ASD stuff:
We had Bertram's IEP meeting on Thursday.  It was much more pleasant than I expected.  Bertram is going to continue speech at school (and through Kaiser), and he is going to have an evaluation for OT through school.  We have been approved for group ABA but I'm still waiting to hear from Kaiser about that. 

Bertram's behaviour at school, last week, was fantastic.  He had two days that were all smiley faces!
Aside from that, things are much the same.  He's been reading a lot, and getting better with phonemic awareness. 

Bronwyn has been talking a lot lately.  She loves to identify all the things she knows.  When she eats she likes to say "big bite!" She can count to 20, identify 1-10, and knows and can identify all the letters.  She loves reading, singing, dancing, and helping.  Now, if I could get her interested in using the potty...

And she is also awake, so now I have to go...

Today/ ASD

Today Bertram had his ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) eval with Kaiser.  We had a few concerns that mostly coincided with school.  There were a couple concerns with preschool issues (that he didn't want to participate in the Christmas or graduation program, really gloaming on to one friend).  Then, this year, with kindergarten, he has been having trouble with transitions, doing work he isn't super interested in, cooperative groups, things of that nature.  He had a couple instances of rocking himself, pulling on his ears, or just laying down on the floor.  (The rocking and ear pulling were new, as Aaron and I had never seen them).  We have been in communication with the teacher a lot, mostly trying to make sure he isn't too much of a distraction, and is keeping up.  We had his parent/ teacher conference last week.  He is doing well academically, and his behaviour is improving (but is still an issue).  He is reading at a 3rd grade level, but his comprehension isn't quite that high.

For the first part, we watched him through a one-way window, as he did different tasks with the evaluator, and we talked to the other doctor about what he was doing, whether it was typical, and translating as needed.  Then we had a break.  Then we did an interview with the doctor and Bertram did an analysis of his ability to learn (I can't remember what that part was actually called), but he scored average, or above average on all that. But in the end, he is ASD level 1, though fairly mild.  The next step will be receiving the full report, and then we will step up ABA therapy.  And we'll have to get a full IEP set up through the school district.

It all feels a little overwhelming at the moment.  And I feel a little sad that there are now more challenges that he'll likely face.  But we'll cross those bridges as they come.

Bertram was sick for almost 2 weeks, he had pneumonia at the end.  Then I got sick, I'm still recovering.  Aaron is sick and Bron isn't feeling great either.  We all got our flu shots, so at least there's that. 

We filled out an ASD questionnaire for Kaiser and Bertram has an evaluation in the beginning of November.  It takes all day!  I'm not overly concerned, as we've been pretty vigilant since he was tiny.  But if there are services that can help him with any issue he has, then lets take advantage.  He's been doing well at school lately.  We have parent teacher conferences right before Halloween.  His handwriting is really improving.  And as much as he says he doesn't want to go, he is always excited when he arrives.  We had walk a thon last weekend.  Bertram walked 5 miles, which is pretty good.  His attitude was pretty good most of the day, so we were all happy.  (Well, I was grouchy by the end of the day.  I was already not feeling well, and then walked a lot).

Bronwyn has been reading a lot and talking a lot.  Well, "reading".  That kid loves books.  She will often put a book in my hand and say "read this book".  She likes the Sandra Boynton books (Bertram did too), and The Pokey Little Puppy (which I hate).  She likes dancing, and songs that tell you to do things.  There is on called the Pinocchio song that she really likes to do.  She likes to pretend play having a picnic, or feeding her babies or neigh-neighs. 

Bertram has been sick with a fever and cough for a week.  He just left to see the dr again (I think he was there on Monday). It looks like he will miss 6 days of school, which is bad enough on it's own, but next week is Fall Break.  Which means he is out of school for 2 weeks. Also, I'm going crazy, mostly being stuck at home, with at least one whiny kid (though usually 2).  Bron has been mildly sick off and on, and we were all sick over last weekend.  So it's been a rough week.

Aside from the illness, it's been really hot.  It was close to 100͒ for 3 days.  I am so ready for Fall.  I think we're supposed to have a cold front coming in.

I changed my meds a couple weeks ago.  I didn't feel like the Cymbalta was working anymore.  So I am in the process of switching back to Zoloft.  One (or more) of my meds is making me super sweaty.  Not in a smelly way, just like embarrassingly damp.

