Drinking tub water equals barfing in the sink

So last night I gave Sam a tub, and then when Max came back from the Grandparents he jumped in too. It was necessary because Sam literally smelled, and Babysitter Extraordinaire was coming over. Sam had already eaten dinner, and both kids got washed, with soap and shampoo. Sam was sticking tub toys in his mouth, despite my repeated protests, and god knows what nastiness grows in those things. And the soapy tub water with bubbles. So we get out of the tub and everyone has pajamas on and M is getting ready to go out and we are in the kitchen and Sam starts to gag. At first I thought he just got too close to a food he didn't like, because it is not abnormal for him to gag at the sight/smell of our food. Then he seemed like a dog does when it is getting ready to throw-up so I pushed him to the kitchen sink where he threw up a bunch of spaghetti. It mostly went in the sink, which was great, but I don't know if I've mentioned that I don't do vomit, and so I was gagging at the small amount on the floor mat by the sink and the larger amount in the kitchen sink. Fortunately, M saved me and did the clean-up. Sam went and sat wanly on the couch not moving for a few minutes, so I gave him some water and put on a SpongeBob episode (god bless On Demand). Then the doorbell rang and he perked up and ran to greet Babysitter Extraordinaire. By the time we left, he seemed fine, and we made the tub water-vomit connection, so we were pretty sure he wasn't really sick.

So we went out to pick-up the the rug/runner for the hallway, and hit the Apple Store before dinner. We checked out the MacBook for Sam, and I'm pretty sure we are going to get him that as opposed to the iPad. It has a camera and speakers, and can run the software we want to purchase for him. So I think he'll be doing work on the Macbook and using the iPod at home, the only question is whether they want him to use that combo at school. I also got Sam handicap accessible seats for Disney on Ice, so we can sit on the isle in the back row of the loge, but still be in a good viewing spot. That way we can take breaks or make a getaway if we have to, but we won't sacrifice his enjoyment. Not sure who is going yet besides me and Sam, but I got a third ticket.

Sam and L are out going to the movies (The Tooth Fairy, I think) and The Little Person is doing some Sword Play on the Wii. We may go check out more games for the kids before I take The Little Person to a birthday party at Pump It Up. Indian takeout for dinner with whomever is home at the neighbors!

All's Well That Ends Well

Well, the week is over. At least all of the hard/tiring parts. All that's left is to make and eat dinner and put the kids to bed. Then off to the hot tub at my parents house for relaxation with Lovely Neighbor. Four kid related doctor's appointments, two swimming lessons, one dental convention, and several days of getting up at 4am. OVER. Tomorrow I will be the one to get up early, but there is no lunch to make, and no getting kids dressed for school. There will be parenting OTC (On The Couch).

The week was pretty productive. We checked in on The Little Person's pigeon-toed feet and lazy-eye, and Sam will be receiving extra speech therapy and getting some new computer software. He is now up-to-date on his shots. It was hard to hold him down, but afterward he mostly seemed sad and shocked that he got poked. And that IT HURT! I got the nurse to prepare the shots before we came in the room, which ended up being a good thing. They usually take him fairly quickly, which is a nice thought, but then we have to wait for 5-10 minutes in the empty room, which is difficult. Instead, we watched a movie on the new flat screen TV in the waiting room, and when the nurse called us in she was ready to go.

Next week is the big meeting for Sam to discuss his IEP (Individualized Educational Plan). I have some anxiety about preparing for this, but there's only so much I can do. The (autistic) Dr. who spoke at the Dental Convention on Thursday and the meeting with the speech pathologist have re-motivated me to find ways to work with Sam myself, and help him be as successful as possible. I am thinking of ways to better prepare him for events and appointments, and let him know what a day or period of time will consist of, as well as what is expected of him. I need to figure out what I need to make/create to explain things, and what I can use that we already have (PECs, iPod). I feel inspired and optimistic. Not that we can cure him, but that we can figure out ways to give him the best/happiest life possible for him.

Live from the Yankee Dental Congress

It has been an interesting few days. Well, we found Sam's iPod. Our desk has a hole covered by a round piece of metal. It is what you would run cords through so they are less visible. The Little Person is a big fan of this hole, and we have stopped telling him to stop putting things down there. When you put something down the hole, it ends up under the desk. It is the one place we did not look. M happened to ask The Little Person if he knew where the iPod was, and of course he did, because he hid it. Little bastard!

