Levi video

Levi and his funny way of "talking"

Another quick update

We're livin' life over here at the Varela household. Levi started solid food this last week; he loves it of course (especially because I'm being more low-key about it this time and giving fruits in addition to the veggies right from the beginning. Even gave him some mashed avocado that he enjoyed).

Lucy is still going gluten-free with positive results; I spoke to the pediatrician yesterday, and he said to continue for another couple of weeks to confirm that it is helping. Then, in order to do the test for celiac, Lucy needs to be on gluten, so we'll add gluten back into her diet for a month before he orders the test (involves a blood draw).

Nate was sooooo excited that there was an Open House at school last night, so Jon and Nate went together. They got to go to each of Nate's three classes, including Preschool Connections (the "regular" preschool).

I'm off to enjoy nap time!

P.S. Aren't these pajamas cute? Costco!

Stats

I took Lucy and Levi to the doctor for their 2-year and 6-month checkups. Lucy weighs 24 pounds 14 ounces, which is 20th percentile. She is 35.5 inches tall, which is 80th percentile. She is continuing her "tall and thin" trend. Levi weighs 15 pounds 13 ounces and is 26 inches tall; those are both 25th percentile. This is great for Levi, who was 3rd percentile in his first few weeks!

When we last met with Nate's DAN! doctor in Virginia, we asked what things we can look out for with Levi, since Levi is at much higher risk of having autism (because he is a boy and because he has an affected sibling). We've implemented the things Dr. Mumper suggested (like probiotics) and have been watching Levi's head circumference. (Many children with autism, including Nate, have larger-than-average head size.) Levi's head circumference has been consistent, and this last appointment it was 9th percentile.

I spoke to the doctor about our suspicion that Lucy has a food intolerance. I tried getting rid of all dairy for her a few months back, but after two weeks, she showed no improvement. Dr. Chu suggested trying a gluten-free diet. (This would be pretty easy for us to do!) If it made a difference for Lucy, then they would run the test for celiac disease. (Dr. Chu said celiac is underdiagnosed; it affects 1 in 100 children!) Today is day four of Lucy being gluten-free, and by golly, she has had normal dirty diapers for two days! This doesn't mean anything conclusive yet, but I am excited about the possibility of finding the answer to this year-long problem. If gluten is indeed the culprit, I don't think it necessarily means she has celiac, but it of course would mean she had a gluten intolerance. Celiac has no cure, but the treatment that works for every single case is a life-long gluten-free diet. We'll see!

Gifts to give

I spent some time a week ago putting gifts together to give to each of our leaders at Cubbies. All five girls (well, six including me) have their own families and busy schedules, yet each week they make helping at Cubbies a priority. Casey, our resident puppet show actress, only missed a couple of weeks all year, and those were the weeks when Mallory was just born. I can barely think of any weeks Amy and Kim weren't there.

I found this tutorial and used it to make a mini wallet for each girl (and I must admit: one for me too). I love this project because it used lots of scraps!

Checking in

Just noticed that I haven't posted since last week. We're doing just fine around here, though Lucy now has a nasty cold after having just gotten over that stomach thing.

Jon and I went on our church's couples retreat this past weekend to Lake Havasu. It was really nice, relaxing, and fun. We brought Levi with us, so I didn't get much more sleep than I usually get (and let's face it, at this point in my life, sleep is number 1 on the list of answers to the question, "If you had x number of free hours, what would you do with it?"). Jon came down with Lucy's stomach bug, so he was taking it easy and not feeling that good for most of the trip. Hmm, now that I read what I just wrote, it sounds like we had a terrible trip!--but we didn't. It was nice to get away for a couple of days and hang out with friends.

Tonight is awards night for AWANA, and then we're done for the summer. MOPS and Bible study are also done. I'm looking forward to a more low-key several months!

Happy boy

Levi has been scooting around a bit the past week or two. I'll leave him on the rug and find him a few minutes later nearly under the dining table. He has rolled over several times but doesn't seem to get around that way; it's more of a scooch. :)

Here's what he did today.













The middle picture above reminded me of a few shots of Nate at the exact same age:

New dress

This may be my new favorite thing I've made, mostly because I love these fabrics. I planned on putting Lucy in this on Sunday for Mother's Day and Levi's baby dedication, but her sickness thwarted my plans! One day soon. (P.S. Levi didn't get dedicated either, since Jon stayed home with Lucy from church. We had to reschedule that too.)

Quick check-in

Lucy has been sick since Saturday night, though today seems much better. I'm praying no one else has caught it!

A special boy

Text from the Mother's Day card Nate made for me at school (dictated by Nate and written down faithfully, though questioningly, by Miss Meg):

Dear Mama,

I love you so much!
You make me food, and
you teach me about God (at the temple)
You are a special boy.
Happy Mother's Day!
Love,
Nate

Grocery bag dispenser

I saw this tutorial last week and have been wanting to try it ever since. Most projects that say they take one hour end up taking me several, but this truly was a short project--done in one nap time. It's practical and let me use two of my favorite fabrics! (By the way, it's hung on the inside of the coat closet door.)

Action shot:


And the picture Nate took (love the perspective!):

Need some Dr. Mom help!

Over the past week or two, I've noticed Nate had some hearing loss. It took me a while to decide it was hearing loss and not "selective hearing." Honestly, he really wasn't hearing me when I was asking him to do something or come to where I was or whatever. I took him to the doc today: ear infections, both ears. I'm going to start the prescribed medicine tonight and hope it clears up the hearing issue (scary). Nate just had an ear infection 6 weeks ago, and it seems like lately he gets one every time he has a cold.

