Therapy

We see a behavioral therapist.  We discovered early on that two incredibly different parenting styles + one incredibly intelligent, manipulative little boy = a lot of headaches and heartache.  So... we found a therapist who not only treats Dylan but treats us as well. 

Man, he really can call us on our shit when warranted. He can also be incredibly supportive and gives amazing  parenting techniques and ideas. The result has been we are coming together to parent more. I have to learn to back off and Marc needs to learn to step up. We both want to do what's best for Dylan so we are learning and it's working for all of us. Problem is... he's crazy expensive. But as I've said in the past, I'd sell myself in order to continue seeing him. He's that good.

I will say that he worried us a bit. He seemed surprised that Dylan sleeps about 11.5 to 12 hours on average. He said that while it works for us now, as he gets older, developmentally, he's going to want to stay up later. I don't see that happening any time soon (he says next year but I think it may be longer). But he seemed very concerned about the amount he sleeps. Now it's got my brain going. I'm wondering if I should call his pediatrician and discuss it with her. Right now, I'll just sit with it. He's always been a fantastic sleeper. Most parents would kill for their kids to go to bed at 7:30 p.m. every night right?

SHE'S BACK!!!

Baggage & Bug are back!!!

~doing happy dance~

Update on spidey sense and a small milestone

I emailed the teacher.  She was out sick Monday and Tuesday and Wed wasn't quite right yet.  The schedule has been off so that would explain why Dylan is off. Okay onto the milestone :) Last night, around 7:15 p.m. Dylan came up to me, placed my hand on his face for some face squishes and said "Mommy, I tired, I go to bed". ~waits for everyone to get over their jealousy~ I said fine, took him upstairs, got him washed, brushed and into PJ's and then it was off to bed. I snuggled with him for a few minutes, came downstairs at 7:35 p.m. and announced "he's out!". He's getting better and better at self regulating whether it's sleep, eating or sensory.

My Spidey Sense Is Tingling

GAH! I hate it when this happens. I feel that something is off with Dylan. I can't place it. I think his teacher may have been out this week as nothing has been touched in his book bag all week with the exception of Monday and Wednesday. Wednesday we just got a positive behavior report and that's it. Nothing is written in his work book. No speech work nothing.

He also seems a bit off. Like something isn't right. This morning he said he didn't want to go to school until I told him it was Shabbat (he loves Shabbat).

I really hope it's nothing but it's quite rare that my intuition says something is off and it's not.

!#$@#@! Insurance

Our new insurance policy begins next month.   Unfortunately, Dylan's therapies are still not covered.  But some of our copays have gone down (yay), well visits are now copay free (yay) but my cost of insurance is up by almost $90 and... my beloved gastocrom is going from $40 for a 2 week supply to $70 ~thud~. I'm going from spending $1,040 for Gastocrom a year (approx) to $1,820 a year.

Where the hell is my health insurance reform. Dylan and my medical bills are absolutely crippling us financially.

I tried to go without gastocrom. I weaned myself off of it and have gone a few weeks without taking it. I've been flushing daily even though I'm taking my aspirin (I flush due to an extremely high progestaglandarin D2 level). My brain fog is terrible. I can't keep a straight thought in my head. I hate to say this but I really need this medicine but it's so fargin expensive it drives me batty.

Of course, the only population (that I'm aware of) that uses this medicine in this form is the Mastocytosis sufferers. Guess they know they have a captured audience so they can change whatever the hell they want. However, I shouldn't bitch too much, I do have insurance and it does cover the med. For that I am grateful.

Just watch this... please

Thanks to Dad Gone Mad

Singing

Yesterday, Dylan got himself into a snit.  After a warning or two, I sent him to his room to cool off.  I went up about 5 minutes later and I could hear him singing to himself "show me the way to go home". 

Drama

Last Monday - at Dylan's after school care - the woman went on and on about how adorable and sweet he is.

Last Friday - at Dylan's after school care - the woman told me that Dylan slapped another boy. We talked to him about it.

We reminded him over the weekend that hands are not for hitting, we don't hit our friends, etc. This past Monday - nothing. This past Tuesday - at Dylan's after school care - the woman told me that he is hitting the kids, interfering with their games and that this may not be the right program for him. I tried to explain his needs but she didn't want to hear it. She made it very clear to me that in order for her and her staff to properly care for Dylan and his classmates, they would actually have to do something besides sit on the bench and hope the kids don't kill each other and she wasn't willing to do that. We asked him why he was hitting the kids and he said in sad little voice "Mommy, they won't play with me". ~insert knife in Mommy's heart~

Fine.

Yesterday, called Dylan's old day care to see if they had openings. CHECK!

Yesterday, called the district's transportation department and arranged for a bus to pick him up in the a.m. from the house. CHECK!

Yesterday, called Dylan's old day care to verify they got the information and make sure they were ready to roll. CHECK!

Yesterday, called the after school people and told them Dylan won't be back and why. They thanked me for being professional in my delivery of the news (I guess they get a lot of screaming parents). CHECK!

Called Marc and let him know that Dylan starts back to old day care... Thursday. Yep - got it done in one day! ~doing the happy Mommy dance~

So... instead of Dylan being stuck in a big all purpose room (nightmare for kids with auditory processing and sensory disorders), he'll be in a wonderful place where he can go swimming, play basketball and gaga (Israeli dodge ball), continue to learn about Judaism, and be in an inclusive environment. YAY

Back To School Night

Tonight is back to school night. We get to hear presentations from the principal and others from the school, meet with his teacher, her aids and the therapists who work with Dylan daily and get to meet the rest of the parents of the kids in the room.  I'm really looking forward to it.  Dylan, in just the few weeks he's been in Kindergarten has been doing incredibly well.  His speech has been improving daily - coming home with new words (he currently likes to call things strange), his behavior is getting better and more age appropriate.  We are just thrilled. 

Of course... I could have lived without hearing that he slapped a kid yesterday at after care.  I asked him why and he said the boy wouldn't play with him.  ~sigh~  We talked about keeping his hands to himself.  Hopefully he gets it.

Like speaks to like

Last night, we had the pleasure of attending a birthday party for one of Dylan's classmates. The family lives about 5 minutes from us and has 4 boys. Dylan's classmate is the youngest of the bunch (oldest 16) and is as sweet as the day is long. There were about 4 other children in attendance which was a nice easy number for all the kid to manage.  

The birthday boy is older than Dylan (Dylan's class is Kindergarten through 2nd Grade).  I asked the other Moms of the older boys "is the teacher as amazing as I think she is?"  I got the same response from all.... "no... she's better".

One boy was there with his grandmother.  When we sang Happy Birthday, it triggered an auditory sensory response and he had his ears covered.  No biggie - we all get it.  I don't think Grandmom realized that and was trying to push his hands down.  I just wanted to walk over and let her know that it's okay - we all get it.

Marc and I did a great job (if I do say so myself) parking the helicopter for the night.  It was hard.  They have a trampoline in the back yard, no net, the metal bars weren't covered well and it was ripping in some parts.  Dylan had a blast jumping off of it.  Oy.

One of the boys has cerebral palsy.  His mother obviously allows him to decide what he can and can't do.  He wanted to go on the trampoline with the boys and she picked him up and put him up there.  The boys did lower their level of insanity a touch but they rough housed with him and he loved it.  At one point, the birthday boy stood up and the little guy clothlined him and knocked him right on his butt.  The parents were hysterical!  We laughed a lot last night.  It was so nice.

Tomorrow is back to school night.  We get to meet with his teacher and, hopefully, his speech and OT therapists.