Today I got up early, first to hang out with Sam, and then to attend a course called Success with Autism, given by Stephen Shore, Ed.D at the Yankee Dental Congress. It had to do with how to handle patients, especially children, with autism in a dental office. It was a good talk, and I think my Dad found it really interesting. We purchased a couple of books from Dr. Shore, one called Autism for Dummies, which struck me as funny, and the other his autobiography with a foreword by Temple Grandin, called Beyond the Wall. Dr. Shore himself has autism, and so he speaks from him personal experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome.

Next on the agenda: shots for Sam tomorrow. Wish me luck. Right now he is whining/crying for no reason I can detect.

Day from...well it was a day

I got up at 4am, AND I WAS NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT. I let Sam out too pee twice, and then told him to be quiet 2 or 3 times. Then after trying unsuccessfully to get my spouse wake-up, I unhappily out to the couch. I lasted till 7:15, and when The Little Person was still sleeping, begged for an extra hour of sleep. It was graciously, if not enthusiastically, granted. When I was woken up at 8:40, children gone, I was slightly less bitter. I quickly ate a bowl of cereal, showered and dressed, getting ready for our appointment with the Speech Pathologist at Children's Hospital who specializes in augmented communication, including assisted technology. We had a little scuffle getting out the door because we could not find (and still have not located) Sam's iPod (and confirmed it had not gone to school with him), which was a big part of the appointment. Having searched EVERYWHERE, we left without it, to go pick up Sam and his one-on-one teacher Mrs. H, for the appointment. When we arrived, Sam was okay, having recovered from his disappointment that there was no spaghetti in his lunch (he had however, already had some before 7am, at home). The ride there was uneventful, though parking was semi-interesting because we couldn't fit in the parking garage. The problem you ask? The box on top of the car !&5$#@!#$! made us too tall for the garage. So we finally located another (mostly) legal parking space and proceeded to the appointment, amazingly, still on time. Oh, one more thing. In the car we realized that in addition to misplacing the iPod , Mrs. H had forgotten Sam's PECs book, which he uses to communicate at school. So we were on time, and totally unprepared. AWESOME!

They took us fairly quickly and then sat us in a small empty room for an interview with a grad student intern. Sam has a hard time waiting generally, so this part was particularly painful, especially since once the interview was over, we had to wait in said empty room for the intern to update the Doctor. This is our second time, and apparently you go through this process EVERY TIME. So I took Sam to the bathroom, and then for a walk down the hall to the waiting area where some toys were. Then the intern came to get everyone. By this time, Sam had already been waiting for longer than he is generally abel, and then it was time for him to PERFORM! You can imagine how that went. I just sort of sat in a chair around the small conference table trying to talk with Dr. S, monitor S, and cringe from frustration/embarrassment. Oh, and cringing from pain. I did some weird thing to my back which causes it to spasm when I move or breathe certain ways.

Actually the appointment went well, in that it was FAR MORE productive than 6 months ago. Mrs. H got Sam to do a little bit of work for Dr. S, enough so that he didn't think we were totally off our rockers when we described what he knew. Plus, we addressed a couple of issues that will be helpful for Sam. He will have the opportunity to work with the folks at Children's on a one-on-one basis (with Mrs. H), and Dr.S put in the report his recommendation for Sam to receive speech and OT (one-on-one) at school. Plus, we will all get trained in some new software for Sam to use at school and at home too. May have to get him his own computer (a Mac) just for doing work.

Then we went to my parents' house and dropped off Sam and picked up The Little Person for his appointment at the ophthalmologist (he has a lazy eye they monitor). M left to return Mrs. H's glasses that she left in the car and go grocery shopping. After the appointment, we stopped to get more of the Greek yogurt I'm obsessed with and the book we left at the eye Dr.'s office. When we returned M had not even left to go shopping yet and because I had not eaten since my cereal at breakfast and it was 3:30, I had a small freak out from which I recovered after food and caffeine provided by M. Then Max and I snuggled in his bed while I tried unsuccessfully to nap (he was very sweet, but only left me alone for about 10 minutes before informing me it was time to wake up) and I decided it was time to consider what was left of my day. Exercise? Seems doubtful. Hot tub? Good idea. Wine? Possible. I am attending a Mom's Night Out event at a beer pub. I don't drink beer, but I pray they have something besides beer and English Pub Food. At least I'll skip putting the kids to bed and get to sleep in (and start the diet and exercise routine again) in the morning.

