More on Livi's Therapy

Livi's therapists gave me some tools to help her control her sensory overloads. One of which is jumping. If she gets out of control and can't seem to concentrate, letting her jump supposedly helps with this. They suggested I let her jump on the couch or buy something she can bounce on. Of course I chose to save my couch.

I was skeptical about the purpose of this, but did as I was told and bought this fun little bouncer. She liked to jump in it, but mostly wanted to have her pillow and blankie in it and watch Dora. Then one day during our in home session, Livi was all over the place and would not pay attention. The therapist asked for the bouncer and did some jumping exercises with her. After about ten minutes we sat down again to resume our session and Livi was calm and finished her session without any problems. It was amazing to see how well the jumping really worked (when done correctly).

The other interesting thing they do in her classe is "bubble therapy" for kids who hate touching things that are wet, sticky or with texture. At our first class, Livi would not touch the bubbles at all. They suggested I try doing it at home as well to make her more comfortable with the idea. I recruited Emma to help me and once Livi saw Emma playing with the bubbles, she was all for it.
Emma said it was her favorite "chore" and would do it anytime I needed her to.

Now Livi will touch the food, but choses just to play with it instead. She lines up her food a lot, which is a pretty common behavior for kids with this disorder.

She is doing much better now and I'm so grateful I have all the tools I need to help her get through this.

I'm The Boss

Landon: Mom, were you ever robbed when you worked at a bank?

Mom: No, but it's because I didn't really work in that area of the bank, I was in a different building.

Landon: Oh, so what did you do there?

Mom: I was the Manager of a bunch of people that took phone calls from the bank customers.

Landon: So YOU were the boss of people?

Mom: Yup

Landon: No wonder you're so good at bossing us. I wondered how you knew how to do it!

A Math Lesson...Daddy Style

Jeremy decided he was going to make
math homework a little more interesting.

I was a little surprised to see my kids playing Black Jack....

I was even more surprised to see the Banker...

Labels

I've never been a fan of labeling people. Maybe it goes back to my childhood when my brothers labeled me 'Smelly Melly With Jelly in Her Belly'. Yes, seriously.

Obviously there are concrete diseases, disorders, and disabilities, like Cancer and Down Syndrome, to name a few. My issue is with labeling social or emotional behaviors. Why do they need a label? Can't we just address the behavior? Sure your hyperactive kid might need additional intervention, but do we have to label him as ADHD in order to address the behavior?

This has been my humble opinion for my entire adult life.

Until recently.

When I was having issues with my eye swelling shut, I went to the doctor. We treated the symptoms. The symptoms went away. However, it kept coming back. Turns out I had something called Meibomian Blepharitis.

Because this weird phenomenon had a name, I was able to do research on how to prevent it. In short, my eyelids over-produce oil causing the glands to clog overnight, which is what caused the swelling. Each night I would wash my face and use eye cream. Apparently that cream made my eyes even more oily. Now that I've stopped using it, I have more crows feet, but no swelling.

Getting more to the point of this post, as you know, my Livi hasn't eaten in 9 weeks. We've called her stubborn and crazy (among other not so nice names at times), but those are terms of endearment, not labels, right?

So we've been treating the symptoms, by taking her to feeding class and working on making eating not so scary for her, even though we didn't fully understand the issue.


After five weeks and a lot of testing (and a bit of denial on my part), it turns out there is actually a name for what Livi has- 'Sensory Processing Disorder'.

It's pretty complex, so I'll spare you the details (since I've already written a novel). But, I'm actually relieved to have something to reference so I can better treat her condition. For me, knowledge is power, so I bought three books today that I think will really give me some good insight.

I'm thankful that she can be helped.
I'm also thankful that things could be worse.
I'm grateful she is otherwise happy and healthy.

And grateful that it has a label.

Small Victories

After NINE weeks of not eating any solid food, yesterday

Jeremy was able to get Livi to take a few bites of this:

Okay, so "bite" isn't the right word...she was afraid to chew so just swallowed the pieces whole.

Then she choked.

Then spit it out.

Today, Emma got her to try a few bites of her cupcake.

She couldn't swallow them whole, so she actually chewed them.

THEN, tonight our babysitter said she ate some Mac n' Cheese.

Hmmm, is there a common theme here?

Livi will eat for everyone but ME!

I'm with her 99.9% of the time, so
maybe I've been the problem all along?!!!

I can't wait to share the good news at her feeding class tomorrow.

They are the only ones that can understand
the joy of a 2-year old eating a banana.

Mother's Day Weekend

My weekend started with a fun date-night on Saturday night. Jeremy and I went to Wiseguys to see Jamie Kennedy, who was so hysterical!

Then I woke up after five whole hours of sleep to Landon and Emma sitting at my bedside waiting to give me their presents. Landon wrote me a really beautiful letter and Emma made me a bracelet. I love home made gifts more than anything else...although the gift certificate and chocolates from Jeremy were pretty sweet too!

Then off to Village Inn for some yummy French Toast.

Then Jeremy took the kids to the park and we all got cute for a party with Jeremy's family.

It was a wonderful day.

I'm so blessed to be a Mom and to have
such a wonderful husband and kids!

My Little Guinea Pig

Dear Landon,

I am so grateful you were my first born.

I am also so sorry you were my first born.

The worst thing about being the first child is that you get to experience all of my parenting mistakes. I am learning as I go along and unfortunately, that means a lot of my mistakes fall onto you.

