It's Official....

My kids are weird. Michael is actually HOPING to have bloodwork done tomorrow at his growth checkup. When I asked him WHY? he said he wanted to see what his hormone levels are right now. Ok, me thinks he has been privvy to too many medical discussions..LOL! He explains it quite matter of factly to any new person he meets. He has even gotten injections right in front of his friends like it is no big deal. To him, it really is not a big deal. It has just been a part of his life for the past four years now. I am amazed at how "routine" things in his life have become.

I am actually shocked that I got an appointment so soon. Normally when I call them, Dr. M is so booked up that it takes a month or more to get in. That is what I was expecting, but in my mind I was thinking how nice it would be if we got in tomorrow. A few seconds later, I was asked "Is tomorrow ok?". My jaw dropped! "YES! Tomorrow IS GREAT!" Not sure how long it will take. We might have to do another bone-age X-ray "I LOVE X-rays" Michael told me, and they might need to draw blood. I know for a fact that we will need to renew his meds-and that could take a while. Dr M is always happy to see Michael and see how well he is doing. He has been seeing him since he was 18mos old. I trust him more than any other Dr-and Michael has seen him more than his primary Dr(whom I can't even tell you the name of-cause we always see Dr M!)

Nick is also having a good day today with Stephanie. I hear lots of "YAYS" and "GOOD JOBS!" I also hear Nick laughing. He has gone quite a while without a break now-which is wonderful. We changed up his program yesterday to incorporate more items at a time so he won't get bored. It seems to be working! We have Stephanie until 3pm, an hour break in which he gets lunch, and then Tracy comes from 4pm-7pm. A packed day for Nick-but it is doing him a world of good. He stays connected with us for most of the day, and that is necessary. He is getting a tremendous amount of help and it is making a difference. Why is it that the kids who need help so much have a hard time getting it?? Why is there such a huge amount of "red tape" that has to be gone through before we can get ONE aide for him in class? Why is it such a fight?? It is not just us who have to fight. EVERY parent who has a child with autism must put up an enormous fight for services. What about when that autistic child becomes an Adult? Eventually, Nick will grow up. He will still most likely need help. We HOPE that he doesn't; but he likely will need some sort of help. I can only hope that the future brings more services for autistic adults-as they are the forgotten ones right now.

Before Kids...

It was much easier to keep track of things. Let me explain a little bit. We have a little monster who shall remain nameless; who likes to swipe items from all over the house in which to toss up to the ceiling fan. That usually throws the item behind the TV..which is sort of a "No Mans Land". No one goes behind there. You could go back there and discover items that you have not seen in months. For example, hubby was looking for his sandals a few minutes ago. Nick was in his chair eating yogurt and just laughing. He was not saying a word. Mike went all over the house looking for his shoes. One of my questions actually was "Did you check the toilet?" Yes, that happens when you have a child who likes to flush things. His answer was "He has not thrown anything in the toilet for a while now."

As the search continued, "After all, I JUST saw them earlier today! Where could they have gone...MISTER?!", Nick continued to laugh as he ate his yogurt. After checking the entire house, Mike moved the TV. There we found Michael's shirt, one of my CROCS, Mike's sandals, his hat, and a pillow. Today we also found one of Nick's pajama shirts in the trash. Sometimes when he cleans up, he really cleans up! We have found socks, dish towels, pants, and several pairs of shoes behind that TV. Little Mister is quick, and takes full advantage if you are busy and not watching him every second. Don't let his autism fool you. Somedays I am convinced it is just a farse and he has duped all of us!!