Another Recovery

I seem to be exhausted from doing nothing while M was gone. I mean I obviously took care of the kids, but I didn't get a whole lot done. Especially out of the house. Much organizing and laundry happened inside the house. I feel like I'm always recovering from something. A trip, a funeral, a weekend of singles parenting while someone else takes a trip to a funeral. I'm not complaining (except for the PMS, because that was really inconvenient), I'm just noticing a pattern. And I'm tired. Not take a nap tired (though I should be doing that instead of typing this), or I didn't get a good night sleep tired, but it's going to take me till next weekend to get back on track tired. The kids were great, and I had enough of a break each day that I didn't want to kill them. I'm actually proud of us as a family. This was a lot easier than it was even 6 months ago.

Also, while I'm lucky enough to work out with someone who kicks my ass twice a week, ass kicking is tiring sometimes. Sometimes it energizes me, but often it makes me tired. I'm sensing a theme here. Just thinking about the week makes me tired. Four doctor's appointments for the kids, an autism class for dentists in Boston with my Dad, a home visit with Sam's teacher, and swimming lessons for both kids.

And there's the wind and rain. It's raining in a way that is reminiscent of our time in Alaska. Except today is the first day of rain, whereas in Juneau it would've been day twenty. It's also over 40 degrees. Which is just gross. Give me snow or give me sun!

Only Child

The Little Person went for a sleepover at The Babysitter Extraodinaire's house last night, so it is just me and Sam. She came over yesterday afternoon and I went over to my parents' house to read and take a nap. I even went in the hot tub briefly before I left, which helped my back a lot. After some adult company from Lovely Neighbor and kids, Sam and I watched Meet The Parents. He fell asleep on me at 7pm, but then revolted when I tried to put him to bed and squeaked for about an hour. Not sure what I watched after that, but I know that I did not go to bed particularly early. Took a while to feel sleepy tired. Sam got up at the usual 4am, and after a potty break was somewhat content to stay in his room till 5:45 (earplugs helped). Then I somehow managed to stay in bed half-asleep till almost 8!

I have folded and put away laundry, put in another load, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher and made all the beds, including my own and played mag neatos with Sam, a magnetic construction set. M is coming home today, and should be back by dinner, which we shall be ordering from our favorite local Indian restaurant. Grandparents are back tonight also, so I shall have afternoon childcare for The Little Person all week! Sam seems content to just have me nearby right now, so I am blogging from the couch in the basement,. Kinda sweet that he just wants company. The Little Person is still at said sleepover, probably ready to move in. Sam has L coming for respite in a few hours and I'll either do something alone with Max, or maybe workout if I'm by myself. Who am I kidding. If I'm by myself I'll just go back to my parents for R&R. Single parenting has been fine, if a little tiring. Looking forward to having my partner in crime back, though, and The Little Person, for that matter. My little Sammy needs a little love and a little tickle, so I'm off.

Dawn of Day Three

So, the boys and I have been alone now for going on three days. This is my 3rd day of being awakened at 4am, though I do everything in my power to keep Sam in his room, and stay in bed as long as possible This morning he kept reasonably quiet till 5:15. The Little Person got up at 7:15, so I parented from my bed for 2 hours, allowing for a couple of trips to the kitchen to pour juice or open a package of crackers. And Sam came and snuggled with me, but it was more like sleeping with someone who has restless leg syndrome. The kid could not stay still for 2 seconds.

Things have been going pretty well, so far. I am tired, but the kids have been pretty good, aside from some Arsenic Hour crankiness before dinner.I canceled Sam's home visit, and haven't done anything other than what is absolutely necessary. My lovely, sleep deprived neighbor comes over to give me adult contact. No school today, being Saturday. Right now we are watching cartoons. No big plans except for maybe a bagel run. Hopefully Babysitter Extraordinaire will come over and help me this afternoon, and maybe take The Little Person to her house for a sleepover. Not sure if he'll be into it, since when I told him about it he asked if I would be there too. Sam has respite with L tomorrow, so I may have a few hours today and tomorrow with one child. M will be back tomorrow night and so will The Grandparents. Can't wait.

The best part of my day!

I have mentioned before that on my days to get up early with Sam, we often snuggle together on the couch. Now, it has progressed to him waiting for me when I come out, and the length of time snuggling has increased. That is the good part. Today this started at 5am. When it ended, Sam went down to the basement to play on the computer, set up elaborate train tracks, and watch nick at night (I have started to see the genius in Family Matters). Today, however, instead of coming up once for juice or to grab a snack/breakfast for himself, came up every 5 minutes. Literally. I would no sooner lay back down, then he would be bounding back up the steps (he only knows how to run LOUDLY up and down stairs) to get more cereal with rice milk/blueberries (he ate two containers this morning), or just to check out the scene. Which limited my parenting OTC (on the couch).

