Other than keep finding "Naked Dylan" with no diaper on and occaisonally(more often than not) surprises for us(more often Brandon because I am busy running around like a chicken with it's head cut off) to clean up, he has been really good lately! Happy and always trying to get our attention or wants to be in the vicinity of us more than he has in the past. I love it but at the same time feel bad because we do have 3 other kids and aren't able to give him that constant attention that he seems to be seeking, but at least it seems like we are moving in the right direction!
Today, was one of those days! I had my 2 nephews and niece over while Cody and Lacy went to work again! They got here a little before 8 and Dylan's bus picks him up around 8:15. The kids all went downstairs while I ran upstairs to watch for the bus and get a few last minute things done. I saw the bus pulling in the Cul De Sac and ran down to grab Dyl. He was just walking out of the toy room where all the kids were. When I told him the bus is here, he fell to the ground crying. I had to pick him up, which he is learning this new technique of throwing himself to the ground and tightening up so it is much harder to just pick him up, and carry him upstairs. I then had to force his coat on and repeat the pick up Dylan game and carry him to the bus....crying! When I handed him to the Bus Aide, he climbed the stairs and then turned and looked at me with his sad face, pretty much saying "it isn't fair I don't get to play with my cousins." Little does he know Brielle and Bos had to go to school 10 minutes later, so they didn't either.
He went to school and as far as I know had a great day! When he got off the bus, they said "Someone is excited to be home!" Sure enough no sooner than when his feet hit the sidewalk, he practically jumped into my arms! I can't deny how that made me feel! My heart melted! I love that, slowly but surely, his interactions with the world around him seem to be increasing!
Also, we have been asking "yes and no" questions and have got the head nod for "yes" quite a bit! We haven't got a "no" yet so I am almost wondering if he is just doing it because he knows he'll get something if he does, but he is communicating and that is a step in the right direction so I will take it. The first time I asked him a question, he ran to get cheese so I asked, "do you want cheese?" I had to ask twice before realizing he was doing it. It was a very slight nod where he barely tilted his head from the base of his neck down an inch or so. When I asked him the second time, I noticed it and was so impressed. Over the past 2 days he seems to be getting it down more! So I guess to answer his teachers question about him only associating it at school, would be a "No!" He gets a little smile when he does it too, so I think he is proud of himself, as he should be!
Friday, December 4, 2015
Thursday, December 3, 2015
School Update!
I had just left the store when my phone rang. I thought maybe my Dad was calling to see where we were because he stops by occasionally on his way home from work and it was about that time, but when I saw my phone said Dylan's teacher, I was prepared to head to Payson and pick him up. When I answered, she said that it wasn't anything bad and he was doing fine but she wanted to talk to me about something to work with Dylan at home!
She said they have been working on answering yes and no questions with a simple head nod and the past two days he has been doing it mostly on his own! She said they have been asking him things and then touching the back of his head and guiding him with the appropriate response but he is starting to do it on his own, unprompted. She said he ran over to a sensory table and she was going to get him and take him back to where he was supposed to be, but then she decided to use this experience as a "test" so to speak. She asked him certain questions(yes or no) about the sensory table and he responded by shaking his head(almost the whole body she says), so she let him play at it for getting the correct responses. She asked that we work on it at home also and see how he does. She wonders if it will take him some time because he may associate it with school and that is where he is supposed to do it, so if we work with him at home he can use it in his everyday life! Small but BIG!!
She also said that they feel like he is starting to make more connections and when they are working with him, he is looking at them as if saying, "What do you want me to do." Which means he is listening and understanding better! He was saying "Bus" before we left for Panama and she said since our "trip"(that to her is just a week off of school because as far as I know, she doesn't know what our "Trip" was) he hasn't been saying it. Probably because we don't work on the word "bus" at home but it just shows how quickly he loses words if they are not ran through that little brain of his daily. He is starting to try and say it again, she said. She also mentioned that he is starting to try and say more words and some times they can make out and tell what he is saying.
