Happy 7th Birthday Hayden James :)

Dear Hayden,

It brings tears to my eyes thinking about your turning seven years old on Friday.  I can't believe it!!!  SEVEN…..you are almost SEVEN!!!  I am so stinking proud of you.  You have faced and over come more than any child your age should have to.

You have given me more than I could ever think about giving you.  I am so blessed to have you in my life.  You have taught me what pure, real, unconditional love is.  You have given me the gift of patience and selflessness.  Whenever I look or think of you I smile and see you for the beautiful, spirited, fun loving, and sweet little boy you are.  You are a real gift from God.

Your sixth year of life has been one of big changes and lots of fun.  You transitioned from doing therapy 40 hours a week to 3 hours a week.  You started going to Montessori School 5, 1/2 days a week.  You played pee wee basketball and tee ball.  You continued going to lego club and story time at our local library.

For the most part you like school.  Your favorite parts of school are snack time and p.e.  You really grew and developed socially and emotionally through out the school year.  This was your first time since you were 3 years old being away from Mommy.  You did beautiful. This coming school year you will be in Kindergarten and going to school all day, 5 days a week.  I am so proud!  You go to school on your own just like the other kids :)

You loved basketball and even scored a basket at one of your games.  You got really good a dribbling and understanding the basic concepts of the game.  You liked baseball and by the end of the season you were grasping the concepts of the game and seemed to be enjoying playing.

The biggest change in your sixth year of life is that you stopped playing with your precious cars.  The cars that you would line up for hours and examine their wheels as you spanned them.  The cars that no one else was allowed to touch or even look at, at times sat untouched for weeks at a time.  You still play with them occasionally but they are no longer an obsession / security object for you.

Your favorite things to play with now are Angry Birds, legos, and markers.  You still love to be read to.  You enjoy singing songs and dancing.  Your sister, Ruby is your best friend.  You two are inseparable the majority of the time.  You play well together and pick at one another too.  You have a bond like no other.

I have also noticed that you are gaining more and more independence.  You no longer want Mommy right there by your side all the time.  You will often gravitate to Grammie or Daddy for love, help, and support.  You want to go in the boys bathroom all by yourself when we are out and about (sorry for not letting you but there are sick people in this world).

You play board games following the rules and are happy regardless or winning or losing. You still love to swing, play in the water, and dig in the sandbox.

You have mastered the art of turn taking and waiting in line patiently.  You use your words to communicate and the majority of the time have a smile on your face.

Your favorite foods are fat stake, brussels sprouts, bacon, and fruit.  You love to help in the kitchen.  Your favorite part in operating the blender and cutting up produce.  Well, maybe sampling all the food and produce might really be your favorite part.

You amaze me every single day Hayden!!  You have come so far from the little boy that had no language, stimmed all day and night, screamed 90% of the day and night, and didn't want anyone to touch you.

I am so blessed to be your Mommy :)  Happy 7th Birthday sweet boy!!!!!  May all your hopes and dreams come true and if they don't you choose happiness and never give up!!!

Love,

Mommy

P.S.

We had a lot of fun your 6th year of life :)

Snuggling with sissy at bedtime

Loving leggo club

looking for frogs

Our pet pig, Parker that we had for a week before Daddy took him back

Rainy day fun……fishing in the bathtub

Ridding your new bike

A butterfly on your shirt

Last day of school :)

Chilling after a day of hyperbaric oxygen treatments :)

Playing in the rain

Puppet Show

Trying hard to catch a fish

You caught a frog

Ready for picture day

Yummy, we made almond milk together

One of your masterpieces at lego club

Giddy up Daddy

Hanging out with Mommy waiting to pick up our Co-Op order

Painting nails with sissy ;)

My little fish

6 year old check up

Working hard at school

Science experiments at library

Playing air hockey with Mommy

Snuggles for Mommy

Bff's

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Update :)

Has it really been since November since I have blogged??  Time for an update!

We recently traveled to South Lyon, Michigan for 10 days of hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments at Oxford Hyperbarics.  We had a great trip.  Hayden didn't have the detox / die off reactions that he did when we were there over the summer.

