Katie 'Jordan' Price Andre and Harvey in OK!
In honor of Britain’s Mother’s Day, which was Sunday, March 2nd, glamour model and author Katie ‘Jordan’ Price Andre, 29, and her son Harvey Daniel, 5 ½, posed for a photoshoot with OK! UK. In addition, Katie did an interview discussing Harvey’s septo-optic dysplasia and multiple pituitary hormone deficiency, which causes him to have a hormone imbalance, be on theautistic spectrum, and also sight impaired. Along with raising Harvey, Katie and husband Peter André are also parents to Junior Savva, 2 ½, and Princess Tiáamii, 8 months.
Click below for interview highlights.
How Harvey is doing right now:
Heis a nightmare at the moment. His behavior is terrible. Me and afriend went into town the other day with the three kids and Harvey wasfine until he got to the car park. As soon as I opened the boot [trunk] of thecar that was it. It triggered him off.
I tried to get him out of hiswheelchair, he threw himself on the floor and it was that bad that awoman asked if we wanted help. I said: ‘No, we’re alright, thanks.’There were me and my friend trying to lift an eight stone child, whowas flipping like a fish, into the car.
On his tantrums:
I think they’re getting worse because he’s bigger and stronger now.Sometimes I have to hold his legs down to put his shoes on.
I take him out on his own all the time. [If he has a tantrum,] I just have to wait ages until he calms down. Italways happens in public. I don’t really look at anyone else — I don’treally care. If they’re standing there staring I’ll say: ‘What are youstaring at? He’s not an animal in a cage."
On what triggers the tantrums:
Ifwe’re leaving a shop then it’s fine. It’s only if we stop to go to thecar park. He’s normally fine though, he loves flicking things — as longas he’s got a coat hanger or anything to flick he’s alright.
On his check-ups:
Hesees doctors, social workers, occupational therapists, health visitors– all sorts of specialists check up on him all the time. It’s like anMOT every week where he has all sorts of different tests — eyes, blood,reflexes, medication levels, hormones, everything. And he’ll stay inhospital overnight every few months for tests as well.
On the biggest concern:
His behavior — it’s to do with his septo-optic dysplasia and all kids withit have behavioral problems, but each kid is different. The doctors sayhe might grow out of it, we’ll have to wait and see. It’s just the way he is — it’s part of his condition.
He has a tent inthe kitchen where he goes and calms down because that’s what he has atschool as well. And I’m not the type who will give him a smack — thebest thing is to stay calm.
On his weight:
[Right now, he weighs the] sameas me — eight stone [112 lbs]. His weight’s not an issue at the moment becausehe’s also quite tall. Specialists reckon he’s going to be about 6 ft 8in when he’s fully grown. He will grow in to his weight. His weightdoesn’t have anything to do with it anyway — it’s to do with histhyroid and his medication. He doesn’t actually eat much.
On what Harvey eats:
Forbreakfast he has two slices of toast with butter and marmite. At schoolhe has something breaded and maybe some peas. When he’s home he’ll havesomething else that’s breaded and we’ve tried to introduce vegetables.He’s been eating sausages and mashed potatoes as well recently. We getfish cakes with vegetables in or fish fingers and he’ll eat those if wecut them up in to small bits so it looks like chicken nuggets. We tryto give him peas and sweet corn, but he’ll pick it all off and eat therest or he’ll just throw it across the room.
Wejust keep trying. It was over a year ago we managed to get him to starteating raisins. I think it just depends on his mood. When you give himsomething new he will put it in to his mouth and sometimes, he’ll justeat it and sometimes he’ll screw his face up and spit it out. He wentthrough a phase of liking bananas as well but he doesn’t like themanymore.
We’re always trying to teach him different things and get himto try different foods. We say to the nannies: ‘Please challenge him,keep trying different stuff.’ The school are always trying as well.
On the types of exercise he gets:
Atschool he’ll go horse riding and swimming. He loves swimming but hedoesn’t really need an exercise regime because he’s a kid and he’s upand about, playing. He plays on the swings and slide with Junior, we gofor walks in the grounds, he likes going on the trampoline and he’sobsessed with the treadmill in our lounge! He presses the button andslides back slowly, then likes to catch up.
On what makes Harvey happy:
Heloves praise. If he reads his book and knows all the animals he lovesthat, and he loves when you say, "Well done" for it. If you acknowledgeand understand what he’s saying that makes him happy. He likes gettingin my black car and watching Barney or listening to soul. Ifthere’s any other music he hates it.
He likes looking out of the windowand saying the colors of the cars that are going past — or he will say’Rosie-fence’ when he sees a fence because he associates fences withhis horse Rosie. He loves playing games on his touch screen computerbecause when he does something right, it says: ‘Very good!’ He’s alsogot a little touch screen computer we take on holiday with us as well.
He also loves cold water — he’s absolutely obsessed with it. I run hima bath and then he fills up a bowl with freezing-cold water and lovesto pour it all over himself. He shakes and really laughs and blinks hiseyes. Then he says: ‘More, more!’ He loves being tickled as well. He’salways saying ‘tickle back’ or tickle head.’
On what makes him upset:
People– a lot of people around him or a lot of noise around him. Loud bangs,doors closing, being in unfamiliar places — he hates his routine beingchanged. He knows that Mark the driver arrives with my mum in themorning in a silver car to take him to school — they open the backdoor, then one front door, then the other one and if that routinechanges you’re screwed because he flips himself on the floor and won’tget up for ages.
Sometimes he’ll kick off a few times a day and thenother times you’ll say: "Do you want to watch Barney?" and he’ll justget up and say yes. Sticking to a routine is another part of hiscondition and he goes nuts if it’s changed.
On Harvey’s schooling:
There’sa book that comes back to us every day from his school. The teacherswrite in it about what he’s been like — what he’s had to eat and drink,what he’s done, how many times he’s been to the toilet, anythingdifferent or special that’s happened that day.
I think he knows more colors andshapes than me! He knows the difference between a pentagon, hexagon andan octagon and I wouldn’t know that!
On what he’s like with other children and adults:
He’snot sociable — he recognizes the four kids in his class and rememberstheir names, but he doesn’t interact much with them. He’s fascinated withkids that are a little bit taller than him though – he won’t leave themalone. He wants to go up and squeeze and cuddle them and gets reallyexcited but then he pushes them away. It’s like he doesn’t know
what todo because he’s so excited and so he ends up shoving them away becausehe can’t handle it.
Heactually loves pushing people on the ground and bouncing on them at themoment! He does that with me all the time and also does it to my dad.The more agony you pretend to be in, the more he does it. He also grabsmy dad’s ears and shakes his head.
How Harvey is with Junior and Princess:
He’snot that fussed with Princess — he calls her baby sister and is notthat bothered with her — and Junior he sometimes has time for andsometimes he doesn’t. Junior and Princess get on really well together,though.
We still have to watch Harvey all the time so he doesn’t whackthem — you have to watch him with anything breathing! Junior might givehim a piece of biscuit and he’ll say: ‘Thank you Junior, now clap,’and Junior has to clap — Junior knows the routine.
Junior stays out ofhis way, though. He loves his big brother to bits, but he knows not togo too near most of the time.
On what Katie enjoys about being a mother:
Everything.I can’t wait to have more kids. I want to wait until Princess is atnursery, though, so we can enjoy the three we have now. Although we’vejust got a new seven seater, so that’s an excuse to have more!
Source: OK! Magazine, Issue 612, March 4th, p. 42-61.
Thanks to CBB reader Carlie.
