Friday, July 08, 2005

July 8th, 2005

Wow. Where to start? Crazy couple of weeks. You'd think after all this time that I would adjust to the craziness and just accept it as normal, but that hasn't happened yet.

We finished round 2 of the Sensory Learning Program and the results have been encouraging. Jakob has definitely made some significant improvements in his comprehension and attention span, his balance is so much better and he's so much more receptive. To put it simply...he's not just in the same room as we are...he's "with us"...there's a definite connection that hasn't always been there.

Probably the funniest thing that Jakob has started to do is take off his diaper. He's finally starting to notice that there's something going on down there. One day while I was outside killing poison ivy, Jakob removed his really messy diaper and started to jump up and down in it. What a disaster...it was all over him, all over the floor, all over everywhere. Kenny had to move quickly. I felt so guilty that I was unable to assist him...(not really).

I hope the taking the diaper off thing is a sign that we're getting closer to potty training...I've heard too many stories of 25-year-olds with autism who are still in diapers...that scares me.

"Serenity Now" is coming along nicely. I've added a swing, a fountain, a couple more birdbaths and some more flowers. Jakob loves it. He was up late the other night and was going crazy outside with the tiki torches. He kept going back and forth between the water table, the sprinkler and the torches. He was laughing and running around...it was awesome to watch. All the work (and money) has been worth it.

Life in the back yard has been going a lot better than life indoors. He's started being a real booger with the tv again. It's frightening how bright he is. He has the whole tv and dvd player thing figured out. He can work our electronics better than we can. He turns the tv on, puts in a dvd, changes the input on the tv so he can watch the dvd, turns the volume up, fast forwards and rewinds...it's insane. The kicker is...he hides the remotes from us so we have to actually get up off our butts to change the channel back. He laughs at us.

He also gets a real kick out of going up to our bedroom and slamming dresser drawers. Slam. Slam. Slam. He knows that we'll go up there and as soon as he sees us coming, he runs and jumps on the bed. Of course he's grinning the whole time...so ornery. Sometime in the near future, we're gonna tape up the tv so he can't get to the buttons and we're gonna put a lock on our bedroom doors. What's that old saying...an ounce of prevention...?

Another big challenge is getting enough "alone time" with Jakob. Jakob and I have a certain afternoon/evening routine that we both really enjoy. We haven't done this routine in weeks. I really miss it. It's a quiet, calm routine that lasts for hours. Not having that routine in place is messsing with both of us. Hopefully our schedule will get back to "normal" soon.

We've started the whole process of changing his diet. We met with the DAN doctor yesterday and we're going to start the testing next week. Luckily, the testing only involves urine, blood and stool. Pretty basic but the results could tell us a lot. Kenny is extra-terrified of the gluten-free/casein-free diet. Jakob only eats about 10 things and almost all of them will have to be eliminated. It will be hard on all of us, especially Jakob since he won't understand what's going on. It will be ugly but if it helps him, it will be worth it.

My best friend and her 2 kids along with my Mom are coming this weekend. I can't wait to see how Jakob does with her 5-year-old son. He's a great kid...so smart. I'm sure I'll be able to show him some sign language and he'll have a ball with Jakob in the back yard. I've been looking forward to them coming for a visit, it's been too long since they've been here. They need to move in...

I really feel like I've been chasing my tail lately and not getting done everything I need to get done. I try not to beat myself up too much...there's only so much time in the day and I can only do so much. It's still frustrating though...I catch myself getting cranky from the stress. I need more time in "Serenity Now"...

-Jenn

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home