I want to give a big shout out to my parents and all that purchased cookbooks.  I was able to fully fund our trip with that money (missed work wages and all).  This was a tremendous stress relief for us.  I made and sold a total of 79 cookbooks!!  Thank you all for the love and support.  We graciously appreciate it.

It was great to spend 10 solid days with Hayden.  We had a good time swimming, playing play-doh, going to Whole Foods for shrimp and pickles, playing board games, drawing, coloring, and launching angry birds all over the hotel room.  It was an amazing re-charge that I think we both needed.  Ruby and Brandon spent the weekends with us too.

I don't understand why hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not used mainstream to treat disease.  The more and more I learn about it, it blows my mind!!  The healing properties are unreal.  The reason we did hyperbaric oxygen therapy for Hayden was to aid in detoxification, repair and regenerate stem cells and capillaries, and reduce inflamation.  We did 60 minute dives, at a 2.0 ATA, two times a day.

Just like the last round of hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments the gains started to be noticeable about a week after we got back from therapy.  There is not one person around us that has not noticed big changes in Hayden again.  Which is amazing because we just had a full moon and Hayden still has a little bit of an issue around the full moon still.

What we (and others) are noticing: huge explosion in initiation of conversation, longer sentences, increased happiness, improved eating, improved color, and improved listening.  His teacher told me he had the best week ever.  Hayden's OT was blown away by his flexibility, eye contact, and interest in sharing what he had been up to with her all on his own.

The movement that takes the cake is………….Hayden choose to sit and cuddle with PaPa (my Dad) after his bath one evening this past week.  Hayden normally likes to rough house with PaPa.  He climbed right up in his lap, told him all about his trip, told him what he had been doing in school, and asked what he had been doing.  The best part was my Dad could actually hear him and understand him.  My Dad is a little hard of hearing and usually has a hard time hearing Hayden.  Beautiful moment!  I was shedding tears, my Mom was shedding tears, and Ruby was pouting because she did not want to share her PaPa.

Hayden woke up in the middle of the night a couple nights ago calling out for Grammie to cuddle him. How stinking sweet is that???  Hayden has also been very excited for the weekends to have Daddy daycare and Monday nights so he can have Grammie daycare (I work those days).  It feels so good to me to know how much he wants to be with others.  It use to be very hard on Hayden to be with anyone but myself.

Hayden is sharing more and more about his day at school and what he did at Grammie and Daddy daycare.  Hayden made catapults with Grammie this week during Grammie daycare and asked me if he could take them to school to show his friends :)  We have been spending time outside recently and let me tell you what a change it is from the last several years.  I don't have to be constantly stalking him making sure that he is being safe.  He understands and gets boundaries now.  Previously he would run in the road or jump in the neighbors koi pond with out any hesitation.  Thank goodness for understanding safety!!!!


So needless to say hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps Hayden heal :)  Hopefully we will not have to go back for another round but I have a feeling we have at least on more round to go.  Who knows though really??  I feel like we are blazing the path with Hayden and his recovery from autism.  Just taking one day at a time.  Loving and enjoying life :)

P.S.  this month is autism awareness month. While I am aware enough of autism and don't feel like it is taken seriously.  It is the least funded / supported disease yet it effects more people than cancer.  If you would like to donate in honor of Hayden please donate to The Oxford Kids Hyperbaric Foundation: http://oxfordhbot.com/the-oxford-hbot-kids-foundation/ or The Autism Treatment Center of America: http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org .   These two centers have helped and supported Hayden's recovery from autism.

Hayden loved the macaws at the reptile refuge.

Hayden and Gunnar hugging.  We got to meet Gunnar, his sister, and Mom in Michigan while we were there.  Gunnar has also recovered from autism :)

Playing in the pool with Gunnar.  They shared angry birds.

Playing air hockey with Mommy for the first time.

Hayden did not want me to take his picture and was sick of waiting ;)

Painting dinosaurs with Ruby

Building at lego club.  Ruby is always dressed to impress!

Love that boy!

What Hayden picked out for the Easter Bunny to eat.

Getting a check up.

