The Early Family

What are we teaching our children?

2010-01-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

Since I have two boys, I've gotten used to reading books about big construction equipment and I've become an expert on the differences between a regular "truck" and an "articulating dump truck." They are no longer clumped together in one category in my brain. Thank you Quinn and Chase for opening my eyes to this fact. Without you, I would not be paying proper respect to the many construction workers around the world.

With that said...I've been reading this book to the boys for the past 2 years. It came to our house via a garage sale where a woman was closing her daycare and selling her books. Chase has become particularly fond of this book and likes to read it every night before bed..

EVERY NIGHT!!!!

EVERY SINGLE DINGLE NIGHT!!!

I wasn't exaggerating when I said EVERY night.

It has great pictures of construction equipment from the late '70's and early 1980's. But what caught my interest was the van on page 15.
Now what would you think if you saw a van like this in real life?

Several thoughts and associations come to my mind.. like "don't park next to that" or "there are no rear windows, I wonder what they are smoking in there" or "stay away from the child molester van."

I didn't expect the story line to take this twist..

So what are we teaching our kids again? To get rides in "crack" vans????

After reading this page (and having a silent laugh to myself) I promptly told Chase, "No we don't go for rides in construction worker's vans."

Fortunately, Chase is a smart boy and remembers this every time we get to page 15.

More Moo

2009-12-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

Mr. Moo continues his vacation at Pop and Granne's house. He sent us the following emails...

Chase,

I found Mr. Moo in the orange tree next door. He said he likes the color orange. Having fun!

Love,

Granne

Mr. Moo likes salad greens. I'm glad he's eating well. My diet hasn't been that great lately. Maybe Mr. Moo can give me a few pointers.

Chase,

At first we weren't quite sure what this was! Once we got a little closer we realized that Moo had gotten into the Chistmas chocolate!!!!!

Love,

Granne

It looks like Mr. Moo also enjoys Starbucks.

Chase,

Granne didn't understand why I would order Milk at Starbucks. Sure I am a cow and can make my own milk, but I told Granne I can't make chocolate milk. Hee hee heee. She said I am a silly cow.

Love,

Moo

(I should also point out that "Mr. Moo" is a boy and it would be strange if he began lactating. I won't go into that with Chase though.)

Chase,

Sometimes I get lonely for you while I am on vacation. When this happens, Pop and Granne pull up a picture on the computer so I can see your smiling face! It makes me so happy that I can easily close my eyes and sleep. I go to Nanny's Tomorrow.

Night night,

Love, Moo

(Mr. Moo, we feel your pain here too.)

Pop let me roast marshmallows by the fire tonight! Wish you were here.

Love,

Moo

(Don't get too close to the fire....oop.....OH NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Mr. Bill!!!!!!!!!!)

Chase,

I helped Granne wrap a present for YOU!!!

Love, Mr. Moo
Hi Chase!

This morning I made hot chocolate sauce with Granne. She gave me the recipe.

Love, Mr. Moo

(What? The stuffed cow gets a copy of Granne's famous chocolate sauce but we don't???)

Guess what ! I get to go to work today with Granne, but Cinnamon won't get off the warm computer.

Moo

Hi ho hi ho off to work we go .....

Hi Chase,

I am in the car on the way to Nanny's house. I am so excited I get to see you tomorrow.

Love, Mr. Moo

Alas, Mr. Moo will return to us tomorrow and the anxiety level of our 3 year-old shall return to tolerable levels at bedtime.

Moo

2009-12-22T09:23:00.000-08:00

I know, I've been terrible about keeping up with the bloggy lately. Especially when my last post was so emotionally charged. I should know better to leave little updates after my emotional rants. Being a kindergarten Mom involves much more than I imagined along with my full-time job, being a full-time Mom to a 3 year-old, etc..etc..etc...Heck, I even missed out on sending out Christmas Cards. I might as well wait until Valentines day and send out cards then.

Just for fun. I managed to link my blog to Facebook. One time FB was not able to publish my pictures and video. So if that happens just go the direct link for my blog at

earlybaby.blogspot.com

This past weekend, I spent some time getting beautified with my half-yearly haircut and color. The grey hairs on my head were becoming too comfortable with their position and were staring to build support groups and plotting to take over the pigmented hairs that still surround them. Ashley came to the rescue with a nice mixture of warm, mahogany, brown, mixed with copper tones. When I describe it, it sounds like a piece of art. To Ashley's credit, she IS an artist. (or a miracle worker and savior to my pigmented hairs.) After that I spent Sunday with some of my historic girlfriends from high school (without children) and went to see Wicked in San Francisco and out for a nice meal. (without children=warm food, strong drinks, no interruptions.) It was fabulous.

Grant rescued me from the Bart station at the end of the night and we started the hour and a half pilgrimage back to Sacramento. As we were unloading the sleeping children from the car a thought occurred to me..

Me: "I don't see Mr. Moo. Did you remember to bring Mr. Moo?"

Grant: "I think so....no wait...Dammit!"

Let me take a minute to back up and let you all know who Mr. Moo is and how instrumental he is in our lives. Mr. Moo is technically a fuzzy, stuffed, transitional object, used to wean Chase from his addiction to binkies. After some strong coaxing, encouragement, and crying fits, Chase eventually accepted the trade and became used to sleeping with Mr. Moo instead of the highly addictive, dentist dreaded, binky.

The following morning, I called up Pop and Granne to discover that Mr. Moo was indeed in Danville (an hour and a half drive from our house.) Granne spoke with Chase on the phone and promised him she would take great care of Mr. Moo and he would enjoy his little "vacation" with her and Pop until he could hitch a ride home with Nanny and Papa on Christmas Eve. This means 3 WHOLE DAYS WITHOUT MR. MOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Granne took her promise very seriously and has sent Chase emails and picture updates from Mr. Moo. Here is what followed.

Dear Chase,

Mr. Moo slept in the Christmas Tree last night. He is having fun on his vacation.

Love,

Gran

(two hours later)

Pop, is taking good care of Mr. Moo.

(A few more hours later)

Moo is watching TV with Santa.

(Later that evening...this was sent via email entitled: "Moo is right")

Moo is taking in the Drudge report before bed.

To this I replied....

"Mr. Moo is quite the political activist." (I always thought he was quite liberal, until Pop got a hold of him.)

Before Chase went to bed, he read all the email updates and looked at all Mr. Moo's pictures and asked to call him. Pop and Granne put the phone on speaker and let Chase sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to Mr. Moo and say "good night." After we hung up, Chase sent the following email.

Hi Mr. Moo, (translated word for word from Chase)

I miss you! Come home soon. I love to sleep with you Mr. Moo. Good night!

Love,

Chase

To this, Mr. Moo replied:

Title: Good Night !

Dear Chase,

I really really miss you. I can't wait to see you in 3 days! Nanny will bring me home.

Moo

This morning, Mr. Moo was busy again. He's enjoying his vacation by spending time in Pop's new toy.

