Appointments and Assessment

It's been a busy week for the little Gagnon family.

Kevin's Assessment
On Tuesday afternoon, a speech therapist and a physiotherapist came out from Children First to do an assessment of Kevin's skills. His situation is very similar to what Andrea's was, two years ago: he has to be walking by the end of January, to move up to the Toddler Room in daycare. Otherwise, he will likely have to leave daycare for a while. My concerns about Kevin are even greater, though: he didn't start crawling until 3 weeks ago, and he barely says "Mama" and "Dada," let alone anything else.

So, the ladies came to our house to observe Kevin, and decide if he could benefit from services offered by their program, and their related providers. The visit went well. They were very positive about what they observed. They say that Kevin has a great attention span, he is very curious, he interacts well with others, and he has excellent emerging/foundation skills. So, yes, he's a bit behind the time-frame for certain milestones, but there's really no serious issues holding him back. Nevertheless, they do feel he will benefit from speech and physiotherapy sessions. They are starting him soon, and gave him priority status on their wait list, because they feel he's at a critical point in his development; with his emerging skills suddenly blossoming these past few weeks, it's the best time to build on them, and give him that extra boost.

The physiotherapist says he is definitely not ready to walk yet. She says we need to build up his foot and hip strength first, so she showed me some exercises to to with him. I explained about our daycare issue, and she was really annoyed (with them!). She said he may learn to walk sooner, but it won't be properly, and he won't be confident, if we don't let him do it in his own time. I agree, but what can we do? She said she'd talk to the daycare about it.

The speech therapist said we should practice sounds with Kevin, to get him used to using his voice. There's nothing physically wrong with his vocals, he's just not a talker! She suggested working on animal noises, transportation noises, etc. She even suggested we teach him a few simple signs to help him communicate in the meantime--but we are to SAY the word along with the sign, of course. She's going to start working with him on Monday at daycare, because she is often there seeing other children, already.

We will also be seeing a resource consultant who will be in charge of Kevin's case. She's the same one we had for Andrea, so it will be nice to be dealing with a familiar person. Actually, we have the same physiotherapist, too.

Andrea's Allergist Appointment
This morning, Grandma and Grandpa took Andrea to the allergist for us. The issue was whether or not she could have the flu shot. He (the doctor) told us before that she was allergic to eggs, but not severely allergic to them. People who are allergic to eggs can't have the flu shot, because eggs are part of the base of the serum. However, with Andrea's asthma, it would be dangerous if she got the flu.

So, the doctor decided to test her for the egg allergy again (the skin scratch test). This time, the result was negative. He said it was probably a "transient" allergy--she had it once, but now it's gone. We have never seen her react to eating eggs, so I'm not sure she ever had the egg allergy; but who wants to take chances? It's good to know for sure, now, that she doesn't have the egg allergy.

Once they knew she wasn't allergic to eggs, the doctor gave her a flu shot (well, half a dose--it's her first time getting one. Kevin only got a half-dose too). Apparently she cried quite a lot :(( , but was soon consoled by Grandma and Grandpa, and an Ariel Princess bandage.

Kevin's Pediatrician Appointment
This afternoon, I took Kevin in for his follow-up with the pediatrician, who we saw three months ago. Kevin weighs 24 pounds. (I didn't hear how long he is.) The pediatrician looked Kevin all over. We talked about the progress he's made in the past few weeks, and also my concerns that more progress is needed. Well, Dr. G. seemed confident that Kevin is just fine. He must have said, "This is a completely normal child!" about 10 times. He said he sees no signs of any hormonal, chromosomal, or cognitive issues. He said Kevin "is just taking his time. He'll do it when he wants to!" He said he wouldn't even say that Kevin has any delays. I was so glad to hear that!

I told Dr. G. about our involvement with Children First. He seemed to have an amused toleration for it. He basically said, "Well, they're just doing what they have to do," and seemed to be suggesting that he didn't think Kevin needed any extra help. I think he saw my hesitation because he said, "It won't hurt him. Might as well do it."

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So, there it is . . . we move forward, with our two little munchkins who like to do things when THEY feel like doing them! :))