Read more about the article You won’t believe what I’ve found in my bed over the last three or four nights
Elliott / Emmett John / My thoughts

You won’t believe what I’ve found in my bed over the last three or four nights

As I get back into writing after a day or two of life getting in the way, I thought I would start off with something that's just too fricking adorable and precious, not to share.   As you know, Emmett and sometimes Elliott, just can't fall asleep in their own beds.   This is habitual for Emmett and occasional for Elliott.   I don't know what's behind this for sure but I know Emmett has nightmares and Elliott has anxiety. They can't seem to relax or feel safe enough to fall asleep, unless their in our bed.   This is especially true for Emmett.   What happens is that they will try to fall asleep in their own beds. Elliott usually can but Emmett simply cannot.   After an hour…

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August 18, 2016
Read more about the article I’m exhausted, scared and overwhelmed 
Autism Parenting Woes / Dentist / Elliott / Gavin

I’m exhausted, scared and overwhelmed 

It's been a trying day from start to finish.  We had victories and moments of sheer terror today. I'm going to skip the part where Gavin wandered off and ended up lost for short time that seemed like forever because you can read that here. I wrote a post about that earlier and frankly, I don't have the energy to rehash it right now.  Just check out the link if you want to catch up on that. While we were getting everyone ready for the out of town trip to the dentist, I told Gavin that I wanted to trim his sideburns.  They were getting kinda scraggly and needed touched up. He told me that he wanted to do them himself, using the new razor he got for Christmas last year.…

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August 16, 2016
Read more about the article The week of craziness begins today with another trip back to the dentist 
Dentist / Elliott / Gavin

The week of craziness begins today with another trip back to the dentist 

We are back in Fairlawn today.  This time it's for Elliott and Gavin's dental check up.  It's just a routine checkup and shouldn't be a big deal.   Elliott's a bundle of nerves and smothered in anxiety.   He's knows he's going tomorrow but he's not happy about it.  Frankly, he's doing much better than I was prepared for at this point.  He's not freaking out and that's a big step forward.   I know he's nervous and we'll probably see a lot more of that nervousness, rear up as we get closer to his appointment but I'm really proud of him for being as calm as he's been so far.   Gavin on the other hand, couldn't care less about going to the dentist. This kid has been through…

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August 15, 2016
Read more about the article I just can’t catch a break
Autism Parenting Woes / Elliott / Sleep Issues

I just can’t catch a break

I just can't catch a break at this point.  Thankfully, Emmett fell asleep and is still sleeping. Unfortunately, shortly after he fell asleep, Elliott woke up and after trying for awhile to go back asleep, we moved downstairs to the living room.  It's about 5am and he's still stuck in awake mode.   At this point, what's point in going to sleep now, even if I could? I'm so tired that I'm not even tired anymore, if that makes sense to anyone.  

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August 11, 2016
Read more about the article The boys are having a really hard time sleeping tonight
Elliott / Emmett John / Sleep Issues

The boys are having a really hard time sleeping tonight

Lizze and I were getting ready to go to bed around midnight, when Elliott walks down the stairs in a daze.  He's hungry and wants something to eat.  Before we have a chance to even answer him, Emmett comes dancing down the steps with a level of energy that should be straight up illegal at this time of day.  Elliott had been sleeping and woke up.  Emmett on the other hand, never fell asleep.   I figured the best chance of anyone getting sleep was to camp out in the living room.   It took a bit to get them to fall asleep but Lizze rubbed their backs and they were relaxed enough to lay down.  I played music and they both eventually feel asleep but it's already 2:30am...  Now…

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August 4, 2016
Read more about the article I turned Emmett’s therapy into a chance for one on one time with Elliott
Elliott / Proud Daddy Moments

I turned Emmett’s therapy into a chance for one on one time with Elliott

Elliott decided he wanted to go with me to take Emmett to his last day of Functional Independence Group...  I was hesitant because Elliott doesn't do well having to wait and I'm already stressed out enough.   Lizze stayed back with Gavin because he's asleep....  While Elliott and I were waiting, I thought it might be nice to walk over to the Dunkin Donuts next door and grab a quick snack.  I saw this as an opportunity to spend some special time with Mr. Elliott.. ☺  It was a really good time and it made Elliott's day.  We had pretzel twists and some orange juice.   We have to keep it a secret from Emmett because he'll freak out but he's getting some special things at therapy today, so it…

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August 3, 2016
Dentist / Elliott / Emmett John / Gavin

You won’t believe what we went through just trying to get Emmett to the dentist

I can't even begin to explain how horribly awry today has gone. I should probably just start at the beginning. Lizze got off to class without any problems and let me sleep in until it was time for her to leave. The boys and I spent the morning getting some things done. I spent a large part of my time just trying to calm Emmett, who's picked today to freak out about the dentist.  He normally does well but on a day that Lizze isn't able to be there, he's pretty hardcore freaking out. Before we left, Elliott and Gavin had a snack because we were going to eat lunch late. Elliott had some granola samples I had received and Gavin had crackers or something, I can't remember. We checked…

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July 25, 2016
Bipolar Disorder / Elliott

Is it Bipolar Disorder? That’s what we have to find out 

After discussing at length, with Dr. Pattie about our concerns that there might be more going on than we are currently aware of with Elliott, a course of action has been decided.   We went through this enormous checklist of what Bipolar Disorder looks like in kids and while he didn't meet every single item, he met more than he missed.  Again, this doesn't mean anything for sure but it does raise more concern that this could be what we're looking at.   The plan at this point is to have him evaluated at the end of August, when he has a followup appointment with Dr.Reynolds, his psychiatrist. It's been about 10 years since we've been through this process with Gavin, so I'm unsure of what to expect this time…

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July 21, 2016