back from Cali

We headed to San Diego last week so that Max could have an evaluation from one of the best Speech Therapists in the country ( in my humble opinion )

We've been HUGE fans of Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson ever since we heard her speak at a Down syndrome conference when Max was about 8 months old. We had a speech therapist named Amy Johnson in Los Angeles who studied her Oral Motor techniques and incorporated them in with the rest of what she did. We actually got on the waiting list when Max was just 8 months old because we had heard that Amy was the best in LA. By the time Max was ready for Speech therapy - the therapist was available! Seriously she was THAT busy! We loved how she worked with Max. Max loved her - and she told us as we were moving that Max showed promise of talking very soon. Then we moved...

When we moved to Utah - we searched high and low to find a Speech therapist who incorporates Oral Motor Therapy into the mix. No such luck. It was actually heart breaking to me. Speech is so important - not just that Max can talk, but that he can be understood. We want to give him every opportunity to have articulate speech. Oral Motor Therapy provides the way. I've seen it. I've HEARD it. I am 100% behind it. But - no one does it here in UTAH. So - we found out that we could go to a travel evaluation by someone trained by Sara Rosenfeld Johnson. We picked San Diego so we could see family.
We videotaped the 2 hour session. It was......AWESOME!!!

I will download the entire video and put it on youtube so you can see it for yourself. We plan to see her every 6 months. She is going to send us the evaluation and you better believe I'm having the Speech therapist here in Utah watch the video and read the eval. I think it's the BEST money we've spent on any therapy to date. YES - WE LOVE Michael Workman, Max's PT. But Max doesn't really NEED a PT the way he NEEDS Oral Motor Therapy. I would highly recommend both of these therapists to anyone in search of Speech or PT. However - The Speech was so fine tuned, specific, intuitive, educated, insightful in a way we hadn't seen yet. And that is powerful.

After the session we decided to stay and visit friends in San Diego and Los Angeles and I took GOBS of photos.....ready???

GO:

 San Diego freeway at Sunset....yes I took this while driving....

 Michelle from Mom's Club Eagle Rock.

 Lena and Margaret climbing a tree!

 Lisa and Roan!

 You know who this is? It's Gwen Stefani's older brother Eric. Yes it REALLY REALLY is. He is at the park where I met all of my friends. He lives in Pasadena and he and his dog "especially" are always playing somewhere - like at the Farmers Market or the park. he is a cool cat.

 Juliet!

 Zach!

 Michelle and her adorable kids!

 MAX!!!!!!

 here we are - solid as a rock!

 Double dose of MAX!

 Yep - typical California. Sunny and beautiful.

 Juli! Oh how I miss her. Her son Brady and my Son Max were best friends. At least that was what we had decided.

 Here is Brady, Max and Nadia playing at Club 21 together. Last time I saw Brady he wasn't walking yet - and now he is walking and TALKING! GO BRADY!!

 Bridge

 Happy mama - sleeping baby!

 VALERIE!!!!!!

 you think she's an actress? Maybe?

 Fathia!

 Farmer's Market at the Grove

 WOW a closed mouthed kiss! These are new for him. We love that! SO SWEET.

 Dear Friend Emily at our favorite place for Breakfast Mike and Ann's in South Pasadena. And I found out she is pregnant with Baby #2!

 I loved seeing this train when we lived near Mission Street in South Pasadena.

Our first night back home and Max and I are both sick with Croup! The good news is that Max is sleeping through the night for the first time in over 4 months. He had double ear infections that kept him up a LOT - every night. Now he just kicks me in the face and sleeps and sleeps! Took him to the doctor today and he is on meds for that now. His ears looks good. Knock on wood. And we are awaiting the speech therapy evaluation so we can get started. One thing we've already started is to eliminate the sippy cup. only straws for him. And only the kind they suggest. This ONE change can make a HUGE difference in his motor strength and on where he gets used to putting his tongue. too much info to type now - Must get ready for my parents to arrive tomorrow......

Have a GREAT thanksgiving everyone!

xo
*c