Good Stuff

Apparently, both of the boys had "awesome" days today again at school. Eric's day was perfect--listening, attending, doing a solid 15 minutes of arts and crafts with no problems. He was even the first one to answer a question during circle time. I know, maybe small potatoes, but good stuff around here!

Evan had a good day as well. Today was the first day his TSS was with him. It seems as though she didn't have much to say because, well, he doesn't need her. Hopefully, by the end of the school year she will be phased out.

We are doing "the lights" here tomorrow night. A large estate (now county park) has an amazing 3.5 mile drive-thru light display every Christmas that the boys just LOVE going to. We get them in their jammies, make some popcorn, stop at Starbuck's (for Rob and me, not the boys) and drive through the lights. We take the boys out of their carseats (we are driving all of 2 miles an hour) and they sit with us in the front seat and "drive" the car. We usually go about a half a dozen times throughout the holiday season.

On a totally unrelated note, here's a cute photo of Eric. He takes my wreath hanger off the shelf in my office and pretends it is a microphone. Too funny!

Little Victories

There is a song by Matt Nathanson called Little Victories. ILOVE the song for many reasons. Here is a link to the song on YouTube...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFjbqyAgGJQ

Anyway, the point is I usually try to focus on the good--no matter how little. Yesterday ended pretty awful. Eric had to go to the eye doctor for his check-up. They had to dilate his eyes--which if you have ever had it done, it burns and then you can't see right for a couple hours. I think it's kind of nauseating. Anyway, you wait in the waiting room, go back, label some pictures, and get drops. I had to hold him down for the drops after he did so nicely in the waiting room playing and working with the nurse on using each eye individually for the image labeling. We went back out to the waiting room for 20 minutes or so for the drops to take effect and again, Eric was great. He was playing, etc. Then, we had to go back into the room for the doctor (whom I'm not particularly fond of because, well, he kind of an arrogant ass). Yesterday, he actually seemed nicer than usual. Anyway, when Eric had to sit in my lap to have the doctor look into his eyes, all hell broke loose. He was kicking and screaming and I was holding him on my lap with my legs around his legs, my arms around his arms and my hand on his forehead to keep him still. Somewhere in there, I managed to help hold his eye open too! Anyway, when all was said and done the doctor turns to me and says "you're really good with him and I don't just mean the holding him down part." I suppose I could have taken this as a compliment but I almost erupted. I just kept thinking "wow, I can hold my son down and have him screaming bloody freaking murder and that makes me a good mom." What wonderful standards we must all have? I know he meant well and that Eric has to get his eyes checked. It was just an awful, awful moment. Followed by me carrying the nearly 50-pound child kicking and screaming down three flights of stairs and out to the car with no coat on in 25-degree weather. But I digress.

Focusing on the little, good things, right? Eric no longer need bifocals. The doctor seems to be thinking that his eyes are doing much better and we can drop the bifocal. His script is still fairly strong, but again, over time, hopefully that will weaken.

And today...ahh today! I asked one of Eric's speech therapists who also works on feeding issues to work on it with Eric. Though he eats a variety of textures in his food, he is quite picky. He hasn't eaten a vegetable since he was eating jars of baby food. He takes vitamins and supplements, so nutritionally, he is fine. Eric has needed a lot of sensory input around his mouth lately--asking for pretzels, starting to chew gum, etc. The therapist thought we should start with raw carrots and an apple. The first step is to have a child touch the food, then put the food to their cheek, then kiss the food, then put the food in their mouth, then bite the food and ultimately swallow the food. If you know anything about Eric, if you even put vegetables on the table at dinner, he freaks like he is afraid of them. Today, he got all the way to holding the carrot in his mouth--in less than a 30 minute session. I'm not saying I expect him to be asking me for raw carrots--even in 2009--but it is a major step in the right direction!

WONDERFUL Weekend

We had such an awesome weekend with the boys...and I needed it after Friday. Eric had his social skills group on Saturday morning. Last week taking him there was a complete disaster. I figured it was because Rob was there with me dropping him off and Daddy is fun and, well fun, and Eric doesn't have to do not-fun stuff with Daddy. (As a matter of fact, lately, when Eric gets in trouble with me he asks for Daddy--even when Rob isn't around. I'm trying to find the humor in that.) So today, I took him by myself and he went in no problems. I'm the mean one, making him do un-fun stuff and he's OK with that (and at times when he does things I know are good for him and he doesn't fight it, I'm ecstatic about being the not-fun one--the rest of the time it sucks!). Rob is uber lucky in that regard.

