Moving/Holidays/Turning Two and Much Change

It has been a long while since I have posted and for good reason.  Since the last post regarding Austin's speech therapy, we had six months full of whirlwind, starting with a new job for Matt!

Yep, Matt left the beginning of September for two and half months to start a new job with a company called Baldor Electric Company in Marion, NC, while Austin and I stayed back to keep things as normal as possible and until some things were set up in North Carolina to make the transition as smooth as possible.  Matt would come back to home every couple weeks for the weekend to visit and we even made a trip up to attend a company picnic and see our new temporary home.  In the middle of all this, I was training for my FIRST marathon, so, needless to say it was hectic!

October 28, 2012

 

Austin and I followed, officially, the weekend before Thanksgiving and we are really enjoying it here.  It is a slower pace, which is welcomed, and the area is really beautiful as you get into the foothills and farm land.  We are not to far from some snow fun, only 4 hours away from Atlanta and Matt's family, and about 7.5 hours from Jacksonville and my family (yes, they moved from Colorado to the East Coast!).

View from Mt. Mitchell

Marion, NC is about 40 miles east of Asheville.  It is a small town, about 6500 people, with McDowell Hospital and Baxter Pharmaceuticals as the largest employers.  It used to be host to many textile plants however they have all closed down as the jobs were moved over seas.  

For the holidays, we went back to Atlanta for Thanksgiving and went to Jacksonville for Christmas.  While Matt and his family made an unexpected trip to California the week later for his Grandfather Black's funeral, Austin I zipped down to Jacksonville in between to spend even more time with my folks and THE BEACH!

"Have no idea what he is yammering about mama, no idea"

Meredith was thrilled to visit from Paris to see Austin's tummy just after Christmas

Shell picking

And of course, Austin turned TWO at the end of December.  Such a big boy.  We celebrated at my folks house the week of Christmas.  With my brother visiting from Colorado, he was able to officially meet Austin as well.

Appreciating the tree this year

We don't look alike do we?

With all that traveling, we hunkered down for the month of January and tried to develop a routine that is smooth as easy as possible, with a short business/family visit trip to Atlanta in between.

2012 - A Year in Pictures

2012 was an interesting year.  Austin was now walking, so going to a park was an a whole new adventure, and our frequent strolls around the neighborhood were definitely slower with the mobile little guy wanting to out of the stroller or push car.  But it was also the year we moved from our home in Marietta, GA to our new town near Asheville NC so that Matt could realize a job that was rewarding and stable.  It was quite a big deal for our little family, dogs and all.  

Few times our walker was game for a stroller ride!

Slide action!

Firefighter Austin.

Maggie commandeers the ball.

Impromptu pal love!

Lets eat that Easter book!

Hunt at Uncle Colins!

Collecting eggs!

Hmmm.....

Love when Daddy brought out guitar!

Music is in his blood.

Belly rub

Splash!

They loved that door.

This deck was perfect for water fun!

Peeka boo!

Splash pad in Roswell GA.

Not sure Jazzy is digging this.

Future is definitely bright!

Scout 1.0

How do I look in your shoes mama?

Trader Joe's little shopper.

First Haircut at about 14 mos.

Baptized - Salim and Meredith as Godparents

The three of us!

Troublesome Trio!

GA Aquarium

This deck was perfect for water fun!

Halloween 2012!

Move!

Box play!

Making pizza in our temporary home in NC.

Whoa!

Beach, XMAS 2012

Stroll on Greenway in Marion

Hickory Nut Gap farm friends.

Beach, XMAS 2012

Our Little Talker......To Be.

From the moment Austin turned 3 months old, I could tell he was going to be spirited little fellow.  His sly smile gave me a clue that he was going to tell me what was on his mind, just as soon as he could.

Well, nine months came around and I was dying for a "mama" or "dada".  It was coming, I could feel it.  His peers were addressing their parents as such....Austin was on the brink.

Then came fourteen months and we heard his first real word, "shoes".  It was clear as ever.  He was fascinated with them, knew what they were and grabbed them anytime we asked him to get his "shoes".  Two weeks of proud parent bliss.  He even added "two" to "shoes" and we heard "two shoes".  Pretty cool.  

