Thansgiving has come and gone; the Weardens have a lot to be thankful for this year.
We are thankful we were able to spend time with both our families for the holiday--the Saturday before (the 18th) had us in Abilene at Amber and Jud's house for steaks and baked potatoes. We had to leave Saturday after Michael got off of work because he had a big Subaru Crosstrek launch at work; a radio station came out and they gave away these incredibly fragrant Nathan's hot dogs. Emerald went to Mercy's (Faith's baby sister) birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese so Gabriel, Benjamin, and I were able to go up and see Daddy at work.
The trip was safe--we stayed at Jarrod and Julia's house, although Andrew was feeling a bit under the weather. Mom and Dad got to come; Royce, Stella, and the boys were unable to attend though.
Emerald had the week off of school, so she was able to help me decorate for Christmas. We put up a fully decorated Christmas tree in the living room, and a decked topiary and a sparkly pink tree in Emerald's room as well; my favorites are Gingerbread men and Snowmen, so they are everywhere inside and outside the house.
Gabriel still had school Monday and Tuesday; we had been noticing a significant behavior improvement and attempts at communication, but Tuesday marked a sharp decline. He successfully removed the sole of his brand new boot, not even a week out of the box; at school, they are mentioning aggression and complete inability to go unattended for even a moment. They can't even eat lunch because he won't lay down for nap.
Thursday was Thanksgiving at Glo and Pawpaw's--we had the traditional spread of turkey, ham, dressing, green bean casserole, the works. It was nice getting everyone together to share a meal and appreciate one another's company.
I am also thankful for another year being married to Michael. Saturday the 24th marked our 5th year anniversary. Ken and Rhonda kept the kids overnight for us, so we were able to go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and to see a movie. I got the sirloin kebob and Michael got chicken smothered in mushrooms and cheese--very delicious--and "Wreck-It Ralph" was super cute. The new mega movie theater in the mall is surprisingly nice; you can even get Starbucks drinks! We gave each other our gifts earlier in the month: I got Michael the Nexus 7 tablet; he got me a blue topaz ring in an antique setting and "Star Wars: The Old Republic", the MMO by Bioware. (Note: It is incredible, and it has just gone free-to-play so if you don't have it, get it!)
Emerald did well overnight at Glo's; Benjamin is a busy boy and a shameless bed hog, and poor Gabriel pined for me and sleep poorly as a result. It's good for him to get away from me every now and then, though it doesn't make him particularly happy, and it's good for me to get a break from the kids as well.
Finally, we are thankful that due in large part to my impressive foresight and preparedness (and so modest!) we are very nearly done Christmas shopping before December! Taking after my grandmother Pat, I started hopping on deals months in advance, spending small amounts of money here and there when we could manage so that we wouldn't be slammed with having to drop a larger sum all at once from one paycheck. Now we will be able to use that paycheck to cover travel expenses for the holidays.
Our own little "Elf on the Shelf" has arrived--Emerald calls him Chipper and is quite taken with him, even if the boys are rather ambivalent, wavering between disconcertion and outright disregard.
Bit of downer news: while hefting my darling ducky Ben into his playpen, I pulled or strained something in the middle of my back...again. A bit of heat, some Tylenol, and rest and I am hoping to get back good as new but if it hasn't improved in the next week or so I may have to go in and see the doctor.
Here's to another wonderful year of being Michael's wife, the mommy of three lively and healthy children, and a very blessed lady!
--Andie
Monday, November 26, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
November 16th
The last few weeks have been a little rough around our household.
October, Gabriel's moods, energy, and aggression were getting out of control. He was biting and scratching and pinching at school, and after 12 weeks of school he still needs complete adult support to stay in his seat. Leave him unattended for even a moment and he jumps up and runs off. He doesn't attend tasks, and sensory items that have worked in the past such as weighted lap belt and chewy tubes are no longer effective. At home, daily activities like taking his medicine or getting dressed became all out battles, and Michael and I have the scratches and bruises to prove it. As the norm of when daytime behavior suffers, his sleep schedule suffers as well.
