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Up Side Down Baby

"So how was it?" asked my nurse midwife. She had done almost all of my prenatal care but had retired from birthing and let the rest of the team take over in the hospital. "Ok," I replied, "but I had crazy back labor because he came "OP."" "Mmhmm," she said smiling but her face changed to surprise when she continued reading my chart. "Oh! He actually presented OP! Usually they flip around right at the end and birth normally..." At the time I chuckled like a proud mother and said to myself, "yep, my son is special." I had no idea how true that sentiment would turn out to be. Birthing OP means two things. First, instead of facing down toward your spine the child faces toward your belly button. Secondly, it means presenting the forehead and the widest part of the head to birth instead of presenting the narrow crown. For me, well, I'm lucky that he was three weeks premature so his head was smaller than it could have b
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Introduction

It has been four years since I had my first baby. Like many parents I have watched with delight as my son, let's call him "Twinkletoes," has grown. Along the way I have let my intuition be my guide because, after all, there is no handbook that comes with the birth certificate. I embraced his quirks and I encouraged him to develop his interests. But I had a hard time identifying his weaknesses and knowing what to do about it. I chalked up any developmental delays to the zig zag nature of human development. Now that precious baby is a preschooler and he has been identified as "Twice Exceptional" - he is autistic and he is gifted. The last two years I have spent too much time wondering about ADHD, Sensory Integration, and Autism. Indeed, all the checklists that pop up look like characteristics of toddlers and preschoolers. It is only through the eyes of professionals that I have been able to reflect and see that the quirks Twinkletoes exhibited when he was very v
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Flapping and Jumping

I keep remembering a conversation I had with Mikey's patrician when he was due to clap: "Can he clap?" Asked Mikey's pediatrician. "Well, he flaps his arms together but it seems like he can't be bothered to finish bringing them together to perform the clap." I replied. Now I realize that  my  insight was correct in two ways. First, Mikey doesn't imitate things like pointing, clapping, or daily hygiene. So indeed, he wasn't really clapping. Secondly, he only does something if it is important to him. The act of clapping hasn't ever been an important way for him to communicate. Instead, he chose to flap his arms when he was excited or happy. These days he still flaps his arms when he is happy or excited. He also jumps up and down in that adorable preschool way. But that way of expressing himself isn't reserved for happy feelings. He also flaps his arms when he is angry or stressed...adding to it a revving noise like a saw blade.  We used to
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