Thoughts

I have had a lot going through my mind the last week or so. I figure that if this is like my journal I will put some in here for posterity's sake.

• Dogs with diarrhea are no fun.
• Peter is great because he got up with the dog both nights while she had diarrhea.
• A puppy can take up all of your patience. This is a problem because then you will feel bad because you may snap at your kids when you would not have normally.
• Worrying that your neighbor will complain to animal control about your dog barking again is nerve racking. (Even if she did way over exaggerate the times she supposedly heard the dog barking.)
• Trying to teach your boys ages 5 and 7 how to scoop dog poop is an experience. Especially if each of them nearly threw up while doing it.
• Potty training can be long especially if you feel like you are the one that is trained to take your child to the potty instead of them going themselves.
• Today Arabella had 2 accidents because she told me when it was too late. So, I would not let her watch Diego today. Then, I found her a few hours later on the potty going all by herself- go figure.
• Also, I find it ironic that she can stay dry all night long but struggle during the day. I am not complaining though and we still put her in a diaper or pull up just in case.
• Peter helped me make 13 pints of strawberry freezer jam last Friday night. It was almost like a date. We talked, the kids were in bed, we watched Bones reruns while we worked, and we were just together- wonderful!
• Why do people always think Joey is so much older? His karate teacher thought he was 11. I could maybe go for 9 but 11?! I agree that Joey should show a little bit more self control in class at times but maybe the teacher will have a new perspective on his behavior knowing he is only 7.
• Never let a crayon get melted in the dryer.
• I love my produce co-op I have joined. We have had some great dishes the last few weeks because of the produce we have had on hand. The pineapple was so good!
• Jon's new favorite game is Book of Mormon Battle. It is a card game. We don't play with the special power cards and so it goes basically like the game war. The good people in the Book of Mormon vs the bad people with point values ranging from 100 to 10,000. He has taught Arabella how to hold the cards and turn them over and he is able to determine who wins. She feels cool and I am proud of him for teaching.
• The Out of Sync Child by Carol Kranowitz is a great book if you wondered why some children are the way they are. (It is about Sensory Processing Disorders but can give insight to why your child only likes this type of food or hates tags or likes this type of activity.)

Joey has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome.

We began to have him tested in October due to some peculiarities that he has exhibited for some time now but has not been cause for concern (because it did not interfere with school or daily life too much) until this year.

He likes to jump/skip back and forth and could do this for an hour straight, if we let him. He usually makes sound effects while doing this.

He will stare off into space and rock in his seat and kind of moan to himself. (This is not your typically staring at something look.)

He gets really anxious about missing things: i.e. going to a dentist appointment during school he may miss some part of a week long project at school and will fear that he can not make it up. This usually results in tears. He has cried off and on for 2 hours before at school.

He does not play with kids but plays along side them (parallel play). When I drive past the school at recess, I see Joey jumping and not interacting with any kids.

He does not pick up on social cues- holding doors open for people, helping someone up if they fall down, taking a joke, showing interest in what someone else is talking about, realizing that not everyone wants to talk about Power Rangers or Ben 10 for 30 minutes straight.

He gets fixated on things. For example, Peter mentioned on Sunday to Joey that in January he would get to participate in the pine wood derby as a scout. The next 2 days when I picked him up from school the first thing he began to talk about was how he had designed the car and knew what each of us would do to be a part of it.

We met with the school diagnosticians last week and they are going to arrange for him to have counseling and occupational therapy at school next year. We will continue to do his occupational therapy outside of school and hopefully now that we have a diagnosis we will get the insurance company to cover more than 20 visits. He will be able to stay in mainstream classes and they predict that he will be able to be out of the special education program within 3 years. I am hopeful! They also recommended that we consider putting him on anxiety medications. This is where I am struggling. I know medications work great for a lot of people and I would hate to deny Joey something that would make his quality of life better. I just feel like maybe we could try working on some coping techniques first or something.

It is an interesting feeling to be relieved that your child has now been labeled with something that does not always have a great connotation. But, I feel like if this is what is needed so Joey can get the help he needs to continue being the happy, smart boy he is then I am thrilled. Joey is really smart and is doing really well in his schoolwork. He is very helpful when we ask him to do things around the house or for his siblings. He is highly affectionate and has the most inquisitive little mind. I find myself often looking at him and wondering what is going on in his mind. It seems to be constantly going a million miles a minute. I have read the one book I mentioned above and it helped me to understand some of what Joey is facing and how I can help. I plan to continue to educate myself and most importantly pray with Peter to be inspired to know what to do for him.

My greatest dreams for Joey are for him to be happy and to be able to serve a mission.

I love my Joey and as I look back on his life I know it was not by coincidence that he was my firstborn. He needed that extra time and attention that a first born can get because they are the only one. I am still hoping that my inexperience as a parent will not have caused him more harm. I know I have Peter by my side and a loving Heavenly Father watching over us as parents and Joey, so all will be well.