Daily Chores...

Today we are having a LSS day... also known as Lazy Sunday Syndrome! :) Even though it is after 12, we are still lounging in pj's and enjoying the pressure of not having to be anywhere! Such a great feeling. With that being said, Noah insists on completing his daily chores... He begins his chore list with chore #1, feeding the dogs, Paris our chihuahua, and Abby, our poodle/scotty terrier mix...

Once the hounds have been fed, it's time to pick up his books in his bedroom. (every night or early morning before he goes to sleep or gets up in the morning, he will look at books in a box by his bedside. I love that he loves books, however, every morning they are scattered around his room. So chore #2, is picking up his books...

Then we are on to chore #3... making his bed.

and finally the last chore is to put our dirty clothes into the laundry basket...

Chores, responsibilities... they are so important to our development. To feel needed, to be accountable and independent gives all of us a strong feeling of self worth! I love that my little man has the desire and tenacity to succeed, whatever the task may be! Wishing you all a wonderful Sunday afternoon!

The Summer of Noah...

So we are back to the grind... summer is over, school has started, and we are hoping that the feel of fall will be here soon, (vs the 108' that we endured today)! We had a wonderful summer filled with laughter, fun and sun - minus the typical therapy, must do's and "you're child won't survive unless you..." moments... needless to say, it was a break that was truly deserved by all! I really wanted Noah to have a typical 5 year old summer... one filled with sleeping late, lots of swimming and playing at parks, beaches and children's museums. And that is exactly what we experienced this summer! :) Noah's days were spent either in the pool, at the Phoenix Children's Museum, or at the beach in La Jolla. And... even though we didn't meet with the "educated therapist" daily, my little man grew like a weed!!! He matured soooo much this summer, it was probably one of the most dramatic changes is such a short period of time since he was an infant. Noah loved to play with his toys; both independently and with friends...

He also became very confident with his gross motor skills this summer. He can walk up and down stairs with ease, properly play on the equipment on a playground and climb up and down any apparatus that may be with his 5 year old reach...

As the summer came to an end, it was time for us to get back into the grind of going to school every day, with this year attending a full day... (we decided to have N repeat another year of P-K, attending full time, to ensure that he is ready for kindergarten next year). Noah LOVES school and is sooo very excited to drive into the campus daily! He works very hard and is impressing all those around him with his love, his giving attitude and his tenacity to learn and master whatever is being taught to him. His focus and determination is so apparent in this photo that I just had to share...

This is going to be such a monumental year for our little man, I can't wait to see all the fantastic changes and lessons that He will be teaching Me!!! xo to all!

What a Difference Six Months Make...

Wow! I just read my last post... that poor woman! As I read the last post it brought me back to that day, that moment, where I felt like a complete failure as a mother, as well as a woman. For I was failing, I felt defeated. I was raised to be better than that woman... or was I? I am human... I think :)lol! I realize that I have truly struggled over this past year... Partly due to the fact that my little man wasn't where "I expected him to be" by the age of five... also due to the additional fact that my little girl, my first love, my daughter Devin, is graduating from college, getting her first "real" job in the corporate world, and moving out of state... permanently? Yes, incorporating the "empty nest syndrome" along with the "expectation syndrome" and topping it with the "hormonal syndrome"... well, life has been one large bowl of cherries!!! So, to sum up in 50 words or less, the past six months... Devin Brooke graduated from the University of Arizona, with Honors, majoring in Psychology with a minor in Pre-Law Studies. Her aspiration is to be a Criminal Psychologist... However she is equally talented and gifted on the right side of her brain as well. At the fabulous age of 22, my little girl can accomplish ANYTHING she sets her mind to. Right now she is working at a staffing company in San Diego, living three blocks from the water and enjoying the corporate lifestyle of a young entrepreneur. Noah, well, my little man is the MOST amazing human EVER! Over the past six months he has jumped leaps and bounds!!! I am so damn proud of him, of his tenacity and mostly of his LOVE of life... EVERY DAY! We not only started him on the Changing Minds Foundation protocol but also incorporated some additional supplements into his daily diet. I will post additional information in a latter post, but just want to say he is my amazing little man! He began school back at Montessori Academy again this year. We switched teachers and I feel so blessed to have him in Mrs Headley's class every day. She is an amazingly gifted teacher and is filled with such love and acceptance... I can't say enough about this woman! Even though Noah is five and would qualify for Kindergarten, we decided to have him repeat P-K this year, but attend all day. We are in day 10 of school, and he is doing FANTASTIC!!! We hired an additional tutor, Ms Angela, to cover when Ms Tammy is not available. It seems like the perfect fit! We also found an amazing nanny this summer, Ms Erica, whom Noah loves, as well as us!!! She is a wonderful security knowing that when Jacques or I need to be working late, Erica is there taking care of Noah as we would! LOVE her! Today, day 10 of school, Noah actually attended the first two hours on his own! He is doing that well that the teacher said she didn't need a tutor for Noah this am, and he will be great on his own! He has been soaring with his academics... on Wed, he completed over 24 different works! Thats amazing!!! Well, I could go on and on, but basically I just wanted to say... I'm Baaaccckkk and in a much better mood and energy place than I was in February. I hope all is well in the blogging world with all of our friend, cyber or tangible. With lots of love and understanding... Raquel, always a mom to Devin and Noah...