"Mr. Moo likes to go fast."

I think Chase enjoys Mr. Moo's updates as much as he enjoys sleeping with him at night. We hope this will continue to hold off Chase's bond until Mr. Moo reunites with him on Thursday.

Punkin' it Kindergarten Style

2009-07-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

Three days into kindergarten, I get an email from the teacher. It wasn't one of those, "He's doing great, stop stressing out" type of emails. It was a "we need to talk in person" type of emails. Oh yes, teachers use email now. Gone are the days when teachers would send notes home with the students only to be disposed of by the students or forged by friends with more adult like handwriting.

Let me explain for everyone what Kindergarten is like today. It's not about sitting on the floor singing about colors and playing with playdough. The kids have homework every night!!! This translates into, Grant and I have homework EVERY NIGHT!!! Damn! We couldn't even finish our own homework when we were in school and now we are expected to produce homework via Quinn. Do these teachers know who they are working with? So the kids are expected to be reading and writing by the time they finish Kinder. I fully expect Quinn to balance my checkbook, pay the bills, and put together my grocery list with all the homework we have to do together.

So back to the email....
.................................................................................
Hi Bonnie and Grant,I was hoping that we can all meet some time soon so that you can provide me with the best information and strategies that you use with Quinn at home. Quinn has struggled in class with today being his most difficult day. I would like to discuss some of his behaviors so that you know some of his challenges at school and can possibly give me some input on what works best for Quinn. He is a sweet little boy. Please email me and let me know if we can meet after 3 pm any day this week. Thank you.

Ms. B

...............................................................................

If you know me, I tend to read between the lines when I get messages from people. This is what I heard..

Your kid is being a punk at school. Do you discipline him at home, because he sure doesn't act like it? Is there anything you do to make him stop being a punk? Please meet with me right away before he punks the wrong kid in class and gets his ass beat down on the playground. Oh and I added that he's a sweet boy because he is good looking and all.

Your Diligent Teacher

................................................................................

So yesterday we go to meet Quinn's teacher and her sister to discuss his behaviors. Let me explain what Quinn's teacher is like. She very thin, tan skinned, strikingly beautiful, Indian woman, with a mild manner. Her beauty is matched by no one other than her twin sister who teaches the morning kindergarten class and co-teaches with Ms. B. They could be super models..honestly. Ms. B is very serious and direct. When I speak with her I feel like a big, dorky, goofy, Anglo woman. I mean I am a big, dorky, goofy, Anglo woman...but it's amplified in her presence.

We met with the special education teacher, Ms. B, and her supermodel, identical, sister. We discussed the lack of ongoing accomodations for Quinn in the classroom and how he is mentally checked out in the classroom. He spends most of his day laying under the table and not participating in class. Listening to them discuss his behaviors made me slowly float out of my body and go to this protective place. This is MY BABY they are talking about and he's PERFECT in my eyes. Why doesn't Ms. B or Supermodel understand this? Don't supermodel teachers understand that Quinn is exceptional? Oh wait... back to reality. My lip quivvered and my eyes welled up with tears. I sucked back my breath, swallowed the knot in my throat as I heard Supermodel say, "he's really not getting much out of class with his behavior like this. He needs more help."

After a while, the special ed teacher left and Ms. B transformed into something different. Her voice became serious and direct like a hot knife in butter. She said, "Now that the special ed teacher is gone, I'm going to suggest "off the record" that you as parents request a full time aid for Quinn in in the classroom." She went on to say that other students with his challenges in the past really benefitted from this and she was surprised that Quinn didn't already have this accomodation in place. She also said that the school district doesn't like to offer this because it's expensive and they don't want to pay for it so they will try to offer us other things first. She went on to say she has tried the other techniques already and they are not working. She feels this would be the most helpful for Quinn. The only problem is that Ms. B was not supposed to share this information with us. She gave us a sharpened spear to use in our battle with the IEP lords.

My heart suddenly grew two extra spots for the supermodels. They may rub off as being serious and direct, but they care about their students and want what's best for my Quinn.

And the quest for more services continues.....

The Mother of all Updates

2009-07-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

I can't even begin to describe our last 4 weeks in words. So here is a photo montage to sum it up.

Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

How to shoot fireworks without shooting your 3 year-old.

2009-07-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

Start with a baby sitter and a tri-pod. And even then, the 3 year-old still gets in the way.

We went over to Carmichael figuring that their display would be adequate and not generate an intolerable amount of traffic when it was time to leave. My instincts were correct and we enjoyed the display (minus the car alarm that continued to chirp during the show...I'm still trying to track down the owner of the Honda so I can egg his house.) Every year I see fireworks, I have to watch them through a set of competing trees. This year was no different even when we went to the field where they were shooting them off.

At first, I was a little bummed until I decided that trees can enhance firework pictures. They sort of frame your fireworks and give them shape.

I was surprised at how well some of the pictures came out. I didn't even have to photoshop these.

I hope everyone had a beautiful, fun, and safe 4th. More updates are still to come with wedding photos, rehearsal dinner photos, and Quinn's preschool graduation. This will be an endless summer indeed.

Thanks for hanging out with us Arner/Bossler Family.

The Japanese Experience.

2009-06-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

I apologize for leaving my friends and family hanging from my previous entry. In fact, I had a lot of phone calls, emails, and voicemails from it. Now I feel a little embarrassed because things turned out a lot better than I expected.

I won't hold out anylonger and cut straight to the meat. Quinn's IEP went very well. After using 3 different screening measures, the school district feels that Quinn's diagnosis of PDD-NOS (high functioning autism) is accurate and he is now going to receive special education services as he starts kindergarten. He will be mainstreamed into a regular classroom and receive speech therapy and have a teacher's aid to help him stay focused during class. They also talked about adding occupational therapy to help with his sensory issues (i.e. excessive nose picking) and accomodations such as a special chair that will help him sit still, and a weighted vest. I can't remember what the vest is supposed to do, but hopefully it'll help. The school district was very proactive and I'm excited and nervous about his transition to public school. And, Oh MY GOD, when did my baby become old enough to start kindergarten???

I know I've been back from Japan for ages now, but I'm finally getting a chance t post some pictures and videos of our experience.

Here's a quick re-cap through videos of our trip... Below is my Mom and I in the airport preparing for our 12 hour flight.

Wow we look terrible in this video. This is after we landed in Tokyo Narita and were waiting for the Quarantine officers to screen us.

Then we had our first food experience... This restaurant was so neat. We had to take our shoes off and sit at little tables. The waiters would yell orders back and forth across the restaurant. They used what looked like a palm pilot to take our orders. This is where we ate slimy seaweed for the first time.

Then we went to the busiest grocery store in Tokyo called the Tokyo Food Show. It was literally like a food show.

They had fish heads, fish guts, seaweed, etc. See for yourself...

And then we went to Hakone and took a switch back train. Jeff is trying to explain

what it means when the train switches back. This is how the train goes up the steep mountain

slopes. It was raining that day but beautiful.

