Update on (and the rest of us)

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Hi,Sorry I've been mostly lurking lately. We've had a far-too-eventful winter and spring this year. I thought I'd send a little update, since I have a couple of questions...I'll start with is doing OK. He's doing well with his talker and learning to use it. Last week, he'd taken out the plastic container of goldfish crackers to pour into a bowl. He'd poured a too-big bowl the night before, so I'd sent it aside with plastic wrap on it for the next day. So when I saw him with the container, I handed him the bowl and took the plastic off for him. He sat at the table but seemed put out. I said "I feel" on the talker, and he said "mad", then "no cheating."

then, "Not goldfish". He was mad that he hadn't poured the bowl himself and it felt like cheating. And if I hadn't used the talker to say "I feel", I'd have never known! It's great that he can tell us now. We're still having issues with aggression to toddlers, and honestly, when he gets home from school, he's a madman. It's ok if we can go outside, but if the weather's cold, he will just go from dumping things to throwing things to knocking over the dog. I try very hard to keep him busy, but he's not interested in what I want him to do! It's a little frustrating. On the good side, he's a little easier to bring places now that he has his iPad. Boy does he love "Talking T-Rex" and "Talking Tom". He also enjoys being able to tell us what he wants at a restaurant. The eating is FINALLY

getting better. He was grooving on Chef Boy R Dee, but I hid all the cans in the basement (we usually keep some on hand for school lunches and for when dinner is too chewy for him). I've gotten him to try a few new things -- tuna salad for one (he loves it!) and honey and peanut butter uncrustables (a no-crust sandwich). So he's eating more than just the one food (Ravioli) for lunches at school, and he's also eating what we eat for dinner...maybe with ketchup (cooked chicken) but sometimes not (pasta with scallops, peas, and bacon was last night's dinner, and he ate it well!). My "war on the Chef" has paid off. also continues to eat the lunches he buys at school, and loves those, but we know what we can order (softer foods) and what we can't (sandwich wraps, hoagies). We're having trouble with his potty training. After being completely fine for a year or so, 's

started peeing all over the house. Every day. He's drinking up a storm too. I upped his miralax in case this is constipation, and his poop is better, but he's still drinking and peeing. We didn't realize how much he was drinking, until we started talking and realized that he's getting everyone to refill his spout cups (he still uses them at home because his metal straw cups don't like the trips down the cat door to the basement and start leaking after a short time). We're taking him to the Dr on Friday morning, and the ENT too (his ears are very clogged). I dunno if this can be thyroid-related or not. He's a tiny little guy, not overweight at all so I don't know if it can be diabetes either. Sheesh, this kid needs a break. Maybe it's just an OCD thing...He's turning 7 on Easter Sunday. Lately I've found myself feeling a little blue WRT

. I think part of it is that my other 3 kids are now old enough that I can take them places and know that they'll likely be able to behave acceptably, etc. But , not at all. It's getting very hard to do things as a family -- where it used to be one parent with the two littles and one parent with the two older kids, now really needs a parent with him full-time and then the other kids end up always separate from . He doesn't enjoy the same things the other kids do (museums, car rides, etc). I'm planning to visit the Able Kids Foundation in Colorado with my 3 other kids, to have their auditory processing tested. We were considering taking a family road trip, but since can't yet be tested with their test (receptive language is way low, as is cooperation), it seems silly to make him sit 30 hours in a car each way so his siblings can get tested. So I will probably either drive there

with the 3 kids myself, or fly there if we can get over his phobia of air planes. And so we're starting to split the family on vacations. And yet, if we don't, then is miserable, and the other kids are mad that we're having to focus on .Anyway, it's something we're working on...As for the rest of the family... (8, Asperger's/ADHD/OCD/dysgraphic) got a blood test this January, which told us that he's allergic to milk!!! I was right, the scratch test was wrong. We cut all dairy, even the supposedly safe (denatured?) casein in his nutritional drinks. He started drinking soy milk, lots of it, and losing weight. UGH. On a hunch, I decided we'd try a week with no soy milk. Guess what? He's EATING. Gaining weight, slowly but surely.

He's nearly gained back the 5 pounds he lost after going off dairy! Yesterday, he had cereal for breakfast, and juice with his vitamins. Then he had Kettle corn for snack, with lemonade. For lunch, the uncrustable sandwich that usually took him 45 minutes to finish (with me reminding him to take every bite) on the way to therapy took him only 10 minutes, and then he asked for a snack! He ate the snack, drank water, and asked for another snack at therapy...I bought him milk-free animal crackers from a vending machine, he ate them and came home and asked for ANOTHER snack! Then he ate a big bowl of pasta and scallops, and asked for a second bowl...finished both bowls and got dressed for karate (in about 45 minutes -- a single bowl used to take him 90 minutes!). After karate, he asked for more snacks!!!! He told me about mid-week last week (3 days in to the no soy milk experiment) that he has a specific pain in his