We hung out at the house the better part of Saturday afternoon doing regular weekend crap. Then we took the boys to the YMCA in Cranberry to go swimming. Eric LOVES the pool. Capital LOVE doesn't even begin to describe how much the kid loves the water. Evan didn't last too long so he and I went to run errands while Rob and Eric stayed and played. Then we hit DQ for dinner on the way home. The boys were just so awesomely well behaved. We should have passed on DQ and headed for a 5-star restaurant like Applebees :-)

Today, we went down to the Waterfront to see Madagascar 2. Eric has been to the movies before and has really enjoyed it. Evan has never been to the movies, so this was a new adventure for him and me (I don't think I have been to the movies since Castaway--yeah, 2000--I'm trying to set the Guinness Book of World Records for longest time not going to the movies!). The boys did OK. Eric lasted much longer than Evan--almost to the end of the movie.

Another week of work/therapy/life and then we have some time off for Thanksgiving. A much needed (and might I say well-deserved) break from the daily grind!

No News

I talked with the doctor today that ordered the lab work last week for Eric. They found nothing. No yeast overgrowth, no excess bad bacteria, etc. I have to admit, I'm really disappointed. I don't want there to be something wrong necessarily, but with no news, there is nothing new to address. So I'm frustrated because we not only had to pay out of pocket for these tests, but I had to dig through his poop. I know, too much information.

This was one of the two avenues that, if they found something, we could address it with supplements or possible medication and it could make a world of difference. So between him not tolerating his first two vitamins (high levels of vitamin B--usually helps kids on the spectrum) and this, right now we are at a stand still with nothing to new to do.

The upside is that Eric is tolerating this third vitamin. We haven't started the vitamin C yet because we want to be sure that he can stand this multi-vitamin before introducing something else.

In the meantime, we will continue to do what we are doing until we go back in May.

Petition

We participate in the autism walk for both of the boys, but there was a day when we did the March of Dimes walk for prematurity...for both of the boys. We haven't forgotten about them--or the hell Evan went through.

According to the March of Dimes, the US received a "D" on our premature birth report card. Pretty scary. Sign the petition for awareness, more funding, better care and, most importantly, prevention.

http://www.marchofdimes.com/padpetition/index.aspx?a=1&z=1&c=1&l=en

Money, Money, Money

We participated in the Autism Walk sponsored by Autism Speaks on October 4 in Baltimore. Today, we recieved a letter from MSA (Rob's employer) that they have mailed a $1,000 check to Autism Speaks on our behalf towards our fundraising efforts. We raised $2,035. Our goal was $850. Thank you to everyone who participated. Our team, Pieces of H.O.P.E, (put together by my sister, Kelly) raised $3,335! The teams goal was $1,500. I'm so excited that everyone came together and helped raise all this money. It means the world to my family and all the families out there that benefit from the contributions to Autism Speaks.

Christmas Is Early

Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is just around the corner so it only makes sense that the boys start watching The Polar Express--sense the sarcasm here, it's barely November. At any rate, they are both LOVING the one song from the movie and Evan has started singing along. After about a minute, he stops, but I hope you can hear him!

Going Well (Fingers Crossed)

The boys are doing really well this week. I got a phone message yesterday from their BSC while they were at school relaying that they were both having a "phenomenal day." Eric was listening, talking and interacting with his classmates more than anyone had seen before. He needed a break at one point and went out into the great room in the church and requested that he sit and listen to the two people practicing violins. He played catch with his weighted dog (calming effect) with some of his classmates. He answered questions spontaneously, etc.

Evan proved, once again, that he simply does not need assistance in school, though his teacher said it was just a really good day for him. He was doing his work, playing with Jake and Jonah (his friends) and listening.

All of this was after we all went to get our flu shots and they were both total troopers. No tears about the shots at all. Evan cried afterward because I would only let him have one lollipop--shocking!

Rob said I should save the phone message from the BSC for those "not so good" days. Done!

Tomorrow it's off to the dentist in the a.m. before school. Maybe I just need to schedule some not-so-fun events before and it will make school look like a trip to an amusement park!

Dr. Appointment

We went to our Dr. appointment today. Not much news on Evan. He is doing so well--talking more, socializing more, whining less, etc.--there really isn't anything to change at this point. Eric will have a few things change. We are going to try yet another multi-vitamin--third times the charm, right? A vitamin C supplement. Up his Omega-3 supplement. And screen his poop. Yeah, I won't get into the details on that one, but I'm SOOOO looking forward to that. It's to check his digestion to be sure that the pro-biotic he is on is strong enough for what we/he is dealing with.

Not anything too exciting. We don't go back again until May 7, 2009, so I'm hoping to see some changes with the new vitamins and the results from the lab test. Only time will tell!