I was really hard on you yesterday. You have endless energy and you are always running around. I've told you several times not to run in the house because you tend to run into things and hurt yourself or break things in the house. Yesterday, you were in such a hurry and ran on the kitchen floor in your socks. You fell down pretty hard and started crying. You were really hurt. I ran over to you to console you. You walked away from me and wouldn't let me hold you, or even touch you. I chastised you for running, and after you stopped crying, you told me that you were only running because you were trying to hide my Mother's Day present before I could see it.

Then today, I took you and Emma to swim lessons and I forgot your swimsuit. You were obviously disappointed because you really look forward to swimming each week. You handled it like such a grownup, and told me that everyone makes mistakes and you knew it was an accident. Even after how I treated you yesterday, you still handled yourself with such dignity.

I want to be more like you.

The day you were born, you filled up a piece of my heart that I didn't know was missing. I never felt like having a child was a sacrifice, because you made it so easy. One smile or hug from you would make my day. Even though your hugs are becoming few and far between; they still make my day. Your smile still melts my heart. The love I have for you, my only son, is indescribable.

I promise to put less pressure on you. I promise to forgive your mistakes as easily as you forgive mine. I dedicate this Mother's Day to you Landon. After all, you are the one that made me a Mom.

I love you!

A Wee Bit O' Updating

A few things to report over the last two weeks...

Emma was awarded "Challenger Knight"
(camera battery died, so please forgive the quality of the cell phone)
Turned a rainy day into a Dinosaur Museum Day



More swimming lessons


Tiled the bathroom
(hence, the toilet in the shower post)


Planted some vegetables



Colored my hair
It was one 'Hail' of a week!

Time Saving Ideas

I'm all about efficiency...

Who Does This Kid Belong To Anyway?

Livi has been on her eating strike for 8 weeks now. I keep telling her that it's the diaper that makes her look fat, but apparently she is self-conscience about her figure.

Seriously though, we know that it is physiological, from pain she experienced eating while she was teething. We've been going to a special feeding class for two weeks now. A lot of people have been asking me what the class consists of. So here it is in a (long) nutshell:

It's a one-hour class and for the first thirty minutes, they play with toys and the playground to get them comfortable. Then we go into a room with a table and six high-chairs. The teacher gives them a plate with different items on it, like frosting, pudding, and baby food. Then we all use those food items to color a picture. The concept being that kids won't eat anything they won't touch, so we get them accustom to touching various textures. Then after we play with our food, we try to get them to put their fingers in their mouths. It's funny to watch a bunch of grown women acting like two-year olds. We put frosting on our noses and try to lick it off, we use pudding as lipstick...anything we can do to get the kids to put the food near or on their mouths.

The first week, we built towers with Fruit Loops and frosting and somehow tricked Livi into eating a Fruit Loop. She kept saying over and over, "Mow Hut, Mow Hut" which means "Mouth Hurt". Again, it's psychological- her mouth doesn't actually hurt anymore, but she associates food with pain. Man what I wouldn't give to have that disorder. Unfortuately, I associate food with absolute pleasure...mmm....food.

I digress.

The second week, we were making the green beans jump into mashed potatoes and she licked her fingers after touching the mashed potatos and then did the sign for 'more', so we gave her a spoon. She hesitently ate a few more bites of the potatoes, which was a really big step for her, so we were excited. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get her to try them again at home, but I keep trying, and keep wasting an awful lot of food.

Livi is also in speech class (with the same teacher) and she is making great progress. Since she is able to communicate a little better, even if it's just with sign language, she is getting less frustrated each day. We are able to have more enjoyable days with less of the "Terrible Two's".

I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel...finally!!!

My Ode to Susan Boyle

The Susan Boyle video from 'Britain's Got Talent'
has been all over the place this week.

I thought I'd have a little fun at her expense.

At least my kids think I'm funny....

April Showers...

We got a ton of rain in a short period last night and I woke up to wet carpet in the basement.


Good Times.


Wanna know something that makes me feel better?

This....

Easter

colored eggs


woke up
found eggs

found baskets

cuddled new bunny

went to breakfast


family bike ride
played at park

relaxed
played
read the funnies


hungry again

almost ate
this little ham

went home
played outside
snuggled in bed

had a great day

Spring Break

This is the first year we've stayed home for spring break in three years. Since the kids are off for an entire week, it's usually the only chance we have to take a vacation during the school year.

However, this year, my hubby's work was too busy, and quite frankly, I just wasn't up for taking a trip. I'm so glad we didn't go anywhere. It was nice to just hang out at home and chill. I feel so bad for Jeremy because he had to work while the kids and I basically did nothing for nine days- We slept in, went to the park, played outside, went to movies, rode bikes, watched movies in bed, ate like crap, went swimming, laughed, and just spent time together.

I get so excited for Spring so we can use our swing set again...

...and turn on our water fall
and smell the freshly cut grass...

...and start the soccer season...

This week was so refreshing!
It makes me look forward
to summer, where we do absolutely
nothing for three straight months!

Flashback Friday

Easter 2005

Easter 2009

I can't believe that Landon looks like such
a young man in the most recent picture.

They grow up too fast!

Wise Beyond His Years

Landon asked me if I wanted to read his poem; I expected something like 'The Cat in the Hat', but to my surprise, this is what he wrote: