Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Waiting for the Snow

It's mid January in NY and Michael is waiting for the snow. He wants to make a snowman and snow angels. A lot of the kid's shows that are running right now show the characters playing in the snow. So, Michael is alittle confused. It might snow this week- fingers crossed. I'll definately take pictures- maybe even video.

Anyway, Michael is doing well. He did catch a cold 2 weeks ago- so he's not 100%. He had a couple of episodes at school where he got very upset. I think one day he started throwing chairs around. What's up with that? I just have to think of it as a phase and know he will stop soon. Some parents talk about their kids banging their heads. I remember Michael doing it for 1-2 days (when he was around 2 years old). We totally ignored it and it stopped right away.

In a way, I think this is showing his progress. He is learning everyone's schedules. He wants to participate. So, when someone doesn't follow the schedule- he gets upset. I'm trying to teach him the word "maybe". This is the conversation we had tonight.

Me: "Michael, Maybe tomorrow you will go to school. Maybe you will stay home. We'll see how you feel".
Michael: "Michael will go to school on Thursday".
Me: "If you feel better".
Michael: "Michael will feel better Thursday".
Me: "If you don't, you can stay home with Mommy".
Michael "Michael will go to school on Thursday".
Me: "We'll see how you feel"
Michael "Mommy will drive Michael to school in the morning".
Me: "Dream on kiddo"....

They sent him home early today and he missed SAIL (social skills after school program). I'm surprised he didn't come off the bus crying. He was saying something like "Michael will go to SAIL next time when he's feeling better". He was repeated what the teachers told him. It worked. He was pretty calm. He just has this thing where he doesn't want to miss out.

Last night we went shopping. We stopped at Target and Michael had a gift card from his cousins Steve & Annette. I let him pick out whatever he wanted. I explained to him when we were driving there that he had $25 he could spend on anything. He was sooo good in the store, walking along side the cart. Usually he runs around like a mad man. He picked this board- magnet on one side- chalk board on the other. He played with it two nights in a row. It was a good choice. I've been trying to let him make his own choices- like clothes and toys. I think he gets a kick out of it. The trick is teaching him that he can't always get what he wants.

Chelation has been going well. We started this thing were we would get French Fries on the way and eat them after Nick put in the IV. This works well- but after he eats them- it's like the reward is given and now it's "fun time". Michael jumped up last week and pulled the IV out of his arm. He was trying to turn the lights off. It's this game to him. He did NOT like getting the IV back in his arm- so I think he learned his lesson. That's the first time he did something like that. So, no more FF before.

Last week we went to the lab and did blood and urine tests. I'm guessing the results will take about another week. Michael did pretty good with the needles. It took the staffer 25 min to get all the vials together. It took 10 min. to get the blood. Michael was running around the place (yes- turning the lights on and off). He was so bored. I don't blame him- he hadn't had anything to eat or drink in 10 hours too. We tested liver & kidney functions, as well as vitamin and mineral levels.

Well, that's about it for the latest update. The next 3 months are going to be long. Winters are pretty boring around here. Thankfully this winter we can go to the gym- Michael loves the nursery. After he is done with chelation, we'll hit the pool again.