Sooooo Frustrated!!!!

First of all, I need to let anyone and everyone that may be reading this post today that this is not the typical "smell the flowers... life is sunshine" type of post.

Remember that ridiculous statement that everyone would say to you when you gave birth to your child with special needs..."God only gives us what we can handle".... or how about "God gives special children to special people"! Ugh! I detest, from the bottom of my heart, statements like that! What a bunch of Crap! A parent of a child with special needs has NO special powers! No extra deposits of patience! Nor are we angelic like and the fact that we were given these special children should be looked at as a gift! NO, NO, NO! We are parents, full of trials, tribulations and frustrations like the rest of the world. Just allow us to be parents!

I am so frustrated, tired and just plain exhausted with life right now, I don't even know where to begin!

Typically I don't share these types of feelings; and honestly they don't raise their ugly head all that often... but this past seven to ten days, these ugly heads are sitting on top of my roof, exposed for all to see...

Granted, upon starting Noah on the CMF protocol, I truly expected miraculous changes! Well, on day seven of the P, he developed a really bad case of diarrhea, that then turned into an upset tummy, which then moved on to a severe sinus infection. Now, after over two weeks, he is on antibiotics to fight the infection, etc.
Meanwhile, we have continued to give N the .05 mg of P and increased it on week 2 to 1mg, but we cut back on all supplements, aside from a little fish oil, because his tummy was so upset.

Today was the first day that I reintroduced the vitamins, including his ginkgo supplement. We shall see how things move forward.

I am just so frustrated because at this point in time I feel that N doesn't focus very long on an activity, that he is easily distracted, as well as just completing basic toddler tasks! So frustrating! I know that he can read over 300 words, that he knows all his letters and phonic sounds in the alphabet, and also that he knows his numbers consistently up to 20.

I'm just really tired. I'm tired of his not talking (although my husband says that he is talking... he says ba,ba,ba, mmmmm, lalala, etc) basically where an 18th month old would be! Meanwhile we see an Apraxic speech therapist, THE specialist in the state, four times a week, and not at an inexpensive rate! I mean, come on!!! N is almost 5.5yrs old!!! Give me some words!!!!

Yes I am hormonal, yes my lovely time of the month is coming up around the corner. However with all those disclosers this doesn't make it any easier! N and I were working on a simple shape sorter today... I had to continuously redirect him constantly!!!

Right now I feel like we have definitely digressed vs improved... Only more time shall tell.

However, meanwhile, my little man continues to try to be the best he can be... Here he is climbing a set of stairs at the playground that he could never manage in the past. Its acknowledging the small steps that makes life so important!




Thank you all for listening, thats why I love my blog friends :)!!!

Changing Minds protocol - Day 15

Hi there,

It has been a crazy week. Last Tuesday evening, on day 7 of protocol, Noah had a Major Diarrhea blow out! He's been home from school ever since. He has had diarrhea, a little vomit, a slight fever and as of early this am, an annoying cough!

He hasn't been wanting to eat very much, nor take any of his supplements. As soon as he tastes something in his milk, he will gag and not drink any more. Due to the fact that he hasn't had a lot of food/liquid intake, I stopped giving him any supplements as of yesterday to just ensure that he will stay hydrated. I have, however, continued with his fluoxetine, which we increased yesterday from .05mg to 1 mg. Little man has been surviving on yogurt and vegi booty.

I was a little concerned that Noah didn't actually have the flu, but was having a reaction to the fluoxetine and/or ginkgo supplement. Today his bowel movements were typical, (I haven't given him any ginkgo since Monday). So, tonight I have crushed one pill of Ginkgo, (usually I give him 2 pills, 3x a day) and added it to his milk. My thoughts are that I will continue to add the ginkgo back in and in two weeks we will be back to our full dosage.
Well, he just tasted his milk with the ginkgo pill crushed in it and gagged, making quite the dramatic performance! So much for the quick fix :0

We went to the doctors today, his bi-annual endocrinologist appt. and they drew his blood and will check his CBC, just to make sure all is well. However, we also received his growth update... Little man isn't that little! At age 5, he is 39.5 lbs and 42 3/4 inches tall! He is a tall drink of water :)!!! So grateful that his body is continuing to grow at a typical rate... Hopefully his brain cells are as well :)!!!