We went to VT for the weekend. It was fun even though our friends who were supposed to join us had their car break down and get towed back to MA, and my MIL left early to avoid the snow. When we arrived and were cooking dinner, The Little Person told his first actual, well delivered, joke. "What did the bee say to the flower? (Pause) HELLOOO Honey!" No idea where he heard it, but it was hilarious. We called the other Grandparents in CA to tell them.

We did a lot of sledding, and even got the kids to carry their own sleds, which was a miracle. We took the kids on the snowmobiles and they LOVED IT! Sam kept turning around to see The Little Person and I. The kids were super cute with ski goggles on. The Little Person still talked non-stop, but I couldn't hear him over the buzz of the snowmachine (snowmachine/snowmobile...you can take the girl out of Alaska, but you can't take the Alaska out of the girl). I got the opportunity to go skate skiing with a friend, and M went downhill skiing a couple of times. We did A LOT of eating. Now we are watching The Biggest Loser and I am thinking about that chocolate bar from last night. Oh well. Today's a new day, right?

Cuddlebunny, or Mr. Snuggles

So Sam and I have a routine on the days I get up with him (M and I switch off). I set up my bed on the couch, and he comes and snuggles with me for a bit. Only today, after I let him out of his room (we lock him in at night to keep him from wandering the house), and got my slippers on, I found him waiting for me, laying on the couch with Puppy (stuffed animal companion)! Very cute. Made me remember how he was not terribly snuggly as a baby/toddler. Nice change. Then I started wondering what caused his autism. My breast milk? The goat milk we gave him instead of cow's milk when I weaned him? Or was he born this way? I don't think I will ever know.

Yesterday went very well, but I was EXHAUSTED. We picked up a cousin from the airport; watched another cousins three year old twins so mom and dad could go to dad's mom's funeral; I went to the funeral while M watched the twins and The Little Person, along with our wonderful neighbor, The Diva's Mother (her daughter is The Little Person's best friend); and The Little Person and I went to the house to pay our condolences. Then I came home and laid on the couch until The Best Babysitter in the World came. Then we went out to dinner and window shopping and drinks. Totally forgot to pick up my medicine at CVS (which we had tried to pick up on the way to dinner but they couldn't find it/had forgotten to do it), and so M went back out to get it for me. Probably because they were my happy drugs, and when Momma's happy, everyone is happy. Right?

Dealt with my phone call regarding Sam, and all is well, or at least we are on to the next step. Leaving town for the weekend and if we forget to do a favor for Mom and Dad before we go then HEADS WILL ROLL. Not really, but since they live a couple of streets over there's really no excuse.

Good to be around for family yesterday, that is a major benefit to moving back from Alaska. Been along time since we were geographically in a position to help, or in a good enough place with the kids and our lives to have the time and energy to be present and helpful.

Busy Day

Today a dear part of our extended family is being laid to rest. The funeral and burial are all really close to our house, so we are assisting with some details to make the day a little easier. One cousin is being picked up at the airport, flying in for the day, and we are watching her sister's twins (who are too young to attend the funeral). They are being dropped off by my Aunt and Uncle. Depending on how the twins are doing, I may slip out and go to the funeral and skip the burial so as not to leave M alone for too long. The Little Person and I will probably pay a condolence call later, and hope that he can entertain his cousins and lighten the mood while I pay my respects.

Then we are leaving tomorrow afternoon for a long weekend in VT. Later in the week, M will be going to AZ to attend a memorial for his aunt with his mom and brother. Four days alone with the kids, and no grandparents around! I'm just glad we are now around to attend and help out at these family events. Plus, as I may have mentioned before, I have the best babysitters around. It feels so limiting to call them that, since they mean so much more to our family. To go from no help to amazing help and support. It makes me feel good and strong and like a part of my community who is not only identified by the difficulties in my life.

I have also been reading a book which has had an unexpected impact on me. The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin, is a look at a year dedicated to finding more joy in her life. There are no magical discoveries or changes, in her or me, but the awareness of myself, in her words to be Gretchen (be true to her nature) has stayed with me.

Also, I made my difficult phone call yesterday regarding Sam, and I imagine I will get a call back mid-morning when I am fully involved with family responsibilities. Such is life.

5:15 and all is well

Sam slept till 5:15 and then stayed mostly quiet in his room until 5:45 this morning. I was laying on the couch with my usual blanket over my head when he came to snuggle with me. Then I noticed that The Little Person's sound machine seemed really loud and I could hear an odd voice from the basement. Someone else was up and I hadn't even noticed! Stellar parenting at work here. Now The Little Person is yelling RI-COLA!