At the end of October, I took Gabe for his check up with the developmental pediatrician, who prescribed him the medication Trileptal to help even out the extremes of his moods. With any mood-altering medicine, standard protocol is to allow two full weeks of taking the new drug to see results.
What followed were two...difficult weeks.
It's like the dial got ramped up to 12--at school, he would collapse in the hall, laughing so hard he couldn't stand and disturbing every class around him while the teachers and aides struggled to move him. Attacking himself as well as others, the classroom reports noted significant aggression every day, and he started taking it out on the home therapists as well. Indifference to lessons elevated to outright refusal to participate, concerning all those watching him. He wouldn't allow the occupational therapist to soothe him, rejected all forms of weight and pressure applied, brushing, spinning...every method we had for tamping down his excess was now more likely to set him off into a meltdown than to help.
While he was with me at home, token protests of fussing and struggling against routine were amplified to all out brawls, with Gabriel fighting with everything he had, screaming or laughing the entire time as he forced us to restrain him. The laughing was no game for him, though, anymore than it was for us; he was out of control. Michael would have to pin his arms and legs while I forced him to take his medicine, put on his shoes, wear his pajamas. Gabe is incapable of any sort of "normal" activity--he cannot sit still for dinner, see a show through to the finish (no matter how much he likes it); he spends most of his time at home banging his head on the couch again and again and again.
I could go on; needless to say, the stress level of everyone in the house was high, and all five of us were suffering.
So, two weeks comes and I call the nurse incessantly until she returns my call. They discuss options and take him off the Trileptal immediately, and to replace it with Risperidone. It is supposed to help temper the extremes of his emotions, make them more manageable again and to halt his aggression.
Pray this works. Emerald is struggling at school, most likely having stress-induced anxiety attacks because of the current climate at home; Gabriel deserves peace, even from his own body and mind; and they all need a mother that isn't running on scraps of sleep, caffeine, and sheer tattered nerves.
I promise a much more thankful, cheerful post in the near future.
--Andie
Monday, November 5, 2012
First Sunday in November
What has been going on with the Wearden clan?
Pepper was finally released from the animal hospital about 5 days after her surgery. Now she seems right as rain, but was on a whole fistful of pills and is still more or less bald. They took her picture and made her a little doggie model for their website. http://www.animalhospitaloflubbock.com/ If you are interested in seeing her. Since being home, she has gotten rather very fat and more than a little spoiled; I will be taking her in next week to recheck her liver values and see how it is doing. The vet worked with us considerably by knocking the price almost in half, but it was still pretty hefty and we will be paying on it for a while.
The weekend before Halloween, my cousin Jacob got married to his incredibly sweet long term girlfriend Anna. Michael got a few days off of work so that we could all drive down and go to the wedding; on Thursday, we drove to Amber and Jud's house in Abilene to spend the night before continuing on to DFW for the wedding Friday night. A little while after we got to Amber's, Gabriel vomited all over himself and the bed, then proceeded to throw up every half hour for the rest of the night.
Michael stayed with Gabriel in Abilene while Jarrod, the two healthy children, and I went on to the wedding. It stinks that Michael was unable to be there because he had formed a friendship with Jake while they were living in Lubbock. It was held in a little chapel on a ranch, a small, intimate ceremony that was beautiful and moving. Jacob and Anna are going to be so happy together. Afterwards, they had a reception where they served fajitas and I got to visit with my Dad's side of the family including my exuberant grandmother, vivacious aunt, and fabulous cousin Sean, Jake's brother. Now Sean and I are texting back and forth: it is awesome to have forged a friendship with him despite the nine year age difference.
