Ups and downs

This morning Bright Eyes woke up in a mood which meant that I spent most of the morning soothing and comforting. Everything was an issue - breakfast, clothes, undies, music... The mood continued over much of the day.

When I put that together with a sick-ish two year old who also needed soothing, and a husband who was ill himself, it didn't make for the greatest day ever. Plus the SCD carrot cake recipe I tried out wasn't a huge success.

On the upside, however, the honey lollipops I made yesterday were a winner, even though they got slightly scorched in the pan.

And I had a conversation with Bright Eyes, in which I think he actually understood some things.

I had to go out for an hour to the School Council meeting in the evening. When I got back, he asked, "Where are you?"
Me: "I went out. I went to school."
Him: "Go get Maddy and Bronte?" (two little girls I pick up once a week)
Me: "No, I went to talk to Mr Neal."
Him: "You went out. You ran away. You runned away and hided."
Me: "Yes, I did. I went to school."

More reading

The homeopath lent me this book which outlines in fairly extensive, but not unreadable detail the medical issues behind autism.

The basic premise is that autism needs to be seen as a disease, not a disability. Rather than it being an untouchable brain/neurological/psychological disorder, it is a systemic, whole-body condition which can be treated.

I find books like this a lot more helpful than, for example, the book on George and Sam (see previous posts) because it outlines the problem and the possible causes and gives solutions.

And boy, I like solutions.

Swimming next door

A very special 'first' today!

Our neighbours, who have not long moved in, have three children, one of whom goes to preschool with Bright Eyes occasionally. They also have a pool.

The weather was hot today, and when we came home from church, Bright Eyes could hear the children splashing.

"Hey, you guys. What are you doing?" he called through the fence.

They called back, "Hi! Do you want to come for a swim?"

We arranged a time and later in the afternoon, the two little boys came to our front door to ask Bright Eyes over to the pool. He went, and had a fabulous time.

Things that are firsts:
1. He, himself, was invited, not just as an add-on with his sister.
2. He wanted to go.
3. I didn't go with him.

Inspiration

I went to a big expo today, all about gluten free food, health products and diet. It was great to find a few new products, but the best things were the free seminars.

Well-known in the Australian autism scene are Dr Anthony Greenwood and Karen Wheelwright. Greenwood presented on the connection between gut dysfunctions and neurological development, and Wheelwright looked through the variety of different diets that are followed around the place.

My particular interest was in the launch of this book, Healing Foods, by Sandra Ramacher. She has followed the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for ten years and has been cured of colitis. It's a beautiful book and I bought a copy!

So now I've got the kick of inspiration I needed to start the SCD with Bright Eyes - and myself! Yes, I'll be going on it too. To do it successfully, I know I'll have to have a plan. Here it is:

1. Start properly after Christmas.
2. Before Christmas, start trying out different foods and alternatives - especially for breakfast and snacks.
3. Get some friends to attempt a few recipes for me, so I don't burn them and end up discouraged and defeated.
4. Try to change as much as possible now so that after Christmas it will feel normal to do it!

I'm a Big Boy Now!

Background to this: Bright Eyes is getting toilet trained, but has refused outright and to the point of screaming to ever wear underwear.

I was having a relaxing soak in the bath this evening, reading a good book when I overheard this from Bright Eyes who was in bed.

"Dad, dad.... (muffled indiscernible) I need.... (something inaudible)."

Next thing I know, Daddy has stuck his head around the bathroom door. "He wants his undies! Quick! Where are they?"

He grabbed a couple of pairs of underwear and took them back to Bright Eyes, who then said, "No. I'm not wearing them. No!" But instead of retreating defeated, he put the undies in the room and left quietly.

After about a minute I could hear this:

"Bright Eyes is wearing undies. Look! I'm wearing undies. I'm a big boy now."

He had put them on by himself, and was preening to Daddy and his big sister. The look of pride on his face was definitely worth getting out of the bath for!

Hey, it only took five months....

Milestones

Two things that Bright Eyes can do:

1. Poo on the toilet.
Yes - hooray! He finally did one, out of necessity, in a strange place, but it shows it's possible. Now to bring the skill home...

2. Reach the doorbell.
This sounds trivial, but he has needed to ring the doorbell whenever he enters the front door for years and it has always been a case of me dropping whatever I'm carrying, hoiking him up, pressing said bell and quickly opening the door and plonking him down so he can hear it ring. But NOW... he can reach it himself. Sooo much easier!

SCD Diet.... should I, shouldn't I

I'm back on wavering about whether I'm going to put Bright Eyes on this incredibly strict diet called SCD - the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I know that the homeopath is going to recommend that I do when I take him next week.

It sounds scary... I don't know if I can... I don't know if he'll eat... am I being cruel depriving him of food... will it have good effects on him... am I wasting my time...

Something that may help me decide is an allergy expo that is being held this weekend up in Sydney. I just discovered it online tonight! And... there's a beautiful new recipe book for SCD being launched, plus free seminars, and my guess is, free taste testing.

Am I up for it????