Not autistic enough?

I applied for case management and some services for Deklan. He was diagnosed with Autistic Disorder in October 2007. That was after nearly a year of working towards getting into a doctor to get the diagnosis - that's a different story. Anyway, he was turned down - he doesn't qualify. The reason he was turned down is because "Specifically, you do not exhibit an Axis II diagnosis of Mental Retardation before the age of 18, as measured by a licensed psychologist, nor do you exhibit a developmental disability." Isn't Autism a developmental disability in itself? He's not autistic enough? I just don't get it. These are services that he could benefit from - am I wrong to want that?

Boy Scouts

We joined Boy Scouts tonight! Tonight was sign up night for scouting so they've been promoting that for the past week. He was so worried that I'd miss signing him up. I knew I wouldn't miss it because I needed to be there for signing up Girl Scouts. Convincing him of that was quite the feat though. Last year we signed the girls up for Girl Scouts and Deklan really wanted to sign up for Boy Scouts. Deklan was too young last year because he was only in kindergarten - their age group is 1st grade and up. I told him he'd have to wait until this year. End of conversation - not mentioned again - until 2 weeks ago. "When do I get to sign up for Boy Scouts?" What?! Where did that come from?

Deklan told me last night, "I'm turning into a goose."
"You are?"
"Yep. I've got goose bumps."

Hand-ball sandwich

We went to a Wingnuts game last night. (Wingnuts is professional baseball in Wichita, Kansas.) My Girl Scout co-leader got free tickets through her company and was able to get enough tickets for each of our Girl Scouts and their families. That was nice.

It was kind of fun. There were several characters there - Spinner the Squirrel (mascot), Diego, Bat Man (the "bat" boy), a pirate. Deklan especially like Bat Man because Deklan had brought his stuffed dog - Ace the Bat Dog, Batman's dog from the cartoon Krypto. Yes, Deklan had to bring Bat Dog - in case the fireworks were too much and he needed something to squeeze. (I swear those were his words.)

Deklan did very well. He didn't sit still or pay attention much to the game, but did well all the same - no meltdowns or freak outs. I would tell him about different things of the game - our team is up to bat, oh he missed and got a strike, he made it to second, we're pitching now, etc. At one point I said that our team was pitching.

Deklan said "I'm a good pitcher."
I said, "Really?"
"Yes. I know how to pitch. You put your right hand out, put the ball in your right hand, put the left hand on top - like a hand-ball sandwich."
"What if you're left handed? Can you put your left hand out first and the right hand on top?"
"No - it doesn't work that way."

Sorry lefties - you apparently are not allowed to be pitchers.

Anyway, when the fireworks started Deklan was sitting between hubby and me. Deklan leaned over and said, "Bat Dog needs to see this. Can you get him out of the bag to watch?"
Well I sure wouldn't want to stand in the way of Bat Dog seeing such a beautiful display of fireworks.

The lunch box

Yesterday Deklan had a melt down before school because he wanted to take his lunch. We don't take our lunches - we get free lunches. Please don't judge me. He was adamant that he needed to take his lunch box. I don't have any lunch meat in the house and very little bread - hubby has to take his lunch every day so there's little left by the middle to end of the week. Deklan wouldn't get ready for school - no breakfast - no clothes - no brushing his teeth - NOTHING! I finally gave in. He was happy with what he took and understood that we won't be taking our lunch again until field trip day.

What did he have for lunch you ask...
He took a poptart and a juice box for lunch. Healthy, I know.

Ok - so I told you about my heart cath. Wednesday I had to have a EGD (tube down my throat that takes pictures in my stomach). Because the doctors believe the chest pains are not my heart they wanted to check my stomach to see if that was causing pain. Apparently it is. The results: several erosive spots, signs of gastritis, and a small polyp - which is being biopsied. They also took samples to determine if the erosions and gastritis is from a bacteria and how to treat it. So that's the quick update and I'm doing just fine. Thanks for the prayers and thoughts.

WAAA! WAAA!

My baby turned 6 yesterday. I was too distraught to even blog. OK so that was an exaggeration, but I did cry a little. I'll never hug my five-year old baby again - now I'll hug my six-year old baby. I know, I know, he's still my baby it's just the age thing gets to me. He's my baby and my baby's growing up. That's hard to swallow.