And then we went hiking up to the top of an active volcano where they boil eggs in the moisture that bubbles up from the volcano.

This process turns the eggs black and they supposedly give you 7 more years to live. I should live at least 14 years longer because I ate 2 of them.

Then we took a bullet train. They go up to 180 miles per hour. It's amazing how comfortable they are at such high speeds.

We also visited a very traditional town called Takayama. Check out the coy just swimming around in the middle of town.

So Japanese women use some interesting beauty products. I found this one a little titilating. ha ha ha.. Ok, bad joke. I know.

Before we left Tokyo, we had to experience the busiest intersection in the world probably. It's located in the Shabuya portion of Tokyo. Nicknamed Tokyo the "City of stimulation"

Watch this and see what I mean.

So that's my trip in short video clips. I'm trying to put together a more comprehensive trip video wth pictures and videos together. I'm sure I'll have it done within the next 10 years.

IEP, yeah you know me!

2009-05-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

The title of this thread is for all my friends that remember going to school dances and the cheesy pseudo rap songs for all the popular kids to dance to. (If you didn't get my pun, then skip to the next paragraph.)

On to more serious matters. My vacation is over. I had a wonderful time and I'll be posting my short video clips soon. They were so fun to put together, that I cannot keep them from my friends and family. They must be shared, talked about, and laughed over for at least 10 minutes.

So why does everything have to happen at the same time? Life never seems to spread things out and to make it more manageable for working parents. I'll be honest...being a working mother has been one of the hardest challenges. How can I possibly be the superstar mother of the year for my children and be an awesome employee at the same time.. The truth is I'm failing at both. (or so it feels that way.)

I won't sugar coat it..life has been very hard lately. Quinn has had several appointments via the school district psychologist, special education teacher, and speech pathologist to assess his level of functioning. At first, Quinn performed eagerly and cooperated with the teachers. During this process, I decided to take a trip out of country to see Japan and catch up with my big bro. It was poor timing... Since I've returned from my trip, Quinn has been making me suffer for my time away and has begun to act out in school and refuses to cooperate with testing or his speech therapy. When I drop Quinn off at daycare in the morning, I try a Mission Impossible sort of covert action to leave him there without making contact with the teacher (Ms. Asha.) Unfortunately, she pulled a ninja stunt move and blocked my exit from the classroom yesterday and gave me a list of things that Quinn refused to do.

I'm sure Ms. Asha used more sincere and polite terms to describe Quinn's behavior, but what I heard was....

"Your kid is a punk..he wont listen to anyone...he doesn't participate in class...when confronted about his inappropriate behavior he karate kicked a teacher and used preschool slurs like "poo oo head." He's ruined..you've failed as a mother..and your son will grow up to be an even bigger punk, loser, and delinquent...Call the closest military school and beg for their mercy ASAP."

Then this morning, Quinn went to speech therapy where he refused to listen to the speech pathologist and glared at her as if she were the object of his hate, pain, and misery. He ended up hiding behind a poster stand and only came out when he could see my eyes turning red and the steam seeping from my ears. Before we left, the speech pathologist asked if "something is different at home."

What is different? Should I tell her that I filed for divorce, that I killed Chase last night in his fit of rage over a juice sippy and then buried him in my flower bed? I hate my job...but that's nothing new...and I've been leading a double life and my trip to Tokyo was a cover for my covert Mission Impossible jobs. NOTHING IS DIFFERENT!!!!

These are the questions I've been mulling around in my head. The only change I can think about is my trip to Japan. But I've been home for nearly 2 weeks. Could Quinn still be fretting over my trip? Is he sick of all the academic testing? Why is he being a punk? Why won't he listen to me? Why has it taken this long for an African-American president to be elected?

And then I noticed on his IEP (individualized education plan) letter that there was a box marked for "special day class." I'm not sure if that was a mistake or if the school is actually thinking about placing Quinn in a "special day class." I can not stop thinking about my sinking ship of a dream for Quinn to snap out of it and start acting like his peers and attend "normal kindergarten" as all of his friends are. I've even watched as the other kids in his speech therapy class have graduated out of the program and are moving on while Quinn is still there.

I'm preparing for the meeting tomorrow and I'm bringing tissues. I've attended hundreds of IEP meetings for clients at work and watched as parents broke down in tears hearing about their child's disabilities. Now I understand what it feels like to be a parent with all of your hopes and expectations for your child as a team of "professionals" talk in matter-of-fact terms about your child's deficits. I really trust this team of professionals and they know that I'm well versed on the in's and outs of IEP meetings. I know they will do their best to offer help for Quinn as he starts Kindergarten. This is my stuff. My feelings.. my own mommy guilt.

Next I have to figure out how to help Grant back off and let the professionals play their part in offering help to Quinn. This has been immensely difficult for me but probably more so for Grant because he's never been to an IEP meeting and does not understand all the psychological terms.

I'll post more about the results of the IEP when it happens.

Lost in \Translation

2009-05-07T01:51:00.000-07:00

There are lots of buttons on the computer here in Kyoto and I have no idea what the heck they do. I just wasted about 20 dollars worth of minutes figuring out how to turn the Kanji characters off. I cant seem to find the punctuation either.

I:ve seen lots of neato stuff and stayed in a traditional style Japanese hotel. The owner got down on all fours and bowed to me when I arrived. Grant doesn't even do that for me. I went into a traditional Japanese bath (onsen) and forgot and wore the wrong slippers into the bathroom. (\this really freaked out a Japanese lady.. oops) I went for a walk last night wearing a kimono and wooden slippers. I:m sure my underwear was hanging out the back.

This morning　Ｉ　ｆｉｓｈ，　ｒｉｃｅ，ａｎｄ　ｐｉｃｋｌｅｄ　ｖｅｇｅｔａｂｌｅｓ　ｆｏｒ　ｂｒｅａｋｆａｓｔ．　　Ｉ：ｖｅ　ｅａｔｅｎ　ｓｏ　ｍｕｃｈ　ｒａｗ　ｆｉｓｈ　ａｎｄ　ｍｅａｔ　ｉｔｓ　ｕｎｒｅａｌ．　　Ｉ：ｄ　ｌｏｖｅ　ｔｏ　ｇｏ　ｉｎｔｏ　ｍｏｒｅ　ｄｅｔａｉｌ　ｂｕｔ　ｍｙ　ｔｉｍｅ　ｉｓ　ｕｐ　ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｉｎｔｅｒｎｅｔ　ｃａｆｅ．　　￥ｔｈｉｓ　ｍｅｓｓａｇｅ　ｐｒｏｂａｂｌｙ　ｃｏｓｔ　ｍｅ　ａｂｏｕｔ　３０　ｄｏｌｌａｒｓ．　　ｈａ　ｈａ．．

Ｍｉｓｓ　ｙｏｕ　ａｌｌ．

Ｐｉｃｔｕｒｅｓ　ｔｏ　ｃｏｍｅ　ｗｈｅｎ　Ｉ　ｇｅｔ　ｂａｃｋ．　　

I'm not the tallest person in Tokyo!

