Roller coaster

Somehow more than a week has gotten away from me since I last posted. Well, not somehow. I know exactly how - there just isn't enough time in the day anymore. So I can already see why this blog was a good idea for me. I can't even remember what happened in the last week - I never would've been able to keep up with B's progress without keeping some sort of a written record.

The best synopsis of the last 7 days would be one big emotional roller coaster. Parenting is that way, isn't it? These days, there just seems to be a larger variance. My highs are really high and the lows are really low. And they happen practically on top of each other.

B has been singing the ABCs... well, doing a really good approximation of it. He has done it multiple times now after listening to it. It's adorable and really exciting. There's a high.

On Thursday, we had B's 3 year check-up at the pediatrician. That visit was a bit of a low. We're sort of in a therapy bubble right now since that is how we spend practically all his waking moments. In that context, B is a total rock star. He is doing so awesome cruising through his programs and we have a whole team cheering his accomplishments around the clock. It's tough when I take him out in the real world and see the the differences between where he is developmentally and where he should be. Going to the dr. is a particularly hard experience because it's already a traumatic place for him. He was really upset just by the weight and height check. Really upset. All in all, it was good news though - he's on track for growth despite the ultra-limited diet he puts himself on. Big relief. The really tough part came when I decided to do a blood test to check for food allergies/intolerances (more on that later) and they called for "back-up". He's not violent by any means but he also doesn't understand language the way a typical 3 year-old does so it's not clear how much he understands of what is going on. So they were taking precautions. He actually did very well. I hated holding his legs between mine and firmly planting his shoulders against the table while they drew blood. He did recover incredibly quickly. It was just a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, draining experience.  

Another high - big brother grabbed B's hand when we picked him up at school and they walked out together for a bit.

I know there were lots more on both sides - I'm just too tired to remember it.

Tomorrow, we're videotaping the assessment that I did with B when therapy first began - the one where he cried the entire time. I really hope it's another high point. Stay tuned...