Here is the kicker!!! She is very glad that he is a "candy addict"(which if you know Dylan you know that is 80% of what he will actually eat, ha ha.) The reason she is glad that he is a "Candy Addict" is because that is what they use for the rewards, to praise him when he does what they want him to do. She said that most kids love recess time and despise group time(where they work one on one with the child), but not Dylan. He LOVES group time and despises recess time! Why, you may ask, because that is where he gets his treats! She said when they line up for recess the majority of the time he will break away and head for the "group" area. When they make him go to recess, he cries ha ha!
She said they have been working on answering yes and no questions with a simple head nod and the past two days he has been doing it mostly on his own! She said they have been asking him things and then touching the back of his head and guiding him with the appropriate response but he is starting to do it on his own, unprompted. She said he ran over to a sensory table and she was going to get him and take him back to where he was supposed to be, but then she decided to use this experience as a "test" so to speak. She asked him certain questions(yes or no) about the sensory table and he responded by shaking his head(almost the whole body she says), so she let him play at it for getting the correct responses. She asked that we work on it at home also and see how he does. She wonders if it will take him some time because he may associate it with school and that is where he is supposed to do it, so if we work with him at home he can use it in his everyday life! Small but BIG!!
She also said that they feel like he is starting to make more connections and when they are working with him, he is looking at them as if saying, "What do you want me to do." Which means he is listening and understanding better! He was saying "Bus" before we left for Panama and she said since our "trip"(that to her is just a week off of school because as far as I know, she doesn't know what our "Trip" was) he hasn't been saying it. Probably because we don't work on the word "bus" at home but it just shows how quickly he loses words if they are not ran through that little brain of his daily. He is starting to try and say it again, she said. She also mentioned that he is starting to try and say more words and some times they can make out and tell what he is saying.
Here is the kicker!!! She is very glad that he is a "candy addict"(which if you know Dylan you know that is 80% of what he will actually eat, ha ha.) The reason she is glad that he is a "Candy Addict" is because that is what they use for the rewards, to praise him when he does what they want him to do. She said that most kids love recess time and despise group time(where they work one on one with the child), but not Dylan. He LOVES group time and despises recess time! Why, you may ask, because that is where he gets his treats! She said when they line up for recess the majority of the time he will break away and head for the "group" area. When they make him go to recess, he cries ha ha!
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Brain Exercises
I have been feeling a lot lately that we need to start doing the brain excercises that we did with Brain Balance. Maybe that could help kick start something amazing or something small but to us small is big, so no matter what it's going to bring amazing changes right? Ha ha.
Anyway, we had a busy night yesterday and then tonight was the same. We finally got around to it just before bedtime but did not go as planned. Lets just say right before bed time is NOT the time to do these. I don't remember him putting up this big of a fight when we did them last year, but boy did he tonight! We started off with the Smells, which are 6 different containers that have smells to stimulate his brain on the side they say he is delayed(i think right but need to go back and check in my notes). The second he got a whiff of the first smell, the struggle began! It was almost as if the smells brought on PTSD or something, which. Like I said he never put up this kind of fight before, so I don't know why it was so bad now.
We got through the smells and attempted a few other excercises but it was not easy. He was screaming and tightening up and turning and trying to get away. I ran upstairs to grab the folder with the exercises in it because we couldn't remember what we should be doing. Brandon stayed with him and started a few more exercises where he has to kind of help Dylan do. One of them being situps! I walked back in as they were doing these. The look on Dylan's face and the expression in Dylan's eyes was something I have not seen in a while. He was gone, checked out, not there, whatever you want to call it, but I was done at that point. Lately, he always looks "here" and has not had that "gone" look. Apparently until I saw it tonight, I hadn't noticed but I am thankful he hasn't looked that way in a while. By the way, Brandon worked up a sweat trying to get Dylan to do 10 situps, that is how bad of a struggle it was!
I grabbed Dyl and cuddled with him and he cuddled up to me! I told him we are just trying to help him and we want to help these connections along that his brain needs. I told him we are not trying to hurt him and that we love him and will do anything for him. I told him we are going to continue these exercises tomorrow and keep trying until hopefully it gets easier and hopefully brings on more progress! We called it quits for the night, but I couldn't go put him in bed so we watched a show together for a bit and then I made him mad and took him to bed. He settled down pretty quick and went to bed.
