Little Casanova

When the boys arrived, our youngest was several months shy of his 4th birthday and way behind developmentally. Brandon spoke only a few words, was in diapers, and resisted eating solid food, instead existing for the most part on Pediasure. He was not affectionate and was very detached, treating us like we were there only to serve him and not listening to us at all. He acted as though it didn't matter where he was or who he was with, he just didn't care.

We began to address his speech deficits by requiring him to ask for certain things using a full sentence such as "may I have some milk, please?" He was very stubborn but we didn't give in and eventually he got with the program. We got him into speech therapy through the school district, placed him in a private pre-school, and enrolled him in the Kumon reading program. He's very smart, quickly picking things up and 16 months later he's a chatterbox with a growing vocabulary. His pre-school teacher cannot believe how far he's come, and we're pretty amazed as well.

With AH's great cooking and a lot of coaxing (and patience) we have conquered the solid food issue, even finding that Brandon tends to like spicy food. He wasn't on the growth charts when we got him, but he's now at 33% for his age group in both height and weight.

Potty training was something we waited to attempt until we'd established some trust, but when we did start in earnest it lasted only three weeks and boom! he was done! No accidents, no periods of regression, just done. He'll occasionally wet the bed, but it's usually due to getting liquids too late.

To address the attachment issues, I got us into a program called PCIT, or Parent Child Interactive Therapy. The program was very structured so even though a lot of it was stuff that AH and I practiced at home already, we had to go through all of the steps. In the end it proved very worthwhile and after six months of weekly sessions, we now have our charming, cuddly little love bug.

The discipline aspect has been more of a challenge. Brandon uses his charms to try to wiggle his way out of doing something, or to try to avoid being in trouble. We don't buy into his cute little act, but no matter how much we stress certain rules or how many times he's been in trouble for breaking them, nothing seems to deter him, yet. We have made progress in a number of areas, but we still have a long way to go with him.

Brandon is an absolute charmer, and just about everyone we encounter tells us how cute he is. He's a happy boy, very carefree and energetic with a huge, winning smile, We think he's pretty cute too, but not as cute as HE thinks he is! It's amazing to watch him work a room, and he's a TOTAL ladies' man! We're going to have to keep a close eye on our little Casanova, 'cause he's going to be T R O U B L E!