2009-05-03T03:40:00.000-07:00

Rumor #1 is dispelled. The Japanese are taller than I thought. I'm tall too, but not the tallest. The Japanese women are so beautiful and skinny.. It's not fair. I'm probably in the running for the fattest woman in Japan right now.

I know it's been ages since I updated the blog, but I thought I should share a little about my trip over seas. The is the furthest I've ever been away from home and the longest I've ever been away from my boys.

I won't bore everyone with all the details of my trip and the names of all the cities, blah, blah blah, blah. I've read about a trillion emails from friends and family that describe their trip in so much detail, that I walk away angry and jealous that I wasn't on vacation with them. I'll leave you with some tidbits that I discovered while I was here.

#1 Japanese women are very shy... so shy that they can't pee if someone else can hear them peeing. Some of the public toilets will make a rushing water sound to mask the sound you make when you go pee. (As my ass hit the toilet seat, I jumped at the sound of rushing water...it was like the sound of my water breaking except I'm not prenant or in labor.)

#2 The grocery store is much like going to an auction. Employees sell the food to you by yelling out about how fresh and delicious it is. People are eveywhere. I took a video of this and intend to post it later so you can see how crazy the Tokyu Food Show is.

#3 Some toilets will squirt water up you ass if you press the wrong button. (No explanation needed.)

#4 Bow a lot and learn to say you're sorry over and over again, even if it's not your fault. It seems like this would be a good cusom to adapt in the U.S.

I have to run now. I have no pictures to share because I forgot my USB cable at home.

More to come...

Free Dirt Giveaway!!

2009-03-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung at the Early household. My bulbs forced their way out and have withstood the force of 2 and 4 year old boys. Fortunately, the boys haven't learned about having fresh flowers in vases around the house. That's probably because their Dad isn't big on giving Mom flowers. There's something positive in everything right? I'm not complaining. Honestly..

The dirt on the other hand was not as fortunate as the flowers. This dirt pile has been excavated on numerous occasions and redeposited in several corners of my house (inside and out.) I managed to move most of the toys out of the pile before I took the photo. Grant has been taking his time posting an ad on Craig's List for the remainder of our top soil. I want it to go away as soon as possible. (So does my carpet...) So if you know anyone in need of free dirt. Send me an email. (Oh, it's my first free giveaway.)

Quinn found a pair of sunglasses from when he was a little guy. It's amazing how they still fit. He wanted me to take a picture of him. He looks like a child model.

Or maybe not... I'm not sure what this was about. I can think about 5 or 6 different captions for this one...

"What's that on your tooth Mom?"

"How much weight did you gain during your pregnancy with me?"

"When was the last time Daddy brought you flowers?"

Chase is more apprehensive about having his picture taken. Maybe he's getting me back for the naked Valentines Day photos. His right side is the "good" side.

Quinn had a speech and language IEP last week. IEP's are meetings held to help identify if kids have a specific "disability" (if you need to call it that) and then offer the kids some sort of accommodations at school. Quinn has only had speech therapy up to this point but when he starts kindergarten, we will most likely add a few more members to the "Quinn Fan Club" like an Occupational Therapist, and a Special Education Teacher.

Some parents might feel sad thinking of their kid's first year in Kindergarten and having a team that uses labels such as "special, therapy, and disability" to describe their kid's first year of school. It was music to my ears. I've been hanging my head low every time I hear another 4 year-old rattle off a long sentence or having a conversation with his/her parents. It hurts me to see how different Quinn's speech and behavior is from his peers. I have hopes that this new team (or new members to the fan club) will help make Quinn's transition into Kindergarten a successful one.

If you would like more information on joining the Quinn and Chase Fan Club, please inquire below.

Valentines Day for Big Boys

2009-02-14T20:43:00.000-08:00

What do women dream about for Valentines Day? How about a cute guy, with intense blue eyes, wearing nothing.... but in his hands, he holds your heart?

Yea, that's my kind of guy. He looks like Cupid without the arrow or wings. Well, we tried the wings but that's where Chase drew the line. "No Mommy, I can't wear wings." Of course he had no problem running around the house and back yard naked in the middle of winter. I feel a bit guilty...I mean it's one thing to take photos of your pets like this...but the kids!!! I'm making Brittney Spears look like Mother of the Year. I made sure to send a copy of this photo out to all our friends and family so they can continue to blackmail Chase for the rest of his life.

Grant decided on a whim to install Chase's Big Boy bed. He's smart for not consulting with me because I would have gone through my mourning ritual that I go through when I pack away more baby stuff and old clothes. The crib was the last sign that a baby resided in our home. This means our family has officially graduated into a new era of child rearing. When I saw what he was doing, I bet my tongue, sucked back the tears, and tried to hold it together. I think one of my ovaries responded by aching and trying to ovulate early.

So here's the man putting the big boy bed together.

Since we didn't plan ahead, we still had the crib in the room. Grant shoved it into the center of the room to take care of later.

The boys enjoy a fun project and they grabbed their tools and tried to help. I didn't help at all. I observed while holding a box of tissues, trying not to ovulate.

Once assembled, the kids had to test it out to make sure they could get maximum bounceage out of the bed.

They looked more like this to me as I had tears in my eyes...

I felt a little better putting the new bedding on the mattress. Chase was excited about the "crutchin site" on his bed. (A.K.A. construction site)

So that's where we are. We officially have no babies in the house. :(

Namenda...bless you!

2009-01-30T18:14:00.000-08:00

Namenda?? What the heck is that you say... It's Quinn's latest medication we started this month. Quinn saw the neurologist last month just before Christmas and he suggested we add yet another medication to see if it would help with his speech and language development. He gave me some research on an Alzheimer's medication called "Namenda" and suggested we give it a try. The most reported side effect is.....get this......irritability.

As if we don't have enough irritable men around this house. Someone help me! I'm dying in a sea of irritable boys between the ages of 2 and 32! I'm packing the car and I'm headed for Tahoe...er further out than that. I'll be back in about 16 years. Don't leave the light on for me.

So I did what any mother in my anxious shoes would do. I researched Namenda on Google. I was a little torn because the neurologist is using this drug as an "off label" use. (meaning, the drug is not intended for children.) On the other hand, I found some interesting information from other parents who have used Namenda and had great results with it. If you're interested..read here.

http://www.talkautism.com/sponsors/autismspeaks/HelpWanted.aspx?Page=Response&id=2528

So he started Namenda in addition to the Depakote, iron supplement, carnitine, etc. I can't keep track anymore. Maybe I should use some Namenda to help me remember what all the meds are for. He's been on it for a week and I haven't noticed any differences yet, but he has been a little irritable. I have my fingers crossed that it'll pass.

On to more interesting things... I took the boys to the train museum and managed to snap this photo of Chase with his head poking up in the middle of one of the display sets.

