The Spartan and The Drummer

WOW am I a total slacker or what??  I just noticed my last entry was Sept 4, and here it is Oct 25!  Yipes!!  So, you might conclude that we have had A LOT going on and you would be correct!!  I will try to be brief and give a little update....

Parker
I can't believe I have a 5th grader...how did this happen???  As you know Parker is playing football this year and finally made the weight limit to be able to handle the ball.  This is super cool for him and for us.  The Spartans had a really rough start to the season, losing the first two games.  But WOW have they kicked it up a notch!!  Game 3 & 4 were both wins and both against fairly decent teams.  Game 5 was yesterday against a tough opponent and Parker was sick!!  He was so bummed about missing the game, as soon as it was over, he pestered me about emailing his coach to get the results.  If you know Jeff, if they boys had lost he would NOT want to hear from one of his best players who was out sick wanting to know the score.  I played it cool and posted a status comment on Facebook asking the score.  Instant reply....they won!! On the second play of the game, the Spartans scored a TD and went on to hold the score 6-0!!  Just a few more games and we head into the playoffs!!  Some season highlights for #18....Game 2 Parker had a fumble recovery, which he was very excited about...see below holding up the prized ball....

Game 4....Parker scored his first "points", not a touchdown but a two point conversion.  Here's a picture of the catch...

But this has got to be my all time favorite football picture of Parker.  Didn't quiet catch it, but a cool picture....

Other than football, he's really just got a lot of school commitments....he is in 5th grade choir, which is fun.  He will have a concert during the holidays and then another in the spring as the kids travel to Sea World in San Antonio.  In addition to choir, he was elected for Student Council, Safety Patrol and RISE.  RISE is a really cool science program where the kids create a "base" to be used on another planet and then will have an overnight stay at school in their "base" on a pretend planet.  Pretty fun right??? It did sound really cool until we went to the parent meeting and were informed WE would have to volunteer to help overnight....drats, I thought it was going to be a kid free night??  It should be fun anyway!  :)

Had our first teacher conference and he is doing so great, I'm pretty sure you would all suspect!!  He is a talker in class (shocking), but his teacher told us that any kid that she has had in her 32 years of teaching that was a straight A student who was a talker, went on to be really successful!  Well, of course!!  She also said he is by far the leader of the class and all the other kids really follow what he does.  We are trying to instill in him that being the leader requires a great amount of responsibility and self discipline to lead others to do the right thing.  But by far the best thing to hear out of the conference was his teacher tell about how he talks about his little brother in class and to his peers.  This isn't something that we see, because when we are all together Spencer is usually just irritating Parker.  It makes me so proud to hear how well he is accepting of having a brother with special needs.  (Althought never let him fool you, he doesn't want for anything!!)

Spencer
Last post talked about the Challenge Tests and Chelation.  We did it a few weeks ago and the test results came in, we are now just waiting on feedback from Lucas on what they mean.   I am no expert in reading tests, but based on what I can tell, the Chelation didn't do squat!!  So, I'm suspecting we will be making another trip to Austin to try the IV chelation which is stronger and will hopefully pull more metals. 

We started two new supplements, so we are on a grand total of 14!!  The hardest part about being on so many is not running out!!  I am having to order something every week.  Somehow we manage to run out of a supplement and then he goes without for a few days.  This alwasy jacks his system up a little bit....so very frustrating.  I sent another order to Thoughtful House last week and ordered probably 4 bottles of all of them!!  Hopefully that will tide us over for a month...my goal is to only order once a month....do I need to create some sort of spreadsheet?  It would be so much easier if they were all packaged the same...some have 30 pills, some have 90, some even crazier have a random odd number like 43.  Come on, can't they all just have 30?? 

The 2 new suppplements have done a lot of good....they are GABA and Glyconic DMG. Both of which are supposed to increase cellular activity (hoping for more energy and more brain activity). Lucas told us to watch out for decreased sleep and increased stimming.  Stimming, hmm....I don't think I have talked about this before....here's a little lesson.....

Stimming is an easy way to say stimulatory behavior, things he does repetively that "feel good"...his stims come and go, and sometimes reappear.  He has a few physical stims, like hand flapping, jumping and squeeling, folding his ears, and one of my favorites, "crazy eyes".  He also has some that aren't physical, things like closing doors, flushing toilets, playing with light switches.  If you stop and think about it, we all have "stims".  Some of mine are chewing ice, picking my nails, messin with my hair, bouncing my legs.  Think about it....what are yours?  Stims are only bad when they are socially unaccpetable or get in the way of him learning.  Well that and of course the ones that really irritate me!  The toilet and light switch thing drive me crazy!!  We work really hard to try and eliminate most of them, we have some success, but they often come back if we don't stay focused on them. 

Okay, where were we...oh yeah, the new sups could cause a lack of sleep and increased stimming.  The dosing is 4 pills of each twice a day.  We have worked up to 2 pills of each twice a day, and he started sleeping less and seemed to move a little faster.  Moving faster..GOOD, sleeping less....not good!!  These are both great signs that they are working!!  BUT, I'm a little concerned if we move up dosing too fast, we will end up with a crazy kid who doesn't sleep!  I'm thinking......we are just going to keep it as is, until he regulates. 

Second cool thing....he got his communication device (ACD) and it is SOO COOL!! You may have seen them before, they are generally used for parapalegics or anyone who can't speak.  They are working with him at Spectrum on how to use it and have even added his programming to it.  He seems to be doing pretty good learning how to use it at school.  At home is another story, he tends to just "play" with it rather than actually use it to communicate.  Maybe the problem is me....yep, that's usually the case!!  :)

He's doing great at Spectrum!! Of course, everyone loves him to pieces!  To me, the best part about being in private school, you get to actually celebrate HOLIDAYS!!!  YAY, we had a Halloween party on Friday...lots of fun...he was a rocker...or better yet, a Drummer!!  Some say he's going to be a famous drummer some day....maybe so, but he needs a drum set, and that just isn't going to happen in this house!!  That is unless we convert the garage or put some soundproofing up.  He did look totally cool....

This was a super busy day for us, we went straight from the party home to get ready for the Third Day concert.  Parker was sick so he didn't get to go, so it was just me and little man.  He was already dressed for the occasion, so he just kept sporting the hawk and wearing his black t-shirt and skinny jeans!!  He LOVED LOVED LOVED the concert!!  He was in awe of all the lights, sounds and of course the rockin' out!  He played air guitar and air drums all night long.  Very cute!!  This was his first concert other than rodeo concerts, which don't really count because that little rotating stage in the center just doesn't qualify as concert-worthy!  It was a good night, I love spending time with little dude!

A really cool thing happened at church today, a friend of mine who helps in Promise Land (that's his Sunday school class for special needs kids) said to me...."Wow, I can really see a change in Spencer, what have you been doing with him?  He was giving great eye contact and was really engaged in class today."  I just love hearing people spontaneously say they have noticed a difference, we easily get into the rut of taking all his progress for granted and start thinking that it's not working, too difficult and start getting lazy.  But when you hear that....WHAM, it's like "ahh yeah, it's working!!"

Okay, I'm beat, I'm not even going to proof or spell check....so, sorry if there are mistakes.  There are so many more great stories from the past 6 weeks, but I have got to wrap this thing up....another crazy week awaits!!

Until next time....grace, peace, hope, love and prayers!

T

Yet, I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. 
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. 
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 
Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. 
But as for me, it is good to be near God.  I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

Psalms 73:23-28