Testing, testing, testing...

Allan had his final Bayley assessment today. This is a test that they give to assess how he is developing physically, cognitively and socially/emotionally.

You may recall that this is the same test that Allan decided to fall asleep during back in January of 2007. It should probably go without saying that his scores weren't that high on that round.

Big Al kicked a** and took names today, though. He is behind on his speech and motor development (we didn't really need a test to tell us that), but he scored "average" in cognition and social/emotional development. The woman giving the test was the same one who has tested him every time and she couldn't have been more thrilled.

So how do you know what Allan knows? Well, they have a series of tests -- give him a puzzle with three shapes and see if he puts them in the right place, and, if so, how long it takes him. Take the pieces out, turn the puzzle around and see if he can do it again (Allan, being Allan, didn't like this part and kept trying to turn the puzzle around the 'right' way). Next there is a bigger puzzle with nine spots -- 5 blue squares and 4 blue circles. See if he can put them in the right slots and how quickly he can do it (Allan, being Allan, got 6 of them and then decided that he would rather collect all the blue circles in a stack). Next he had to stack blocks (this one I remembered and had been practicing with him for). Of course, the blocks they gave him were smaller and slipperier than ours so he didn't get as many as he can at home (only 4 as opposed to 6) but he did it once with his left hand, once with his right and one time used both hands which was something I hadn't seen him do before. Part of the test had to do with showing him puzzle pieces (only two) and demonstrating how to put them together to make a ball. He couldn't quite get it, but, in fairness, the table was rather slick. He also had to pick up Cheerios and put 10 of them in a bottle (one after the other) in a certain amount of time. And then put pennies in a piggy bank (a little unfair because it was hard for him to pick them up. He did demonstrate his dogged determinedness, though, by refusing to give up and chasing the coins all over the table until he succeeded.) He liked the part of the test that involved putting a rubber duck on a spoon handle, hitting the bowl of it and flipping the duck through the air. You could almost see the thought flash through his mind "FINALLY. Finally, they show me something that makes this all worthwhile!" He wasn't able to duplicate the trick, but he was giving it all he had. Griff takes the test next week and I'm pretty sure he'll nail it in one. Although I am pretty sure that we don't really want them learning how to catapault things off of a spoon, regardless of the fact that it will help them pass the test.

The tester also noted that Allan is very expressive ---- then went on to say that he has a wide variety of expressions for irritation. Yes, yes, he does. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree on that one.

Part of the test involved interviewing me and I had such a hard time with it. Does Allan understand household rules? Hmmm, hard to say. Pick up your clothes? No. Don't hit your brother? Yes. Does he comply? Not always. Hard to fit that kind of answer in to "always", "sometimes" or "never." Can we make this an essay question? I do much better with those.
Does Allan use soap when he washes his hands? No, but, then again, based on what I have witnessed in public washrooms, that makes him no worse than lots of other people. Oh, yeah, and there is the part where He.Can't.Reach.the.Sink. Much less turn on the faucets and get the soap. But we'll put that on a list to follow up on.

All in all, though, we are delighted with how well he is doing. And we are looking forward to seeing how Griff does next week. It is hard for me not to want to go home and practice with him, but that would be a little unfair to Allan, I suppose. We'll see how Griff does based on his own native cunning....

LLama Llama Mad at Mama

Grandma and Grampy arrived yesterday and have already been put to good use at bedtime.

Still trying to get all caught up....

Grampy and Grandma arrive tomorrow so we have been busy as bees at our house. Tidying has not been made easier by the fact that Allan was sick from Sunday night until, well, he's still sick, although getting better. He had an ear infection, a cold and a stomach virus. And when I got home Friday, Griff was running a temperature. Great. Fortunately, Griff just seems to have a cold with a cough, runny nose and a fever. No strep. No ear infection. It is bad enough trying to dose him with ibuprofen -- the thought of giving him an antibiotice two times a day for ten days makes me tired.

Saturday night started off very well. Many thanks to Hannah and Tyler for lending a hand (even if they did criticize my choice of bedtime stories!). The boys went down fairly easily. I blogged and then went to sleep. Allan was up by 11 or so, sqawking. Got him in bed with me only to have Griff wake and decide he needed to be there, too. From there on, it was a free-for-all. Every time I thought I could get Allan back in his bed, he would wake and squawk. Every time I got out of bed, Griff would spread out and finally settle so that I couldn't get back in bed with Allan because I was afraid he would roll off of the edge. And Griff was insistent on being right up next to me. His temperature went up to nearly 103 and so I had to get Jay up to help me hold him down and redose (or, more accurately, re-douse) him and us with ibuprofen. And so it went all night. bleh.

Allan was finally able to hold down food yesterday and is clearly feeling better. Griff isn't quite himself, but isn't miserable, either. The doctor says he just has a virus and will have to get over it. Thanks. That's very helpful.

Jay and I worked in the yard yesterday trying to trim and tidy and weed and mow. The boys were excellent. We all went in for lunch and then Ike came calling. It was so windy that we couldn't be outside.

I am now uploading the 400 pictures that were on the camera to Walgreen's so that I can clear the card for lots of photos of the grandparents.

More updates as I can....

Dressing himself

Griff decided to dress himself in Daddy's shorts.

Circus boy

Daddy has taught Griffith a cool new game. He walks up Daddy's back, stands on his shoulders (or head) and then balances on one foot. Very exciting.

I LOVE my brother!

An adoring look from Griff for Big Al.

A friendly little shove from Allan

Big fun with boxes

No to be left out....

Allan cutting in on the Little Piggy action.

This little piggy.....

Swing high (I)

Swing high (II)

Swing low

Extremely skeptical....

All smiles....

learning how to pump to get higher.

Fill 'er up.

Griff pouring sand in to this Rube Goldberg contraption.

A side long glance

Allan in his camo

Deadman's float

Big Al making his own fun in the swing.

Monkey do...

Griff following Allan's lead and doing the deadman's float.

Eating like a big boy.

Griffith has decided that he does not wish to sit in his high chair to eat. He prefers to sit in a regular chair. He also prefers to eat with a real fork.

Sneaking some from Daddy's plate

Someone else's food always tastes better.

The look

That we get whenever things don't go Griff's way.

Checking Daddy's temperature.