The Black Eyed Boy and The Insomniator

So. My Girl is settled in school quite happily this year and I have no crazy stories or stressful tales to share about her first week. Anyone who wants to see how she is doing can pop over to her blog and say hi!

As for the boys..... well. That is what this post is all about.

The past few weeks have been pretty crazy as far as the boys go. The Baby is no longer a baby. He is a toddler and hell bent on being just like his brother. Ha. He climbs on anything, jumps off of things, runs everywhere, gets into trouble specifically to see what I will do about it and generally does whatever his brother does. It is very very tiring. BUT. He is also still my snuggle bunny. He comes up and climbs in my lap and hugs and snuggles and gives one big, wet kiss after the other. And when he is done he jumps down and runs over to his brother and tackles him! LOL He is giving me about the normal amount of toddler mayhem in my day. With an extra dose of toddler love to make up for any trouble. The main issue with him lately has been the number of bumps, bruises, scratches and general boo-boos that he is covered in from day to day. he is all boy, rough and tumble and no doubt about it. He is, however, sporting a nice black eye right now, courtesy of his brother and a frying pan. We were all in the kitchen and the boys were playing with pots and pans.... then the baby started screaming and I turned around to see The Boy with a frying pan in hand. Since I did not actually SEE what happened, I am pretending it was an accident. And putting a lock on the cabinet where I keep the pots and pans. The poor baby looks like he was beaten! It is now all yellow and green as it heals. My little bruiser!

The Boy. Well.

He has his good days and his bad days. He started seeing a counselor/ therapist for his behaviors. It's a little odd for me. We go see her and talk for a half an hour or so about what he has been doing and what I should be doing with him and then she takes him to a "play room" and plays/ observes him. And then comes back and gives me goals of things to work on for the next 2 weeks. He sees her every 2 weeks right now. I like her. She has not tried to tie him down to a specific diagnosis although we discussed several. She is very open to my opinions and feelings on what is going on with him. She listens to me and respects me as his mother and the one who knows him better than anyone else. Right now we are working on trying to give him controlled play areas. To help him focus on specific things and not get distracted and then out of control. It seems to be helping to some extent. When he has specific goals and specific toys/ activities and is not just left to play with whatever.... he is fine. He stays on task and plays nicely and is happy. Instead of getting lost in toys/ activities and then getting bored and acting out. If any of that makes sense. I'm not sure if I described it well or not.

She is also encouraging me to push his doctors in Jackson into referring him for a sleep study. She feels, and I agree, that he has a sleep disorder and that most of his behavior issues stem from being overtired. Extremely overtired/ sleep deprived. The cool thing is that when he went for his appointment in Jackson they actually wrote on his checkout form that he has a sleep disorder. This should make it easier to get them to refer him.

Speaking of the appointment in Jackson. That was just about the only good thing that came out of that trip. Otherwise it was a waste of time. And then they called me yesterday and wanted to say that they needed me to bring him back for another doctor to examine him so that they could give a recommendation on a dosage for melatonin. What? The trip takes two hours one way. So, drive a total of four hours, use about $40 worth of gas, lose a days work for Steven and drag two kids through all of that.... just for a dosage recommendation? No. I told them I needed a referral to someone in the area or I needed them to just confer with his regular pediatrician. That there was no way i could make the trip again when I had just been there and they told me they would just call me with the info. grrrrrrrr.

Anyway. So, I am waiting on the dosage info for the melatonin. Still. I am waiting on a referral for a sleep study. And, meanwhile, dealing with lack of sleep and behavior problems. He has turned three now so he is no longer eligible for the speech program that he was in. Now, he has to receive his speech therapy through the school system. He got turned down for Head start because we make too much money. (Ha!) So, I will have to transport him to the school twice a week for therapy starting in about 2 weeks.

gack.

I feel like it is just never ending.

And I am sleep deprived as well!

But, he is doing better as far as his speech goes. He is also doing a little better behavior wise. So, I see a glimmer of a reflection of a light at the end of the tunnel. Just keep your fingers crossed that it is not a train. Or a dragon.