We spent the night at Granny and Papa's, then headed back to Abilene to get Michael and Gabriel mid-morning. Benjamin promptly goes to Daddy the first chance he gets....and becomes ill all over his shirt. The trip home cannot be delayed as Amber and Jud aren't even home for the weekend, so I ride in the back next to poor pitiful Ben and we head back to Lubbock. Around Slaton, half way home, Emerald upchucks all over herself and the car.
Needless to say, not the best road trip ever, though it was wonderful that I made it to my dear cousin's wedding. Michael and I both got the stomach bug after coming back; Benjamin kept relapsing all the way through Saturday, which prompted an emergency room visit due to dehydration concerns. Little guy is finally back to feeling his old self again, which is a blessed relief.
On Halloween, Benjamin was still feeling poorly and Gabriel had developed an intense dislike for the material of his costume and having things pulled on over his head, so we were unable to do anything to really celebrate with them. Rhonda and Ken took Emerald to their church for Trunk or Treat--Emerald dressed up as Snow White. She makes a very pretty redheaded princess, and the highlight of the night for her was getting her picture taken with Captain America and buying blue cotton candy to share with me. When she got home, I divvied up the candy between her and her two brothers, which she was incredibly generous and gracious about; I particularly liked the limited candy aspect of the whole thing because in years previous, I have been left with entirely too much left over that goes to waste.
Neither Emerald's or Gabriel's school were doing in-school Halloween events. Emerald's held a fall festival the Saturday before that we were out of town for; Gabriel's had a 50's dress-up day. I was bummed because I had gotten Gabriel a Bob the Tomato costume to wear months and months ago thinking that he would love it and then he wouldn't even wear it. I do understand the school's reluctance for costumes--you open yourself up to too many problems from scary costumes to inappropriate costumes to offending parents that don't want their children participating in Halloween and therefore excluding their children from a school-wide event...I just found it odd when I first heard. I mean, didn't we use to dress up when we went to school? Or am I just remembering wrong?
Anyways, Gabe and I had our own plans for Halloween--a follow-up check up with Dr. Rogers, the developmental pediatrician.
The main concerns we were bringing to her were:
1. Gabriel's complete and utter inability, even after 12 weeks of school, to sit or attend to any task without constant adult support.
2. His over-activity level that is getting increasingly difficult to control the older and stronger he gets; it interferes with his focus in therapies and at school. He gets so excited or overwhelmed that he can't control himself, which leads us to...
3. ....emotional instability and unpredictability, causing stressful and distressing time at home and at school. He tantrums and has meltdowns, bites, pinches, scratches, pulls hair, both maliciously and accidentally. We were at the point where we were having more bad days than good by far.
4. The still present (though improving) playing with his poop problem.
Do not get me wrong--I am absolutely not complaining. It is just hard to know what to expect, what is "normal" and abnormal, what we should be concerned about...I would personally rather bring it up to the doctor and have them tell me that it is nothing worth worrying about than just stay quiet and wonder. Usually it works out in my favor because they are able to give us useful insights to correcting the problem areas.
As it is, because he is so tiny we have limited options for correction. They prescribed him behavior therapy with a child psychologist named Dr. Ratheal, as well as a prescription for Trileptal. It is actually a seizure medication but it helps moderate his moods.
He started the Trileptal on Wednesday--he takes it twice a day, once in the morning and once at night--and thus far the only results we have seen is a huge upswing in his appetite. Apparently, it can make children ravenous, which means Gabriel is begging constantly at school and at home for food. It is upsetting because you don't want to tell him no, but you also don't want to let him eat and eat all day long.
We are seeing some more signing from him, specifically "all done" which can be an immense frustration because he will say "all done" because he wants to watch his show but Emerald is using the TV, or he will sign "all done" because he wants to go inside while he is supposed to be enjoying outside time. (He will thank me when the weather gets frosty and he can't spend as much time out back as he used to.)
