Looking Close

"Don't look directly at the boy." --a phrase often uttered in our house.  When Matthew doesn't want to do something, he sometimes becomes defiant, but then often acquiesces.  He will often do what we had asked of him in time-- only if we don't look at him or say anything to him.  If we take notice, he goes back to being defiant.  

This pretty much sums up how I am reacting to his development (or lack thereof) these days.  I don't want to look too closely, or (a) it may stop OR (b) I may see something that might concern me.  I don't want to be too reflective.  Maybe that is why the blog has been quiet. 

This summer, we did take a closer look at a couple of areas--

*Matthew's gnat-like attention span.  To this point, I had chalked it up to him being developmentally delayed.  After taking a good look, and reviewing teacher and therapist notes, I suspected that it is more than that.  The neurologist agrees.  We put him on a supplement that is supposed to help, but so far, no luck.  We have a follow up appointment later this month to determine next steps.  The good part of this 'diagnosis', if there is a 'good', is that the neurologist believes that all academic based developmental testing to this point has most likely been inaccurate since Matthew won't sit and concentrate for any test (verbally or non-verbally measured).  My gut was telling me the same, but it is nice to get a corresponding medical opinion.  

*Matthew's articulation issues.  Matthew talks -- a lot.  But he's not always understood.  We took him for a palatal motion study (x-rays shot when he was speaking) to see if the articulation issues were physiological or not.  I don't even know all of what the study revealed at this point, but it appears that Matthew's tongue and palate have the capability of making the sounds necessary for articulation--which means it is not a structural issue.  Movement of the throat in and out, the secondary (or back up way) of producing articulation, is not something he is capable of doing.  It just means he must do it right with tongue, palate, and lips.  Recommendation was more time and therapy.

*Matthew's ear.  We have noticed discharge from Matthew's ear for several months, but upon inspection by the pediatrician, we were told it was ear wax.  During the follow up appointment with the entire clef palate team (though Matthew does not have a clef palate, these are the experts that deal with the facial structures and they were in charge of the palatal motion study), the ENT diagnosed Matthew with a persistent, chronic ear infection.  We have a follow up here in Austin to ensure the infection has gone away, and to investigate whether there is cyst behind Matthew's ear drum.  Again, not sure what this might mean.

*Facial structure.  Our awesome dentist and our fabulous craniofacial surgeon both agreed that though Matthew's jaw is still very recessed, it is not something to address for many years.  It is likely not the cause of his speech issues.

*Urology.  Through ultrasound investigation, Matthew's solitary, horse-shoe kidney is in good shape and growing and Matthew's urachal cyst is still present, but hasn't grown.  We may have a follow up with urology this fall.

*Academic skills.  Matthew had a tutor for 12 sessions this summer, and we saw great academic progress.  We are hopeful, that in repeating kinder and the fact that he is now more developmentally on par with his kindergarten peers, this year he blossoms.  

Working hard at tutoring

In related medical news, we are on a search for a new pediatrician because ours moved. I will forever miss our pediatrician from Houston, and will likely head to the practice he recommended here in Austin.  We also saw the optometrist this summer, and no glasses are necessary for any of the kids. 

I was hopeful that by stacking the appointments this summer, we could avoid most of them during the school year, but I didn't think about follow ups.  Hopefully the upcoming appointments are uneventful and Matthew has a long, healthy stretch.  

Workout

Though I wish he'd sleep until 6:00a, I do enjoy spending my early mornings working out with my little man.  He 'works out' and then spends the rest of time watching Gilmore Girls with me, where he thinks it is interactive tv.  If they have an umbrella on the show, he has to get his.  If the main character puts on her backpack, so does Matthew.  Though I am sometimes exasperated by the mess this creates, I love spending my morning with the boy.  

Just Like That

Summer ended and school began.  

