Christmas is such an amazing time. For you and I this year it held so much more meaning. Our first Christmas together and I am sure a much different experience then you have had before. During the past few weeks I have been remembering what Christmas was for me growing up. I remember the good times and some of the traditions, the ones I want to pass on to you and then you and I creating some of our own. The "elf" gifts are a tradition I hope we can continue, it was hard for you to understand this year but I am sure that will grow on you as the years go on.
Then, we had the "eye sparklers" under the tree. On top of our Santa gift my mom always had a gift under the tree that she called our "eye sparkler" and that is exactly what it was supposed to do. Light up our faces and be the one big present. The one I remember most for me was when I got my Charlotte Hornets NBA jacket. This year I really thought your electronic drum pad would be your eye sparkler, oh how I was wrong. Your favorite gift was actually a 50 cent notebook that was in your stocking. Nothing special to it but you liked carrying it around and turing the pages. I will definitely keep this in mind next year. You did enjoy many of your gifts today - play doh, puzzles, games, cars, etc...
The other tradition I was bound and determined to carry on this holiday season was my mom's homemade cinnimmon rolls. She made these from scratch every year and I have made them once before with help of others. Well, Friday afternoon I started around noon and finally, at 700 at night we finished the first batch and they worked! It only took me 24 cups of flour and a gallon of milk and a box of butter to finally get the yeast to rise, but persistence paid of off and we had a batch of rolls that you LOVED!
We also started some traditions of our own. I am not sure what these are yet but I am sure I will figure it out later :)
You are such an amazing little boy with so much personality. The spark in your eyes and the playfulness in the activities you do is amazing. You have shown us so many skills that you really do have and you are catching up in so many other areas. The ipad is the key to expressing some of this knowledge and the other is patience. You let us see all that you have on your terms, and as much as I wish this would happen a little faster sometimes, we can't control it.
Very exciting new - I emailed with the local Lacrosse team and they are more then willing to have you join the spring Lacrosse team for your age group! It will be another great opportunity for social interactions and growth. We will work hard on these skills, but the agreement with the league is knowing that you will not be able to play in games until you are ready (which may not happen this season) but you will participate, with me or a therapist, help in all practices, and wear the uniform to support the team on game days! I am very excited about this and really think you will grow as we start this adventure. You are pure muscle these days and I know will be a little athlete as we find the right sport.
Well, baby, this holiday weekend has worn us both out. Off to another week tomorrow and then on Wednesday we will leave to go see Jenny and the kids again. I am sure they will be shocked at your progress and growth as everyone here is each day.
I love you
Merry Christmas
Mom
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Holiday Season
Holidays are quickly approaching and winter is upon us. Surprisingly, you do not like the cold weather. I am sure that it was actually colder in Idaho and that you had much more snow then we have here but within seconds of being in the cold your little hands turn beat red, you start crying that they hurt, and you quickly want to get inside. I hate to tell you but this is nothing yet. We are working hard on wearing gloves without taking them off a few minutes later but since you like to clap for yourself all the time they tend to slip right off!
Christmas shopping for you is almost done. I love the fact that you can be with me when I do the shopping yet still be surprised on Christmas morning :) We will start the Elf tradition next week. Growing up, my mom did elf gifts. Starting about a week before Christmas your Uncle Michael and I would find a small stocking stuffer gift outside our door that the "elf" left for us. Then, on Christmas morning we would find our stockings outside our door. Now, mainly this tradition carried on for years so we would not constantly bug mom about our Christmas gifts but it is one of the yearly traditions I am very excited to carry on. It is a little harder to find the stocking stuffers then I thought it would be but I am looking forward to see your face every morning. You find simple joy and happiness in the smallest of things and I am sure you will have a very exciting week!
We are still working (fighting) with the school on what will most appropriately meet your needs in that environment. They just do not understand how to work through your behaviors and the amount of time and consistency you require. This last week things have been GREAT at home. I do not know if this is because of the new medication, you settling in a little more, or a combination of the two, but we have seen a wonderful week, unfortunately, school has not seen the same and I do not think they will. I need the school to admit that you are a little outside their realm of what they can handle so next school year I can move you to a school that can met your needs a little better.
I interviewed for a job last week. It is a teacher position at a local school which would provide a better schedule for me to better meet your emotional needs and also the possibility of me moving you to that school next year. We will keep our fingers crossed for this. The company will still stay open and we will find the right balance, I just know you need so much more emotionally then what I am giving right now. Thank God for a wonderful nanny (Tonya) and a great deal of family/friend support that has been helping to provide what you need and giving us all a nice balance to life.
Well baby, I am very excited for the holidays and to see the look on your face.
Keep on Truckin
Love
Mom
Monday, December 6, 2010
Thanksgiving Celebrations
So, I am a little behind on posts but you do tend to keep me on my toes.
