Toilet training

The joy that most parents face in the first 5 years of their little ones life. It can be the source of the greatest frustrations for some. For both child and parent. Especially with a special needs child.

We are now going through this for the 3rd time (yes that is right we have tried twice before!). It started off ok. But now we are getting to the defient stage again. Which is where it gets frustrating. There is a new trick that started yesterday. If I keep wetting/soiling mummy will stick me in the bath and I get water play! This will be short lived if mummy has her way.

But it seems that it is 1 step forward and 3 back at the moment. After a week though I am sure he will master it eventually. We have gone on outings now with no issue. They just seem to be at home. Sigh. I am sure over time it will get better. But for now the washing machine and dryer are getting a full work out!

All Partied out

Thankfully all the birthday festivities are over with. But what a great idea it was to outsource the birthday party. The children had a ball. Even if pass the parcel was a hilarious event, which it seems to be at 3 year olds parties.

The birthday boy was so happy that all of his best girls were there. Yes he had boys at his party, but honestly the girls that came really made his day.

Will we out source again? Yes maybe every other year. Would I choose the same venue. Let me get back to you on that one!

But the main thing is they all had fun!

The Birthday Boy.

Yesterday was Thomas's 3rd Birthday. It was a very exciting day action packed and full of surprises and treats around every corner. He got very spoilt by everyone.

The day started at Nan and Pops as we had stayed over night. It took some convincing that it was actually finally his Birthday. It was not until Daddy told him that he finally believed it. There were presents and cake, before getting in the car and heading home.

Once home and nap time was done, the toys were played with and part 2 of the day started by going on an afternoon tea play date at my sisters house. The boys had a fantastic afternoon chasing each other and playing. And yep there was MORE cake.

Part 3. Dinner. This was just with the 3 of us. It was divine. Once again our favourite restaurant did not disappoint, they were warm welcoming and made the night special for Thomas and us. Including yet another birthday cake. So he truly got the most out of his day.

More amusing conversations

J: Thomas can you hop down from the chair.
T: I don't Like too (insert whiny voice.).
J: Little Princess hop down off the chair now!
T: I am not a Little Princess.
(For those who are not familiar with Little Princess, it is a show on ABC 4 Kids on channel 22. She is a whiny little princess who is spoilt rotten and I swear she is totally on the spectrum!)

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J: What day is it tomorrow Thomas?
T: School day.
J: Well done Thomas.
T: Mummy it is a your time day too.
M: yes Thomas who are right.

(On certain Thursday's there is a program for parents at the Early intervention unit called My Time. The parents go off to another room/building and have an education session whilst extra carers take care of the children. It also means we can have a hot coffee and a break too.)

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Every day Thomas astounds me with the information he knows and the conversations we have. He is so adamant as well about the things he knows. This week we had a new respite carer, who obviously had not been exposed to a child with Aspergers before. I could see she was constantly comparing her son and Thomas. But was amazed at how well he could hold a conversation with me and how much he could tell her about the animals we were looking at. Gosh I love having a little professor some days.

Sound

It can be such a wonderful thing. We like it in our lives becuase mostly it is pleasant. We can communicate more effectively, show emotion, relax to music, and even dance to our heart content.

But in the world of Aspergers sound can be a double edged sword. Sound can make an Aspie, cringe and go into full scale meltdown one minuet and then calm and relax them the next. Just depending on the type of sound.

For Thomas, the sound of church is too much. He can be happy and content before the service starts. But as soon and the organ starts and the parish starts to sign, it makes him hyper and anxious. He can't sit still or be held securely. He wiggles fidgets and even gets aggressive.

But put baby Mozart on his CD player and he is calm and content.

The other interesting thing, is these Aspies often hate loud startling noises, but they are the worst offenders for making loud and obnoxious noises. Take this morning for example. It started with noise. Banging on bedroom walls and banging the bedroom door closed over and over again.

Then singing none stop in a medley fashion of all the songs he knows, VERY loudly. Currently even though I am sitting at the same table as him having breakfast. I am getting HELLO HELLO non stop and all other types of loud ramblings. It is very loud in this house this morning. But if I got up and put the radio or iPod on Full scale war would eventuate, because it is my noise, not his.

OMG what happened???

This is what I have been facing every where I go lately. Because currently I am the bionic mum. I have a special brace from my arm pit to wrist.


This is all becuase I am raising Thomas. Yes, being the mum to Thomas comes with loads of joy, but occasionally pain. A month or two ago when Thomas was allowed to be in our bed he jumped on my wrist hyper extending my elbow over the edge of the bed. OUCH is not the word. I have damaged the ligaments.

