The Little Bugs Have Invaded

I hate them. I loathe them. We've been lucky so far, but it had to happen. Our family has headlice. Ugh!

Poor Taryn's the worst. I've got them, so's Jen. It seems Jo and Jess have escaped. We've done the conditioner treatment tonight, but I'll be going out to the chemist tomorrow and getting some chemical wash.

Taryn was so good having her hair combed through. Of course, it's quite long, so it took about an hour of combing. Poor, poor kid.

Did I mention how much I hate the little bugs?

What does a 3yr old photograph?

The rug (and the strap from the camera.)

A toy tape measure from the builder's toy tool-kit.

One of the dolls carefully put to bed on the fold out kiddy couch.

A dolls pram with a Teletubby awaiting a ride.

The chaos created by Taryn pulling out the entire contents of the dress-up box. Yes, she did play with one or two items from there - found at the bottom of the box of course.

These are the things chronicled by Taryn's first foray into taking photos. :D

Taryn's continued to do very well in the toilet learning stakes. She's been completely dry all day for about 5 days now. I'm just in awe. She's had one poo in her pullup (when waking from a day nap - what's up with that?) but otherwise has been putting everything where it belongs. She's wearing her undies all day and taking great delight in choosing a pair to wear in the morning. Her current favourites are the ones with hearts on them. There she is up there choosing a prize from the prize box.

This morning I told her that when she's putting all her poos and wees in the potty or toilet, we'd have a party to celebrate.

"A party?"
"Yeah, a party for you!"
"A party for keeping my undies dry?"
"Yes, for being toilet trained."

Later in the morning she asked,
"A toilet train... Where's the toilet train?"

Another EEG

Jess is having another EEG tomorrow. The neurologist wants another one done now she's a little older. We fully expect it to show exactly what it showed last time - nothing. Yep, both Jess's EEG's and sleep studies have shown perfectly normal sleep patterns and no seizure activity. This is despite Jess having had observed seizures and a heartrate / breathing monitor that records that she stops breathing and her heartrate slows to dangerously low levels. (Oh yeah, and she goes blue - that's a pretty telling symptom.) The neurologist tells us that 20% of kids with epilepsy will never show their seizures in an EEG. *Shrug* Who knows whether tomorrow will show any seizure activity or sleep apneas?

Marshmallows and More

Taryn's been dry for TWO days now! And get this, she's been clean for TWO days too! Wowee!

Yesterday she stayed dry all day at daycare in a pull-up, and today she was eager to wear undies after going to the potty this morning. She kept them dry and clean all day and when we went out to an indoor playground this evening, she kept her pull-up dry and clean whilst there too. I am just amazed and blown away. She's getting a marshmallow for every wee and a prize from the prize box for every poo. Little wee's that she just manages to push out, even though she went 10 minutes ago, get half a marshmallow. LOL

We've continued to read her personalised potty book to her every night. Today she announced that she needed to go make a wee, "cos her body was telling her it needed to" Wow, wow, wow - something's going in. She's just so excited and proud of herself. She keeps saying to herself, "I'm so proud of me!"

And speaking of proud, I'm so proud of Jen tonight. This evening we went to a function for all the families of an organisation we are with that provides us with respite care for Jess. Taryn gets it too by default of being a sibling. :D Anyway, the function was at an indoor playground that had been hired for our group's use only. It was wonderful and amazing. We met some great parents and some great kids. One particular young lady with an intellectual disability and cerebral palsy was quite taken with us, and especially taken with Jen. (12yrs) She was signing to Jen, and Jen chatted and signed naturally back with her. She took the time and trouble to be with her, talk with her and find a way of communicating with her. She responded to what this young lady was signing to her and did it all normally. I was just so, so proud. Jen could have made an excused hasty exit at any point, but she didn't. She carried herself with grace and dignity and in doing so showed so much respect.

We met some great kids. Some we knew from other support groups for parents of kids with disabilities. Some were new. There was a young boy who spent a considerable amount of time in the disco room happily watching the spinning lights. A young girl of 6 with epilepsy. A little boy with a tracheostomy. Kids with cerebral palsy, kids with intellectual disabilities, kids who were visually impaired, kids who were deaf. Kids from the whole spectrum of disability and their siblings. It was a wonderful experience.

Nobody thought anyone else's kids unusual. Nobody made comments about kids playing in the 'wrong area' for their age. It didn't matter. The kids went everywhere and gravitated towards where they were able to go and interested in being. Didn't matter if a 10yr old was in the 3yr and under area. No-one thought anyone elses kids rude or bad mannered if they bumped someone or walked past someone a little too closely. The evening was full of little scenarios of kids being kids. Kids just being free to be who they were. Kids free of judgement. It was truly a beautiful thing because so many times in life we apologise for our kids and try to explain that our perfectly normal looking child has an intellectual delay and doesn't understand yet. Tonight, for once, we didn't have to explain.

Moments like these...

Life is a series of moments. Here are a few highlights of the previous couple of days. Feels like I have some energy to chronicle them.

