MIA Updates

I've been MIA again. Things got busy, I got lazy, etc.

However, there are several new things in life that got me promising myself to start writing again on a regular basis: I've gone ahead and pursued opportunities to help my son with some of his "issues." Specifically, getting an IEP for him. This school year will be his last before he starts Kindergarten next fall, and in the end, my desire to help him succeed in "big kids school" trumps my reservations about getting "special ed" services for my child.

So this week and next, while his preschool is closed for a brief end-of-summer break, we get to tackle several tests and evaluations. This week he'll have Language and Psych assessments, an Audio/Visual one next week, followed by the first IEP meeting the following week.

Speech & Language is nothing new for us. He received services through Regional Center right before he turned two years old for speech delay. He should have continued, but we moved, and I never got around to looking up services in our new district. Shortly after he turned four, I finally got him re-evaluated and regular appointments with a speech therapist. More about this from an earlier post here.

I wrote in that post that I would continue to do what I can to help him work out his issues. In addition to S&L, one other thing that has come up—at home, in school, during speech, at playdates, etc—is that he has trouble coping in situations where "rules" he has in his mind aren't being followed. This could be anything from how the kids are lined up at school for hand-washing, or that his father left for work without eating breakfast first, or that he witnesses a stranger crossing the street while the DON'T WALK sign was flashing. I find it almost amusing since he doesn't always follow rules himself; but if it's other people breaking them, then it's a catastrophe! From speaking with his preschool teachers and his speech therapist, I was introduced with the idea of social skills groups. I thought it was a great idea and began looking around for groups in our area.

At the same time, I was encouraged again to contact our local school district to ask about preschool services—they could offer the exact services my son needs, from speech to occupational therapy. The thing is, these services are through Los Angeles Unified School District's Division of Special Education. As I wrote earlier, I just had my own (silly, cowardly) hangups about such labels. I wish my reasons for putting it off were more grand, but honestly, 1) I thought going through the district would be a bureaucratic clusterf*ck, and 2) I just didn't want my son to be negatively judged if he does, in fact, have learning disabilities. I was afraid that people would think him weird or worse—simply because he's developing a little differently than other "normal" kids his age. In the end, those who would think that about my bright, happy, and friendly little guy could, to put it bluntly, go eff themselves. The ones who would not think any less of him and continue to support us are the ones that matter.

So here we go. Today was actually his S&L assessment. I'll write another post with details, but so far, I've been pleasantly surprised at how well LAUSD has been working with us. My fingers are crossed.

Laser Lights: Part Two

It's now been just over a week since I went in for my first laser hair removal treatment for my underarms. I'm glad I waited before writing any follow-ups because up until yesterday, I was ready to say that my results were FAR less effective than from what I've seen and heard.

The place I decided to go with was Beauty Park Medical Spa in Santa Monica. I tried to look for a deal from Groupon of Living Social, but I was a little wary of the places that offered them, since there weren't many that got good reviews on Yelp. Beauty Park is located not too far from me, they currently have a four-star rating on Yelp, but the biggest draw for me was that on their web site, they mention that use an Alma Soprano Laser. I've heard it is supposed to be painless.

The Alma Soprano XLi Laser

So I went in for my treatment on Friday morning. I ran a couple of minutes late because I wasn't sure where to park (before deciding on metered street parking on Montana, half a block away). As I walked in, I apologized for running late, and I was glad to still be greeted with a smile from the young woman at the reception desk. (Am I too jaded because I expect to be hissed at whenever I'm late for appointments?)

After a bit of paperwork, she brought me back to a room just behind reception and told me that my technician would be with me shortly. The room was small but comfortable, hardly clinical, with a curtain to "close" it off from the hallway. Right next to the bed/table was the black Alma Soprano XLi laser. (Yes!)

After a few minutes, a gal in a white lab coat came in and introduced herself as Kristen. (Or was it Kristin? Kirsten?? I can never tell anymore.) She closed the curtain and asked me if I've ever had hair removal services before. I told her I've gotten waxed before, but I've never had anything done for my underarms. She assured me that the procedure is virtually painless, and that if I've ever experienced waxing before, this is nothing to be afraid of.

I hopped up on the bed and was given a pair of protective glasses.  Kristen generously dolloped on some type of cooling gel on my skin and then started to rub the laser wand back and forth (and all around) the area. For me, yes, I would consider it painless. However, I wouldn't consider saying that I felt nothing at all. I definitely felt something; more like tiny, mild electrical shocks under my skin—rather than snapping rubber bands as some have described it. It was more than bearable, and for what it's worth, I was actually more preoccupied with trying not to laugh because it tickled a little.

Kristen spent a couple of minutes working on each side, so I was in and out of the place in around 30 minutes. They offer package deals where you get 15% off if you buy at least three sessions, so I went ahead and bought three. (From my research, I would probably need at least that many sessions, and if I end up needing more, I can always buy in threes.)

The outcome? So during the first eight days after my treatment, it felt (and looked) like I had a five o'clock shadow on my underarms, and I couldn't get rid of it! I'd shave, and it barely made a dent. I thought to myself, "This is worse than before!" Sometime around day four or five, I was so annoyed that I actually went ahead and tried to pluck a hair out. I had to know whether the follicle was actually destroyed or not; if the hair pulled out easily, then YEAH! If not, then, F*CK!

Thankfully, the few hairs I sampled did pull out easily. (Whew!) Ever since then, I made sure to exfoliate the skin while in the shower, then hoped all the dead hairs would just fall out soon. Yesterday, the ninth day, was the first time I noticed the absence of the stubborn stubble after my shower. And lo and behold, today the skin is just as hair-free as yesterday! I was quite giddy to notice this, since normally the hair is already very noticeable after 24 hours.

