Changes are coming....

Oh my, as we quickly approach C's 3rd birthday I have so many mixed emotions. I am first and foremost thankful to God for sharing this precious little man with us, he has taught Josh and I so much about life. It's so hard to believe that almost 3 years ago we were fearing the unknown of having a baby born at 28 weeks. Anyways, I will leave the sappy stuff out for now, I can save that for his birthday post! :) 

With 3 years old peeking around the corner, we have been doing many evaluations with the school district. With his prematurity, speech delays, and autism diagnosis he basically qualifies for special needs preschool for 3 year olds. He can actually start school the day of his 3rd birthday, but there is no way in heck this momma will be able to handle all of those emotions that day! I imagine we will wait several days and then start, no matter what day we start it is going to be rough on me. 

We have his first IEP (individual educational plan) meeting the week before his birthday. This meeting consists of a lot of people talking about what is best for C, setting goals, and what level class he will be placed in. My understanding is that school will last around 3 hours and it is offered in the mornings or afternoons.

Also when he turns the BIG 3 his ABA switches from babynet to PDD waiver. This changes things a lot. Instead of having a line therapist and consultant he will have a consultant that comes twice a month, a lead therapist  that comes twice a week, and hopefully 2 different line therapist who come to our house a minimum of 9 hours per week. Right now he is receiving 12 hours of ABA per week from one therapist. So basically he will have his own ABA team that will work with him. 

My worry is how do we fit in his daily school hours with speech and occupational therapy at school, home speech and OT, follow up feeding therapy, ABA therapy, naptime, and downtime just being a kid?!  Just thinking about it makes me tired, makes my brain hurt trying to get our schedule figured out and realizing how much life truly does change when he turns 3! We have been on the same therapy schedule for years (since coming home from NICU) with the addition of ABA. It's like when 3 hits, our schedule is turned completely upside down! I am trying not to worry and stress because we always have made things work and adapt to our life without a blink...shoot, our life has been everything but "normal" ( I hate that word) since day 1. 

So you see, big changes are coming...

I know we will be fine...there will be no whining...this is what's best for C and we are sure as heck going to give him our best...I will remember that we aren't the only ones with a hectic schedule and other families have been doing this for years...and I am reminded daily that life could be much, much worse. 

Essential Oils

It's official....I have become an "oily mommy". To be honest with you I kinda didn't believe in them. I have read all these amazing reviews but couldn't believe that a simple little oil would help so much with specific things. This may be part of the nurse in me who is used to modern medicine. Don't get me wrong, I am also game for taking more of a natural approach with things...hence the reason we switched to a blenderized diet (almost 2 years ago) in C's gtube instead of the man made formula full of corn syrup and ingredients I can't even pronounce. Once we switched we saw a new child who looked healthy, nails grew, hair sprouted on his head, and he basically quit vomiting! How could that not make you a believe that natural is truly better for your body?! 

Ok, I could go on about that forever but let me get back to these essential oils! I was given a blend from a special NICU mommy friend around a year ago. This blend had amazing raves about how well it helped calm hyperactive children, helped with their focus, and helped with restful sleep. I was skeptical but absolutely willing to try anything! I will admit, we tried it for about a month or so. The first week or so I noticed a little more focused,some what calmer child but that wore off and he was back to his whirlwind self! We put the oils away since I didn't notice much improvement. 

Fast forward 8 months later, I stumbled upon that special blend while cleaning out some drawers.  I figured what would it hurt to give it another try! That second try has been amazing! We roll it on each toe and then down the middle of his feet twice a day, sometimes three. Connor thoroughly enjoys this! When we talk about his oils, he quickly pulls his socks off, takes the lid off the oil and tries to put it on his feet. We take over or else the blend would be all over his body, but he counts each toe out loud and then he says "down" when we roll it down his foot! 

* Oils in a roller bottle*

Since starting the oils back (4 months now) we have noticed his focus has improved dramatically. He is a lot more attentive in therapies ( even his therapist noticed the improvement), meltdowns have decreased (if he has any), he's calmer ( like sitting to read a book or watch tv- typically he would be constantly running and not really focused), and somewhat better sleeping patterns. The sleeping patterns were going fairly well until we ran out of our blend last week! The waking at 3:30am and 5 am are so not for this mommy! 

Thanks to a great friend, who just recently started to sell essential oils, she was able to come up with a blend just for Connor! We will call it "Connor's blend". It is a combo of different oils that work on different things like calming, relaxing, empowerment, energy balance, mental focus, and soothing. So far he is doing very well with this blend. He absolutely rocked his delevelopmental evaluation today at the school, it was a tad hard to get his attention but once they did he was able to do absolutely everything they asked of him! 

So yes, we will do these oils as long as we continue to notice that it helps Connor. :)  

DIY

Not sure if you know me well, but the ones that do know that I am a DIYer! I love do it yourself projects, therefore I am in love with Pinterest....my problem is finding the spare time for me to do all these projects.