Kinder, 3rd, and 5th

The week was a struggle as we transitioned, but I think it was successful as (for the first time in 3 years) none of the Hoy children cried on Friday evening!  Maybe it was because we were smarter than in years past and hung out at home eating frozen pizza and watching Phineas and Ferb, but I'd like to think it is because they are getting older and able to hold themselves together better. 

I celebrated the end of the first week of school (which was awesome) by going to bed about 20 seconds after the kids did.  We all need to work on our school stamina.  It is a 38 week marathon, not a one week sprint.  So, here's to 38 great weeks to come!  

Summer Fun

I thought for sure that life would slow down over the summer, but since summer is already more than half over, I guess not.  

Alyssa and Jackson enjoyed their time at camp, while Matthew relished being an only child.

This was the first day we were back together-- 24 days in to summer!

Then, we enjoyed spending time with family in Chicago and Michigan.  

A highlight of year-- a week with family in Michigan.

The kids are road trip rock stars-- most of the time!

We celebrated Jackson's 9th birthday when we returned.  

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I can't believe he's 9.  This year, he's become much more mature, but he still loves Legos, pranks, Star Wars, and Harry Potter.

In between, we have been fitting in as many appointments as possible...

Matthew has had appointments with urology to check on his solitary kidney (all is well) and with the neurologist (details tbd).

Dentist, orthodontist, dermatologist, oh my!

The kids have become extremely proficient at waiting.

...with a little fun thrown in here and there.  

Ice cream

S'moreos (S'mores made of Oreos- Yum!)

And lots of  reading and library books

Thinking about the 5+ weeks left of summer, I am hoping for a little more downtime, maybe even to hear "I'm bored".  We could use a little boredom -- it helps us get excited about going back to school.  

Start of Summer

We ran to the finish line at the end of the school year, and we kept running the first week of summer.

Alyssa has had a great time at camp.

This girl loves camp!

Darren and Matthew went for a visit on Sunday.

Matthew has transitioned back to daycare. 

He loves being back at "old school".

 

I watched my seniors graduate with tears in my eyes, took a deep breath and then spent 3 days closing up my classroom and planning for next school year.

I love pomp and circumstance!

Jackson scraped gum from the underneath of the desks and proclaimed that he would never chew gum at school.

Then, Jackson and I went to Space Camp.  I have dreamed of Space Camp since I was in 6th grade and it was everything I hoped it would be!  

Happy summer!

We Made It!

We made it to summer!

We finished up our scouting year.

The kids had their piano recital, with celebratory shake after.

The kids finished up their sports seasons.

The kids had their year end, student led conferences at school where they reviewed their school work with us.

We prepared to send Alyssa to camp.

And the kids posed for their requisite end of year photos.

Yippee!

This Too Shall Pass

I am particularly beat down at the moment. The end of the school year has me clinging to the sides of our apple cart with all of my might, in hopes that I can keep it balanced and upright for just two and a half more weeks. 

In addition to the usual end of school year insanity (parties, gifts, projects, grading, and so on), Matthew has been having a particularly rough go at life lately. He's REALLY cranky a great deal of the day. He's obsessing about random items (like the Mexico flag a little boy was waving at Alyssa's soccer game-- for 45 minutes straight!) He's crying on the way to school. He has zero coping mechanism, so if you tell him no, it is a monumental meltdown.  

We've gone the last few weeks hoping to find the magic bullet. He's not eating enough, so let's figure out how to get him more food. He's seemingly tired (and waking up TOO early), so let's put him to bed earlier, with a fan, without a fan, with the top bunk removed, on the top bunk. Maybe he's sick, so let's take him to the doctor (who says he looks great). We are running out of tools in our toolbox, and not sure what else to try. I feel like we have tried it all, and he's still struggling.  

I keep telling myself that this too shall pass, but I don't know if I really believe it. With Matthew, maybe this is our new 'normal'. Ugh, that idea is so horrible I can't...just can't. This too shall pass. This too shall pass.

Matthew falling asleep sitting up while we waited for the doctor. He's obviously tired, but the 6:30 bedtime doesn't seem to be helping!