This past summer we adopted a little puppy from the local Humane Society. She was 9 months old and we were told she was a poodle/scottish terrier mix. Well, about a month ago, we had her groomed and she now looks like a schnauzer. Regardless of her breed, she is the sweetest, most loving dog we have ever had. Her name is Abby, something that Noah could say :), and she and Noah are becoming quite the friends.

Below is a photo of the two, hanging out in the family room. Pure love between the two of them!



Praying for health and guidance regarding little man's supplements and vitamin regimen. Have a wonderful evening!

Day 3 of CMF Protocol...

Happy Friday! Wanting to update Noah's first few days on the protocol adding in the Fluoxetine.

We haven't really noticed any issues and/or changes in Noah's behavior since adding in the F. that we can identify.

He has been tired by the end of the day, but he also does A LOT each day!

On Wednesday, the day we added in the F, he went to school from 8:30 - 11:30 as typical. However, on Wednesday's he stays at school longer: eating lunch with his friends, playing on the playground and then back to school work. At 1:30, he takes a tumbling class on campus for an additional hour. Needless to say, every week, he returns home exhausted. However, he has a half an hour "relaxing" break at home that usually consists of Jack, Mary and Mel (Jack's Big Music Show) until Ms Sarah, Noah's home O/T, shows up for an hour of intense work therapy.
Tired on Wednesday... Yes!!!! Always! So not necessarily due to the addition of F.

Thursday...this was Jacques "birthday", so I had to get up when N woke up. (our definition of "birthday" is the day that either J or I get to sleep in) :) So, on Thursday, N woke up at 5:00 am to go potty, I then put him back to bed, telling him it was still nighttime... he then came out of his room about 15 minutes later. Being that it was Still dark outside, and probably would be until at least 6:30, I brought him into bed with us and told him it was time to go back to sleep. Sure enough... He DID! We slept until 7:45, then raced around to make it to school on time :) Was this additional sleeping in due to the F? Who knows? Maybe Mommy just has that special touch :)
Thursday was a typical day, school until 11:30, then speech from 12:00 - 12:30. He did really well at school; was very focused and he also did well at speech with Ms Amy too. All in all, Thursday was a good day! Went to bed at 7:30 and up at 6:30 - good day!

Friday, waking up at 6:30, he seemed his typical self. However, this was not the typical Friday... We were able to get into Noah's sensory O/T at 11:00, and then he had speech at 1:00. So, he went to school in the morning, leaving at 10:15 to get to his O/T by 11:00. At school as well as O/T, he was absolutely non-responsive. He didn't want to work, either at school or with Ms Aimee at O/T. But, it was Friday and typically by the end of the week, he is D-O-N-E. But Noah's day didn't end with O/T, he then had to go to speech with Ms Kim. At speech he did really well. He was focused and he followed Kim's instructions wonderfully!
At the end of today, he was very tired and overly sensitive. He cried at one point for truly no reason except for J and I not giving him 110% of our attention. Also, it was close to 7pm, so he was obviously very tired.
To bed and asleep by 8:00... seemed to be all typical to us.

So, with the above update, it really doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary... Fluoxetine or not.

I wanted to share a photo of N from today... we were driving in the car and he was rocking out to one of his favorite songs...
Looks to me like he is enjoying life, just like he did prior to the Fluoxetine!



Have a wonderful weekend, and may we all enjoy life with the passion of my little man!!!

xoxo Raquel and Noah

Beginning Changing Minds Protocol...

"Taking the first step"...



Today we began our first dose of Fluoxetine. A very mild dose of .5mg. If all goes well then we will increase to 1mg in two weeks and continue our observation and dosage increase from there. So we are now on the complete Changing Minds Protocol, minus the Focalin. Since increasing our Ginko and the amounts throughout the day, we have seen a lot more verbal "talking" from Noah. We also are hearing more word approximations. It will be exciting to see what the next couple of months bring us.

We met with Dr. Daniel Kessler on Monday afternoon. He is the pediatric developmental/behavioralist. He was very informative, especially about the medications. That was the final confirmation for us to move forward and observe what changes may occur.

So, on the road we go, with the hopes of a fabulous future for our little man.

Updates to follow...

Raquel and Noah Bryce