A few notes

Today I mentioned to the director of the nursery school which the twins are signed up for next year that they've gotten their new diagnosis. I was pleasantly surprised how well she took it. She said that they were willing to try and see how things work out. And everyone in the office chimed in with hopeful things they've heard about autism lately (this happens to me a lot these days)

J. and B. have a new game to play together. J. holds the hose, with a sprinkler attachment and waters the grass, and the deck and parts of the house. B. stands in the spray with a huge grin on his face, laughing out loud. J. is thrilled to be able to make B. smile. We aren't sure but we think we heard B say "wawa" for the first time.

G. is in a funny stage where he acts as if he's forgotten most of his signs. But he did use the sign for "mom" (in reference to his large toy duck, not to me, but we're getting closer) and he did kiss me two times in the last two days. He's kissed his toys before, but never me til now. I am going to assume that G. hasn't really forgotten all those other signs, because whenever I freak out about one of these stages, so far they have always passed.

I have GOT to download that browser that will let me load photos. We still have dial-up service which seems to be the internet equivalent of using carrier pigeons or the Pony Express, and the download says it will take three hours. I am going to start it downloading this evening, because I've got some great pictures.

Developmental Pediatrician, etc.

Well, I finally realized why I'd been feeling so negative lately. Our appointments with the dev. ped. were coming up, and I know deep down that we wouldn't hear "mild autism" or "sensory integration problems", which is what Early Intervention said originally.

So we went in to TX Children's Hospital, yesterday and today. B. and G. dealt with it amazingly well. G. was especially excited by all the fish tanks, and Brendan was just happy to run around the waiting room with a big grin on his face. Everyone kept commenting on how calm and happy they were (they were there on different mornings, but we got the same comments). Mom and Dad weren't so calm, but we did okay, considering. We always seem to get along best in real high stakes situations.

The doctor saw G. first. She (the dr.) has a very nice manner, relaxed and encouraging. Even though G. and B. basically couldn't do much of what she presented them with, she still said lots of positive things about them. In the end, though, she said that she believes they both have autism, and fall in the category of mental retardation. They each have their areas of strength, of course, but overall her assessments of them were similar.

She did say that they have lots of potential, and she's impressed with how much expressive language they have already learned. When she was observing G., he kept making his little toy man kiss his toy duck, which I thought was pretty impressive (not to mention very cute).

Her diagnoses weren't a surprise for me, but I still feel like I'm grieving in a way. It's one thing for me to believe they are delayed and autistic, it's another to have a specialist tell me they definitely are. On the other hand, we now have letters of medical necessity, which we hope will force the insurance company to pay for private therapy.

They had to get blood drawn, to check for genetic anomolies. G. was relatively okay with it, except for the actual stick. B. was so mad about being held still that he didn't even react when the needle went in. It took him a long time to settle down. They both fell right to sleep on the ride home.

We are supposed to schedule MRI's, and also speech and OT evaluations. For the MRI's we have to go back to TX Children's, but I'm happy to say we can do the other evaluations and therapy practically in our own neighborhood.

I feel like this post sounds kind of detached and cold, but I'm a bit burned out after the last two days. Telling my parents was the worst part, although by the end of the phone call we were all just talking about what wonderful happy boys they are, and my mom had basically convinced herself the diagnosis is wrong. I don't blame her. It doesn't matter that much what the label is if they are happy.

Thank you to everyone who's posted such encouraging and helpful comments.

Starting out

One or two people have suggested I start a blog, so I'm giving it a shot. The short version of what I'm doing is recording a log of our family's journey through PDD. We have 25 month old twins who have some version of PDD, although they're still undiagnosed. We also have an older son (almost three) who is a fantastic brother, and a real character himself.

The name of the blog comes from the Wiggles' DVD "Hoop Dee Doo Dance Party". We've been watching it a lot lately. It's has a sixties-style psychedelic feel to it, and it sums up my mental state at this point. Nothing is what I expected it to be, so what the hell, let's have a Hoop Dee Doo dance party.

I've been reading other families' autism blogs every night lately. I find it so helpful to see what other people have been through...how they've coped, and the progress their kids have made. And, most importantly, seeing so many bloggers who have held on to their optimism and senses of humor.

Having never blogged, I'm not sure of what level of detail to go into, how personal to get, etc. I think the whole concept of blogs is so cool, I'll just play it by ear and see how it goes.

Our oldest boy is making strange animal-like noises from his room. He's someone who REALLY needs a nap, so I'll ignore it for a little while, since he sounds pretty happy.