Happy Birthday my boy

Today, Wesley turns 4. I always had a hard time picturing myself with a child who wasn't a baby. I guess because I wanted a baby so badly that I couldn't get past the baby stage. Well, now my baby is a child. No longer the little bundle I so longed for, but a child who fills my heart with love.

He has come a long way. It was a year ago that he started school for the first time and he was very far behind his peers. While he's still behind them, he's catching up and making connections I never thought possible. He amazes me every day. It's what I look forward to when I wake up in the morning.

Happy Birthday handsome. You are a big boy now and I look forward to watching you grow even more. Thank you for choosing me as your mother,I am forever blessed. I could not be more proud of you. I love you with all my heart and soul.

Just my luck

Today, Wes was supposed to start aquatic therapy. I had heard some good things from other parents and I figured what the heck, we'll give it a try.
I got Casey up from his nap, jazzed Wes up to the idea of going swimming, packed a bag and off we went. We were to meet at a hotel and use their pool, but when I got there I didn't see the therapist. I figured we were early and she hadn't gotten there yet. I asked the front desk if she knew if the therapist was there and she didn't seem to have a clue. More like disinterested and couldn't be bothered. The boys and I sat down to wait for the therapist. After 15 minutes past his appointment, I was going to call to find out what's up. However, I forgot the number and it wasn't listed under the clinic name that I know it as. The kids were nearly going wild at this time and I was trying my hardest not to yell at them. Finally, I grabbed them and headed out. I drove all the way home to get the number and come to find out, it wasn't at the Holiday Inn, but the Comfort Inn. Oh, what the hell! I wrote down Holiday Inn. Was I not paying attention, heard Inn and Holiday came to mind? I have no idea. The poor therapist had been waiting in the lobby of the COMFORT INN and not the HOLIDAY INN. We're going to try again next week.

Wes will also be starting an extra half hour of OT to work on his feeding and sensory issues with food. I think some of it is psychosomatic because he gags before the food even touches his fork. Silly boy.

Go Ahead, Make my day

When I picked up Wes from his regular school day, I was called back in because the autism coordinator wanted to talk to me. I assumed it was because of Wes' potty training (more on that in a minute).
I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the room to "Wes is my star student this month! He is doing son wonderfully and I can't wait for you to read my report. He's doing much better then I had anticipated and I couldn't be more pleased!".

Wow! That put a huge smile on my face and filled my heart with pride. I knew he had been working so hard and his teachers and therapists have been working him hard. I can't wait to read the report and I'll be sure to share once I do.

As for the potty training, we're going to stop for a month or two and regroup with the coordinator and his assistant. He seems to think that Wes has gotten into the routine of sitting on the potty, getting off, and eliminating in his diaper. Makes some sense to me so I'm going to go with it. We'll set up a meeting most likely after the holidays to come up with a new game plan. I just hope it works.

Beautiful Faces

All different shapes and sizes, colors and hues. These are the Faces of Autism. Aren't they beautiful?

Ah, boys

I strive to teach my boys manners and to be polite. Alas, sometimes, boys will simply be boys.

While Tim and I were discussing things, Wesley came up to me with his arms up. This certainly isn't new for me. Still carrying on our conversation, I picked him up and held him in a sort of wrestling maneuver called the pile driver. His legs were on my shoulder and his head was pointing down. Not thinking anything of it, I swung him around and placed him back on the ground. He was giggling at this point and put his arms up again. It wasn't until the third time I picked him up that I realized why he was in near hysterics with giggles. He was tooting (farting, puffing, whatever you want to call it) in my face. Not only was he tooting, but he was making himself toot in my face. Just to be sure, silly me picked him up again. This time, it made me crack up laughing. I could feel him pushing the air out of himself and his sweet little face was turning red.

You know, if he were a typical little boy, I'd be grossed out and tell him that wasn't polite to do that in my face. Of course I'd laugh later when he wasn't looking. Except this time, I laughed right along with him because Wes was just being a boy. And boys will be boys right?

So Long 20's

Hello 30's

Yes, officially today, I've reached my 30's. Honestly, (and I know you're all going to say it's no big deal) it sucks. I don't feel youthful anymore. I know it's just a number, but it does something to your psyche, at least my psyche. Being able to say I'm twenty-something meant I was still young and hip. I was a young Mom and had plenty of time with my kids. Especially Wesley. My goal has and will be to get him to a point where he can live as independent as possible and be able to take care of himself has lead me to forget myself. What happened to my 20's? Where did they go? My journey to Mommyhood started when I was 22. It took four years to reach the part where the journey took a different turn. Boy, did it certainly veer off course. My 20's were not my best years, but I'm going to miss them. Thirties brings about a certain responsibility that I'm not ready commit to even though I'm already in the thick of it.

Anyway, I'm trying to keep it like any other day because the thought of saying "I'm 30" scares the shit out of me.

Pain in the rump

It's been about a month since Wes was put on Ultrase, the digestive enzyme. We've taken him off ourselves because he was showing signs of pain, discomfort and constipation again. He would hunch over in the catchers stance every few minutes, and I could tell that he was in pain by his face. He wouldn't want us near him and he wasn't going in his diaper. I started to track when he would go, and realized that he was almost 4 days. Thankfully, a session of cranial sacral helped get his intestines moving and he went the next day. Not to be graphic, but it was so hard and wide.

I've been trying to get a hold of the doctor now for almost two weeks. He, nor a nurse, has returned any of my phone calls and I'm getting very frustrated and angry. The medication isn't life or death for him, but it still deserves a call from the doctor. While I'm typing this, I finally got through to the nurse practitioner and she recommended we make a follow up appointment now rather then 6 months. We need to come up with another plan for him.

It wasn't easy giving him this medication to begin with. Because he can't swallow pills, we had to open them and put the contents into a food. Well with his limited diet, that posed a problem. We had to somehow bribe him to eat a few bites of applesauce with the contents in it. He would gag and fight us tooth and nail, but we managed to get it into him. I was worried about giving the enzyme to him when he wouldn't eat anything. What's the point if there's no food in his stomach to digest? Was that the issue causing him pain? Was it because it wasn't consistent and his body wasn't getting used to it regularly? I have no idea. All I know is that I'd rather my son keep taking Pediasure and using Cranial Sacral therapy, then having pains like he was having.

To be continued....