The look in his eyes tonight took me back though and although we are not anywhere close to the finish line, I realized that we have definitley made progress. Another girl that I speak with on Facebook that has taken her son once for treatment, talked about the "sparkle" in her sons eyes before his regression. That is also something we talk about with Dylan. We miss that! I hope it returns one day!
Anyway, we had a busy night yesterday and then tonight was the same. We finally got around to it just before bedtime but did not go as planned. Lets just say right before bed time is NOT the time to do these. I don't remember him putting up this big of a fight when we did them last year, but boy did he tonight! We started off with the Smells, which are 6 different containers that have smells to stimulate his brain on the side they say he is delayed(i think right but need to go back and check in my notes). The second he got a whiff of the first smell, the struggle began! It was almost as if the smells brought on PTSD or something, which. Like I said he never put up this kind of fight before, so I don't know why it was so bad now.
We got through the smells and attempted a few other excercises but it was not easy. He was screaming and tightening up and turning and trying to get away. I ran upstairs to grab the folder with the exercises in it because we couldn't remember what we should be doing. Brandon stayed with him and started a few more exercises where he has to kind of help Dylan do. One of them being situps! I walked back in as they were doing these. The look on Dylan's face and the expression in Dylan's eyes was something I have not seen in a while. He was gone, checked out, not there, whatever you want to call it, but I was done at that point. Lately, he always looks "here" and has not had that "gone" look. Apparently until I saw it tonight, I hadn't noticed but I am thankful he hasn't looked that way in a while. By the way, Brandon worked up a sweat trying to get Dylan to do 10 situps, that is how bad of a struggle it was!
I grabbed Dyl and cuddled with him and he cuddled up to me! I told him we are just trying to help him and we want to help these connections along that his brain needs. I told him we are not trying to hurt him and that we love him and will do anything for him. I told him we are going to continue these exercises tomorrow and keep trying until hopefully it gets easier and hopefully brings on more progress! We called it quits for the night, but I couldn't go put him in bed so we watched a show together for a bit and then I made him mad and took him to bed. He settled down pretty quick and went to bed.
The look in his eyes tonight took me back though and although we are not anywhere close to the finish line, I realized that we have definitley made progress. Another girl that I speak with on Facebook that has taken her son once for treatment, talked about the "sparkle" in her sons eyes before his regression. That is also something we talk about with Dylan. We miss that! I hope it returns one day!
Monday, November 30, 2015
Ring Around the Rosy
I haven't posted in a few days but everything has been going pretty well. We have had our good days and we have had our bad days just like any other! However, today turned out to be a pretty good day! I watched 2 of my nephews today and so Dylan saw them just before he went to school. When he got home (which by the way, as soon as he got off the bus he looked up at me and held out his arms wanting me to pick him up! Can you say, "acknowledging a parent!") I mentioned that he missed his cousins. He immediately lead me to the van and was ready to go. I wondered if he wanted to go play at their house because he has gone there a few times lately and so he may have been expecting to play with them when he got home!
We ran a few errands and anytime we passed a fast food place with a playground, he broke out crying. We had to get creative and drive down some back roads to avoid any more melt downs. We got home and made dinner and Dylan did his thing of watching shows on our bed and downstairs, just his regular routine. Brandon mentioned that it seems like he comes up to get us more often than he used to if he is left alone by himself for too long, so that could be considered being more aware of his surroundings, right?
After dinner was cleaned up and put away is when the night got really fun and made this old Mom super dizzy! He was really trying to interact with us, mainly Brielle and I. He was super happy! I just love his little smile when he gets in these moods! Brielle has really been going out of her way lately and really trying to involve him as much as possible. I think Dylan has caught on and is starting to open up to her, which I absolutely LOVE! While we were at the store earlier, he was having a little melt down. Brielle said she had it under control and grabbed his hand and walked with him! So while we were playing at home it continued and Dylan kept gravitating toward Brielle and I. Before long we started to play Ring Around the Rosy and Dylan full on participated! He was even coming and grabbing our hands and initiating the game himself. Desi and Boston got involved a bit, but anytime it would have made it so Dylan had to hold Desi's hand, Brielle made sure to hurry and switch it up so that me and her would be the ones holding his hand. She knows that he will not hold Desi's hand for some reason, so she wanted to keep him involved. However, I have noticed in the past week or so he is starting to tolerate Desi a teeny tiny bit more. He lets her lay by him for a short amount of time sometimes now! We honestly played for a good 30-45 minutes, so you can imagine the spinning in my head now almost 2 hours later! But to get that kind of interaction and playing that we were seeing, I would do anything for, even if it makes me sick!