He wanted a party soooo bad. He's never had one before - he's never asked before either. I didn't want him to be disappointed but we couldn't really afford a party. We always get cakes for the kids - that's just a given for them. So this year I bought some Transformer plates and napkins to look formal and then just invited all the neighbor kids, that were outside playing, in for cake and ice cream. No need for presents, just come in and eat cake. There were 6 kids plus my 3. Deklan was perfectly happy. Earlier I took mini cupcakes up to school so he could celebrate with his class.

Fresh meat

Getting Deklan ready for school this morning, I got out the outfit I thought he was going to wear. Deklan decided he didn't want that outfit so I asked what he did want. He was leaning on me and in my face. He whispers (that's his thing, whispering), "I like fresh meat."
HUH??
"Well, I'm not sure I can make you a shirt with fresh meat, but let's see what we've got in the freezer." (Sarcasm is my strong point.)
"No, that shirt."
Oh.. he means the shirt that says, "I love fast food" and has a picture of a deer running. He saw that shirt and thought it was hilarious.

This is why you ask first.

The neighbor girl was over - the same 6th grader that rides the bus with my oldest. She came out of the bathroom holding a beef stick and said, "Umm this is good."
"What did you say?"
"This is good?"
"Sweetie, where did you get that?"
"Bathroom."
"Yeah... that's a dog treat you're eating."

Who does that? Goes into someone else's house and just picks something up and starts eating? I know I'm a little strange and definitely not organized, but not even I leave snacks in the bathroom.

One of the things that Deklan was so excited about for this year was that he gets to eat lunch at school. Friday he was telling me about school and he got so excited about lunch.
"I got to have milk at lunch."
"You did?"
"Yes, I even got to have chocolate milk yesterday. They make the best milk! ... And bar-b-cue sauce!"

School started back on Wednesday. The kids were actually excited. Oldest is in middle school so she gets to ride the bus with the high schoolers. Yippee. As my neighbor pointed out, our girls (they're both middlers) are going to receive way too much "education" before the end of school. Middle daughter is in 4th. She goes to upper elementary - 4th & 5th grades. She was placed in the class with her best friend. That was exciting. Deklan started 1st grade. He goes full day and I'm a nervous wreck. I keep wanting to email his teachers during the day just to see how he's doing. Instead I emailed today so they can respond on Monday. I say they because he actually has one teacher - Ms. Gen Ed - and then another for special services - Ms. Special Ed. I left messages for both, asking the same questions. I want to compare answers and see what's going on.

I asked Deklan if he got to play with Kevin - his friend from last year that we still have play dates with but is in a different class this year.

He said, "No, but this weird girl kept catching me and taking me to the swings. She doesn't get just one girl to help her, she gets like 14! But I escaped and she came back to get me."
I asked him who the girl was.
He said, "I don't know. She went to Head Start with me."
Oh my goodness! I know which girl he's talking about.
I asked, "Was it S?"
"Yeah."
Then he asked me, "So what should I do?"
I told him to tell her that he doesn't like that game so please don't do that.
He said, "No, I don't like HER, not the game."

O..K.. Not sure what to say to that.

To his credit, she really is a weird little girl.

Yesterday...

was not so good. I went to get some tests done at 7:45 yesterday morning. I'm only 34 but I have a lot of heart disease in the family and I haven't been feeling well lately so I wanted to be sure I'm not going to keel over with a heart attack. Family history here: My father died at age 61 of a heart attack, having his first heart attack at 45, several bypasses over the years and was told he needed to be put on the transplant list because only 10% of his heart was working. My brother had a heart attack - only one that I know of - when he was 37, he'll be 39 next month. So, I wanted to be sure.

