Thursday, April 24, 2008

recent quotes

A mere day before his first -ever hockey game Dima asked "How do I know which goal to shoot it in?"

"It could be a bear" said Dima while helping Papa look for the reason our electric dog fence isn't working followed quickly by "No, then we would have to see a cave"

While smelling a red tulip " it smells .... red" per Josh.

While looking at a tick on his sleeve " it's a sticker bug" Dima said between screams.

While smelling a yellow tulip " it smells ..... yellow" Josh again.

"They're better than the beginner adults I know who were just playing their first game not too many years ago" Mama said while watching Dima's first game. " These kids can go backwards - on purpose!!"

"When do they go in the water? "Josh asked while watching "Riverdance".

Monday, April 14, 2008

Eureka!!

Dima went to school for the first time on his medication today and he earned his sticker for the day!! The drug he's taking is supposed to help him rest well at night and to calm down during the day. We started him on it last Wednesday for night time use only until we had a weekday to monitor him during daytime use. I did notice that on Saturday after having a noontime dose he was playing very nicely on the porch and not running from thing to thing like he usually would have done. Yesterday we stayed around the house while the Flyers were on TV and then I took the boys to the rink to watch Chris play. It was hard to say if or how it effected him there cause Josh was acting up by then - I regretted letting him skip his nap - and I've noticed in the past that when one of them acts up the other usually kind of sits back and watches and stays out of whatever the other is up to, Thank God! I made a deal with Dima that if he gets all of his stickers this week we can go get a pizza on Friday. We drive by the pizza place on the way home and they always make some comment about it as we go by. As Dima got into the car today and told me that he had his sticker he asked if we could go to the restaurant today - Nice try, but I'm not negotiating on this one, he's got a short term attainable goal and he'll feel good about himself when we get to stop for the pizza on Friday.

If by chance your almost 5 year old picks up a crossword you've been working on and sits there while he's spending time on the potty looking all cute while holding the pen to his lips in a way like you do and scribbling on the paper you might be inclined to laugh with him. Then, when you walk away you should probably take the pen along with you since the little Mr. Destructo might write on his own face and legs in the two and a half seconds that you're out of the room. Yes, this really happened - Josh had scribbled up and down his legs and on his chin. At least he didn't get as far a writing on the wall!!

Thursday, April 3, 2008

cheap fun

While the boys were in school a friend and I went to Five Below - this store has pretty much everything and all kinds of neat -to -have stuff that we really don't NEED but ...
I got a pack of little whirly - helicopter rotor on a stick toys ( 3 for a buck) and rewarded Dima's third sticker in a row with the toys. They were inspired to eat their lunch in record time so they could get out to play with them and now they're out running around like madmen trying to use them. At times they're getting whacked in the face and sometimes they're doing better than I did with them. It's only a matter of time before they'll have them flying all over the yard. I also found beach towels and a bocce set that I might save for Josh's birthday. That should be a good family game that's also good for their eye-hand coordination. Josh'll have that mastered in no time. We've got a great yard for that stuff and they need something to do while they count the days til we can get out the baby pool and Slip and Slide. Josh is now asking for a new color of helicopter thingy since he can't flick that one
Gotta go out an help him.... to be continued

The last segment was while we were home between school and skating lessons.

Meanwhile back at our house... Josh is resting in his bed and thinking about NOT jumping on his brother anymore... something he got a time out for doing just yesterday and then he did it this afternoon from pretty high up on the jungle gym. Since both boys behaved well at skating I decided to reward them with a trip to our - ok my - favorite park so they got to play on the jungle gym and while there were climbing and sliding I was thinking back to just after we moved here and Josh was so little that I had to follow him around to spot him and be sure he wouldn't hurt himself today he was whizzing up a rope ladder where he used to just pull himself up on the first rung and kind of go sideways to the next opening on the thing and at the time he thought that was great - it's amazing how quickly the time flies.

During our excursion to Five Below I got Josh an alarm clock and made a picture schedule so he can get into the same routine that Dima's in first thing in the morning. Dima's really good about turning off his alarm, getting out of his P.J.s to put on the clothes that were laid out the night before and coming downstairs on school days. Lately Josh has been whining for me to help him and I think he's big enough that he can start to do more for himself.

He just used his alarm to get up from nap - got his pants on without help and is downstairs on his own. He's looking for a toy that he had this morning and he's walking around in the playroom saying "I'm getting warmer". Funny, funny kid!!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

our visits to Dr. Wiley

Almost a month ago we had a consultation with Dr. Peter Wiley and AD/HD specialist at CHoP to investigate the possibility that Dima has AD/HD . The more I read about it and talked to other people about it the more convinced I was that it would come to this. Once I read about kids who have it lacking the inner voice that tells most of to stop things that get them in trouble I could imagine Dima's picture in the book next to that entry.

The first visit was for testing and for Dima to be interviewed. Some of it was done while Chris and I were in the room and a major portion of it was just him and the people who were interviewing him. He had several breaks while they were together and it lasted at least four hours.

Since seeing Dima’s dr yesterday – yes, he does have mild AD/HD - I’ve been copying his reports for Dima’s teacher and the therapists at school because he thinks that Dima would benefit from speech and occupational therapy and so I have to get that ball rolling. I also faxed a copy to his pediatrician to see if she could prescribe medications for him but, no of course it couldn't be that easy, now we have to find a doctor who psychiatrist who treats kids to do the prescribing.

Dr Wiley was very thorough and he went over each test that he did and explained the results and what they mean as well as noticing trends in how he's learning and where he's lacking. I liked his approach with explaining the pros and cons of the medications with out saying that we HAVE to use them, just providing information to allow us to make an informed decision. The pediatrician and Dr. Wiley have both said that they've seen results with behavioral therapy combined with the medication.

So many people have a bad impression of what the drugs do but the way he explained how they work is different from anything I’d heard and it really made sense. Plus there are different things to try depending on how they affect him to see what works the best and at what dosage. After reading up on AD/HD I had a feeling it was coming to this. I should have recorded the visit yesterday cause it was just filled with information.

After yesterday’s appointment my mind was just swimming! In a way it’s just the beginning of more doctors and more therapies but I feel closer to an answer to helping him get a grip on himself. The bottom line is that with no one to talk to him and to nurture him and to really take care of him until he was almost three profoundly effected the formation of his brain and so his functions differently than others especially in terms of impulse control.

When I brought the kids home today I gave Dima a pair of heavy duty scissors to go out to our forsythia to trim some to bring inside - when you give him specific instructions about something like that he can do very well as long as he's not already wound up. He very carefully went out into the yard carrying the scissors the right way and being sure not to run it was kinda funny to watch him walking back with scissors in one hand, branches in the other using almost a tight -rope walk type step. Now he checks on them every few minutes to be sure the cats aren't chewing them or just obsessing over whether we should give them more water or take them out of the water because he knows you're not supposed to over water.

He got two stickers so far this week and if he can get two more I told him that he and I can go out to a restaurant of his choice on Friday night when Josh goes to see the Reading Royals game with his Papa. I'm going to try to set reachable goals for him so that he doesn't feel like he'll never accomplish the ones that are set too high.