Past Memories - Beckett @ 7 months old

I realize that this is a long video, but we wanted to capture Beckett's behavior, facial expressions, motor movements and over all reaction to certain stimuli (the vacuum).  Please ignore the last couple minutes, my husband seemed to get creative and video me vacuuming the curtains...SMH!  LOL!  At this point in time Beckett could not sit up, crawl, had very uncoordinated movements, was very sensitive to sounds. As you can see in the video he suffered many months with acid reflux.  I knew at 4 months that something was wrong when he could not hold his head up, grasp toys, or sit up on his own.  He screamed during bath time.  We could bot figure out if it was the water temperature, being naked, or the feeling of the water itself.   He was a very happy baby for the most part.  As you can see his twin sister was functioning at normal age and hitting all her milestones.  I believe that Beckett being with his twin helped model behavior and help his imitation of play.  About 6 weeks after this video was made we had put him in physical therapy.

The video below is the first year Beckett was in the Early Childhood program in our public schools.  This is one of the moments I treasured and knew that he had an idea how to comprehend some things.  I was so excited.  He was 3 1/2 in this video.



New Year - New Goals

It's been two weeks since Beckett's epilepsy diagnosis.  He seems to be doing well on his medication.  We started with 2.5ml of the Zonisamide liquid and we upped his dose to 5ml last night.  He looks to be more aware of his surroundings and not so confused.  He has been making more sounds and communicating much better.  He actually sits and watches cartoons much longer than he ever has.  I have always thought that the flashing, flickering lights from the TV caused him to be distracted and triggered some of his epileptic disturbances.  It's like a new world has been opened up for him. He seems more aware and his receptive speech has increased substantially.  The unfortunate thing is I think this has triggered his terrible 3's again.  His "awareness" has made him a little more independent, resulting in the attitude of I want what I want...NOW!"  For example, every time we get in the car and start to go somewhere, if it's not where he wants to go he throws a wall-eyed fit!  I'm not really sure how to pacify him at this point, but like everything else; trail and error.  One thing I have noticed with him on the medicine, is he loves to sing.  He can hum a tune almost exactly at the same pitch as the song.  He knows what comes next in the song.  I wish he could talk.  Sometimes I think he is not as slow cognitively as once thought.  He just has no way to communicates what he thinks or wants.  He is making slow progress.  I try not to worry about the future, but it is always in the back of my head how he will be when he gets to be in his teens and adulthood.

Playing at the Park on the BIG slide!

My goals this year are to try and find a way to get him the therapy he needs, start a foundation, and find a job that is more flexible and to get my thoughts and worries under control.  I never imagined how hard this life can be.  A lot of my frustration and worries come from the feeling of not getting the support we sometimes need from people.  This can be a very lonely journey.  Most people just go about their daily lives and don't give a second thought about how they can help.  Sometimes by help, I mean just watching the kids for a night a month so that my husband and I can spend sometime together.  People don't know how it really is unless they live it.  Sad part is, most don't want to know, so they just avoid it and exclude themselves from the equation all together.  So I try and let it go and continue to chug on.  That's all I can do, sometimes that's all there is to do.  I do pray God's blessing on my family.  I know he will come through as always, even though I have to admit I get angry at times because He doesn't move as fast as I would like.  But all in time, right?  I am thankful for the strength He gives, because some days I really don't know how I get through them. 

Hiking along Cypress Creek