• Jess asking for some chocolate, (which she can't have as it causes great intenstinal distress for her,) and being offered a caramel toffee instead. Taking one bite / lick and spitting it out with an, "Euuuchh! No like that! I want chocolate please!"
• Taryn helping me make the beds tonight by bringing me her pillowcase with the cabbage-patch dolls on it and announcing she'd got the 'dollies one'. :D
• Jess unloading the whole cupboard of videos and dvd's to get the the one at the back she wanted. Coming to us and asking for, "want tv please." Us telling her to go pack away the piles of videos and dvd's on the floor first and her going and doing it!
• Jen stepping up to the responsibility of her debating team mates and presenting her portion of the debate tonight despite being sick with the flu'. I was so proud of her!
• Jess finally understanding the concept of 'different' when presented with 3 alike objects and one odd one out. Whoo hoo!!
• Watching Taryn and Jess playing pretend together.
• Hearing Taryn and Jess saying sorry and please and thankyou to each other as a usual, normal thing.
  
• Taryn getting impatient with the help we were giving her with the computer mouse, and waving us away with a, "I do it myself!" So we did. And she did. She's actually moving the mouse and clicking accurately!
  

Ok, Jo and I have set up a game plan for pottying. We looked at where Taryn's had most success with staying clean and dry. They were (in no particualar order)

• Praise, praise, praise
• Emphasising the 'big girl' idea
• Going bare-butt under a long dress whilst at home
• Bribery - aka choosing a prize from the prize box for poos in the toilet
• Taryn choosing when she needs to go, rather than reminders
  

She's an independent little miss (like her mummy!) and she hates being told to go. She needs to have the freedom to be able to choose when to go. But without the bare butt, she chooses to go in undies or a pullup. With the bare butt she takes herself off to the toilet and the first we know about it is after the fact as her little voice sings out, "I did a poo!" LOL So that's where we'll stay. We had success today!

Ahh, who thought I'd be blogging about the daily habits of one of our kids!

Still tired, but not so much... and more pottytraining woes

Life is still tiring, but not as much as the other day. However, I still want this kid potty-trained! She's driving me crazy! I know, I know, stay relaxed, don't let my frustration show, can't lead a horse to water - blah, blah, blah...

We're currently reading the potty book I wrote personally for Taryn every night two or three times in a row. She loves it, but still does a poo in her pullup or undies. Today I put her back in her cloth nappy (diaper for all you USA-ians and Canadians,) cover without any absorbant filling. She doesn't care if her pullup gets wet - it's so absorbant anyway. At least this *feels* wet and cold.

Seems she doesn't really care about staying dry or clean though. She doesn't care if she's all poo-ey, doesn't seems to care if she's wet. Bribing's not working. Praise isn't working. Nothing's working. And I don't know what else to do.

Geez, she starts kindy next year and she's not toilet trained yet. And then tonight I read some stories of kids who are turning 5 and not toilet trained yet and I'm thinking to myself - "Please, don't let Taryn be not trained by then!"

I'm going insane and I know she CAN do it, she used to be dry all day every day, and now she's not. I'm racking my brains and I just can't figure out WHY she won't. If I could just figure out why, then maybe I could fix it.

Sigh, maybe that's the point, maybe I'm not supposed to figure out why - maybe SHE is. If that's so, I wish she'd darn-well hurry up.

Jo went in for carpal tunnel surgery the day before yesterday. It went very well. The anesthatist took the time and trouble to research which anaesthetics worked well for Jo and used them. Jo came out of surgery with flying colours. The numbness in her middle fingers is gone already. She's tentatively booked in for the other hand being done in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, I've been close to tears with stress most of the time. I'm caring for all the kids, preparing all the meals, doing baths and bedtimes etc. And yesterday I was stupid enough to accept relief teaching as well. I was just exhausted. I'm not taking anymore work for the next few weeks.

Public Service Announcement

I interrupt your regular blog reading to announce that Taryn just did a poo in the toilet!!!

Big news here! I sang, I danced, she got a prize from the prize box, got high-fived and she got a sticker. (Do you think I went overboard? LOL)

Oh, and what was the incentive that pushed her into sitting on the toilet to make the poo?
It was Jessie. Yep, Jessie. This morning Jess decided that she wanted to sit on the toilet to do a wee, so she took off her nappy, sat on the toilet and went! I said something to Taryn about Jess being potty-trained before her. (Yep, I'm such a bad mummy comparing the two!)

Not that Taryn's competitive or anything!

No Success in the Toilet Training Stakes

Taryn's been bare-butting it whilst at home, the past week, and once made a poo in the toilet. Huge fanfare was made and she got a prize from the prize box. Today she bare-butted it all day and happily did all wees in the toilet. We needed to go out late this afternoon so I popped a pull-up on her. Not 10 minutes after getting there she went in the pull-up.

ARGHHH!

Sunshine on a (partly) Rainy Day

"Mummy! Come see what I made!"
"What'd you make, honey?"
"I made suns!"

And she had too. She was so proud of herself.The girls do have a blackboard, but the trampoline is such a nice large canvas to use chalk with!

