February 2019

February has mostly been a month of waiting for us, as we expected to close on the purchase of a home and begin the process of moving at some point during the month. That will have to happen in March. For now, here is more on that and other news from this month.

Even Closer to Closing (Rob)

The slow process of paperwork that comes with home buying continued all the way through February for us. Fortunately, the people we are renting from have been flexible in allowing us to overstay our lease while we waited. But, at long last, we finally got the closing date of March 5. So if all goes well, we'll be moved into our new residence by mid-March. I have some vacation time that I plan to use for the move, which will hopefully mitigate some of the stress that comes with that process. In the short time we've been married, this will be our third move -- so it will be nice to just be able to settle down in our new home for the forseeable future.

Diagnosis (Rob)

Alex is a healthy and typical toddler in most ways - at least, as far as any toddler can be considered "typical" in their parents' eyes. However, during his second year it became clear that his interest in communication just wasn't there. While he can be quite the babbler, capable of an array of vocalizations, he rarely seems to have any desire to use any of the words that he can say in any predictable way (such as car, go, mama or dada). He doesn't really respond to commands either. In essence, he is fairly content, maybe a little too content, to live in his little bubble where he speaks his own little language of Alex babble. When he wants something, he will sometimes take my finger (or Becky's finger) and pull me toward it, but he hasn't figured out how to ask for anything with his words. Of course, all of this is familiar to Becky because of her professional experience in helping kids with speech delays. 

We felt that it would be important to have him evaluated, and pursued that option through the Institute for Child Development at Binghamton University. Mostly because of his speech delay, and partially because of other behaviors such as lack of eye contact or social awareness, they gave him the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Although this can be a hard thing for parents to learn, it wasn't totally unexpected for us and we see it as just a classification of behaviors we are already aware of.  Alex does not display self-stimulatory behaviors (an indicator of ASD), but his lack of communication qualified him to receive treatment under the ASD diagnosis.  It changes nothing about who Alex is, of course, but it does affect his eligibility for the specialized  early intervention programs that are offered through the Institute for Child Development. Beginning in March, Alex will be getting 15 hours/week of Applied Behavior Analysis-based therapies which  are similar to what Becky has already started doing at home. It might make a difference for Alex to receive those therapies from someone besides (or in addition to) his mom in a social environment with lots of additional resources where a couple other kids are also in therapy. This program will also enable him to gradually transition into a pre-K program at the university (which is otherwise very difficult to get into) when he is ready.  Alex's therapy may also be a good opportunity for Becky to learn about how the Institute for Child Development functions, as she might be a good match for working there someday when she is able to go to work full-time.  

Valentines (Rob)

Our only plans on Vaentine's Day were to go to Chipotle as a family, which is a treat for us. I've learned from experience that going out to any other kind of sit-down restaurant on Valentine's Day is a bad idea unless you have a reservation. Heck, going to a sit-down restaurant on any day with a toddler is usually a bad idea. But we did get a babysitter and go to Olive Garden a few days later to make use of a gift card we had (thanks Mom and Dad).

For more photos and videos from February, go to the album here.