We ran a few errands and anytime we passed a fast food place with a playground, he broke out crying. We had to get creative and drive down some back roads to avoid any more melt downs. We got home and made dinner and Dylan did his thing of watching shows on our bed and downstairs, just his regular routine. Brandon mentioned that it seems like he comes up to get us more often than he used to if he is left alone by himself for too long, so that could be considered being more aware of his surroundings, right?
After dinner was cleaned up and put away is when the night got really fun and made this old Mom super dizzy! He was really trying to interact with us, mainly Brielle and I. He was super happy! I just love his little smile when he gets in these moods! Brielle has really been going out of her way lately and really trying to involve him as much as possible. I think Dylan has caught on and is starting to open up to her, which I absolutely LOVE! While we were at the store earlier, he was having a little melt down. Brielle said she had it under control and grabbed his hand and walked with him! So while we were playing at home it continued and Dylan kept gravitating toward Brielle and I. Before long we started to play Ring Around the Rosy and Dylan full on participated! He was even coming and grabbing our hands and initiating the game himself. Desi and Boston got involved a bit, but anytime it would have made it so Dylan had to hold Desi's hand, Brielle made sure to hurry and switch it up so that me and her would be the ones holding his hand. She knows that he will not hold Desi's hand for some reason, so she wanted to keep him involved. However, I have noticed in the past week or so he is starting to tolerate Desi a teeny tiny bit more. He lets her lay by him for a short amount of time sometimes now! We honestly played for a good 30-45 minutes, so you can imagine the spinning in my head now almost 2 hours later! But to get that kind of interaction and playing that we were seeing, I would do anything for, even if it makes me sick!
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Potty Training
Well potty training hasn't gone so well today. We started out thinking We would attempt both kids but after Brandon ran Brielle and Boston to a movie with Cody and his kids and I ran up and downstairs atleast 10 times(getting new pullups, running the poopy pullup to the garbage, coming back down after to see Desi decided to poop more on the floor, etc. and Dylan had pooped on the couch earlier) in the time Brandon was gone for 30 minutes or so. I decided we would just focus on Dylan for the time being! I tried to take him to the bathroom every 30 or so minutes but I think he only peed a handful of times. Maybe I am jumping the gun or maybe I(and Dylan) am not really ready for this. I don't want to wait too long and have him just get used to it and think that this is what you do, but I hate potty training! I think I will just continue to put him on the toilet as often as I can and then next week when he is out of school for the holiday maybe we can help it connect.
In other news, Brielle is an amazing big sister! She is always, more recently, really trying to get Dylan involved. I think Dylan really has a bond with her. She started talking to him and let him lead her upstairs. After a few minutes they came back downstairs with some bubbles. Brielle said Dylan threw her hand to them, so he chose them. She literally had him playing and interacting with her for a good 20 minutes. I can't get him to focus that long! She was blowing the bubbles and would try to get him to blow bubbles too. He was really trying! He kept hugging her once in a while and just smiled! It was so fun to see and see the love he has for his sister! It made this Mom's eyes fill with tears of joy!
We also decided to try the hair cutting thing again... Lets just say this time was a little better! I would say his reaction was more of being tortured rather than killed. He was downstairs while I was getting things ready so Brandon went to grab him. When Brandon brought him up all it took was for him to see me cutting the garbage bag( I lay this down so hair doesn't get on the floor) and he lost it. He got a little amprehensive when Brandon wouldn't let him go, he panicked. His little heart started beating out of his chest and he was sweating up a storm before I even was ready to get him in the chair. However, by the time we started cutting his hair he was already calmer then he was when cutting his hair last time. He cried off and on the whole time and squirmed a little bit but compared to the last few times it was a lot less dramatic. Hopefully this gets easier as time goes on because I delay his hair cut as long as possible for this reason. I have been tempted to take him to get it cut to see if cutting it with scissors rather than hair clippers would be easier for him, but Brandon had a good point today and really didn't want him to cause a big scene at a salon. I was so tempted to just stop in the Walmart hair salon while we were there today and test it out, but we decided not to.