The train museum is typically a fun place to hang out when it's cold and rainy. The boys enjoy the trains and engines, and the mom's run after them trying to corral the kiddies before they run off. Unfortunately, I got held up while walking through a train car and Quinn took off. I thought he would wait for me at the end of the train car. . . . . . I was wrong. Quinn took off and was lost. My work friend Laurie was running around searching one end of the museum while I ran the other direction dragging poor Chase behind me with a death grip on his hand.

I can't tell you the feeling or thoughts that were flashing through my brain. After 10 minutes of screaming "QUINN QUINN!!!!! QUINN!" I cornered an employee and sucked up my pride and admitted I could not find my kid. I had failed as a mother and lost track of my most precious gift....my first born son. The employee was a little old man who was about 90 years old and moved at the speed of a 105 year old man. He notified the front desk and the employees began guarding the doors and looking for Quinn. They asked me what Quinn was wearing and my mind was blank. I think I stuttered, said "I don't know" a few times and then began describing his orange shirt, jeans, and hoodie sweater when I realized that I was looking at him walking toward me with a museum employee. I dropped everything (except for Chase's hand which was purple at this point) and ran up to Quinn hugging him and crying. He was crying too and obviously a bit disoriented.

The museum employee asked me, "Is this your son?"

Was she serious? No, lady! I just enjoy running around your museum screaming at the top of my lungs "Quinn" for the hell of it to see if it'll attract a little boy.

After we returned home Chase got creative with a random pen he found laying around the house. Below is the photo shopped version...

This is with Chase's art work. Can you tell?????

Here, take a closer look. Some children draw on walls and decorate the house. Fortunately, my kids keep their art on their bodies. I'm ok with it as long as their body art washes off.

Hopefully he won't ask for a tattoo any time soon.

How to take a Christmas photo....101

2008-12-06T12:37:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year again where I hang my picture taking abilities on a hook in the closet and attempt to put together a Christmas photo card. As you know from previous posts, it's really difficult to get a decent picture of the boys. One is looking away, the other picking his nose, or staring off into space. To throw us through a loop, Quinn has become more "huggy." This bothers Chase which in turn causes Quinn to hug Chase more. This session didn't last very long. The boys enjoyed the photo session much more than Daddy who was hired using bribes of sexual favors to stand behind me and make the boys look at the camera. (oops, TMI, I forget family reads this blog.)

Daddy: "Quinn be nice to your brother!"

Mommy: "Look at me and sit up straight!"

Lets try a few back to back! Nice work boys.

Daddy: "Quinn stop hugging Chase. He doesn't like it."

Chase: "Do you see what I have to put up with???"

Mommy: "Wait, we're not done! Come back! CHASE!!!!!

Chase: "Hold your horses, I'm back.."

Chase: "Quinn if you don't stop hugging me, I'll.........."

Chase: "That all! I'm out."

Apple Hill, Halloween, and other Happenings.

2008-11-17T19:30:00.001-08:00

Well it looks like I figured things out and I'm able to post my pictures again. After 2 months of not being able to upload my pictures and having no working computer, I'm finally back in business and ready to update you on us. We've had lots of fun over the past 2 months. I'll start with Halloween. Quinn had a day off of school and I had the day off of work so we decided to do a craft project together. The finished result is below.

This should be labeled as the "before" picture because the kids sampled it a few times. Quinn really wanted to be a robot for Halloween. I had no clue how to make a robot costume and Had no idea what he had in mind. So with lots of help from Google, Home Depot, and some left over spray paint, we created this...

Chase being our 2nd born child had to settle for Quinn's "hand me down" costume from last year. We thought it worked out well since his nickname is "Nuggett." So here's our robot and our chicken nuggett. "Let's Go Mom, we're ready!!!!"

This is the trick-or-treat crew from left to right..Chase, Quinn, and Madeline.

This picture is proof that the boys actually can interact without fighting. Yes, there are rare moments when the stars align, and there is a blue moon when the boys are sweet to each other.

And who is this cute little monkey?

So a friend of mine laughed me off when I told her that I never get good pictures of my kids, but I get fabulous pictures of other people's kids. This picture is proof of this phenomenon. Is nose picking a stage of development for children?

With a little help from Daddy and the bribe of carmel apples, we were finally able to get one decent picture of the Apple Hill gang.

Thanks to the help of our friend Marty, we were able to get a rare family photo with "yours truly" included. :)

I found this cute little guy hanging out with a bunch of apples. I brought him home.

How could I resist?

2008-11-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

I'm having some problems with Blogger. I'll have to update more as the site is fixed. My pictures wont fit on this site. I posted an updated video of Chase below.

Chase Can Read?

2008-11-16T12:41:00.000-08:00

And just for your viewing pleasure, I have Chase reading "The Going to Bed Book" by Sandra Boynton.

Long time no post...with videos too.

2008-09-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

Woops, I have been neglecting my blog buddies and never posted our updates etc.

The MRI results are back.....drum roll please.......Abnormal! What ever that means. I speak lightly about this result because the neurologist feels the lab technicians were being too "sensitive" about the report and were looking for a reason for seizures. He looked at the results and feels good about them. He must be getting to know Quinn and understands how unique Quinn's brain is and how it functions differently from us average people. The plan is to continue on the Depakote and follow up with more blood work.

If you're more of a technical person, I'll attempt to describe the results in this paragraph. If you're non-technical (like me) skip down to the next paragraph. This post is becoming a "choose your own adventure." How fun. Ahem, back to the technical stuff. The MRI shows that Quinn's Hypothalamus (on the left side) is slightly smaller than the right. Now most people have one foot that slightly smaller than the other, but my kid has a piece of his brain that's smaller than the other. I think he's trying to start a trend here. The hypothalamus secretes hormones that regulate body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue, anger (watch out!), and circadian rhythms. I'm guessing that this is why Quinn is so musically inclined. (See the paragraph below) If you're still interested in learning more about the hypothalamus here's a link from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothalamus There's even a picture of a brain with the hypothalamus on there. (If you're one of "those" types of people.)

So this video is about 2 months old already, but it's taken me a while to get it off my camera. This my friends, is what I've passed along to my children. They may look a lot like their Dad, but they get the moves from the Mama. Quinn gets a little carried away at the end, but his moves crack me up. Watch him off to the right before they press the button again for more music.

Here's another video that shows my kids being weird. I'm not sure why they were so high yesterday... Maybe I should stop giving them uppers....

Wine Train Photos and Update

2008-08-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

So this is the Napa Valley Wine Train. It ended up being a lot of fun even though it was a bit long (3.5 hours with little children.) The kids were very excited to ride on a train. We got to go in the neato observation deck that you see in the picture below.
This is all of us getting on the train. Hold your breath....cross your fingers....hopefully the kids will behave.

Here's a quick peek at Yours Truly and big daddy. Don't we look nice and relaxed? That's because we were already plowing into the wine.

