Gluten free cone and dairy free sorbet

Yay!!! 

He's four. And he finally likes "ice cream"

It's just that we're living

I know I haven't posted much.
Honestly, I am so busy and overwhelmed I can hardly keep the house clean.

However, a lot has happened which I will tell you about:

1. multidisciplinary meeting with our Autism Center went very well.

2. The school decided that he didn't need summer programming?!

3. Still no professional ABA though P and I use Apps and PECS and art to help him.

4. We found a game called bug builder that is awesome and has made it easier for us to wipe food and dirt off of his face.  how about one for teeth brushing and nail clipping!>

5. OT went really well yesterday. They are going to help us with G's food aversions and grooming and sensory processing!!! every two weeks.

6. His yearly check up for the longitudinal study went very well as well.  He is still delayed...but he has gained 22 months worth of speech and language in only ONE YEAR.

More soon, I promise. So much to talk about.

Meanwhile, keep on educating yourself about Autism Spectrum. Please.

Thank you.

IEP, MRI, OMG!

Well, a lot has been happening and that's why we haven't posted much. We are swamped. Both parents working full time and G going to two schools, etc.
We adopted a very awesome dog called Galaxy. galaxy has really been a blessing. She's very sweet, smart, and forces us to go for walks which reduces stress and anxiety as well as allows for time to forget about our troubles.
Family dog walks are fun. As far as chaos goes, an almost 4 year old is way more messy and destructive than a dog. She is G's snuggle buddy and constant companion. She loves him, and he loves her. She even helps him socialize. He practices social skills on her. "Hi Galaxy!"

A lot has happened. In early February, we saw the NP that from the autism center, and she determined that we should rule out Neurofibromatosis as he has a lot of cafe au lait spots (I do, too, but I am pretty sure I ruled out) and they are looking for any abnormalities that could be causing his autism. He also had some genetics blood drawn. We are looking forward to learning more about G and the ways we can help him.
PECS are a must in school, or a rigid routine.
He had a bout with pneumonia in January but he's doing better.
I am exhausted.
So, more later...

I love being your mom

G,
You are awesome. I love you.
You make every morning the best morning ever because I wake up and I'm your mommy.

Glasses Mommy

So, Sometime last week, I decided to wear contacts at work. Thinking about how nice it would feel to not have to wear glasses for a day since I had been wearing my glasses pretty much regularly since we moved to Ohio again. So I showed up at G's daycare to pick him up after work. I was wearing contacts. He looked at me and said want glasses mommy and then he started to cry. He would not come to me. He would not look me in the eye but that's not unusual! However he would not let me hold him or touch him and he would not acknowledge me. He kept saying over and over "want glasses mommy!" he said this over and over and over until finally his awesome afternoon preschool teacher decided to grab her reading glasses.
She came up to me and handed them to me and said: hey these are just reading glasses but give it a try if you put them on he might want to come to you.
So I put on her reading glasses and I whispered to her "I'll leave them at the front desk when I leave." She winked at me and said to go ahead. I put them on. It worked. He came to me and let me take him home.
I learned that day that routine and consistency are not just great for schedules for him, but appearance as well. Wow.
So no more contact wearing for me for a while!

only a minute

Ok, I never post. It's because I really just don't have time lately. I am working full time, as usual, but in a M-F capacity, and my weekends are spent cleaning, doing laundry, and, you guessed it, hanging with G.
He is very stressed out with all of the new changes: two new schools, new place to live,  sometimes daddy has to go away on business trips, sometimes the autism program he goes to is closed, etc.
I just wanted to mention that though we have had several behavioral setbacks...like potty training, and communicating hunger and thirst, he is making progress in other ways, like acknowledging other people in the room, and asking for a preferred parent "want mommy." "want daddy"
He still fights bedtime, so matter how tired he is, and he still hates getting up in the morning. He hates to eat meals, hates to have his pull up changed, etc.
The preschool he goes to won't allow us to bring outside foods...a legal liability. Therefore, he can't be on his gluten free casein free diet that we had him on in Georgia. The teachers tell us about behaviours that are undesirable. Ones that went away when we kept him on the strict diet.
They will allow us to keep him off of milk, but still feed him foods that contain dairy.
I give up.
I know what you are thinking...what an awful mom.
But understand this: he does not have MILK or dairy at home. He does great that way, but they won't let us provide non-gluten food alternatives at his private preschool. but i can't not work, and I work during the day now...what can I do?
I'm also struggling financially (when am I not?)
I took a 10K pay cut to move back to Ohio. Paul's able to get caught up nicely due to the fact that his rent is no longer anywhere near what it was. my bills have not really changed too much. I don't make enough money to pay all my bills and buy the groceries I once enjoyed providing. I am at Paul's mercy. So if he wants chips and pasta, that is what we have to eat! However, I am glad he is providing food. I still try to buy clothes and toiletries and pay the phone bill.
It looks like I better get another job, though.
Which will take away my time from G. Which does not make me happy.

I may go back to school since my job pays for tuition, but it won't defer all my loans, just 413.00/mo of them.
I can't even pay it now.
I have started to sell stuff.

So, at least there is good news, yall!
In Georgia, I had to hold a fundraiser to get G's care started.
Here? nope...I can afford the co-pays AND I get 90 visits a year of OT/PT, AND>>>>>
we have an appt with the excellent Autism Center here which will help us figure out more of what we can do at home to help G succeed. AAAAANNND G gets OT at school now. AAAAND we love our IEP team.

So....moving to Ohio which now has mandatory coverage for Autism if you are insured... was the best thing ever.
And though I am broke as a joke, my health is slowly improving. my labs are getting better.

xo
more soon.
and thank you!!!!
gonna go hug my boy now.