School is going ok for Bertram.  It seems like he gets easily frustrated, so we've been working on that.  He started going to see the counselor (Mr Tony) once a week to help with interpersonal skills.  He should be starting Speech at school before too long as well.  He likes school.  The only homework they have is reading, whatever he wants.  He loves reading, so homework is easy. 

Grandma's house closed yesterday.  The little house is going to be torn down and made into a 3000sqft two story house.  That will not fit in with the neighbourhood, and will likely be worth twice as much as any other house on the street.

Too long, again

After it's been so long, it's hard to remember what I wanted to write about.

Bertram started school last week.  It has been fine so far.  He has half days until next Monday.  He has made a friend who was sitting at his table, but then the friend got moved because they were talking too much.  But so far it's all gone well.  Aaron usually packs his lunch, which is good; one less thing for me to do.  I signed up to be the library helper for his class.  But I need to get a TB test, and do a background check. 

The kids are in the middle of swimming lessons.  Bertram was in the tot class, but got moved to the level 1 class.  It's hard for him, for sure, but he enjoys it for the most part.  Bron is in the mommy and me class.  She likes it.  It was super hot last week, so it felt good to swim.  We have this week, then they're done til next year.

Grandma's house is just about empty.  I think it's in escrow. 

The week before school started we did a lot of different things.  Two different amusement parks, park day, beach day.  It was a fun week.

Bron has become a picky eater as of late.  She used to eat a lot of different things, but now she only wants Lucky Charms, which I'm going to stop buying, crackers, apple sauce, and cheese.  She used to eat different fruit and veg, some meat, etc.  But I'll keep giving her a variety.  She was having some issues with cow milk, so we switched her to pea protein milk.  She likes it, and it has a lot of the same things as cow milk (protein, calcium, fat, less sugar).  She actually finished all the breast milk I had in the freezer, which is good.  I'm glad it didn't go to waste.

I'm trying to remember what has been going on the past few weeks. But not much is coming to mind.

The other women in the family are getting a bit contentious about grandma's things.  The scheduling of going through items, how fast the house will be cleared and sold, etc.  I'm not involved other than being around.  My MiL is the executrix so she has final say on things, but it seems hard to be diplomatic with everyone.  Plus there are a lot of people to deal with.  The original will was split evenly between the three kids.  But two of the kids died before grandma, so it gets passed on to the grand kids.  So my MiL has 1/3 and 4 of the grandkids have 1/6, but that's of monetary value, not items.  So yeah...

I have a colonoscopy tomorrow.  Prep is going fine, so far.  I feel sloshy from having to drink so much, and  I'm at the point where I hate all the sweet things: jello (I always hate jello, but especially now), ice pops, hard candy etc. 

After the first dose of methotrexate I haven't been feeling too bad.  I'm relieved, because having to be on a medicine long term the those kind of side effects is terrible.  In a couple weeks, I'll do a blood draw and make sure it's not hurting my liver, and we'll proceed from there.

I can't think of much else for now.

Grandma's memorial was on Saturday.  It was a nice service.  I cried through the whole thing.  I'm still not used to the idea that she's gone.  I wonder if I ever will be.

On Wednesday I went to the rheumatologist for the first time.  She said what we basically knew which is that the crohns could be causing the arthritis or they could be independent of each other.  If they are related they should both flare at the same time.  I'm getting a colonoscopy in a couple of weeks, so that will shed some light on it.  But we still won't know if it will get better, worse or stay the same.  In the mean time, I have exercises to do, and some new medication.  Added to my large collection of medication is folic acid, Mobic, and methotrexate.  Mobic is an NSAID (like Advil).  The folic acid is to help combat the side effects of the methotrexate.  Methotrexate is like a scary medication, at least for me.  It's used to treat specific types on cancer and some auto immune diseases.  (Like Humira) it's an immunosuppressant, unlike Humira it has a lot of drug interactions, and isn't safe for pregnancy.  They were very specific: do not get pregnant on this medication. We're fairly sure we're done having kids, but if we decide to have another I have to be off the methotrexate for 3-4 months before we start trying.  Anyway, I took the first dose on Wednesday.  It didn't treat me well.  Since then, I haven't been feeling too badly, just really tired.  One of the good things about methotrexate is that it improves the effectiveness of Humira, and hopefully will help with my arthritis.  I'm doing the acupuncture once a week, I'm not sure that it's helping.  But it doesn't hurt, and it's a $10 copay.