The Little Prince is Autistic

Alot has happened since last March. In April we found out my grandson is Autistic. Since I am a teacher I suspected this for awhile. Once the diagnosis was made I had no time to blog or do anything extra in my life. It was all about seeing what we could do to help our little guy. We first tried the glutten and dairy free diet. This really didn't seem to help much and after many months of the expense and bother we just now decided to drop it. We did hyperbaric treatments during the summer. It cost thousands of dollars. It did seem to help and he has made improvements every since. He is also on special natural supplements. NO DRUGS! After much hassel(due to waiting list and insurance issues) he also gets OT, PT and Speach Therapy 3 times a week. Even when you suspect something isn't normal with your child or grandchild it still knocks the wind out of your sails when you have to confront it head on. Now for the up side of matters. Our little boy is so loving and sweet and extremly good natured, and it turns out he is also very smart. So we've decided to feel blessed by are boy, he is special and not in a bad way!

The Merry-Go-Round

Today we took the kids to the zoo. It was a beautiful day and it was great to get out with the kids and do something fun. We did however learn two valuable lessons on child rearing. First we learned that riding the merry-go-round until the kids don't want to do it any more doesn't work. We rode the merry-go-round so many times that it became a tag team sport for the grown-ups. We would wait in line, get on the ride, ride for the 5 minute ride, it would stop the kids would cry, we would get off the merry-go-round and get back in line and  start the process all over again. There were 3 adults and 2 kids so every few turns one adult would get to sit down and the other two would ride. The smart thing was that we bought the unlimited rides ticket at the gate, the bad thing was even unlimited rides wasn't enough for the two year old. We rode about 10 times because he cried such a sad faced pitiful cry every time it stopped that we would get off and ride again. Finally, we just couldn't do it any more. The other lesson we learned was that our hyper and sometimes unruly 3 year old did better on a harness with a leash than she does holding someones hand all day. Unfortunately, she sometimes acted like an untrained St. Bernard. She would tug her leash with strong jerks, pull people along the walk way, get tangled up in her leash, and sometimes just refuse to walk. I think her mom needs to enroll her in puppy preschool for some training. All in all not a bad day to take our 2 animals to the zoo!

Grandchildren Might Be Bad for Your Health

Mostly I would say that being a grandparent keeps us young, but grandchildren can be bad for your health sometimes too. We have two preschoolers that bring home lots of germs that seem to get poor grandpa sick on a regular basis. Grandpa has a very bad lung infection right now that started as a cold brought home by one of the grand kids.Then yesterday grandpa fell down while wrestling with our darling 2 year old that was having a major temper tantrum. So now he has a bruised up shoulder and side. A few weeks ago he fell off a ladder while hanging a new swing on their swing set. He is still limping from that accident. Their under foot and stuck to us like glue, and we'll be lucky if they don't kill poor grandpa.

Time-Out Party

Today the Princess was at day care playing when she suddenly notice that quit a few of her friends were sitting on the ground by their teacher. She ran over and asked what was going on, and was told that all her friends were in time-out. She smiled and said "I want to join the time-out party too. In her eyes when ever a group of her friends are gathered it is good time for a party. Maybe we should all make it a party when we are with our friends.

Annoying Little Brothers

Little brothers are a special breed of kid. They some how learn to push every button their older siblings have and yet maintain that ever so cute and innocent look about them. Well, our 2 year old Prince is quickly learning to annoy his 3 year old sister. He can make her yell and cry at whim these days. Now, he doesn't usually hit her or do anything that actually hurts her because he is to cleaver for that and basically a very sweet kid.However, he will accidentally "on purpose" splash water in her face, which she hates, or sit on that last piece of puzzle she needs. He also wakes up first most days so he thinks its funny to yell "WAKE UP" In her ear while she is sleeping. Of course, there are other things he does and he adds new tricks to his trade every day. Yes, little brothers are a special breed of kid, one that many older sisters wish had never been created.

You Smell Bad

Today the Princess climbed up behind me and was hugging me and playing with my hair. I said sweety what are you doing? She said, "I'm smelling you!"  I had just had a bath so I thought she probably was smelling my shampoo, and my scented body wash. So I asked her how do I smell? She honestly answered BAD! I said, "That's not very nice to say, I just had a bath." So she said OK then you smell good, but not really. She would tell me what I wanted to hear, but she didn't want to lie to me. That's one of the things I love about small children. THEIR HONESTY!

Grandpa the Hero

Yesterday the princess was playing in her room when suddenly we heard the Princess wailing with great sadness. Grandpa rushed to her room to see what had happened. She tearfully explained that there had been a tragic pillow collapse and that her stuffed monkey was no longer breathing. He's dead she cried! Grandpa being a fast thinker performed CPR on the monkey and saved his life. Princess tells me at dinner that grandpa is her hero. I know what she means, he's been my hero for nearly 33 years.