Here's my question to you: other than buying an otoscope or taking your child to the doctor after every cold, how do you know he has an ear infection? Nate doesn't have pain for most of his ear infections (except the last one), so he can't tell us. My plan is to institute a garlic oil regimen every time he gets a cold now (and for 3-5 days following the cold) as a preventive measure, but what else should I do? (FYI: garlic is a natural bacteria-fighter and can help ward off infection. See here.)

Four

As anyone who has talked to Nate in the past two months knows, today is his birthday! His excitement is so precious. He asked for a birthday crown, so I quickly made one last night. He put it on first thing this morning and wore it to school.

First attempt at a picture (I already forget what the scowl was about):


Better picture later:


This boy is so amazing. He is gentle, silly, happy, and so very smart. His current favorite things are playing Crazy Eights (cards), reading "Barnyard Chase" (cute book), going to the park, and riding his bike. Some "specal treats" that make him especially happy are going to Chick-fil-A, eating marshmallows or Starburst jelly beans, and his daddy. (OK, Daddy isn't a special treat, but he makes Nate especially happy.) He is grasping the gospel message and lately has been asking if certain people believe in Jesus so they can go to heaven. What a wonderful, tender boy God has given us.

We got Nate this bed and this bedding (matches existing curtains). They aren't here quite yet but should be this next week.

Two other cute pictures from this week (and note: Levi rolled tummy to back a few times yesterday):



Mimi is coming today!!!!

Picnic Frock giveaway

I always know just the person I'll give these giveaway items to if I win... I just never win! Here's to hoping this one's a winner.

Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY

Levi Pictures

Cute boy




Nate has been asking to take pictures lately. He took these. I kind of like the blurry effect! :)

Little chubber

5 months

Nate 5 months 5 days:



Levi 5 months 6 days:



Lucy 5 and a half months:


Here are the boys side by side:

IEP

Nate's annual IEP meeting was yesterday at school. This is a very important meeting to determine Nate's placement for the next year. My hopes were that Nate would get some "typical peer" exposure. My expectations were that the school was going to propose Nate stay in his current placement.

Nate's area of need now is social development, but how is he going to get that if he's the highest functioning in his class and only around children who don't speak or speak atypically? In addition, I've seen Nate start to bring home some negative behaviors. I know he isn't perfect, but I do think if he's going to pick things up from his peers, they would hopefully be "normal kid" things.

After reading over Nate's recent assessments and the proposed goals for him in this next year as a group, the district representative made their offer of placement. I was beyond thrilled; it was exactly what I would have asked for if I had been able to create a "perfect plan" for Nate! Starting in May, Nate will do his normal day at school (first half in non-severe Special Day Class, second half in IBI), but he will leave IBI for one hour to go into the regular preschool, Preschool Connections. An IBI staffer will go with Nate (and possibly one or two other children), but that staffer will help with all the kids in the class and won't be velcroed to Nate. So that person won't be his aide; however, he/she will know Nate's goals and areas of need. After a month or two with this setup, we will probably increase the time Nate is in the regular preschool. Then, by late September/October, he will be in the regular preschool full-time, with probably an hour a day in IBI to work specifically on Nate's goals and kind of as a daily check-in. I'm super excited!

The goals for the next year include maintaining appropriate physical proximity when engaged in conversation or play (i.e., respect personal space); greeting others once and waiting for a response (not repeating the greeting over and over); maintaining a reciprocal conversation (asking questions and waiting for answers); accepting not getting his own way or not getting to be first for an activity; sustaining attention to complete a 10-minute, non-preferred task; skipping; raising his hand and waiting to be called on; cutting better with scissors; and drawing more simple shapes.

Nate will go for the extended school year (school through July) and will have August off, like last year. I signed him up to take the bus in the mornings starting at the end of June!

All in all, it was a wonderful meeting, and I left smiling!

Gluten-free getting easier

Some cool news: Kix, Rice Chex, (and possibly some other General Mills cereals) have been reformulated and are now GFCFSF! If you look at the old Kix ingredients, you can see they had gluten (whole grain oats), but they don't anymore. Jon called the manufacturer and also confirmed the cereals are made in a dedicated facility, which means nothing else with gluten is made there. This means more things are available for GFCFSF dieters at the regular grocery store, and they cost less than the specialty cereals we usually have to buy.

Language development

I've been fascinated with the children's language development lately. It's so cute to watch Lucy as she soaks in tons of knowledge each day. She just got over a stage where she knew she wanted to create possessives when speaking, but she couldn't get it quite right. Instead of "Lucy's cup," she would say, "Lucy cups." Instead of "Nate's room," it was "Nate rooms." She just started getting it right in the last week or two. She also used both "it" and the object in a sentence: "Where is it, cup?" or today: "Cami bonked it head."

Nate is speaking very well. It's fun to watch him make "correct mistakes." That is, he has internalized a certain "rule" for language, but he doesn't know all the weird exceptions to the rule in English. For example, the other day he wanted me to put the deck of cards down so he could deal, but he wanted me to do it like Daddy did: "No Mama, don't do it softly. Do it hardly."

Born 2 Impress guest giveaway on Grosgrain

Born 2 Impress GUEST GIVEAWAY

Would love these hair clips for Lucy. Her hair is getting crazier and crazier.