Emerald is still doing very well in school. She primarily plays with Faith and Caleb still; she has been begging me to let her play basketball but I am not really clear on where a 5 year old girl can go to play basketball. Fridays she cheers for the football team, looking so precious in her blue and yellow uniform. Rhonda says Emerald looks so disappointed that she doesn't get to cheer on the field though. More or less she gets all blue bears--when she does get all blue bears in a week, she gets a new charm for her charm bracelet and I let her call her Grandma Pat on Saturday for a chat. If she gets a yellow bear though, she does not get a charm and she is grounded from the DS and the iPad for the afternoon. Those seem to be motivating factors for her because she tries really hard to behave in school. Of course I understand we all have off days.
I am glad we put her in Pre-K instead of Kindergarten, but sometimes the material seems a bit easy for her. She is all ready sight reading a lot of words, can read and write all the numbers and letters, count up to 100, and spell several names. This is actually a good thing because that means she can focus on the things she is not so great at, including taking care of herself without mommy around, school protocol and rules and expectations, and being a good friend. They also teach her the Bible Stories and she just loves that.
Benjamin and I are getting along famously. In the mornings, we play together until he takes a nap, when I get to do my quiet time mommy things like crochet or read or play "Fallout 3". After that, we clean up before Daddy gets home for lunch, and then it's the afternoon and the older kids start coming back home, so we have Gabe's therapies and getting ready for dinner.
Benjamin can be a lot more tiring than either of the other two at that age--he is walking a lot sooner than they did; Emerald just liked to sit with me and read books, take long naps, and sing songs. Gabriel would sit in his swing all day if I would let him, only getting out to go for rides in the stroller--very serious, quiet baby boy. Benji runs and climbs and eats things; he has no patience for movies or TV or reading, always wanting to be on the go. In the nursery, he mostly likes to tackle the other babies to the ground, pull the girls' headbands or hair bows out, and slam doors.
He is just all over the place, but people just adore him. Wherever we go, we are getting compliments on how sweet he is, all the while he is smiling toothily and waving to the girls, trying to goad the men into yelling contests, and struggling to run free.
The other day I had to go to the bank to open a bank account for Gabriel; Benjamin slipped his stroller and went strutting, ending up with an entourage of nearly the entire floor of the bank following him and laughing at his baby antics. Without fail, I always hear the same thing: He look like a Gerber Baby! (Which, in translation means, "what a big fat healthy child!")
Michael is getting a lot of notice at work, both for selling Suburu like mad and for taking on the Herculean task of internet sales and managing, work intended for an entire team of people but is being fielded by him alone. I am so impressed and grateful for how hard he works, and that his work is not going unnoticed.
Not much other than that is going on really. I could tell you about what show I am watching (Jericho) or the books I am reading (Love in the Time of Cholera; The Drawing of the Three; Valeria's Cross) but the fact of the matter is...most of y'all come here to hear about the cute little Wearden children, not about the otherwise exhausted and lifeless drones that take care of them. And you know what? I can't blame ya. Those little sweethearts are my life's work, so I am infinitely more proud and interested in them than I am in static Andie.
Until next time (which I am hoping won't be quite such a long time as this one in coming), hope you are having a blessed and thankful November!
--Andie
Pepper was finally released from the animal hospital about 5 days after her surgery. Now she seems right as rain, but was on a whole fistful of pills and is still more or less bald. They took her picture and made her a little doggie model for their website. http://www.animalhospitaloflubbock.com/ If you are interested in seeing her. Since being home, she has gotten rather very fat and more than a little spoiled; I will be taking her in next week to recheck her liver values and see how it is doing. The vet worked with us considerably by knocking the price almost in half, but it was still pretty hefty and we will be paying on it for a while.
The weekend before Halloween, my cousin Jacob got married to his incredibly sweet long term girlfriend Anna. Michael got a few days off of work so that we could all drive down and go to the wedding; on Thursday, we drove to Amber and Jud's house in Abilene to spend the night before continuing on to DFW for the wedding Friday night. A little while after we got to Amber's, Gabriel vomited all over himself and the bed, then proceeded to throw up every half hour for the rest of the night.