So yes. What happened. Thomas happened. Raising a child with an ASD is like training for the Marathon of your life. It is exhilarating, but it has it's painful moments. You push through them and never give up. Because you simply can't. You don't get to rest. So instead you modify and recover slowly.

OT and Aspie moments.

Today was his second session of OT today. It went really well. He flitted from one activity to the next, but his therapist was great at keeping him on track. He even got to play with scissors.
The funniest moment came when she asked Thomas to crack open the theraputty to find the animals inside. The first one was a tiny baby (rubber) crocodile. Well that scared him and he almost refused to look at it, let alone touch it. Funny as. Even now he will tell you he was scared of the crocodile.

The Aspie moment of the day way the best. Being a direct Aspie child can really work in ones favour. I asked the neighbour (builder) what he was going to do to repair the back yard. He told me he would get around to it soon. Hm-mm. Like this mummy believes that.

Next thing Thomas goes over to the fence to ask him when is he going to fix his grass back up. Because he wants to play. I love my son.

Getting organised.... and today's quirks.

Well I did it. I got my act together and brought Mr T a cube bookcase to put his toys and games into. Putting it together was not fun, especially with one arm in a brace. But it is exactly what I wanted and needed in here. I was sick of stepping on toys, falling over trucks and blocks ect.

So now everything is neatly put away in it's place. Blocks ect have their own buckets. puppets have their own cube as do other toys, some share and it works well. Now I have another to do for his toy room too. Sigh. But it is going to look awesome. Control over the mess in this house is going to be regained.

It did how ever cause abut an hour of running in circles and arm flapping, but I am not sure if that was becuase he was excited by it or if it was just the change or both. This will help him also concentrate on one activity as he can only take out some toys not all of them.

PS yes I know there is a potty in there. It has it's place in the lounge too. I am hoping by Christmas another attempt at toilet training will happen. I guess a mum can dream that by the time he goes to school he will be fully toilet trained.

Now today's adventure. I am proud of myself today for not being rude but at the same time standing up for my child. We were in a department store doing the fathers day thing (like the rest of Australia) and were waiting in the checkout line. As I was organising the items to go on the counter from to trolley the lady behind us was trying to make eye contact with Thomas.

He was getting naturally uncomfortable and trying to divert her eye contact by turning away the best he could in his seat. The next things she says is "Playing shy is he." I turned to her and said, "That is becuase he is shy." And moved the trolley down so I was then standing between them. I avoided saying that is becuase eye contact is overrated when you have Aspergers. I just continued to let her think my child, who was doing his best not to be sensory overloaded, was just a shy little boy.

I know children a cute and some people are naturally drawn to them. But why do these same people think that becuase they are naturally drawn to a smiling child, that the child is going to like them too. Grrr. But I am also happy to report no meltdowns in the shopping centre at all. This is a huge achievement. But he had all his safety blankets there at the ready if need be. Oh yeah and snacks.

Sleep Clinic

Thomas started going to the sleep clinic at the Marter Children's hospital last year. He has always been a mildly horrible sleeper, but last June/July started having a few moments of sleep apnea a week sometimes a few times a night. Enough that would worry me greatly and would set off his monitors.

The Ear Nose Throat Dr we saw said it was not an obstructive cause and he needed to see a sleep specialist in Brisbane. This started the long fight/battle to get him seen at this clinic. By the time we got there he was no longer in his cot and we were unable to monitor his breathing effectively enough. He also became an even worse sleeper, taking forever to get to sleep and then waking constantly through the night often being awake for up to 2 hours at a time.

Well this has been getting worse and worse in the last 10 months. We were getting less and less sleep, often sharing the wakings in one night. So sometimes we would be luck to get 3-4 hours sleep at a time. Our last visit to the clinic in May was actually the day after we found out Thomas had Aspergers. The Dr we saw was terrible. She dismissed everything and demanded that we change everything we were doing, causing much more distress than ever. (seriously who sets about to change a child with Aspergers routine so greatly all at once!) And the things she suggested had all been tried before. If it worked at any stage it might have worked for one or two nights then never again.

So yesterday was our 3 month review. The Dr we got was amazing. He listened to us. Observed Thomas going off his tree in his room becuase of the lighting, acknowledge that it was not the best place for him to be, so he did a quick physical exam and sent Thomas and John out of the room and back to the starlight room.

He then suggested Melatonin. I did not even have to ask about if it was suitable for him. I am so very glad for this. He realised pretty quick what a volatile little man he is. (I have a bad arm injury right now from Thomas jumping on my arm whilst in our bed.) So last night we tried it. To the most amazing results. John reported he had not even finished the story time and he was out to it! 11 hours he slept for and then laid in his bed quietly for about 20minuets before calling out to me.

Today he is happy. Cooperative and we have not had one issue, even with changing his nappy!

Lets hope that this continues to work.