Girl in a Wagon

I caught a photo of Taryn sitting in the wagon outside. I think she's waiting for a pull around from Jess. That's a stone dog she's holding so carefully. Both she and Jess love carrying it around the back yard, taking it for rides in the wagon or putting it in the tray at the back of the trike. I used to worry it was too heavy for them, but you know, they've not dropped in on their toes once.

Trampoline

Taryn and Jess love the trampoline. Yes, it gives me palpitations every single time they're on it. Wouldn't you know it though, the only trampoline on the market that has the full surrounding netting has just had a total recall on ALL their tramps. It would be a dream to sink it in the ground too.

Meanwhile we supervise, supervise, supervise. :D

Dragons are afoot

Just wanted to show off Jo's latest cake. Everything's completely edible. Isn't it fabulous!

Have I mentioned how enormously proud I am of Jo's achievements in cake decorating. She has such a talent for it. What do you think?

There's nothing wrong with that child

There's nothing wrong with that child - at least that's what Jess's current daycare worker thinks. Jess is in the toddler group, even though she's 3yrs old. Taryn's in the kindy group (for 3-5yr olds) and copes very well there. Jess has needed the extra staff ratio that comes with the toddler group.

The daycare centre they go to has just decided that Jess should now be in the kindy room. Yep, that's right - no consulting us, the parents. Just plain decided and told us that Jess will now be in the kindy room! Their reasoning? Well, the toddler carer thinks there's nothing wrong with Jess and that she's perfectly normal for a 3yr old, therefore she should be in with her age peers. ARGHHHH!

If there's any semblance of normal development in Jess it's purely because of all the speech therapy, ongoing intensive support and teaching from Jo and I, sign language playgroup, occupational therapy and psych support she's recieved. Oh, and don't forget the daily doses of anti-seizure medication she recieves twice daily. ARGHHH!

Neither Jo nor I are pleased at all at how this has been (mis)handled. We will be writing a letter of formal complaint. *grrrrr*

It still galls me that this one person thinks there's no developmental delay in Jess - despite the assessments of two Speech Therapists, an Occupational Therapist, a Psychologist, a Neurologist and a Paediatrician!

Hmmph.

We've begun toilet training (again) with Taryn. She's back in undies for the day. She was completely dry but we were still battling the pooey undies. After 8mths of that I threw up my hands in despair and put her in pull-ups. Washing 2 to 3 pairs of pooey undies a day got old real fast. I'm still amazed I did it for 8mths day in, day out. But the time has come to try again. Taryn seems more agreeable to toiletting these days. I bought a new toilet seat with an integrated toddler seat that lifts up and down, so no more slipping toddler insert and no more toddler insert bowing into the toilet bowl (!) We've also tried the step stool with the toddler seat attatched (I think it's the Lipski seat) but that's even worse as it slipped around whilst she sat on it! She seems much more confident on this. By now, I think I've bought every damn toilet seat / insert / potty on the market. I finally found this one at our local hardware and supply store. It was cheaper than the Lipski seat and steps.

Wish us luck - we're going to need it! (Oh, and while you're at it - a few wishes for endless patience would be lovely too. *grin*)

Virtual Life

I've just discovered the joys of our 12yr old's gamecube game - Animal Crossing. It's a fun game, and I wander around in the town gathering items to sell to Tom Nook. Gotta make more money to pay off my house. The obsessive part of me is really enjoying collecting bugs and fish. It's very exciting getting a new one for the collection. :D

For Mother's Day I got the Open For Business Sims2 expansion pack. It's been fun discovering all the new options and items. Two siblings of my favourite Sim family were fighting constantly. Despite my best efforts of getting them to chat to each other, having other family members influence them to be nice to each other, I just couldn't get them to stop. As soon as they stopped fighting and one of them would cry :*( they'd be at it again. The oldest teen grew up and had the option of taking other family members with them. I got her to take one of the fight-ees. Pressed 'ok', and everyone waved goodbye to them. As the car drove off I felt incredibly guilty. lol

Good thing real life isn't a Sim game.

What Is A Mother?

Mother's Day is coming up very soon. One of my email lists had a 'get to know you' question that we could ask. The question was, 'What is a Mommy?'

I asked Taryn (3yrs old)
Me: "What is a mummy?"
Taryn: "Sandi D******" (my last name)
Me: :"What does a mummy do?"
Taryn: "An 'M' for Mummy, do some work, you do some work, Mummy."
Me: "What else does a mummy do?"
Taryn: "Get cross" accompanied by giggles - phew! I was worried there for a
moment!

Then I asked Jessica (also 3yrs old) what her Mummy did.
Me: "What does mummy do?"
Jessica: "da ba mmm, Mummy work!"
Me: "What else does mummy do?"
Jessica: "Mummy work."

I guess we work a lot!

Travelling in the car

We were travelling in the car today, going to visit the Gifted and Talented School that Jen's been accepted into (Yay!) when Taryn pipes up with,
"I like a fly like a bird."
"You'd like to fly like a bird?"
"Yeah! Up in a trees!"

Her imagination and wonder about what the world would look like from up high made me smile. I hope she never stops wondering about what life would be like from other perspectives.