12/23/09

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! So lots of good news to report. The boys had their first official dentist appt yesterday and they did great. We practiced the "open" command with Tyler a lot so he'd be prepared to open when the dentist asked him too. He wasn't too fond of the light in his eyes but say through a good teach brushing none the less. The doctor was very happy with Tyler's teeth. Ben also was good, he likes doctors for some reason, however Ben's teeth aren't' as great. He was blessed with the Loomis teeth which means he has big teeth and they are all squished together. He'll likely eventually have to have some teeth pulled to make room for his bigger teeth later in life. Not a lot of room in his mouth. Also since he's a carb junkie and that type of food tends to "stick" more to your teeth, he also has a bit of staining but all and all a good visit. It's strange making dentist appts. I feel a bit like a genetic mutant.. Hello yes, I'd like to make an appt for my boys. Ben has a VSD so he'll need antibiotics before the appt., can you call that in? Oh and Tyler has autism and is nonverbal, he may bite fingers and if given a new texture/flavor, i.e. toothpaste, he could possibly vomit. Lovely..sorry boys, I swear I was a very protective pregnant person and followed all the rules. So the dentist did follow my suggestion, as soon as Tyler as given a bit of toothpaste he gagged, so the dentist rinsed it off and just used water.. much better for Ty.

We also had a very peaceful Christmas with Steve's dad's side of the family. First time that we didn't at all feel anxious about Tyler once we were there. Tyler did fantastic. Last year they had kind of sectioned off a room for Tyler when he gets overstimulated and also Tyler and I sat in that room during present opening so we weren't right in the midst of the crazy. This year, Tyler was fantastic..sat in the same room with everyone else, never once needed to 'get away" or any of that. He even attempted to open a gift which he's never seemed interested in before. It was just so much fun to attend a gathering and feel like a normal family. Everyone had such a good time. Tyler has made leaps and bounds in terms of his threshold for stimulation and new environments, people, etc. compared to a year ago.

Which brings me to last night. I've said this many times in the blog but I can't begin to emphasize enough how heartbreaking it is to have a child who is nearly 4 years old that cannot tell you what's wrong. Last night around 9, Tyler started to cry. I went to his room and he was beside himself and very adamant that he wanted to get out of his room. I struggled with it because we have always made the boys stay in their room/bed when they awake during the night so that they don't feel they can just wake up and go play or do something else or fall asleep somewhere else. But with Ty this time I wasn't sure what was wrong and my being nearby was not consoling him so I thought maybe he was trying to tell me something and figured since he couldn't tell me he could show me. So I let him lead me downstairs, he was still crying and acting very much inconsolable. I had worried at dinner that maybe he ate too much so I thought maybe he had a belly ache.. I tried to rub his belly and that didn't work, we got him some juice wondering if he needed to poo but he woulnd't drink it. i had checked for vomit before i left his room and nothing and he didn't have a fever so I was ruling out any of those issues. Grr... he then walked me to the kitchen and went to grab his foam letters, my first indication that it may be a bad dream vs. not feeling well since he was somewhat interested in playing. I told him no, it was not play time, it's sleep time. So he was still crying in my arms and I told Steve how much it was breaking my heart. how would I know if something was terribly wrong where I should take him to the hospital. That's when I realized only time would be able to tell me. I couldn't physically see a problem, so if he cried non stop for a good 2 hours, I figure that'sa good enough indication that something is terribly wrong and that would be my indicator. So under the assumption he had a bad dream which is why he didn't want to go back upstairs, I knew I needed to find a way to slowly get him up there. He has a phone/toy he likes so we worked on the stairs.. Go up 2 stairs, play with phone, take phone away move it up 2 stairs, get Ty up 2 stairs, play with phone. We did this all the way up the stairs, about 10 - 15 mins I'd say to get to the top.. with a bit of whining/fussing but not all out crying. We got into his room, and had his light on etc. so he wouldn't be too scared. Then I had pulled out the 2nd crib mattress which we store under his bed in case we need to be there or in case he vomits on his, we have back up. SO I snuggled him on that one and sang to him and then for the first time he was totally calm. Ok time to transition him to his bed.. upset at first and then again withs inging consoling, better... So I laid down on the floor for a bit. after about 30 mins i had to pee so bad I couldn't stand it but he had kept checking to see if I was there so I knew he'd notice if I left. I gathered up the blankets to try to make it look like i was there and snuck out, whew.. Made it and finally got to pee. Got into bed...15 mins later Ty was crying again. I looked at Steve and said your turn, he said let's see what happens and good thing he did cause a few minutes later Ty was silent and then slept the rest of the night. When Ben wakes up in the middle of the night, he'll say, I had a bad sleep story, or I lost Sarah (the dino) or I need a drink or my belly hurts or whatever so it's very easy to remedy the problem and get everyone back to bed. With Tyler it's such a crapshoot and I always fear I may be downplaying what could be a big issue because I don't know what's wrong. I HATE feeling that way.

OK that's about all from us. Have a Merry Christmas Everyone