JD started school today. He was SO excited. He loves other kids and is such a social child, much like my husband. He found his groove right away and I can easily say that he was not sad to see me go. He'll probably be upset when I go and get him in a little bit.

First time in a LONG time since I have been alone. It's weird. I am waiting for my job to start. My sweet husband said, take it easy, run, read, watch tv. Enjoy your time alone.

So I am.

Or at least I am trying.

: )

Big outing

We went out to lunch yesterday with our boys. Most people do this all the time. We don't. It's a big deal for us with T-man. and we had a blast yesterday. Both boys were incredible and we were so proud of them. Plus, we had a great lunch!

Oh, the little things in life! Thank god for them.

Had to pick up T-man from school yesterday - his allergies have been bad. He has been sleeping well because the doctor gave us Singulair which seems to be working, although I have heard the side effects aren't good. But we will watch him.

Found a car today - good ole' Honda!!

getting things done slowly but surely

Got the kids into a good daycare today - they will start on Oct. 5. I am a bit nervous about T-man going (he'll only be there for 45 minutes in the morning, then he'll get picked up for school). I think he will be fine, but most people and kids are not used to a kid like him. But I have faith. Especially since he'll be with his guardian angel - my sweet JD. Now he EXCITED about going to school.

Now, to just find a car!

Finally, a job

So I found out today that I got a full-time job. which is what I've been working towards for over a year. I am very excited, after having been home for almost 4 years with my kids. It is bittersweet though. I have enjoyed being home immensely and will miss my boys, but I do know that T-man is in school all day and JD needs to start school because he is so smart and needs to be with other kids. and will love it!
Our whole lives will change, but I know it's for the better.

Now, just a few things to do before I start. Buy a car, get kids in daycare and completely change my whole mindset. I can handle that. I think...

Poor T-man has a cough which we think is being caused by allergies. The crazy thing is that he only coughs at certain times. Of course on the school bus, I think the ladies that work on the bus must think we are awful parents because he keeps coughing and we keep saying, he doesn't really cough too much at home, just a little at night.

and poor JD got a bug bite on his eyelid, so when he woke up, his eye was completely swollen shut! My sister-in-law is a doctor and she said that he would be fine, just give him Benadryl and wait for it to go down. Meanwhile he looks like he was in a fist fight!

ugh, the trials and tribulations of having children!

Lame - o blogger

So I haven't written in a while and considering I just started that's pretty lame of me. but someone (thank you!) actually read my blog and that has given me some encouragement. I did start this to air out the craziness in my life so I should try to stick with it.

Last week T-man was acting like a crazy person. He is in pre-school at a special services school and his teachers and aides have always said he is such a well-behaved child and always listens and is good. Well, last week, they said he was "ornery", throwing food and toys and just generally being really bad! And all of this being very happy (at least!). Don't know if it was a full moon last week, but he wasn't sleeping at all also. So I was very happy that over the weekend he acted more like himself (sweet and gentle) and slept through the night. This morning I actually had to wake him up for school. I am hoping for a good report from school.

We are taking him for his yearly visit with one of his doctors, a pediatric developmental guy who we do like. I had called him over summer concerning T-man's lack of sleep and what we could do. We tried a few natural sleep aids and some OTC stuff, but I think he may need something stronger. So we will be discussing a lot of things when we go at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, I have started teaching my 27 month old the Dolch vocabulary words and he is actually picking it up with lightening speed. Can't wait to see what happens.

T-man

T-man is 4 years old and has been diagnosed with numerous problems. One of them is PDD/NOS, which is on the autism spectrum and Sotos Syndrome, which is an overgrowth syndrome characterized by a large head and developmental delays, among other things.



He has also been diagnosed with moderate mental retardation, which is not really a diagnosis but a symptom or at least that is what I have been told by a few doctors. We went to a very renowned diagnosing children's hospital for that one. My husband and I don't really agree with that particular one and it made us quite disillusioned with the doctor and the hospital. When we received that "diagnosis" we were confused and wondered what would become of our T-man.





I had a pretty good pregnancy with him - had him at full term. But the labor was not so hot. I had a fever and was very dehydrated. I had to be induced with Petocin and he had a lot of trouble coming out (had him naturally). His big head was kind of stuck and they were about to give me a c-section when he finally made his way out. He had aspirated meconium, so he was whisked away to the NICU before I could really even get a good look at him. He remained there for 5 days. During the second day, he had two seizures which they never have been able to explain, so they put him on phenybarbital until we took him home and could see a pediatric neurologist, who immediately upon seeing him took him off of it, as he said, "cold turkey." The medicine made him so sleepy and non-responsive that he had trouble nursing (and I was a new mother, I didn't know how to do it either) so feeding was a disaster for awhile.



When he wasn't rolling over at one of his well-baby visits, our pediatrican suggested getting an evaluation with Early Intervention. I am so grateful to that doctor because he didn't sugarcoat anything and let us know that something seemed off and we needed to do something about it.



So we started EI at about 9 months old and we had therapists coming to the house until he wasn't eligible anymore, which in NJ is 3 years old. He started at one of the special needs schools in NJ (they start special needs kids at age 3). We are so fortunate to live in a state that provides such amazing schools for kids like our son. He is in the autistic class and has a one on one aide and is doing well. I am so very grateful for the teachers and aides in his class. I know he is loved and cared for there and they have his best interests at heart. He can go there until he is 21 if he needs to and at this point, I feel that he will be going there until then.

New to blogging

I started this blog for my sanity. I have a pretty good life, but I have an extra challenge that most people do not. One of my beautiful sons is special needs and quite a handful. As I write this, he is sitting on the couch ripping a book and chewing on the pieces. But moments later, he is hugging my husband and laughing with his little brother appropriately. He is 4 years old, not anywhere near being potty trained, doesn't speak a word (but is very loud), understands a handful of commands and the doctors don't know quite what is wrong with him.

It's a strange life, but it has become my reality.

I have two boys, the one I described above and a 2 year old that has been speaking full sentences for over 6 months, is almost potty trained and nothing gets by him. It's like I am raising two species of children.