Weekend Leftovers (or I Never Get This Done on Friday Leftovers)

Thank you for all of your kind words. Truly. I read and reread them to help me gain my foothold on my expectations for Jack and remind me that what I was thinking before the appointment is not out of the "norm" for a fifteen month old.

To be honest, although it is mildly inconvenient that Jack doesn't yet walk, I have never really been all that worried about him mastering this milestone. I have a lot of experience with what is needed before walking happens. Let's face it, this has been my life for the last three plus years. Jack's approach to moving his body is vastly different than his brothers. I am not concerned that he will never walk. I am fairly certain that he will walk within the next month or so if it takes that long.

I told that to the pediatrician.

And if you think about it, why would he start to walk? He adores his two older brothers who both crawl around the house (without their walkers, which we just got this week, so yeah)...just like him. Why would it occur to him to want to do something other than what they are doing? It makes perfect sense that he'd take a little longer to walk with older crawlers as role models, especially when he has all the precursors but hasn't taken the plunge.

When it comes to the talking, he has two words (possibly a third that I didn't count because it isn't a consistent thing) and two signs. The ped did not count the signs as words, which... I don't know, but it seems like she SHOULD count that he signs. The screen said "says more than two words" so that's what was counted. Besides, the big boys talk like fifty hours a day. No one else gets a chance to say anything unless it is to answer one of their never ending questions. Again, he "talks" just not in a lot of recognizeable words. He "answers" me when I ask him questions. He "argues" at me when I tell him no. That seems pretty typical to me.

Maybe the pediatrician is being proactive. Maybe she thinks I want to be proactive. (I don't. I want to let him be who he is going to be without the pressure of constant scrutiny by people who are out to "help" him.) But damn if it isn't defeating when you think your kid is doing okay and a professional tells you that he is not because of some arbitrary sixteen month thresholds of "normal."

Yeah. The screen was for 16 months.

Even if I do think that this screen isn't an accurate description of Jack's abilities, it is crappy to hear someone--anyone--say something negative about my kid. (And I also have issues with them not releasing the questions for these stupid screens BEFORE they are expected to know skills so parents can work on all of this "expected" shit. Ugh.)

All of that is to say that I am off the edge and full of fight and fuck you indifference toward yet another medical professional. I just keep ticking them off of my list. That can't be good...

Sigh.

~~~

Me? Sensitive much?

Maybe.

I don't care, though.

~~~

Other highs and lows from the week: (I do have to say the week was a good week filled with mostly Highs!)

• My mom made it back from her trip this week. I missed her, and I'm glad she is home safe and sound. High!
• The boys had a fabulous 4th of July. It was so much fun to have them really enjoy the fireworks and festivities this year. In the past, it was just too much for them and wasn't very fun. High!
• We are having a lot of fun doing things from our Summer Bucket List. Next up is going out for breakfast tomorrow. We've never been out for breakfast before. High! (I hope.)
• Jack's appointment, which I thought was going to be a high but ended up as a low. Low.
• The weather has been beautiful here. While so many people are dealing with horrible triple digits, we've had nice, mellow days in the low 70's. Tomorrow is predicted at 72. Ahhh... High!

Check out Danifred's for more Leftovers.