Off Track

The boys are off track so we decided to go out of town for a few nights. Big mistake. There wasn't much to do so the kids fought a ton and baby M did not sleep, which meant I didn't sleep either. Grumpy kids, grumpy mom = not good. We did go to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden and I loved it and the kids loved it. I liked it a lot more than Discovery Gateway and it was cheaper.

Now that we are home I've been trying to figure out what John can do to keep himself entertained and out of trouble. Yesterday I pulled out the Yellow Pages to look up something and there was my answer. He spent 2 to 3 hours just flipping pages (and there are a ton of pages). After every flip of the page he does his hand flapping thing. Oh the hours of enjoyment that await him for the next 2 weeks.

On a side note, I bought a pair of orthotics for my shoes and I was somewhat excited that they came with a FREE Sandal Conversion Kit since I wear sandals ALL THE TIME. Let me explain the complexities of the Sandal Conversion Kit: 8 sets of hook and loop adhesive circles, otherwise known as . . . Velcro. Oh yea, and the adhesive doesn't stay put. I'm glad they were free!

The things they say

We are getting John completely potty trained!! Woohoo. It's going really well other than the horrible behavior he is displaying at school because of it. (But . . . that's a post for another day.) He doesn't poo everyday, he misses a day here and there but he's no longer oozing all the time and is usually clean with no skid marks. (TMI, I know.)

Every night before he goes to bed I tell him he needs to go poo. '

His response tonight, which he yelled, "I don't want to go poo anymore."

My response, "Good luck with that."




My mom gave John a "Poo Bear" to help him go poo in the potty. You put brown or tan jellybeans in it's bum and when you push on it's hind quarters the jellybeans come out. You then are supposed to eat the jellybeans. John loves watching the "poo" come out of the bear. He laughs and laughs and laughs. A few times I have tried to coax him to eat the jellybeans but he won't. I asked him if the jellybeans were jellybeans or poo. He thinks they are poo. No wonder he won't eat them. Kate is convinced as well she won't eat them either. Maybe one of these times I'll pop one in my mouth just to see their reaction!





Kate's hair is getting really long, so when I comb it there is usually a lot of complaining and whining. Before I even start combing she will be saying that I'm hurting her. I always say, "That doesn't hurt, now quit moving." Usually it's a pretty exasperated tone.

She was brushing my hair and actually hitting my head with the brush every time she took a swipe. I told her she was hurting me and her response, very exasperated of course was, "That doesn't hurt," and kept whacking me with the brush.

Nice.

Work

I was talking with Kate about going to preschool in the fall. I thought she would be excited to go because she sees the boys go to school. Apparently school isn't part of her plan. She told me she would like to go to work with the Dad instead. She does not want to go to school. The only problem she could see is that the Dad doesn't have a computer for her at his work. So, she told me the Dad would get her a computer at his work and then she would go to work instead of school.

The things we will be able to do with that second income. Go for it Kate!

How embarrassing

I went to see Fiddler On The Roof with the Dad yesterday. I was pretty excited since it had been a while since I'd been out without kids. I sat down and realized I was tired . . . really . . . really . . . tired. After about 20 minutes, I was having a hard time focusing, my eyes were crossing and I knew I was going to fall asleep.

The next thing I remember is a loud snore, my snore, and I woke up. I was somewhat embarrassed but I figured or hoped I had woke up quickly after the noise I made.

During intermission I was discussing my sleepiness with the Dad. He informed me that I had snored, loudly, 4 or 5 times!!! And, that the man next to me was looking like he was going to wake me up. Now that's embarrassing!

The Dad told me he didn't want to wake me because I looked so comfortable. I informed him that if I fell asleep and started snoring during the 2nd half he was to wake me immediately. Don't worry, I didn't fall asleep.

I'm sure the man sitting next to me hopes he never has to sit by me again.

March updates

Baby M had a hard month. She got a kidney infection and I took her to the doctor twice. The first time I was told it was a virus. Her temperature reached 105 so I took her the second time. The doctor took a urine sample and told me to take her to the emergency room pronto and that I could expect up to a 3 day visit with iv antibiotics! Luckily it was only a 4 hour visit. Pretty quick for an emergency room visit in my opinion. She had a few tests done and it looks like she has reflex in her kidneys and will be on a low dose antibiotic for 6 months to a year.

Baby M also started Early Intervention. I'm not really excited about it because it means she's not developing typically. I know we aren't given more than we can handle but let me tell you right now, I CANNOT handle another autistic child! (Or maybe it's just that I don't want to handle another one.) She is progressing faster than John ever did so hopefully it's just developmental delays. One thing that has me really concerned is that when she gets upset she will scratch at her ears . . . and then they bleed . . . and she has HUGE scabs. I know she doesn't have ear infections because the antibiotic she was on for her infection was really strong and I was told it would kill ANY infection.

I potty trained Kate last month. Hurray for me!! Now I only have to buy 2 sizes of diapers. When I first started trying she didn't want to have anything to do with it and she would scream on the potty for 20 minutes and then get off and pee on the floor. I stopped for 2 weeks and then she just took off when we started again. Now we're just working on nighttime. She woke up last night to go to the bathroom and was dry this morning.

John is a handful! I was told that when you potty train a younger child your autistic child will follow suit. He has the pee thing down and has been doing that for a long time but the poo thing . . . not so much. Potty training Kate didn't really help him either. He actually pooed in the potty voluntarily a few times but he's not close to being done yet. In fact, yesterday, he ended up taking a very cool shower to clean the ooze that was running down his legs. TMI - I know.

John also had his birthday on Sunday. He still doesn't really get it but he does know that he is 7 now. We took the kids to Discovery Gateway on Saturday for John's birthday. The kids loved it, the Dad and I not so much.

Scott is just a good boy. He is a typical 8 1/2 year old and does get into trouble a bit but he has always been unusually good. He got his report card and got all 4's which equates to all A's. So . . . I guess he's smart too.