. Maybe an hour, but the kids absolutely had a blast, once they got accustomed to where we were.
Galen's been interested in going out more. We've gone to Goodwill twice in the last month for Galen to explore (and gotten a few toys to help his development), Harbor Freight once, and the Kroger grocery store twice in the last week with both kids. He's been very insistent on going out. Last week, he ran outside and got in the car in just his pull-up because Flint was going to the store with daddy, so we put him in clothes, and all went out.

So, as the title says, we finished the homemade sensory board. Completed for approximately $100. Incredible deal for the happiness it gives the kids. The swing will be starting in a few weeks. We're still researching it to make it as safe as possible.

Cole Therapy has combined Galen's Occupational and Speech therapies into one hour on Wednesday's and Thursday's. He's being tag-teamed by 2 therapists and is doing well. It started this way on Thursday and both therapists were excited and very hopeful after how well he did that day. More specifically, he was engaged with both therapists; watched the speech therapist read the entire book to him while she held it (usually he looks away or screams); and they plan to work on his feeding skills together. They know he needs to work on other skills, but his feeding skills are really bad, so they think they should tag-team that first, along with other skills being worked on in the background. We need to get white place mats because they'll apparently help make the food the most interesting thing he sees and will help get him off of "on the go" eating (crackers, pretzels, etc).
He has been playing with more foods and seemingly interested in them lately again too. He even played with gummy bears for a good 5 or so minutes today! And played with a see n' say for 5 minutes a few days ago.
Anyway, I'm going to stop here.

Today was AWESOME

Today we saw a developmental pediatrician who sent us for genetics blood work testing. It's going to be months before we find out anything about it, but it's supposed to identify if there are any chromosomal issues or if he might have "fragile x syndrome". She also wants us to go see a "feeding clinic" she called it. To try and figure out why Galen tends to eat only certain foods. Which textures he may not like, etc. I'm waiting on a call back from them since there's apparently 3 versions of said clinics at this hospital and I have no idea which one she wanted us to go to.

He did REALLY well today. He was in a good mood and everything! Despite being awoken so early. He even used a crayon to draw lines like the dr was doing (and didn't try to eat it!!! Score!). He managed to put a square, triangle, and circle in a puzzle-like thing, even after she flipped it a few different times (it took him some time to figure out what was different, but he got it). He even put blocks into a cup like the dr did over and over again. He tried to say "bye bye" at the trucks and cars driving by when the dr did. He wouldn't play with the ball though, which was strange.

He had an "abnormal gait" which Mazzu thought was just because he was tired, but it seemed close to how he generally walks to me, so that's what she went with. And he did wonderful with snuggling and smiling at the dr.

He even responded properly to "you can't escape right now Galen" (i.e. we aren't leaving yet) 3 or 4 times. The door handles there are ones he can open himself, so that was awesome. The last 2 times we've been there, he kept trying to leave and we had to grab him.

In other words, today went really well. She wants us back in 6 months (coincidentally, on my 31st birthday). I laughed when I saw the date they gave Mazzu (I was keeping Galen busy while signing out). He even fell asleep in the car on the way home (so very unusual!). Afterwards, he and daddy hung out at home while I took Flint for her booster flu shot, then came home too.

A couple hours ago, he and daddy went out for about an hour, so Flint and I had some mommy and me only time. Galen was naked and daddy started to leave and he ran to the door and insisted "go" with daddy. He even let daddy dress him so he could go with.

Galen got a treat tonight for being so very good today: french fries. One of his favorite foods. He barely ate them (that was surprisingly unexpected).