Here's a view from behind the train. It took us all through Napa Valley into Callistoga. It's quite a beautiful location. I can see why so many couples get married in wine country. It could be very romantic if you have a good baby sitter or a few grandparents on hand.

This is one of the cars down below. Isn't it cute? I feel like we stepped into the '40's.

Here's my attempt at an artsy photo. Not too bad eh? The view could have been a little better but what can I say I was jogging after a 2-year-old.

And if you look closely, you can see the antique power line. That thing has been there for at least 20 years.

I have to say that the food was exquisite. I didn't eat this particular dish, but it looked good. I took a picture of my meal but it came out blurry. Shortly after I took the photo, I immediately dug in so I could digest a few bites before running after the little nuggets.

Speaking of the nuggets. Quinn really enjoyed the noodles. This is probably the only picture I managed to snag of him. He was off running up and down the train and laying on the floor playing with his toys.

Here is the Nugget himself on his best behavior. Doesn't he look distinguished?

And then you get to view him from the other side and realize he's sitting like this.

So which fork do you start with??? There's too much silverware on the table. I think I'll start with the knives.

Oh yes, the filled up a Champagne glass for my 2-year-old! Fortunately it was sparkling cider. Seriously though.....how many 2-year-olds do you know that can drink out of a champagne glass without spilling?

It's best to chase a glass of sparkling cider with some coffee.

Well. That's about how the trip went. I admit it went much better than I thought it would. The kids were on their best behavior and enjoyed the ride.

We finally got Quinn's MRI results back too. I'll post about it in the next update.

That's all for now.

The Wine Train or "Whine" Train.....

2008-08-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

So we're going out of town this weekend to celebrate Grant's Grandma's 88th birthday. This is a special birthday because she's turning 88 on 8/8/08. So I'm packing up our entire house so we can go away for 2 days. I often wonder why we ever leave the house. I have diapers, wipes, tissues, tooth brushes, shirts, underwear, backup outfits, blankets, special stuffed animals, cribs, Binky's, tear free conditioner, sippy cups, pull-ups, (are you worn out yet? I am.) And then I get to pack my stuff.

As part of this excursion, we are going to ride on the wine train in Napa for lunch. This sounds awesome under normal circumstances meaning... two adults dressed nicely, and enough time to enjoy fine wine, scenic views, and a fancy lunch consisting of several courses of small portions of food.

Here's how I envision our trip........

Chase runs up and down the train cars irritating the passengers... Meanwhile, Quinn is screaming and pointing out every tractor the train passes. Chase pulls his pants down and takes his diaper off and says he has to "go potty." I wait in line for the bathroom with his little naked butt hanging out then Chase refuses to use the potty. Quinn runs away from me and doesn't listen.... my food gets cold and soggy... the little, teeny, portion they serve me is removed from the table by the waiter before I get a chance to wolf down a few bites. Quinn cries because he doesn't like the food, Chase spills milk all over, and Grant is worthless because he's drunk."

You think I'm kidding?

Just wait for Monday's update! You'll see.

Birthdays and Black Teeth.

2008-07-29T22:39:00.000-07:00

Yup that's right... BLACK teeth. That's the latest side effect of Quinn being on Iron supplements. Nice eh? His two front teeth look as if they died at the root. I sorta noticed when I was brushing Quinn's teeth last week before I put him to bed. I think I mentally blocked out the image in my head thinking, "maybe he ate a piece of dark candy." The next day my Mom pointed it out. I immediately did what any parent would do... I googled "black teeth."

I guess this is a known side effect of being on iron supplements. Aparently I didn't read up enough on these liquid supplements before I began giving them to Quinn. Gaah! I called the pediatrician and tried to describe the situation to the receptionist. I got an immediate response from the advice nurse who tried to convince me that Quinn fell and had a tooth injury. When the actual pediatrician called back, she explained it was a side effect of the Iron supps.

The good news is the dentist could probably buff the stain out when Quinn goes for a cleaning. The bad news....Quinn has to go to the dentist for a cleaning. Lord help me get this kid in a chair at the dentist's office. I think I'd rather have my cavities filled. Literally. The other good news is that Dr. Ward was willing to let me try to get Quinn's Iron levels up by switching up his diet and ditching the supplements. Yeah!

Here are some pictures from Quin's birthday party. It was a lot of fun. We had the party at a play place called Funtastic. Here is what it looked like.

It was lots of fun for the kids and the adults. There were rope ladders, twisty slides, and floor puzzles. What more could you do for a 4th birthday? Below is Quinn's special tractor cake. His Aunt Doodle (Daphne) made it by Quinn's special request. We have no clue where he gets his interest in John Deere tractors.....???

Mmmmmmm cake time!

It looks like Quinn had some help with those birthday candles.

It would have been nice for me to get a picture of Chase too but for some reason I was running all over Funtastic making sure everyone was having a good time and I hardly got a chance to touch my camera. :( Maybe I'll get a chance at Quinn's 5th birthday.

MRI

2008-07-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Quinn had his MRI today and it went well. We made the mistake of dropping by Starbucks on the way there to the hospital to give yours truly a caffeine fix. It quickly turned into a plea by Quinn for milk and food. He was hungry and let us know. How do you deny your child food when he's hungry? That part was hard on me.

When we checked in the receptionist allowed Quinn to choose which movie to watch. He picked Thomas (of course). I filled out all the paperwork and gave them a list of my important information while the nurse put some numbing cream on Quinn's hands for the IV insertion. When we brought him to the back to start his IV, he began crying and screaming because he wanted to continue to watch Thomas. We compromised by letting him watch Thomas in the lobby while sitting in my lap and the nurse poked his arm for the IV. Even with a numb arm, he began screaming and crying. The nurse gave him the special syringe of "milk of amnesia" to put him to sleep. Almost immediately, he peed all over my lap and fell into a deep sleep.

It was a dramatic start to his procedure but the rest went without a hitch. Grant ran home and grabbed some extra clothes for us and a special gift for Quinn when he woke up. I went to the bathroom and cleaned up. Thank God I decided to wear flip flops today. ha ha.. After about an hour and 15 minutes, the nurse called me back to see him. I brought my little point and shoot camera and snapped this picture of him. He was so sweet all snuggled up on his bed.

Do you see why I love him so much?

I can't get enough of this kid.

But this is how I prefer to see my little man.

Daddy snapped this one this weekend when we were at the lake.

We had a few laughs after we got home with Quinn walking around in a daze. It didn't last long though. He's already skipping through the house playing with his new Bob the Builder dump truck and excavator. We wont get the results for another 3 days or so. Oh, and they didn't let me see his scan. :( Hopefully I'll get a sneak peak of his MRI when we have our follow up with the neurologist.

But does it taste good?

2008-07-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

What does it take to get medicine that tastes good? Why should it matter that medicine tastes good? Why can't I keep my checking balance over $100? Is this a lot to ask?

