Comprendo?

It was an indoor day for us. The weather got steadily colder as the afternoon wore on. I took Audrey with me to run to Target and to Jewel because Ronin was under the weather and acting really pissed off about something. I put him down for a nap first and then had to get past Nikko crying and throwing a fit as we left. Denis took him to the other room. We were gone for two hours and when we came back both boys were awake and crying in the kitchen. Nikko was howling more so than Ronin. Apparently Nikko took a nap while we were gone and woke up crying 10 minutes before we came back. Oh yeah, something is bothering Ronin other than his cold, but I can't figure it out. He keeps putting his fingers to his mouth; I've checked his teeth and his gums, and see nothing. But the only thing I think it could be is teething. In any case, he's really unbearable right now, and I feel bad because if he's in pain I can't localize it. In one of his fits, he head-butted me in the mouth and gave me cuts on my top and bottom lips. Bloody. OW.

I've been having some communication problems with Nikko lately. We are making progress overall because he is able to sign More Please if he really wants something, and still pulls and pushes me to get me to do something else. I try to give him a choice between things, but not all the time. I should improve in that area. I still feel as if he isn't listening to me. I call his name from five feet away and he acts like he didn't hear me. He understands some things when it's mealtime, but I often have to point to his chair (or haul him back by hooking him under his arms) as well as tell him to go sit down, for whatever reason. He passed his hearing test, so that's not an issue. Is it the information filtering that is the problem, then? I'm sure Gloria would tell me that he has to get his comprehension in order before he can speak. I get that. But what is it going to take to get that comprehension going? I was skimming that Help checklist that Cyndi gave me to see where Nikko started to fall behind. I noticed that it was the skillset around the 12-18 month age group that Nikko is lacking. That's probably where I will have to start, to get him to learn/master those skills. Sounds easy, right? It's totally daunting. I'm not a therapist, which is why I feel daunted. I think this is why (I'm rationalizing this as I'm typing) I need to hurry up and send in both those applications to St. Alexian and to Marianjoy Rehab to see either that behavioral therapist and/or the pediatric psychiatrist. Nikko needs more help and guidance than I am capable of giving him right now, or he needs a professional to help steer us in the right direction. I am truly afraid of what our lives will be like once he turns 3 and all his current therapies stop.