I have had several things on my list and have been able to check a few off! 

My first is a sensory box. I made a sensory box about a year ago but decided to do some theme boxes....that last one is a huge hodgepodge of different textures and items. This one is simple, several bags of field peas and a set of Zoo animals from hobby lobby. Connor loves it! We can work on some many things just with this one box: tactile exposure, work on naming and counting the animals that he "digs" out, work on following 2 step directions (big goal in speech therapy right now). I, myself like to just dig my hands in the peas and feel the textures...very relaxing to me! My next sensory box is going to be an under the sea theme.

My latest DIY project has been coming up with a visual schedule for Connor. He understands more than we know, but we can't assume he knows everything we are talking about. He has difficulties with transitioning....you might wonder what I mean by that. Basically switching from one task to another, one activity to another, one  routine to another can cause some fits (or meltdowns as they call it in the autism world). I wanted to help him understand what we are asking of him and by doing a visual schedule that helps. 

I found these wonderful *FREE* visual pictures online at www.do2learn.com , printed them, added some color,DIY laminated them, then put some magnets on the back. FYI- you can buy laminating material and slide the sheet inside of a tshirt and use your home iron to laminate it! No need in spending $100 on that fancy machine that laminates things....

I purchased a large oil drip pan from the automotive section and hung it on Connor's closet door. Right now the  morning rountine is very difficult and takes quite some time to complete so I figured that would be our first schedule to introduce to him. Under the sun on the left are all the steps that we need to complete in the morning and the star on the right is what to expect for bedtime. I am hoping to find a little basket or make an envelope to place the task once he has completed it. We are working on introducing this slowly, hopefully he will get the hang of it and it will make our morning routine a lot smoother. 

 

At the bottom I just bought some cheap ($.69) wooden items, slapped some magnets on the back and just let Connor play with those. 

Whirlwind update!

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas. Connor got plenty of toys, definitely toy overload! He was sensory overloaded at everyone's house we went to...constantly running, opening & closing doors, Turing light switches on and off, barely sat down for a minute. It is truly exhausting chasing him around other peoples house so once we got back to our house we all were exhausted! 

Our little family of 3 celebrating Jesus' birthday

Connor went skating for the first time and LOVED it!! I was worried it would be too much but he loved it. Of course his wheels were locked but he went around the rink with a big ol' smile on his face. The heavy weight of the skates provided a lot of input to him, I think that helped calm him down. Needless to say, he got a pair of skates for Christmas and we will be making frequent trips to the skating rink! 

Enjoyed his first Krispy Kreme doughnut...in 10 seconds flat! 

We proudly introduce the newest member of our family, Bailey! We got Bailey for Connor, with hopes to do some training to help calm him and be his best bud. Hopefully we will be able to use Bailey to distract him from some of his repetitive behaviors, lay across his lap to give heavy pressure to help calm him, and just provide a sweet cuddly friend for him. 

Bailey is as energetic as Connor right now....needless to say I send both of them outside and let them just run. They both come back inside all worn out! :) having a puppy is like adding another toddler to our bunch....constant and exhausting but her sweet face makes it all worth it! Milo on the other hand is not too fond of her sweet face....he is still adjusting to the new addition. 

Connor's first snow...ever! We got about 3 inches of snow last week. He really wasn't a fan of the snow on his hands or when he fell down, other than that he did his usual running and playing as if the snow weren't even there. 

Eye exam: this little guy was rather intrigued with all he gadgets and buttons while waiting on the eye doctor. His eyes are slightly nearsighted but the doctor said it isn't anything to worry about right now. He will continue to monitor him.

And our most recent trip to the doctor....Connor hasn't been gaining weight since we quit using his feeding tube, he actually has lost weight. :( My concern is that he is eating plenty of food, I have seen him eat more than some kids his age. I know he is 100mph most of the time, but I feel like he should atleast have gained a little since November. He weighs 24.5 pounds right now and he is almost 3! His height is definitely increasing but his poor clothes are falling off of him. He had about 4 tubes of blood drawn to check basic labs to make sure nothing else is going on and also some other labs to check his nutritional status. We are waiting to hear these results....mommy is fairly anxious waiting for these results.

School update: we have met with Saxa Gotha Elementary school in January. He has about 4 more evaluations before his 3rd birthday before they can determine what level class he will need. 

Therapy: Still getting therapy 5 days a week. Early Intervention, speech therapy, ABA therapy and occupational therapy. Who hoo...keeping us busy! He is making improvements, very surprising things. Like today, he spoke in a full sentence....appropriately asking me " turn light on please" while reaching for the light switch. He has surprised me with pointing out his alphabet letters and knowing just about every single one of them.  He can work an iPad like nobody's business! He is a very smart little guy, the challenge is getting him to slow down enough and focus long enough to see all the things he knows!