You did wonderful for Thanksgiving besides the fact that you did not particularly like the dinner. I guess that is an understatment, you ate the meal to please me but gaged on every bite that you put into your mouth. I thought the Turkey would be easy, just call it chicken, evidently you did not fall for that one. Maybe next year it will go down a little easier. I can't complain to much since you do eat almost anything and everything that is offered to you - one of your new favorites being a bolonage and cheese sandwich with mustard. You have also learned the new trick that to get your bread you have to eat a bite of food or to eat to get your chips or fries you have to eat a few bites of protein. Makes life much easier at meal time. You did LOVE the pumpkin pie for dessert that night though, one of the only ones who did. Who knows where you get your tastes from.
Since the entire week of Thanksgiving was off for the school system you had a very rough week back to school last week. It has been like light switches turning on and off your behaviors with no predictability. There are still the tantrums just because you want to be stubborn but on top of this, it could be as simple as asking you if you wanted juice and you would lose it! Self injurious behaviors were through the roof and you were just unhappy for about four days.
This is especially rough since school is still trying to learn the best way to work with you and which staff members can work with you appropriately. You know who you can manipulate and who has behavior control. We are back to meetings this week to fix your cognitive goals to make them more appropriate and to also discuss your behavior intervention plan and see what else we can do to make this easier for you. The school needs so much more training to work with you and little do they know that I do not offically plan on sending you back there next year as I would like to move you to a school that has more behavioral support.
I took you to a psychiatrist on Friday since I have been seeing so many mood swings and was worried about your self-injuriuos behaviors. Abilify was added to your Clonidine and a new diagnosis of Mood Disorder, and you seem to be reacting well. It is supposed to be 2-4 weeks to see the effects of the Abilify but because of your past drug exposure you metabolize drugs so differently. We have already started to see teh effects, we think, and you are extremely happy, for now. This could change when the 2-4 weeks sets in so only time will tell. I hate having you on meds. I am a behavior therapist, drugs are usually not a line of defense for us but you honestly need to take the edge off just a little. You can't think that the world is ending just because you are asked to pick up a crayon or put your cars away. We will see and I honestly feel that once you have more coping skills and a better set of skills to fall back on, we will not need the medication any longer. That is our hope at least!
Well, baby, I am off to bed - changes are coming though, just hang in there
Keep on truckin'
Love
Mom
You did wonderful for Thanksgiving besides the fact that you did not particularly like the dinner. I guess that is an understatment, you ate the meal to please me but gaged on every bite that you put into your mouth. I thought the Turkey would be easy, just call it chicken, evidently you did not fall for that one. Maybe next year it will go down a little easier. I can't complain to much since you do eat almost anything and everything that is offered to you - one of your new favorites being a bolonage and cheese sandwich with mustard. You have also learned the new trick that to get your bread you have to eat a bite of food or to eat to get your chips or fries you have to eat a few bites of protein. Makes life much easier at meal time. You did LOVE the pumpkin pie for dessert that night though, one of the only ones who did. Who knows where you get your tastes from.
Since the entire week of Thanksgiving was off for the school system you had a very rough week back to school last week. It has been like light switches turning on and off your behaviors with no predictability. There are still the tantrums just because you want to be stubborn but on top of this, it could be as simple as asking you if you wanted juice and you would lose it! Self injurious behaviors were through the roof and you were just unhappy for about four days.
This is especially rough since school is still trying to learn the best way to work with you and which staff members can work with you appropriately. You know who you can manipulate and who has behavior control. We are back to meetings this week to fix your cognitive goals to make them more appropriate and to also discuss your behavior intervention plan and see what else we can do to make this easier for you. The school needs so much more training to work with you and little do they know that I do not offically plan on sending you back there next year as I would like to move you to a school that has more behavioral support.
I took you to a psychiatrist on Friday since I have been seeing so many mood swings and was worried about your self-injuriuos behaviors. Abilify was added to your Clonidine and a new diagnosis of Mood Disorder, and you seem to be reacting well. It is supposed to be 2-4 weeks to see the effects of the Abilify but because of your past drug exposure you metabolize drugs so differently. We have already started to see teh effects, we think, and you are extremely happy, for now. This could change when the 2-4 weeks sets in so only time will tell. I hate having you on meds. I am a behavior therapist, drugs are usually not a line of defense for us but you honestly need to take the edge off just a little. You can't think that the world is ending just because you are asked to pick up a crayon or put your cars away. We will see and I honestly feel that once you have more coping skills and a better set of skills to fall back on, we will not need the medication any longer. That is our hope at least!
Well, baby, I am off to bed - changes are coming though, just hang in there
Keep on truckin'
Love
Mom
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