So I finally made the right connections and got the prescription for the Iron supplement called in to the pharmacy. The pediatrician called in a chewable tablet in the hopes that Quinn would take a chewable tablet as opposed to a yucky tasting liquid. I hoped that I could crush up the tablet and spoon it into his morning and nightly doses of Depakote Frosting Delight. Mmmmm.... Sounds good eh? I wonder how many more pills or supplements I can squeeze into a tablespoon of frosting.

Anyhoo, the pharmacy said they don't have the chewable form of Iron supps and they called 3 other pharmacies for me that also don't carry the chewable tablets. GAAH! I explained to the pharmacist that it's nearly impossible to get something into my son's mouth unless it tastes good. The pharmacist was an earnest and diligent young man and seemed committed to helping me out. He brought back, 3 different brands of liquid iron supplements and went over the ingredients with me. The first one was lemon flavored. Could lemon flavor cover the taste or would it taste like cleaning solution? The second one didn't have a specific "flavor" but the first ingredient was "sugar" and it looked like a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I'm about 99% positive that hydrogen peroxide doesn't taste good. The 3rd bottle didn't have a specific flavor either but the first ingredient was "sugar" and it had an orange label on it. I looked up at the pharmacist and thought, "surely if it has sugar in it and an orange label....it must taste good." I'll take bottle number 3, thank you very much.

I'm not sure what drove me to do this...but on the way home I decided to open the bottle and sniff it out to see if it smelled good. It didn't really have a scent so I dipped my little finger in it and went in for a taste....
.
.
.
.
Oh my god, it was as if I were sucking on the bottom of an old and nasty iron skillet. I had to spit....the traffic light turned green and I had people behind me. I thought I was going to die and urgently needed to spit.

Speaking of spitting....Did you read my last post? I managed to get the window down and hawk a spit ball out the window of my car while turning left at the light. I'm sure that was a sight for the young man in the car behind me. He was probably thinking, "Who is this crazy lady in a minivan hawking a luggie out the window?"

When I got home, I filled up the dropper with the iron supplement and turned to Quinn. He looked at me, opened up his mouth, sucked down the liquid, and ran off without saying a word.

Spit..It happens

2008-06-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

The boys have started a gnarly new habit. yes..... spitting! It started innocently in the bath tub when Quinn sucked in some water from a stacking cup and squirted it out of his mouth causing Chase to bust a gut laughing. This lead to Quinn becoming angry and hauking a luggie at Chase. Where does he get this stuff???

Grant and I immediately jumped into action as we would NEVER tolerate this type of behavior from our sweet and perfect children. All of a sudden, Chase busts another gut laughing and thinks it's hilarious and returns the favor as he spits back at Quinn. How are we going to stop this? Should I ask Dr. Sears? Alice? Dear Abbie? Dr. Laura? Dr. Spock? I must have missed the chapter in my parenting books that talks about redirecting your children's spit patterns.

I'm off on a tangent. I intended to come here and update you all on Quinn's progress. It's AMAZING! Quinn has been on Depakote for about a month now and his speech and language has progressed significantly. I'm doing the happy dance for Quinn and Dr. Chez, my new personal hero. I still have to do some Google research on Depakote and speech and language, but seeing is believing for me.

Here is our tentative schedule of events:

Today: Start iron rich diet to combat anemia

July 7th: MRI 7:45am

July 19th: Quinn's 4th birthday :)

July 22nd: Resume speech therapy at the school

August 20th: Followup appointment with the pediatric neurologist and more bloodwork

Some time after this we will most likely do another EEG to see if the Depakote is having an effect on Quinn's electrical impulses emitted by his brain. We want to make sure his noggin doesn't produce any more spikey patterns and that his left and right side of his brain are in sync. (No, not like the cheesy boy band. ha ha ha....)

Thanks everyone for your comments. It's really fun to read your feedback. For those of you that don't know... you can leave me comments here on my blog by clicking on the "comment" prompt at the bottom of this post. Your love and support means the world to me.

More Pills?

2008-06-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Quinn's blood draw went ok. He charged right back into the lab and jumped into the chair and held out his arm to the technician. They asked me, "Has he done this before?"

I said, "Yes, but I don't think he remembers this because of the way he jumped in the chair."

The tech asks Quinn, "Do you want to sit in Mommy's lap?"

Quinn: "No mommy's lap."

Mommy: "Are you sure?"

Quinn "Yes!"

Once the technician pulled out the needle and attempted to stick his arm, the crying and tears began. He was pleading with the technician... "No wait! Please, stop!! STOP!!! PLEASE!!! Owie!!! STOP!"

And just like that it was over. As we left the lab, the other patients looked sickly and pale after hearing Quinn's pleas for help. I looked over at a lady and nodded and said, "It really wasn't that bad."

The latest news is....... Quinn is anemic. The neuro's office faxed the results over to the pediatrician and now we wait for a prescription to be called in. I argued with the receptionist at the neuro's office if I could just change Quinn's diet or do other things to change his iron levels though his diet. She said, "I'm sure you could try that and then bring him in for follow up bood test to make sure it's working." No thanks, I'll opt for more pills. I guess his level was 15 and they want to see it above 22 at a minimum.

You don't get it lady... My kid is already taking 4 pills a day, I don't want him to be eating a gallon of frosting with all his meds. Gaah! I'm frustrated. I wish Quinn would eat more than frosting and chicken nuggets.

Quinn's MRI is scheduled for July 7th at 7:45 am. They will put him under general anesthesia and look at his noggin through a machine for about an hour. They are going to look for any structural defects in his brain or anything else that might explain why Quinn is such an awesome kid. I'm sure the pictures will come out great. I'll ask if I can get a copy of them in photoshop. (I'm kidding again.) I hope I do get to see some of the pictures though. I'm sure they will seem more like dopplar radar to me, but it's still neat to think of what they can do with technology. After all... how often do you get to see what your kid's brain looks like on the inside?

Mom, if you're reading this, I may need you to babysit Chase that day. ;)

School Performance and Ice Cream

2008-06-10T23:05:00.001-07:00

There's my boy all dressed up for his school performance. His pre-school class sang a few songs at the graduation for the kids moving into Kindergarten. Aparently a lot of kids don't make it to their middle school graduation so they make a big deal out of preschool graduation now. Naw, just kidding.

Look at all the kids with their hands neatly behind their backs. But we all know it's the girls that run the show in pre-school. Check out the 2nd girl from the right in this next picture.

Then you have the paparazzi (a.k.a. the parents.) Of course, I'm included in this madness with my spiffy DSLR camera.

Quinn has this new special look when we ask him to smile for the camera.

After the performance, we stepped out for some frozen yogurt. But first, I had to attempt to capture a decent picture of my boys together.

This moment only lasted for about 1/8th of a second. Thank God for fast cameras.

Nugget likes Chocolate ice cream. Errr wait... Frozen yogurt... YOGURT!!! Because frozen yogurt is that much healthier than ice cream right?

Spoons are as good as the yogurt..

