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Oops, I did it again!  As determined as I was not to, I blinked, and the summer was over.  Since the kid’s school decided to go to a 200 day school year, they are starting school a few weeks earlier this year (you can guess how Felicity felt about that … not at all happy!), which means the Felicity and Chase are starting next week.  How did it pass by so quickly?  Well, I will admit, we were a lot busier this summer than we have been in summers past.  We went on our first family trip, we went out to Disneyland, and have gone to more movies than it seems we went to all of last year.  Plus, with me working, I’ve been spending what little free time I’ve got trying to figure out all the benefits I’m electing to take.  Not that I’m complaining — on the contrary, I’ve really missed these benefits!  Some of the benefits also include company events for the family, and we’ve been taking full advantage of those.

I know, I know — why haven’t I blogged more frequently?  Well, to be honest, I decided to make the kids more of a priority, which means less computer time for mommy.  And with Chase being a huge Disney.com fan, he’s taken to using my computer more than I do.  We’re trying to do more activities to stimulate Nick’s speech, which is coming along great if you consider where he started a year ago.  But with that being said, he is nowhere near where he should be in terms of pronounciation.  I’m recognizing more things that he’s saying, but unfortunately it’s little in comparison to everything he does say.  His pronounciation is mostly vowel sounds and a few consonant sounds, especially “h’s”.  I have recognized him saying, “I love you, Mommy” (it sounds like “Ayh-ah-oo-ah-ee”), which he follows by giving me a kiss, and that warms my heart like nothing else.  It makes me wonder how many other times he’s said it, but I couldn’t understand.  I’m determined to find a way to get him to see a speech pathologist, even though insurance refuses to cover it because his speech condition wasn’t caused as a result of an accident or severe trauma.  It’s so frustrating!!  It’s like, what do you want???!  No matter what the cause is, he’s not talking the way he should be.  At this point, he won’t be ready for Kindergarten next year.  I myself just want to have a confirmed diagnosis of whatever it is that’s causing his issues with speech.  I want to make sure we’re treating the problem, not just the symptoms.  I don’t want to put a band aid on when there may be a more serious condition present.  Del agreed to let Nick go back to his same school starting this school year at the IEP meeting a couple of months ago, with the addition of an extra speech therapy session per week, but is only giving them a month to make dramatic progress.  If that doesn’t happen, we’re going to move him to a more intense program.  I would have done it at the start of this year, but since I wasn’t at the IEP meeting, I have to settle for what Del set up.  I just don’t want to waste any more time if this isn’t the thing for him, because I know this age is critical for him.  I just wish I knew what to do.

If anyone reading this has any similar experiences, please let me know.  It’d be nice to know I’m not alone.