As it has been like living in a monsoon region lately, we haven’t been doing very many ’summer’ things. Yesterday, we finally hit the pool after what seems like months. On the fourth of July, as it rained we didn’t get to. However, I had to skim and vacuum the pool out because apparently bugs like the smell of fireworks. I guess. I don’t really know, but the pool was literally covered with a gajillion bugs. Yuck.
Today, there is a predicted high of 87 degrees. Afternoon showers, scattered and widespread. This morning, I’m going to turn Annie and Gracie’s world upside-down and blow off any and all responsibilities until afternoon. We’re going swimming, baby!
We have a ‘meet the doctor’ appointment with a prospective pediatrician on the 14th. At 7:30 in the evening, if you can believe that. I couldn’t. She is in the same practice as Noah’s pediatrician, so I guess you could say she comes highly recommended. Getting their records from Dr. Shergill is not something I’m particularly looking forward to, for some reason. Like I’m betraying the office girls or something. It’s hard to explain. I know, I know. I’m doing what’s best for my girls. It just feels wierd.
There are several reasons we are making the switch to a new doctor. Not only the late to every single appointment. Late last summer, Dr. Shergill bought the practice and since then, he has become very rushed. He never takes the time to listen. Furthermore, he was very nonchalant every time I voiced a concern about specifically Annie’s language skills. And that’s the big one. He never gave me the proper consideration vis-a-vis my concerns in that area. Nobody did, but he’s a friggin doctor, shouldn’t he? Another is that as the girls get older, I personally think they might be more comfortable with a female doctor. Of course, that’s looking down the line a ways. At Gracie’s fifteen month well baby visit, he didn’t do an actual physical. He glanced in her ears, listened to her heart and was out the door. Good thing I didn’t have any questions for him, huh?
I’m not a big worrier about vaccines, but when the doctor says ’she may get the Pox from the vaccine, but I’ve never had a child get them simply from the vaccine’ and the nurse says ‘about one in five children display a few spots within three days’ that says to me that either he’s not paying attention or he just doesn’t give a shit anymore. (No, she didn’t even get a spot. It’s the point of the thing, people.)
I don’t dwell on the whole vaccine-Autism connection because I don’t know enough. There are conflicting stories all over the place. Honestly, with Annie I was bit more concerned about it. Concerned enough to ask about it. Being told essentially maybe, maybe not by my child’s medical provider didn’t do a whole lot to bolster my confidence with my second child. And we did delay some of her vaccines. With Annie, I felt that he was the expert, a theory he fully subscribes to. With Gracie, I feel more confident in my skills. Enough to question his care and his ‘expertise’. And that’s what it boils down to. I’m just not sure we can trust him with our daughter’s health anymore. And that makes me sad.
As Annie is now officially three years old and still only speaking English in respect to proper nouns (and those only the people she lives with and Pappy), I did something controversial. I called the county’s early intervention people. She has been assessed and everything. As of Wednesday, she will begin a three week course of speech therapy. Twice a week for thirty minutes at a time. And come September, she will be in pre-school, where a therapist will come twice a week also. This summer course is to serve two purposes: one, to get her used to the idea and two, give her a jump start on the fall course.
We’re calling it Summer School, if for no reason other than to get Mommy used to the idea that she’ll be in ’school’ in the fall.
Pre-school was arranged before I called EI. I’m just not sure that she gets to play with enough children. She is surrounded by adults all the time. She does love to play with other kids at the parks or whatever, there is just not much opportunity for her. Which is partly my fault, because I don’t necessarily carve out time to take them to the parks. See also: monsoon region. Not to mention, that when other kids talk to her, she just looks at them like they’re little green men from Mars, never answering. Never really interacting outside of pointing and playing.
As her parents, we feel that this will be a good thing for her.
And it’s not like real school with the schedules and homework and crap. It’s really more of a supervised playing thing, at this age anyway.
I tried very hard to convince myself that she was comprehending everything we said to her, that she just didn’t need to speak for herself. Unfortunately, that is not the case. She is comprehending at about a two-and-a-half year old level. Which is acceptable to me. However, she is communicating at only an eighteen month old level. There is nothing physically blocking her speech, which was good news.
As I said, I tried to be all ’she’ll talk when she’s ready’ about this. It wasn’t working anymore. Baby girl needs to use her words, not her grunts.
But today. Today, I’m not thinking about anything she can’t do. Or anything she won’t do. Today, I’m only thinking about the fun we’ll have outside in the sunshine. Even as I’m photographing the event, I’ll be trying to sear the day onto my brain. The last day where she’s just my little baby, not a kid in school. Even if it’s only ’summer school’.