belly that gets better when he eats, he thinks that might be hunger...WOW.As soon as he went off milk, his teacher and even the principal of the school both commented that he became much less belligerent, more cooperative. Of course, this is creating a new dynamic in the family, and I'm afraid that has taken to needling his brother to try to get him to explode, only isn't exploding. We're working through that, with both boys' therapists. UGH...anyway, it's all good and is eating and he's eating comparatively quickly! I'm so happy. When he went off soy milk, his congestion went away...completely. He went from hacking every morning to not even a sniffle...I'm guessing all this means he's allergic to soy as well?Anyway, he's doing great. His focus is still awful and he's more hyper now with more

food coming in, but how can I complain about that, so long as he's eating and growing? In other news, he got lost from DH at the lin Institute last month, and is slowly getting over that trauma. He's extra cuddly and snuggly and all, and says how getting lost made him realize how much he loves (needs?) us. His therapist and DH and I are helping him work through that. Poor kid knew what he was supposed to do (go to find someone who worked there) but with his NLD wasn't able to figure out who worked there...he also knew to ask a mom for help but decided that the moms all might try to steal him so he just hid from everyone and tried to make his way to the map area to figure out where he'd last seen his dad so he could find his way back to dad. UGH. Poor poor kid...Annika (5, NT), has been sick a lot this

winter. At one point, they thought she had mono. Then, a couple of weeks ago, she broke her finger in gymnastics class. It was a small crack but near a growth plate, so she got a cast and all. The cast came off today and she can go back to her regular activities 4/16. Being without gym class, gymastics, soccer and t-ball has been brutal for her. She needs her activities like she needs air and water...she's been going bonkers, asking me every day if she has girl scouts that day? Last night, she and were playing catch with a baseball (not allowed!!!!! but we have a little foam one and I thought they were using that...I didn't realize they'd gotten into the box with the hard balls). She accidentally hit him in his tooth and knocked it out. Poor ! He was letting her hug him and I think he understood she didn't mean it at all! It's sorta funny that this is the same tooth his

dentist said would need to be extracted (under anethesia) if it didn't come out on its own by June. So in a way I guess she helped him avoid surgery, but still, OW. Poor baby. Annika felt really really awful that she'd hurt him, she clearly didn't mean to do that. was very upset. (11, Asperger's) is entering puberty and has had a lot of trouble controlling his temper. We've had to crack down on him a bit, taking ownership of his NOOK and iPod and he has to work to get to use them. It's hard for him. I think part of him hates to see how well 's doing because he thinks of as needing more help than he does...anyway, he's also been visiting colleges for a day of classes with a program called "Splash!". He went to MIT last month and took a 2-hour class on Infinity, a class on Quantum mechanics, etc. Then this past weekend

he was at YALE taking classes on Neurolinguistic programming (psychology), "the shrinking city (Detroit)", and "Mathematical Paradoxes". So we're finally trying to find some things for him that feed his strengths, but so much more time and effort goes to working on his weaknesses (behavior, social skills, self-control). His IEP meeting is tomorrow. GULP. DH is doing fine, enjoying his job immensely. He's still late getting home, but seems to be trying harder to get here on time to help me get the kids ready for evening activities. I'm doing OK, trying to get the house in order and feeling like I need a secretary. My MIL's car died so I'm driving her to appointments and shopping, and my kids have therapy during the school day (because otherwise, I'd have to bring and it's hard to focus on anything but if is there) so I'm busy even during

the school day most days. I need to find time to do more for me, but, who doesn't? I joined weight watchers, and, while I'm not losing much weight yet, I do enjoy the meetings. I'm shopping for a gym, I need that. Our dog Bo is doing fabulous...he's been here a year in April and we love him so much. He's great for , and , a true family dog. The only problem is he keeps eating things he shouldn't...yesterday he ate a pack of Orbit gum, which is toxic to dogs. Thankfully, he's large enough and the pack was small enough that he was fine, but we've had to call animal poison control twice since Christmas! :0 Our Sadie dog is getting on in years and her arthritis/spinal degeneration is very bad, getting to the point where if she just shakes her head, she falls over. We're going to have to do the right thing for her but it's so hard to

make that phone call and choose the date. :< I'm gonna miss her so much. That's us...and a little peek at why I've been quiet. I read the posts, it's just, there's so much going on. The family is sorta in chaos now, and re-settling into a hopefully calmer place as we get some new tools in place. THANK GOD for my sons' therapists. I'm thinking of starting Annika in therapy too, to help her work through her anxiety and shyness, as well as her feelings about having siblings with special needs. SOmetimes she'll ask me for something and it takes me forever (in 5-year-old time) to get back to her because I'm cleaning up another potty mess or breaking up an argument. I'm working on it...Anyway, thanks for reading this far. If you have any idea about why would suddenly be drinkign and

peeing all the time, I'm all ears...the rug in his closet is ruined as that's one of his favorite spots...the kitchen is his second fave! Ack. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art†-- Konstantin Stanislavsky