Thus far, I am a very satisfied customer, both of the procedure and Beauty Park. I've got my second underarm session already booked, and I'm considering starting my legs or bikini. Kristen joked that it's addicting, and I'm starting to see why!

Laser Lights

While we were away at Coachella last month, a friend of ours treated us to her personal story of laser hair removal. She went into much more detail than I would write on here - we're not shy amongst friends and there was plenty of alcohol involved - but ever since then, I've been almost obsessed with going through the journey myself. After doing a bit of research online, with great thanks to Yelp, I've taken my first step and made an appointment for this Friday.

I'll save the name of the place I'm going to for after the first treatment, when I can dish out how much it hurt (both physically and financially). I'm getting my underarms done first, and if it goes well, I might move on to the bikini area, then perhaps the legs. Even if it's near 80% effective in permanent hair removal (as they say), then I'll be one happy campmer.

Stay tuned!

The Filing Cabinet

A couple of months ago, I finally got my son into another speech therapy program.

Back story: He was in one, briefly, a couple of years ago for a speech delay. I ended up pulling him out because we moved, but since he also started talking non-stop, I thought it was no longer as big issue. Around the time he turned three, even though he talked all the time, it became clear that he had some difficulty enunciating many words; I could easily translate what he was saying, but I guessed that everyone else understood him 50% of the time. Maybe less. Again, I thought he would just "grow out of it," that he'll eventually be able to sound out the letters R and L, etc. It wasn't until I met with his preschool teachers earlier this year that I realized how much his speech issues affected other things, most importantly, his social interactions with other kids. They were concerned that my son had not made any real connections with any of the other kids, even though they have been in the same classroom for several months already. They said that perhaps the biggest hurdle is because the other kids have trouble understanding him; if they try to speak with him and he either can't answer them or answers unintelligibly, then they get frustrated and/disinterested.

While not totally uncommon, they also told me that at this age (4-5), kids generally start to really play with one another. It was very surprising and sobering to hear, since my son is far from being a shy kid; he will talk to complete strangers at the store, and is known for always having a beaming smile on his face. Consequently, I began to notice when I dropped him off in the mornings, there were definite "groups" of kids who generally played together ... and there was my son, who played by himself. It broke my heart. Now, it wasn't like my son sat in a corner and cried - he was happy to play alone, or briefly with the occasional kid who stopped by to check out what he was doing, but as his mother, of course I want him to have friends and be able to have fun with them. I am an introvert, so I fully understand the preference to do things alone, but I was/am afraid that my son's speech difficulties could lead him to be treated as an outcast.

So I finally got off my ass and got him into therapy. Great! But then they made me realize something else. While he definitely needs help with articulation, he also has problems simply communicating. Ask him a question, and he could give you a seemingly random or unrelated answer. Yes, this was something else I knew, but didn't think too much of. That is, until I took into consideration how it affects his interactions with other kids.

The best example they gave me was this: it's as if his mind is like a filing cabinet. Talk to him, and instead of pulling out the right piece of paper, everything just falls out and he picks up the first piece that he thinks makes sense. That is so completely him. Again, I was able to figure him out because most of the time, I knew what he was referencing. But to others? Talk to him about food, and he will blurt out something like, "But the kids won't have good food to eat!" While I could recognize that he's recalling something from the book, "The Little Engine That Could," others would generally be like, "WTF?"

So we're working on it. He has speech therapy twice a week, I take him to as many of his classmates' birthday parties that we get invited to, and he'll be in preschool for five days a week (instead of three) starting in the fall. If it comes up again (his speech therapist mentioned the possibility of him being ADHD), I'll do what I can to help him work it out. My son is a crazy, happy four-year-old - and I think as most parents are wont to do, I'll be damned if he's ostracized or bullied in some way because he has difficulty talking.

OLDchella - Part One

Every year, a group of our friends head out to the California desert to attend Coachella. Many of them go every single year, while my husband and I make it out when we can. Sometimes only my husband goes, while other times we've had to cut the trip short. This year, because the planets aligned just right—and my mom was available to watch my son for five days—we were both able to go and stay the entire time.

The theme this year: OLDchella ... when the average age of festival-goers is almost half as yours!

We drove up on Thursday with a couple of friends who flew in from the Bay Area, arriving at the hotel in the late afternoon. This year we stayed at the Marriott Shadow Ridge, sharing a two-bedroom suite with the couple we drove up with. The suite had plenty of space, and our bedroom had a little patio that overlooked a quiet stream.

Most of our group arrived earlier, so the party was already well underway by the time we got there. (Translation: drink up to catch up.) The group always goes out for a big pre-Coachella dinner on Thursday night; this year our reservation was at 8pm at Cliffhouse Grill & Bar in La Quinta, so I had time to drink a couple of Bloody Marys and a glass of wine before we had to pile into the huge van that would take us to and from the restaurant. I had a glass of Zinfandel with my sugar-spiced salmon, followed by coffee and their ridiculously rich Happy Point S'mores for dessert. Between me and two friends, I don't think we even ate half of it. You know you're old when you've got a massive sweet tooth and can't even finish your dessert.

After dinner, the party continued at the hotel in one our friends' suite, where my arm was twisted (with very little resistance) to have a shot of tequila (meh) and Absolut Whipped Vodka (yum). By that point, the room was definitely spinning. I think I switched to water, but I honestly don't remember much after that second shot.

To be continued. Next up, Coachella Day 1.