And then it stopped.  He would say "wuf" every once in awhile, when he saw the dogs, but other than babbling, nothing was clear again.  He slowly increased to what I would call a babbling "pontification", however.  He stands proudly and gives us his "four scores and seven years ago...." speech, we were his audience. Anyone that has seen or heard it, know exactly what I am talking about. We know he is talking or at least playing a game of talking but it is very garbled and completely intelligible.  His speaking manner is what someone that is hearing impaired would be repeating because they may only hear garbled, mumbled sounds.  His hearing is perfect however; we had it tested.

The funny thing is that Austin understands everything.  He knows what we are saying, he takes direction very well and you can see his little brain working behind those bright blue eyes.  This kid is smart.  We are the unlucky ones that are unable to hear what's on his mind.

Despite some downplaying by others of my worries, I decided to call the early intervention program in Georgia, called Babies Can't Wait , and asked for an evaluation.  They have an initial evaluation done using parents and/or caregiver observations of milestones and then they have an hour or so long evaluation done by a group of professionals, usually a Speech Language Professional and an Occupational Therapist. They came to the house, where he would be more comfortable and "played" with him while observing where he fell into a range of milestones.  He scored high in all areas except communication, more specifically, expressive communication.  They recommended a speech therapist and some occupational therapy because it was suspected that he had "low tone" in his oral motor movements.

It has been a little over a month of weekly sessions and Austin is working really hard.  The ongoing diagnosis is Apraxia of Speech at this point.  It is not a delay of speech but more of the brain's inability to orchestrate the finite series of movements that allow us to form words.  He is back to saying "shoes" again, which I just think is hilarious and is saying "da", whether that is for dogs or his Daddy.....probably both.  He also says "ire" for tire (yet another obsession). 

Although I had known something was wrong for quite some time and was leading the charge to have him evaluated, I have to admit that it has taken me over a month of going through the lessons with him to really understand how serious this is.  We recently experienced an entire week of complete frustration for him, hence ours, where he could not express to us what he wanted and would have complete breakdowns all day.  If he wasn't crying already, he was on the verge of tears all day and we were just completely defeated. We are now increasing the family's sign language repertoire so that he can express his needs and wants better.  It has been recommended to use picture books as well, so we may be creating a total package of communication tools.  

Anything to help the little guy finally tell us what is behind that sly smile......

Austin is 1.5 years old!

Boy it has been a hot last few months.  We are surviving by keeping to the indoors in the afternoons and getting every activity we can done before 11:00 am! 

Our little man has turned 18 months!  This age is so neat.  He is adventurous,  curious, inquisitive, and passionate!  Seeing the world through his eyes certainly gives you a whole new view.  We are having a lot of fun!

Easter time!

Easter egg gathering with Liann

Coloring eggs at East West Farm

Visiting the bunnies at EW Farm

Austin experienced a couple Easter egg hunts this year.  The first one was at Aunt Sarah and Uncle Colin's house.  Liann and Austin went right to work picking up eggs.  Then came, the "crushing" of the plastic eggs.....

The other hunt was at local farm.  We were able to visit the rabbits, cows, and chickens as well as color eggs and then find them in the field.  Austin enjoyed the trumping through the grass and thank God it was still cool outside! 

Grandma and Grandpa Holdridge visit!

My Mom and Dad came across the country on their way to visit Florida in search for a possible new place to live.  They stayed in Atlanta for a few days and Austin got to know them again.  They brought their dog with them and Austin was just enamored with her.

 

Dad pulls out the guitar!

Assisting Mom with the sauce!

Pool time!

Chillin' in my swing!

A day at the Georgia Aquarium!

The three amigo's!

Maggie (Mom's) and my little fireman

Austin is about 32 lbs and 33 inches.  He starting to grow out of his 2T clothes.  Yep, still 6 months ahead, no slowing down on the growth chart.

He loves watermelon....LOVES it.  Well, pretty much any fruit.  I call him our fruititarian.  He is starting to get picky about what he eats, but thank God for his love of carrots, with or without hummus....otherwise veggies would be a real issue.  Time to start "hiding" them.  Can you say, zucchini bread and squash pancakes???