Working at school

Doing science experiments at the library 

Looking at a dog X-ray at home

Ridding his bike with Ruby 

Eating 1 lbs of shrimp in about 5 minutes :)

Getting ready for our dive.

Smart kid came up with a sling shot for his angry birds :)

Shopping at Whole Foods.

My Top 10 Laughable / Challenging Moments with Autism

Here is my top 10 list that will make you laugh or cry or laugh so hard that it makes you cry :)

10) It took one month to pee toilet train our son and 6 months (yes SIX months) to poop toilet train my son).  The good news was he did not like pooping his pants.  The bad news was he would poop in random places.  See #9-#6

9) My 3 year old son that poop toilet trained for 6 months had his favorite places to dump his load.  One of them being his bedroom floor at nap time.  We would shut the door with the potty chair right in his favorite spot for 6 months and he would poop on the floor beside it and then take his nap.  We would then go in after he was asleep and clean it up.  On one lucky afternoon I failed to see that my son had also peed on the floor.  I slipped in fell in my kids piss and smeared his crap all over myself.  It was one of the moments that you either cry or laugh.  I choose to contain my laughter (any autism parent knows you don't mess with a sleeping autistic child).  I walked out of his bedroom and Brandon just looked at my confused and all I could do was laugh so hard that I was crying.  Yes, honey I am covered in our 3 year old son's crap and pee.

8) It was no big deal to see our son squat and take a poop on the tile in front of our fireplace.  This was another of his favorite dumping spots.  I remember a play date with friends and this happened.  The friends we had over thought the our weenie dog took the very enormous crap in front of the fireplace.  I went with it……darn dog!!!!!

7) Hayden took a crap in the middle of the road in front of our mailbox.  There were lots of neighbors outside that day.  I scooped him and baby Ruby up and ran inside.  What do you really say / do in a situation like this…….YOU HIDE :)

6) Hayden liked to pee in random objects while pee toilet training.  My favorite was my water glass that  I then proceeded to drink out of.  You should have seen Brandon's face when I told him about this one.

5) I has having a beautiful moment nursing my newborn daughter and I just so happen to look out the window see a naked 2 year old Hayden in the driveway.  NOT GOOD!!!

4) If you visited us when Hayden was 18 months - 4.5 years of age he was most likely naked, touching his penis, and /or humping his designated humping pillow.  Yes, you read right.  He had a designated pillow to hump as we didn't want our personal pillows humped by our naked son.  My favorite memory of this was when a very conservative person was visiting us and Hayden proceeded to hump her leg naked.  Insert uncomfortable giggle here. I don't know if she was being nice or clueless of what was going on.  She said, "Oh, he is tickling me."  I had to walk out of the room and burry my head in the pillows and laugh.

3) At 18 months of age Hayden mastered the art of finding a way to get what he wanted with out any help.  Well there was cookies on top of the fridge.  The smart little guy used the step stool that his Aunt (yes, Sheila….I still have to blame you) bought him.  He placed the step stool on the counter, scooted a chair over to the counter, climbed up the chair, got on top of the step stool and pulled himself up on top the refrigerator.  I walked into the kitchen to find him still on top of the refrigerator eating cookies. Mind you he was 18 months of age.

2) I was at the zoo with my kiddos.  They had a huge blow up lion to celebrate the new lion exhibit.  There was a bench behind it out of the way.  I though ohh…great spot to nurse Ruby and Hayden is kind of enclosed here and he liked the lion.  Yes, he loved the lion so much that he unplugged the air compressors that were keeping the lion blown up. The lion quickly started to deflate.  I heard children yelling that the lion was dyeing.  Clearly a tragedy.  I did want any responsible parent would do and plugged it back in as quick as possible while feeding my daughter and corralling my son.  Then I played the stupid card yet again.  Who would unplug such a thing ;)

1) Hayden had a real thing for my haneous, jiggly, stretched out, mud flap of a stomach.  Which by the way it is his fault my stomach is like this.  He had no problem exposing my stomach no matter where we were, squeezing it, jiggling, sticking his face in it, and my personal favorite motor boating it.  I would usually try to just stick my shirt over his head to cover the mud flap of a stomach I have which is quite awkward now that I think about it.  There are not many people that walk around with small children under their shirt are there????