Have to rev myself up fora couple of things today (or in the next couple of days). The first is working out. Normally on Wednesdays I do a strength/weight lifting class set to music. But the class is at 7:30pm and I am really tired by then. Plus, this week I did strength/weights yesterday. There are a couple of classes at the gym that I could do this morning. Or I could slack off until tomorrow. Or work out at home (though the last time I did that I got all sweaty in my pajamas watching House).

The second thing is in regards to Sam and school. It involves being brave and speaking up for my child and what his school day should consist of. But it's hard. And it may involve multiple steps. And it makes me uncomfortable because I am taking a risk and I don't know what the outcome will be. Only what we hope for.

It is time to make lunch for Sam and get him dressed for school. Hot dogs or soup? He wants some cereal with milk now. Crispy Brown Rice Gluten Free Organic cereal with rice milk. Gotta love it. Especially when I don't have to eat it. His behavior at home continues to be all over the map despite the addition of the probiotics. Hope we don't have to consider eliminating wheat.

It's hanging off my tush!

I got up this morning with Sam, and though it was early, he let me lie down on the couch for the most part from 5-7am, with breaks for cuddles, getting drinks and opening a bag of pretzels. Then, right before 7, The Little Person woke up. I took off his pull-up and started the routine of making Sam's lunch, writing in his notebook (a tool we use to communicate back and forth with his teachers), getting him dressed for school, and cleaning up the kitchen. Around 7:30-7:45, M woke up and started helping me. The little person started yelling about something from the basement, and when we went down there to check, it STANK. Turns out someone had not made it to the potty, and had pajamas with no underwear on. Not a good time to be going commando. As M rushed him into the bathroom for clean-up, he said, "It's hanging off my tush!"

M had a good monthly clinic (meeting) with Sam's teachers today. He has apparently been getting a lot of work done at school, with few (problematic) behaviors, which is good. His teacher emailed me to let me know that his Dynavox (voice output/assisted [assisted/assistive?] technology device to help him communicate), will be available to borrow (we are trying it out first since they are several thousand dollars) by the end of the month, and the software they ordered for him (recommended by a speech therapist who specializes in autism and assisted technology) was in. Bueno.

Long Time No Write

Hi! It's not a New Year's resolution, but I am committed to blogging again, more regularly. Things have actually been pretty good around here, which is kinda boring, and then the more I didn't write, THE MORE I DIDN'T WRITE. So, anyway.

The biggest thing with Sam is that at home there is a lot of inappropriate laughter. Which sounds like not that big a deal, but is super annoying, and kind of a stim (self stimulation). Also, a sign that his emotions are kind of all over the place. So we are trying a pro-biotic in the hopes that it is related to a yeast problem. But, that doesn't seem to be helping in the short term, so we are considering other options (READ: we have no idea what to do next and are hoping NOT to have to take wheat/gluten out of his diet). He has continued to get up obscenely early on a too regular basis, which causes every other night sleep deprivation (we take turns getting up with early with him). It's not worst case scenario, but it's another situation that we don't really have any ideas on how to make better (other than what we've already tried...melatonin, adjusting bedtime, keeping him in his room, limiting before bed liquids...).

On the good side, Sam seems to be doing well at school post our big IEP meeting. So we have that going for us. I also signed him up for a private swimming lesson, and we survived the first one without any disaster. Sometimes lack of disaster is our standard. We have been sledding and snowmobiling in the last several weeks over the school vacation, and a good time was had by all. It is nice to go on vacation with the kids and have it actually be fun.

I am unemployed, which though it was my choice is I think some of where my increased anxiety has been coming from. Still working on that. I am starting to take advantage of the extra time to get some things done, but realistically, I seem to adapt to whatever time I have available, so I am getting about the same amount done as before. Which is on an as needed, right before the deadline basis.

We don't really exchange holiday gifts as a family, because the kids get so much stuff from other people, and they already have so much stuff, and I'd rather get birthday presents and Valentines Day flowers (the one day of the year I get flowers from my sweetie). However, we did get some family-type items, one of which was a Wii. For a while, the kids didn't know we had it. We would just switch the channel every time they came upstairs. Plus, it was really funny to watch my parents box each other when the kids went to bed. Now the cat's out of the bag, and the kids have started playing a little. Their favorite part seems to be the balance board. The little person likes to fly in the chicken suit and land in the water. He is also into the running, and maybe the boxing...I know, stellar parenting at work.

Sam has been into Legos, which is fun. And he's been creating these crazy set-ups with the train tracks. I thought that they were done with the trains, but I guess not.