In other news, Brielle is an amazing big sister! She is always, more recently, really trying to get Dylan involved. I think Dylan really has a bond with her. She started talking to him and let him lead her upstairs. After a few minutes they came back downstairs with some bubbles. Brielle said Dylan threw her hand to them, so he chose them. She literally had him playing and interacting with her for a good 20 minutes. I can't get him to focus that long! She was blowing the bubbles and would try to get him to blow bubbles too. He was really trying! He kept hugging her once in a while and just smiled! It was so fun to see and see the love he has for his sister! It made this Mom's eyes fill with tears of joy!
We also decided to try the hair cutting thing again... Lets just say this time was a little better! I would say his reaction was more of being tortured rather than killed. He was downstairs while I was getting things ready so Brandon went to grab him. When Brandon brought him up all it took was for him to see me cutting the garbage bag( I lay this down so hair doesn't get on the floor) and he lost it. He got a little amprehensive when Brandon wouldn't let him go, he panicked. His little heart started beating out of his chest and he was sweating up a storm before I even was ready to get him in the chair. However, by the time we started cutting his hair he was already calmer then he was when cutting his hair last time. He cried off and on the whole time and squirmed a little bit but compared to the last few times it was a lot less dramatic. Hopefully this gets easier as time goes on because I delay his hair cut as long as possible for this reason. I have been tempted to take him to get it cut to see if cutting it with scissors rather than hair clippers would be easier for him, but Brandon had a good point today and really didn't want him to cause a big scene at a salon. I was so tempted to just stop in the Walmart hair salon while we were there today and test it out, but we decided not to.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Mom(meaningful use) and some random things
Proud Mommy Moment:
When I walked to the bus to get Dylan today they told me someone was excited to be home! They told me that when they turned to come in the Cul De Sac Dylan started saying "Momma" and got really happy! Now if all his jibbering lately with the "mamamama" isn't saying "Mom" then I don't know what is!
Also, I got an Iphone a couple weeks ago and it has the health app that tracks your steps. Lets just say following this kid around has its perks! There has been some days that I have walked 3 miles and that is not leaving the house and not having my phone with me constantly! On average it says I walk about 2 miles a day, ha ha, who knows how many he does! He will get this Mom in shape one of these days!
At Dylan's IEP meeting a couple months ago his teacher was talking about him following commands but more or less implying that he follows the ones that are consistent and that he expects. I mentioned one day I told Dylan we were going downstairs and he headed right down. She seemed to think that was because that is a normal routine of ours, but I just shrugged it off because I didn't feel that way but felt he actually listened and did as I asked. Anyway I bring this up now because tonight we were having Boston play the Wii because Dylan brings that remote to us which means he wants someone to play so he can watch. Boston is usually very willing to be the one to play. After a little while Desi wanted to play and tried to get the remote from Bos, so I told her she would need to find the second remote so she could play(it actually won't work on this particular game, but she is 2 and doesn't need to know ha ha). Well before I knew it, I was being handed that second remote that was clear across the room, not by Desi but Dylan. Now you can't tell me that is a "routine" command and that he did not understand what I was saying. I wasn't even talking to him in the first place. That just made me pretty excited!
When I walked to the bus to get Dylan today they told me someone was excited to be home! They told me that when they turned to come in the Cul De Sac Dylan started saying "Momma" and got really happy! Now if all his jibbering lately with the "mamamama" isn't saying "Mom" then I don't know what is!
Also, I got an Iphone a couple weeks ago and it has the health app that tracks your steps. Lets just say following this kid around has its perks! There has been some days that I have walked 3 miles and that is not leaving the house and not having my phone with me constantly! On average it says I walk about 2 miles a day, ha ha, who knows how many he does! He will get this Mom in shape one of these days!
