Nothing is wrong

I know I need to do better with blogging, but I am still so tired. Got my results from the doctor and everything is fine. My exhaustion is due primarily to chronic sleep problems. It should straighten itself out in the next couple of weeks. So, I had the opposite problem last night, where I was up for pretty much the whole night. I'll try to make this post as coherent as possible...
Thursday of last week, I received a call to pick Spencer up from school because he is vomiting. He seemed fine that morning! Poor baby. I allowed him to watch a movie since all he wanted to do was lay around. Friday morning came and I could not wake him up for school. That is so unlike him. Usually, when I go to wake him, I am met with giggles and smiles. He wouldn't budge. I figured he was still not feeling great, so I let him stay home from school. We didn't do much this weekend because I still wasn't sure what got him sick. By Monday he was ready for school. (and so was I!). Tuesday was his school picture day and sensory motor testing at Brain Balance. I'm hoping his picture came out okay! He did have a rough start at Brain Balance, but then he started complying. At one point, he told Amanda "I wan". And she was asking him "what do you want". He then pointed to some bubble paper behind a desk. That became his reinforcer. Do an activity, pop some bubbles! I was very pleased that he seemed to do well.
Now for the fun part. When we got home from Brain Balance, I needed to label a few items. I get out my black Sharpie marker and proceed to do my labeling. I then left the marker on the counter. Big mistake! Spence found the marker and proceeded to give himself some facial hair.



Yikes! But the story does not end there. Oh no. While I am on the phone with my husband, in the time it takes me to forward an email, Spencer climbed onto the kitchen counter and got down the rest of my markers (which were on top of the cabinet) pulled out a purple marker and colored his chest and part of his legs. Oh boy, the fun never ends!!
We are leaving for New Orleans after cognitive testing at Brain Balance tomorrow. I have so much to do before then. Cooking, cleaning, packing... Guess I'll stop blogging and get started. First, I have to wake the boy for school. Happy Wednesday everyone!


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To blog, or to sleep?

From the lack of posts recently, you can tell that sleep won.  In fact, sleep has been beating out everything else: cleaning, cooking, etc.  At first, I chalked it up to my ever present insomnia, stress, exhaustion, everything but what the cause most probably is.  I was diagnosed about 15 years ago with pernicious anemia where (especially during high stress periods) my stomach does not make the protein (called the intrinsic factor) that is used to absorb B12.  I haven't had my B 12 levels checked since I've been here, not a smart move on my part.  And then I am reminded of my favorite saying, "There is a reason you put the oxygen mask on yourself first"  which is just a reminder to myself that I have to take care of me before I can take care of anyone else.
That being said, time to catch up!  Spence is currently on his break from Brain Balance.  He goes in for testing next week and then I get the results the Wednesday after Labor Day.  It will be amazing to see his progress.  He has adapted well to school, but he did not like going all day, every day last week.  By Friday, he was having the worst little  meltdowns.  Now, his day starts around 5:45am and he gets home from school on the bus around 3:15.  That is really a long day for a child.  He has been doing much better since I have been checking him out around 12:40, which will allow us to pursue other therapies on Tuesdays and Thursdays (the days he doesn't have Brain Balance)  I am currently trying to get him involved in hippotherapy, without much success.  No, it doesn't involve a hippo, just a horse.  It is different from therapeutic riding in that he is not really taught to handle the horse himself, the movement of the horse is the therapy.
We had to have another IEP meeting to go over a few things.  1-Spence was getting up on the bus. (I think it is because they have him sitting in the back?) so it had to be added to his IEP to put him in a harness for his safety. 2- I signed a paper at the end of last year agreeing to hold Spencer back in Kindergarten, a decision I regretted almost immediately.  3- I wanted to discuss the possibility of checking him out early every day without is counting against his attendance.
I was in Warrior Mom mode- ready to do battle.  There was no battle.  Items 2 & 3 are administrative issues that I discussed with the assistant principal who granted #3 with no problem, but had to talk to the principal about #2.  #1 was granted in the IEP without ANY discussion, it was merely a safety issue.  I'm glad i had Amanda from Brain Balance there because she was able to discuss with the speech therapist and Spencer's teacher some items that Spencer can do.  Spence still has a problem with motivation.  He is not interested in making you happy or proud of him.  If he feels like he wants to do it, he will.  Just where did he get that stubborn streak ;)
Late last week (our IEP meeting was Tuesday), I was told that Spence had been moved up to the first grade and that he had no problem dropping off his folder at his new homeroom.  Yeah!!
And just yesterday, we went swimming.  He was acting like a little tadpole.  He jumped in the 3 feet side and was swimming around.  He even went in the 5 feet and was using his kick board!  Okay, so it is NOT pretty when he swims, but he gets the job done!
I guess that is all for now.  I have a few errands to run before I go to the doctor to get checked out.

Cookies, cookies everywhere..but sorry, son, none for you

It seems lately, everywhere we go , they have chocolate chip cookies.  Spencer has always loved chocolate chip cookies.  So, I wasn't surprised when we stopped at Smoothie King, he picked up a large (wrapped) chocolate chip cookie and brought it to me.  First ingredient: wheat flour. Sorry, babe, you can't have that.  And, boy did he want that cookie.  Imagine my surprise, when I go to the counter to pay, he puts the cookie back on the shelf and stands next to me.  What, no tantrum, no argument?  WOW!!  I'll take it.  Then a few days later, we went to "meet the teacher" at his school.  His sweet teacher baked chocolate chip cookies.  But, she also was kind enough to buy a box of the cookies he loves.  And, he chose the cookies he could have as opposed to the ones he couldn't.  Seriously, who is this kid?  And I was more surprised by his behavior.  He was playing appropriately with toys and making all kinds of cute noises.  And, he was calm.  A little while later, he was looking at a book and another child was trying to grab it from him.  All he did was turn his body away.  When the child persisted, Spencer gave him the book, got up and went and got another one.  No retaliation, no violence.  He was showing a maturity that I hadn't seen in him.  I was loving it!!
I decided Friday to make him some chocolate chip cookies that fit with his restrictions.  He was so happy! My parents were in town this past weekend (for my birthday!) and Spencer seemed much more interested in our food than he has ever been.  Normally I would not encourage Spencer to stick his fingers in our food, but I don't deny him any interest in our food.  So I was pleasantly surprised when he grabbed a green bean off my mother's plate Friday night.  All he did was put it in his mouth and and then take it out.  He didn't gag (his usual response to new foods) or make any kind of face.  This is progress!  With the assistance of an old high school friend, I was able to bake a chocolate cake for my birthday (yes, it fit with Spencer's restrictions) and top it with a frosting made of cashews.  We noticed Spencer making trips through the kitchen.  Every time he passed the cake, he would dip his finger in the frosting and eat it. Wonderful!!
Yes, I know I've used the word 'surprised' plenty of times in this blog, but there really is no other word to describe.  I look forward to continued surprises from my awesome little dude!!