Anyway, I was getting a myoview - pictures of the heart, similar to an ultrasound. I had to have an IV put in, dye put into the IV, wait an hour and then get the first set of pictures done. Then I had to wait again, have a treadmill test, more dye in the IV, the second set of pictures. Getting the pictures done were ok - this big machine circled around my chest while taking pictures every 30 seconds or so for either 11 (1st test) or 7 (2nd test) minutes. The hard part was holding my hands above my head and lying flat on my back when I'm not used it. The tests came out abnormal. I had a little chest pain (probably from walking 6 minutes on a steep incline, but whatever) so the doctor took me next door to the emergency room. There I sat for about 4 hours. It wasn't so bad. Because it was my heart - no I did not have a heart attack - there was a swarm of nurses on me immediately. IV set up (again), oxygen, EKG, heart monitor, you name it I had it. Then they gave me a local, baby aspirin, some nitro (yuck!), and then something to keep me from being sick to my stomach (yeah!). Anyway, after about 2 hours they decided to admit me, but I had to wait another couple for an available/clean room. They decided that I needed a heart cath. That's right - a heart cath.
"Don't worry." They said. "You won't remember anything." They said. They were wrong.
They went in through my right groin artery (femoral artery?). They did give me some good local that made me loopy for a few minutes. That was fun. Then it felt like a lot of pressure in my leg (inner leg where my leg bends). Oh yeah, it was a lot of pressure in my leg! When it was over they showed me some of the recorded film from the cath so I did get to see the dye shooting through my arteries. That was kind of cool. Then I was taken back to my room told not to move for the next 4 hours. Flat on my back and don't move for 4 hours?! That was hard to do. And because it was a major artery they put a 10 pound sand bag on my leg where the stitch is. Let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've been put flat on your back with a 10 pound sand bag on your leg and told not to move for 4 hours. Did I mention that by now it's nearly 5 p.m. and I hadn't eaten since 8:30 the night before. Yeah... I was beginning to get a little hungry.

Oh, you want to know the results? Well the doctors weren't really concerned. I only have 30% blockage in my left artery. No big deal. That's what they said anyway. Then they told me to go on a cardiac diet and sent me home - after nearly 6 hours. (Does anyone know if I should be worried and get a second opinion? Just kidding, I'll just need to watch my diet and exercise more than once a month.) I got to go home very close to 11 p.m. Since my husband had to work yesterday, I did call and let him know what was going on but didn't feel the need for him to leave work and come up to the hospital. He didn't come up to the hospital until nearly 7. Needless to say, he missed all the excitement because by the time he and the kids got there I was flat on my back and getting irritated that I couldn't move.

So I am home now. Extremely sore muscles in my leg and abdomen. I couldn't drive today - we had to leave one car at the hospital so I didn't have a car at home anyway. Moving very slowly, can't bend over, and can't drive. I sound like I'm 90.

Deklan had a hard time this morning. I thought he was going to have a meltdown before school. He wanted to, I could tell. I can't bend over or lift so he was having some issues with getting ready this morning. He seemed better this afternoon and hopefully tomorrow a.m. will be better for him.

Puppy Kisses

There's nothing like waking up to puppy dog kisses. Every morning Riley jumps on my head and gives me puppy dog kisses. That's a nice way to wake up.

Imaginary Pets

Deklan has imaginary pets. The most popular is Barky the dog - also Deklan's alter ego at times. Then there is Xing Xing and Li Li - both dogs. Kitty the cat - self explanatory. These are the ones he plays with most often.

Yesterday while at the mall - yes we went to the mall - amazingly the dogs caught up with us. Deklan was a little concerned because his dogs were thirsty and we didn't have anything to drink. I asked him if, since they're imaginary, we could give them imaginary water. That would have been fine except, he forgot the imaginary water.

Today we met new pets... Liony the lion, Ollie the Octopus, and Horsey the horse. Liony met up with us at the eye doctor's. Ollie and Horsey on the way home. The funniest was when we met Ollie. Deklan said, "Oh no... Ollie the Octopus just inked that truck." Playing along I said, "I saw that, yuck. Tell Ollie not to ink my van." "Well he only inked the truck because all this traffic scares him." I told him that Ollie could get in the car and I would take him home. Only Ollie decided to ride on the top of the van instead. I told Deklan again to tell Ollie not to ink my van. Deklan said, "Well... he didn't ink your van, he peed on it." My oldest pointed out while laughing hysterically that I told him not to ink my van - not pee on it. Thank goodness Horsey just ran along side of us - no telling what he would have done!

What a strange child

We have a neighbor kid who is still learning how to knock. He sometimes just lets himself into our house on his own. He's kind of funny actually. He has a speech problem so it's sometimes hard to understand what he's saying but that's not what makes him funny. One day he came into the house and just sat down. My hubby was playing the Playstation or one of the consoles and I wasn't home. Neighbor sits down; hubby thinks Deklan is coming in from outside to play so he doesn't say anything but thinks it's kind of strange. After awhile he realizes Deklan has been in his room for the past 20 minutes and not even playing with the neighbor. Hubby finally asks the neighbor what he's doing and he says just watching. Hubby finally asked neighbor to leave since Deklan didn't want to play right then.