At Dylan's IEP meeting a couple months ago his teacher was talking about him following commands but more or less implying that he follows the ones that are consistent and that he expects. I mentioned one day I told Dylan we were going downstairs and he headed right down. She seemed to think that was because that is a normal routine of ours, but I just shrugged it off because I didn't feel that way but felt he actually listened and did as I asked. Anyway I bring this up now because tonight we were having Boston play the Wii because Dylan brings that remote to us which means he wants someone to play so he can watch. Boston is usually very willing to be the one to play. After a little while Desi wanted to play and tried to get the remote from Bos, so I told her she would need to find the second remote so she could play(it actually won't work on this particular game, but she is 2 and doesn't need to know ha ha). Well before I knew it, I was being handed that second remote that was clear across the room, not by Desi but Dylan. Now you can't tell me that is a "routine" command and that he did not understand what I was saying. I wasn't even talking to him in the first place. That just made me pretty excited!
Thursday, November 19, 2015
We have a note!
Dylan has been back in school for almost 2 weeks(9 school days) and we got our first note today. Last time Igot one almost every day(or so it seems) the first week back, so hopefully his body is adjusting a little better this time. The note said that "he did not eat his lunch and just cried off and on throughout the day." Nothing too big, but not the happy boy he had been lately. He was super happy when he got home and don't worry he ate for 10 the rest of the night! I was surprised by the note because he left for school happy where as the past 2 days he kind of put up a fight. He even threw himself down one day as we were walking to the bus. The Bus Aide commented and said, " That was new!" At least to her but to us we see it all to often! That was because he discovered a chocolate snack cake thing my Dad had given the kids right as the bus got there, so he was not happy I took it away.
He is continuing to strip down naked again! We had got to where we didn't worry about him and let him do his thing on his own for a while, but that freedom is gone for now. I told Brandon I need to listen to my intuition more often when it comes to this because I have the thought to check on him for that reason and when I do most of the time it is correct. In fact, it saved me twice today! I went and checked on him once and he was naked and just about to use the bathroom, on the floor. I got there in time to get him on the toilet and save me from a disaster! Later in the evening, we had just had dinner and I was cleaning up while Brandon was looking at something. I had that feeling again and told Brandon that I was feeling he needed to check on him. I honestly expected Brandon to come up and say he was fine and disprove my comment earlier, but he came up with a naked little boy and said I was right, ha ha.
He seems as if he is stripping down when he needs to go to the bathroom, so I told Brandon that we are going to work on potty training this weekend! We will see how it goes and if we follow through or not ha ha. I figure we will try the route of taking him to the bathroom every 30 minutes or so this weekend, so that gives us 2 full days to test it out before sending him back to school. The problem with this is Brandon and I usually go stir crazy and need out of the house when we have had enough of following Dylan around and getting him out of the fridge a million times an hour, so hopefully we can stick it out and it clicks for him! I also figured we may as well try it on little Desi while we are at it because she is starting to show signs of being ready too! Wish us luck!
He is continuing to strip down naked again! We had got to where we didn't worry about him and let him do his thing on his own for a while, but that freedom is gone for now. I told Brandon I need to listen to my intuition more often when it comes to this because I have the thought to check on him for that reason and when I do most of the time it is correct. In fact, it saved me twice today! I went and checked on him once and he was naked and just about to use the bathroom, on the floor. I got there in time to get him on the toilet and save me from a disaster! Later in the evening, we had just had dinner and I was cleaning up while Brandon was looking at something. I had that feeling again and told Brandon that I was feeling he needed to check on him. I honestly expected Brandon to come up and say he was fine and disprove my comment earlier, but he came up with a naked little boy and said I was right, ha ha.
He seems as if he is stripping down when he needs to go to the bathroom, so I told Brandon that we are going to work on potty training this weekend! We will see how it goes and if we follow through or not ha ha. I figure we will try the route of taking him to the bathroom every 30 minutes or so this weekend, so that gives us 2 full days to test it out before sending him back to school. The problem with this is Brandon and I usually go stir crazy and need out of the house when we have had enough of following Dylan around and getting him out of the fridge a million times an hour, so hopefully we can stick it out and it clicks for him! I also figured we may as well try it on little Desi while we are at it because she is starting to show signs of being ready too! Wish us luck!
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