"Pica is a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for largely non-nutritive substances"

-Wikipedia

Kidding again.. ha ha ha.. Can you say influenza??? Nice Quinn.

As for the medical updates.... Quinn goes for a blood draw tomorrow to see if he has a therapeutic dose of Depakote in his system. What makes it "therapeutic?" I don't know.... I think I've been working too much. Anyay, the neuro wants to make sure he's got enough in his system to make a difference and be sure it's not raking havoc on his insides. I got a message on the machine about setting up his MRI. I'll call and schedule that tomorrow.

That's all for now.

One week on Depakote...

2008-06-04T17:28:00.001-07:00

Quinn made it through his first week on Depakote. So far so good. I only forgot 2 doses. (Bad Mommy!!) We've been sprinkling his meds on top of a teaspoon fulll of frosting. Quinn loves his "mess-a-cine" and looks forward to taking it every day. It's a "Depakote Dessert." All epileptics should try it. And since our boys are so competitive, I have to give Chase a little frosting on a spoon for him too. Just so they don't feel left out, I get my share of frosting by licking my fingers after I administer the "messacine."

So I'm on a mission to document if the Depakote is having an effect on Quinn's speech and language. Tonight Quinn has a performance at his preschool's graduation. His class is singing a song. On the way home from school, I asked him what song he was going to sing for us. Quinn babbled out some name that had the word "poop" in it. I looked at him and asked, "Are you being silly.?" Quinn says, "No mommy" and broke out in a song I've never heard before. His lyrics were not understandable, but he sounded like he knew what he was singing. LOL I can't wait.

In two weeks we will have a blood draw to find out if Quinn is tolerating the Depakote well and if he's on the right dosage. That's all for now.

Family Updates.....5/31/08

2008-06-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I've had this blog for a while so I could save and share some of my pictures with friends and family. Anyway, it's been largely neglected for the past 2 years so I decided to change it into a place where I can update everyone on us. A lot of people have been asking me about Quinn and what's happening with him. Since it's all pretty confusing (even for us) and it's quite lengthy to explain over and over, I've decided to keep his updates here for you all to read as well as the other latest happenings.

In March Quinn was referred to the pediatric neurologist for autistic like symptoms by our pediatrician. Grant and I were pretty skeptical of the "autism" diagnosis but we felt it would be best for a specialist to make that opinion. After interviewing Grant and I, providing marriage counseling (heh heh just kidding), and examining Quinn the neurologist felt that Quinn was speech delayed and met the criteria for PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.) You're probably asking yourself "What the heck does this mean???" This means that Quinn has a lot of autistic like features but does not fully qualify for the autism diagnosis. As we've learned, autism can mean many different things. The easiest way to describe it is to think of Autism on a spectrum from 1-10 with 1 being meaning a very high functioning person with mild symptoms and 10 being a person who is unable to communicate and has a more profound form of Autism. Here is a link from a reputable website that talks about what Autism is if you feel inclined to learn more.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/whatisit/index.php

The neurologist ran several different tests on Quinn to see if he could pinpoint a reason for his speech delay and to make sure he wasn't having seizures. One of the tests he ran was an EEG (Electroencephalography.) For more info on what an EEG is click the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroencephalography

In my previous post are some pictures of Quinn during his EEG. We got him hooked up and then brought him home for the night. The next morning I drove him back to have the electrodes removed and then took him home for a shower and a hair style.

The results are back..... We saw the neurologist again on 5/30/08 and were told that Quinn had an "abnormal" EEG. There were several times when he was sleeping where his left and right side of his brain were not in sync and there were some spikey things recorded in his brain activity. What does this mean??? I'm not sure either but the neuro said he doesn't want to see spikey things in an EEG. The rest of the appointment sorta went by in a blur. I guess there is some correlation between the "spikey EEG's" and developing epilepsy in the teenage years. :( He put Quinn on Depakote (A.K.A. Valporic Acid.) It's used to treat seizures and is also used as a mood stabilizer for people with Bipolar Disorder.

The good news is that the neuro has seen some gains/increases in speech while using Depakote and there is some speculation that if we treat Quinn's "spikey brain patterns" now we could prevent him from developing epilepsy in his teenage years. We will return to see the neurologist in 2 months to see if Quinn's speech is progressing and repeat another EEG to see if the Depakote affected his "spikes." If so, we will keep him on Depakote for a while (maybe a year or two) and then take him off and see what his EEG's do.

As for us.......I thought I'd pass along some tid bits for when we talk next time.

A LOT of people have been asking me if I've read Jenny McCarthy's book on Autism. Yes, I am aware she has a son with Autism and yes, I've read portions of her book. No, I'm not in agreement on everything she's done to help her son as many of the treatments she's used are somewhat controversial and difficult to follow.

Yes, I am aware of the gluten free diets and the dairy free diets. So far the reasearch is inconclusive as to the effectiveness in these diets on children with Autism. We struggle every day with getting Quinn to eat ANY food let alone specific foods. Our goal is to make sure he's at least eating something healthy every day. Until the research comes out about the direct link to advances in these diets, we are currently choosing not to follow them.

Yes, I've heard about the claim that vaccinations may be linked to Autism, and yes, both of our boys have been vaccinated on schedule. There was no thermisol and no mercury in the vaccinations our boys received. They stopped using mercury in the vaccinations prior to the time our boys were vaccinated. Furthermore the research is inconclusive as to vaccinations causing children to become autistic. Here's a link if you need more convincing.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/inthenews/freking_ap_vaccine.php

Well now that I have that out of the way I can tell you what would be most helpful for us. Don't be afraid to ask us about Quinn and the latest and greatest. This is a lot for us to think about and it's nice to have friends and family to talk to that are understanding. Some times, we may just need a sympathetic ear. Please when you see Quinn go out of your way to talk to him and see if you can get him to make eye-contact with you when you talk to him. I know he's shy and takes a bit to warm up to but he needs to practice eye-contact and social interaction with others. I promise this will be the most serious post and I'll ease up from here on.

What's next?? We're waiting for a referral from Quinn to have an MRI and more blood work to make sure he's tolerating the Depakote well. I will post more as we find out.

Bonnie

EEG Pictures

2008-06-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

All wired up.

Quinn doesn't like being wired. :( (This part was hard.)

I'm ready to sleep with all my head gear on.

Cake

2007-06-21T17:49:00.001-07:00

Twins

2007-06-21T17:46:00.001-07:00

Maternity

2007-06-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

Mom's and Babies

2007-06-21T17:03:00.001-07:00

Babies

2007-06-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

Tiny Babies...

2007-06-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

Maternity with Multiples...

2007-06-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

Siblings...

2007-06-21T16:23:00.001-07:00

Happy Spring

2007-04-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Christmas Cleanup.

2007-04-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

2007-04-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Jessica and Abby

Hugs

2007-04-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

This is Quinn and Logan in a 2 second embrase. You gotta love the early days when boys aren't afraid of public affection.

Quinn and Chase

2007-04-18T11:07:00.000-07:00