Toddlerhood

Ok, who dropped the ball and forgot to tell me toddlers are CRAZY!! goodness!! So much has happened since their first birthday.  I feel like each day they are learning something new, doing something new, or getting in trouble for something new.  I'll catch you up as best I can with everything that's gone on.

Let's start with Londyn.  This girl has learned a new word about every 5 minutes.  She knows all her animals and the sounds they make, she knows most of her foods and pretty much all basic language.  Talking to her is literally like talking to a little adult.  She loves pretend play and spends majority of her day playing with her little plastic animals and pretending to feed her baby dolls.  She is still a huge daddy's girl and constantly asks for dada the whole time he is at work.  She is a very cautious walker.  She prefers knee walking and still doesn't like to walk without holding my finger (which gets very exhausting having to walk back and forth with her for hours while still trying to tend to Xander) she is just now starting to stand up by herself and walk unassisted.  It's not that she can't do it by herself because she definitely can, she is just super cautious and would rather have help!  All in all she is a perfectly healthy happy little girl who is meeting every milestone perfectly.

Now Xander.  First of all this boy is basically running everywhere now.  He can climb anything you put in front of him and just loves doing anything physical.  But here is what I wanted to talk to you guys about.  Around 13 months Will and I noticed something... different.. about Xander.  The first thing we noticed was that he would never respond to his name when you called him.  We thought maybe he was just tuning us out while watching wiggles.  Then we noticed he was falling behind Londyn socially.  Where Londyn started interacting with us and learning words and using other forms of communication to get her needs met (pointing, bringing us toys and books, looking at stuff we would point out to her, etc.) Xander just.. wasn't.  Londyn started interacting with the dog and trying to interact with Xander and Xander hadn't said any words yet, not even babbling, and he just wouldn't engage with anything or anyone. 

At their 15 month well check we brought up our concerns with the pediatrician.  He said we were right to be concerned but nothing would be done unless we still had concerns at the 18 month well check.  He said some kids have a huge burst between 15 and 18 months.. but my mom gut knew we would be having this conversation again.  Sure enough at 18 months Xander still isn't saying any words and not engaging in any kind of social interaction.  He is also beginning to have meltdowns.  He is prone to having meltdowns if he can't find me.  His favorite thing to do is be in my arms and he will hold me so tight and play with/chew on my hair (after doing some research I have found that Xander is a sensory seeker).  Since his 18 month well check, he has had 3 major meltdowns.  The first one was getting his haircut.  The other 2 were in the bath.  I firmly believe these meltdowns are because of sensory overload.  What I am trying to say is, at this point we believe Xander is on the Autism Spectrum.  The pediatrician said he will not be officially tested until age 2, but he is going to be evaluated by an early intervention team to determine which therapies we will be starting (speech, OT, PT, etc.) They will be coming to the house to evaluate him.  Right now I am playing phone tag with the evaluation team, but hopefully we can get something set up soon.  Until then I am researching, joining groups, and just trying to help my boy as much as possible while also tending to Londyn Mae.

The ride just keeps getting crazier friends!! I am so thankful I picked up on some of the red flags and Xander will be getting the earliest intervention possible.  I am thankful God chose me to be his mom.  I am thankful for my beautiful baby girl and the fact that she is already proving to be so sweet and nurturing. 

I will try to keep this blog more up to date and we move through the process of getting Xander evaluated and the whole process we have coming up. 

 Feeding her baby duck

 His favorite sensory activity- wrapping his arms and legs around me as tight as he can and playing with my ponytail as I squeeze him back.  He could stay like this for hours and will scream when I put him down.