I am totally cracking up thinking of these moments and also oh so grateful that we no longer have those issues :) What number is your favorite???

Still here :)

WoW, it really has been awhile since I have sat down and blogged.  When my kids started school 6 weeks ago I was in pure freak out *what am I going to do with all this time* mode.  Well let me tell you that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that they go to school.  The time that they are school flies by.  They are at school for 3 hours and 15 minutes.  It is a 30 minute commute both ways.

I know you are all on pins and needles wanting to know what I do during this time.......drum roll please!!!!  I do housework and cooking the majority of the time.   I have also remolded the kids bathroom complete with dry wall repair, grout paining, caulking, and some of the painting (Brandon did the rest).  Woot....woot :)  It is amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have two little ones and a therapy program to manage what you can get done.  The first week I did hit the gym and last week I took a few naps while the kids were gone.  I know, I said it.........I TOOK A NAP :)  It was amazing but then I wanted to nap the rest of the day away.

So who would have ever thought 6 weeks ago that Ruby would be the challenging one to get to school??? Um, yeah NO ONE!!  Ruby was super excited about school, seemed very happy about school, only said positive things about school, and then the boys chased her.  The HORROR......and then she didn't want to go to school anymore.  I talked her through what to do if the boys chased her.  She seemed confident in telling them not to chase her (if you don't know Ruby she is very much a tell it like she sees it kid).  Then morning came and she through a huge screaming fit demanding that she was not going to school.  It was ugly!!  We made her get dressed, we made her get in the car, we threatened to take her things away.  Hayden even told her to calm it down and take a breath a few times.  It was crazy to see him watching her throw a fit. The majority of my life as a parent it was Hayden throwing the fit.  He would even go and get her beloved burpie for her.  The look on his face was priceless........it was the *WTF is your problem look.*  Well this went on for three mornings.  I contacted her teacher just to touch base with her issue of the boys chasing her.  I observed her at school to make sure nothing else was going on (which I didn't think there was).  I then put a plan in place.  We would give her an option.  So the next morning I told her she could go to school with bubbie or she could stay in her room all morning until bubbie got home from school. Yeah, she choose to stay in her room.  My husband looked at me like I was crazy.  So bubbie and Daddy left for school and Ruby went to her room.  I told her she could have water, no snacks, and she was not to come out of her room until she was 1) ready to go to school or 2) Hayden was home for school.

I sat in my room and listened to her cry for 15 minutes.  I then her Ruby open her door and say I am ready to go to school now.  I was shocked that it only took 15 minutes.  I was preparing myself for the entire 4 hours that bubbie was gone.  It was seriously like a light switch went of.  Ruby got her emotions in check, got dressed, and off we went.  I walked her to her classroom and she went right to work.  We have not had an issue since.  I honestly think that she just wanted to hang out with Mommy like we have done for the past 4 years of her life.

The above story is the ONLY issue we have had with school.  Hayden is a rockstar and loves school.  I can't put into words what it is like for me to observe him.  It is such a surreal moment.  He really is just one of the other kids :)  One of the days I was observing him was a day that he can choose to go to PE. When the kids want to go to PE (once it is open) they take their name and put it on the PE slot and they can go.  Hayden went over put his name up and left the classroom.  I paused for a few seconds, Brandon looked at me, I looked at him and we waited.  I didn't ask him but we pretty much both had the look like is someone going to make sure that our kid makes it down to PE look.  Brandon said, "Maybe we should look out the observation room and make sure he makes it."  I said, "What if he sees us."  So we waited the 12 minutes that he was gone (yes, I looked at my clock and was timing him).  We then heard him in the hall way so to another little boy, "where is Ruby." Hayden then appeared in the classroom.   Ah, sigh of relief.

Hayden is changing daily.  It is so exciting to see him do all the things that were once such a challenge for him.  I am one proud Mommy.  Please keep my little guy in your prayers.  He is having dental surgery tomorrow.

xoxo,
Brandi

Family Pictures 2013

I'm 6 years old :)

Hayden drew a monster after talking about Halloween in therapy

The bathroom I freshened up

Ready for picture day at school

My *catch* of a life time :)