Eating all the time!

I wanted to do a quick update in things going on in our wonderfully blessed life:

***We have not used Connor's gtube in over 2 weeks!! This is such a fabulous, life changing thing for Connor! Josh and I are adjusting to this little guy wanting to "eat!" all the time. Sometimes we are just in awe at the sight of watching him tear into his food and enjoy it...without a single gag! We are hoping he has turned the corner from all of the feeding aversions and pray he never goes back. He is also taking all of his medicines by mouth as well. 

Enjoying chips & salsa with a quesadilla

We have had many people ask us when his gtube will be removed.....well you see, Connor has a paranoid mommy and would rather keep it longer just in case. I want him to make it through an illness, make it through weaning off medications, and to continue gaining weight on his own. My thought process is that it isn't hurting him being there, so why worry about rushing to get it out. If we don't need it then GREAT but if he needs it then the gtube is still there. 

Sneaking a snack! Haha

***Well, the time has come....3 months before Connor turns 3 years old! (where has the time gone?!) This means we have our first of many meetings with the school district next week, December 16th as a matter of fact. He will start special needs preschool with the district the day after his 3rd birthday. So next week we are meeting with the district to inform them of Connor's needs and share all of his evaluations so they can start the process of placing him in the most suitable class for him. This momma is a little nervous about the thought of school! We have never left him with a stranger...ever! I know he will be fine and he needs to be around other children, but don't think I won't be sitting in the parking lot the first few days! Haha This will be a bigger adjustment for mommy than Connor! :) 

*** A little update on our adoption process. We have met with an attorney and will start our homestudy in January. We know it is no rush and God has the perfect timing and plan, so we are doing our part and getting things lined up just in case! 

No small steps....more like leaps & bounds!

Let me first start with the potty training updates!

After day 2 I was absolutely ready to throw in the towel and quit! Day 2 was the worst. He was having twice as much accidents and just wasn't getting the concept. I thought a lot about it that evening and considered quitting the next day but that meant I needed to buy more diapers. I sure didn't want to go back to diapers after going through those last 2 days of constantly cleaning up puddles just to do it all over again when we tried to potty train again. So we pushed through and day 3 seemed to turn out way better! Each day has gotten better and better, as a matter of fact he hasn't had a single accident in 2 days! I surely didn't foresee him doing this well just a week into training! It is a nice change not having to deal with diapers. I will say we have visited every store's restroom since we have decided to venture out of our house....that just comes with this territory though! :) 

He gets to choose between a sticker or "mm" if he is successful with the potty. This is what I decided to do with the stickers instead of letting him keep it all day. He was becoming to fixated on the sticker if I let him carry it around so he proudly places them on a coloring page on the bathroom wall. He sticks it on and then points at it to show how happy he is to put it on there! 

My other VERY exciting news is that we haven't used his gtube for 5 days now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is gobbling up almost everything in his path and still requesting for "more", "eat", "hungry"! It truly is amazing to hear those words come out of his mouth and for him to use them appropriately! The other morning he ate all of his yogurt and his banana so he decided he wanted to steal my breakfast! What?! Who is this and what did they do with my child?!! I am praying that he has turned the corner and we won't be looking back! It will hopefully be a very exciting Thanksgiving watching him eat with everyone else and actually enjoying the food! Whoooo hooo, I am so happy I could shout it from the rooftops! 

We are so thankful for all of God's blessings. 

Timers, puddles, and M&M's!

Potty training day 1-

I decided yesterday evening that we would try to take on the 3 day potty boot camp!  This involves us staying home for 3 days straight with a very structured, frequent potty schedule. Connor is no stranger to the potty. We always use the potty before bath time, he loves to sit on it, flush, and play with the toilet paper. I was headed to the store to purchase more diapers but I changed my mind....big boy undies came home with us instead! "Ickey mouse undiiiies!" 

* How is it possible that my little peanut is a big boy now?!

So this morning started out quite interesting! The first accident in the big boy undies must have scared Connor! He immediately started running which then spread peepee everywhere! Thanks goodness I picked all of our rugs up and have floors that clean easily. Oh boy...what have I gotten myself into?! The next accident, several minutes later involved the same thing but this time he ran in his puddle, slipped and busted his little hiney. At this point I was giggling and wondering why I decided to attempt this...why can't they just become potty trained, like just wake up one morning and voila!! 

I set my timer every 20 minutes all day long and every time that went off Connor started to say "POTTY!" and ran to the bathroom. That's progress!! So it is nap time and he has had 5 accidents and 4 successful potty trips.  I started with a sticker reward system but the stickers became too much of a distraction, so I moved to 1 M&M if he was successful. He thoroughly enjoyed his M&Ms! I guess that isn't too bad for the first half of the day! 

I am hoping and praying that this just gets easier, less peepee puddles all over the place, and it just clicks soon! :)