A couple days ago the same neighbor boy came to the door and asked hubby if he could play inside. Hubby said Deklan didn't want to play. Neighbor said that was ok but could he come in and play with his (his own) cards anyway. Hubby was like NO.

Today neighbor boy comes to the door. Oldest daughter tells him Deklan doesn't want to play. Neighbor says, "Can I come in?" Daughter says, "No, Deklan doesn't want to play." Neighbor says, "I know but can I come in?" Daughter says, "No." Neighbor says, "Well, I'll ask my mom and she'll say I can come in." Daughter says, "Well it's my house." Neighbor says, "So if my mom says I can play inside then I can." Daughter says, "Whatever." He didn't come back this afternoon.

Not a great day

Deklan didn't have a great day today (I'm still on Sunday - even though it's early Monday morning). He didn't have any meltdowns, he just was a little off kilter. Yesterday he was in and out, playing with the neighbor kid - well his type of playing where they're in the same area and think they're playing the same game but actually are playing two very different games at the same time. Anyway, he was loving and just there. Does that make sense? It does to me. Today he was just not there. He played in his room nearly all day. Which is fine - it just keeps him really isolated and it bothers me some that he doesn't want to come out. The neighbor boy - who loves Deklan and is almost the same age - kept coming over and Deklan just didn't want to go out. He wouldn't even go out for a popsicle. He finally came out of his room on his own around 6 p.m. He wanted to play the computer but older sis was on it and he had to wait an hour. Not patiently but he waited. Then he got an hour on the computer and went back to the other room until bedtime. Every time he hears a website announced on TV he runs to the computer and tells me to look up the website. Usually it's from the cartoon network or a commercial that says you can play games online. So not a great day, but not really a bad day either. Guess I shouldn't complain - it's been worse.

Deklan climbed up in my lap last night and said, "You make me cry."
That surprised me so I asked him why.
He said, "You make me cry tears of love. I may even cry tears of love on you."
Then he said, "I'm full of love."

Mall Madness

We spent the night at the mall. No, we didn't get locked in by mistake - although that might have been fun too. Actually it was a Girl Scout event called mall madness. We arrived at 9:30 p.m. and left around 5:30 a.m. There were three adults and eight girls - that was just our troop. The leader and I have girls the same ages - 9 and 11. So our little ones were there with their troop as well. Not to mention every troop within the Service Unit. Some stores stayed open until 1 or 2 a.m. Some stayed open all night and had specials just for the Girl Scouts. The girls played glow in the dark golf, played on the inflatables, played bingo, did crafts, and of course shopped until they dropped.

Let me tell you - going to the mall is not normally my cup of tea. In fact, we've lived here for two years and this is my first trip to the mall. Not because I don't mind a good shopping spree every now and then, but because we never have the money to do anything like that. Remember I'm a stay at home mom. That being said, my brother and sister-in-law always take my kids school shopping a couple times a year. So we called them up, told them about this night at the mall, and asked for some school clothes money - with the idea that we'd be able to shop for school clothes. Each child got $100 dollars to spend - well, I got $100 for my son since he wasn't there. They did have some ok sales - apparently not as impressive as last year, but ok.

My older daughter bought a couple of shirts - one cute and one is still up for debate on whether she can wear it to school, a couple pairs of earrings - that'll help keep her warm on those chilly school days, and candy - well what can I say about that, so did I. I asked her how much she spent and she said, "I don't know... under $50 though." Under $50?! For what she bought it should have been under $20. My younger daughter actually did pretty well. She got a pair of jeans, a pair of khaki-type pants, a cute shirt, and a pair of gym shoes. How much did she spend? $41. For my son we got a pair of Power Rangers tennis shoes and two pairs of jeans. I spent for him only $29. I'll go through the receipts later and figure out how much each child spent specifically so I know how much they have left to spend for school.

The girls had a great time though. Only one of ours actually slept. About 1 a.m. though she started feeling a little icky so that's understandable. Everyone was running around and having great fun. I, on the other hand, had my feet screaming "SIT DOWN!! DON'T STEP ON ME AGAIN!!" Unfortunately, I could only listen half the time because we were walking from one end of the mall to the other because of stores, sales, activities, tracking girls. Anyway, it was quite an experience. One I wouldn't trade because I got to have an experience with my daughters that a lot of people don't have.