Michael stayed with Gabriel in Abilene while Jarrod, the two healthy children, and I went on to the wedding. It stinks that Michael was unable to be there because he had formed a friendship with Jake while they were living in Lubbock. It was held in a little chapel on a ranch, a small, intimate ceremony that was beautiful and moving. Jacob and Anna are going to be so happy together. Afterwards, they had a reception where they served fajitas and I got to visit with my Dad's side of the family including my exuberant grandmother, vivacious aunt, and fabulous cousin Sean, Jake's brother. Now Sean and I are texting back and forth: it is awesome to have forged a friendship with him despite the nine year age difference.
We spent the night at Granny and Papa's, then headed back to Abilene to get Michael and Gabriel mid-morning. Benjamin promptly goes to Daddy the first chance he gets....and becomes ill all over his shirt. The trip home cannot be delayed as Amber and Jud aren't even home for the weekend, so I ride in the back next to poor pitiful Ben and we head back to Lubbock. Around Slaton, half way home, Emerald upchucks all over herself and the car.
Needless to say, not the best road trip ever, though it was wonderful that I made it to my dear cousin's wedding. Michael and I both got the stomach bug after coming back; Benjamin kept relapsing all the way through Saturday, which prompted an emergency room visit due to dehydration concerns. Little guy is finally back to feeling his old self again, which is a blessed relief.
On Halloween, Benjamin was still feeling poorly and Gabriel had developed an intense dislike for the material of his costume and having things pulled on over his head, so we were unable to do anything to really celebrate with them. Rhonda and Ken took Emerald to their church for Trunk or Treat--Emerald dressed up as Snow White. She makes a very pretty redheaded princess, and the highlight of the night for her was getting her picture taken with Captain America and buying blue cotton candy to share with me. When she got home, I divvied up the candy between her and her two brothers, which she was incredibly generous and gracious about; I particularly liked the limited candy aspect of the whole thing because in years previous, I have been left with entirely too much left over that goes to waste.
Neither Emerald's or Gabriel's school were doing in-school Halloween events. Emerald's held a fall festival the Saturday before that we were out of town for; Gabriel's had a 50's dress-up day. I was bummed because I had gotten Gabriel a Bob the Tomato costume to wear months and months ago thinking that he would love it and then he wouldn't even wear it. I do understand the school's reluctance for costumes--you open yourself up to too many problems from scary costumes to inappropriate costumes to offending parents that don't want their children participating in Halloween and therefore excluding their children from a school-wide event...I just found it odd when I first heard. I mean, didn't we use to dress up when we went to school? Or am I just remembering wrong?
Anyways, Gabe and I had our own plans for Halloween--a follow-up check up with Dr. Rogers, the developmental pediatrician.
The main concerns we were bringing to her were:
1. Gabriel's complete and utter inability, even after 12 weeks of school, to sit or attend to any task without constant adult support.
2. His over-activity level that is getting increasingly difficult to control the older and stronger he gets; it interferes with his focus in therapies and at school. He gets so excited or overwhelmed that he can't control himself, which leads us to...
3. ....emotional instability and unpredictability, causing stressful and distressing time at home and at school. He tantrums and has meltdowns, bites, pinches, scratches, pulls hair, both maliciously and accidentally. We were at the point where we were having more bad days than good by far.
4. The still present (though improving) playing with his poop problem.
Do not get me wrong--I am absolutely not complaining. It is just hard to know what to expect, what is "normal" and abnormal, what we should be concerned about...I would personally rather bring it up to the doctor and have them tell me that it is nothing worth worrying about than just stay quiet and wonder. Usually it works out in my favor because they are able to give us useful insights to correcting the problem areas.
As it is, because he is so tiny we have limited options for correction. They prescribed him behavior therapy with a child psychologist named Dr. Ratheal, as well as a prescription for Trileptal. It is actually a seizure medication but it helps moderate his moods.
He started the Trileptal on Wednesday--he takes it twice a day, once in the morning and once at night--and thus far the only results we have seen is a huge upswing in his appetite. Apparently, it can make children ravenous, which means Gabriel is begging constantly at school and at home for food. It is upsetting because you don't want to tell him no, but you also don't want to let him eat and eat all day long.
We are seeing some more signing from him, specifically "all done" which can be an immense frustration because he will say "all done" because he wants to watch his show but Emerald is using the TV, or he will sign "all done" because he wants to go inside while he is supposed to be enjoying outside time. (He will thank me when the weather gets frosty and he can't spend as much time out back as he used to.)
Emerald is still doing very well in school. She primarily plays with Faith and Caleb still; she has been begging me to let her play basketball but I am not really clear on where a 5 year old girl can go to play basketball. Fridays she cheers for the football team, looking so precious in her blue and yellow uniform. Rhonda says Emerald looks so disappointed that she doesn't get to cheer on the field though. More or less she gets all blue bears--when she does get all blue bears in a week, she gets a new charm for her charm bracelet and I let her call her Grandma Pat on Saturday for a chat. If she gets a yellow bear though, she does not get a charm and she is grounded from the DS and the iPad for the afternoon. Those seem to be motivating factors for her because she tries really hard to behave in school. Of course I understand we all have off days.
I am glad we put her in Pre-K instead of Kindergarten, but sometimes the material seems a bit easy for her. She is all ready sight reading a lot of words, can read and write all the numbers and letters, count up to 100, and spell several names. This is actually a good thing because that means she can focus on the things she is not so great at, including taking care of herself without mommy around, school protocol and rules and expectations, and being a good friend. They also teach her the Bible Stories and she just loves that.
Benjamin and I are getting along famously. In the mornings, we play together until he takes a nap, when I get to do my quiet time mommy things like crochet or read or play "Fallout 3". After that, we clean up before Daddy gets home for lunch, and then it's the afternoon and the older kids start coming back home, so we have Gabe's therapies and getting ready for dinner.
Benjamin can be a lot more tiring than either of the other two at that age--he is walking a lot sooner than they did; Emerald just liked to sit with me and read books, take long naps, and sing songs. Gabriel would sit in his swing all day if I would let him, only getting out to go for rides in the stroller--very serious, quiet baby boy. Benji runs and climbs and eats things; he has no patience for movies or TV or reading, always wanting to be on the go. In the nursery, he mostly likes to tackle the other babies to the ground, pull the girls' headbands or hair bows out, and slam doors.
He is just all over the place, but people just adore him. Wherever we go, we are getting compliments on how sweet he is, all the while he is smiling toothily and waving to the girls, trying to goad the men into yelling contests, and struggling to run free.
The other day I had to go to the bank to open a bank account for Gabriel; Benjamin slipped his stroller and went strutting, ending up with an entourage of nearly the entire floor of the bank following him and laughing at his baby antics. Without fail, I always hear the same thing: He look like a Gerber Baby! (Which, in translation means, "what a big fat healthy child!")
Michael is getting a lot of notice at work, both for selling Suburu like mad and for taking on the Herculean task of internet sales and managing, work intended for an entire team of people but is being fielded by him alone. I am so impressed and grateful for how hard he works, and that his work is not going unnoticed.
Not much other than that is going on really. I could tell you about what show I am watching (Jericho) or the books I am reading (Love in the Time of Cholera; The Drawing of the Three; Valeria's Cross) but the fact of the matter is...most of y'all come here to hear about the cute little Wearden children, not about the otherwise exhausted and lifeless drones that take care of them. And you know what? I can't blame ya. Those little sweethearts are my life's work, so I am infinitely more proud and interested in them than I am in static Andie.
Until next time (which I am hoping won't be quite such a long time as this one in coming), hope you are having a blessed and thankful November!
--Andie
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