The Queen's Rambles

We got some much needed sleep last night. Much needed. That’s the worst thing about having a baby for me–the lack of sleep. I have always needed a lot of sleep. I was the girl in the dorms taking sleeping pills at 10 pm, wearing ear plugs, hating on my roommate for wanting to party all night long. And by party, I mean invite a bunch of girls over to gorge on Doritos. It was a Christian college, after all. I know there were hard partiers, but not amongst my crowd.

Elsa is doing a lot better, so now let’s all cross our fingers and hope she stays well for awhile. I was so smug about Breast is Best! My kid never gets sick! When Erik was a baby. He just wasn’t exposed to many germs. We went out with my moms group, but we mainly walked and he was confined to a stroller. The whole “kid being exposed to germs” thing really isn’t working out for me.

But she’ll be a healthy preschooler, yes? Build up that immune system. Even on her sickest day she is still a little doll and a joy to be around, unlike her brother, Mr. Colic. I loved that my baby boy so, so much, but there were whole minutes when I didn’t like him very well.

I feel like I am becoming a broken record on the Elsa and Her Food issue, but I am so conflicted. Is it normal for an almost 11 month old to gag on almost everything and spit it out? She has had two solid turds, ever, that I know of. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to call our county Infant and Toddlers Program and ask them to evaluate her.

I have a friend with two autistic kids who is all about the autism awareness education. She’s arranged a guest speaker to come to our next MOMS Club meeting and talk about autism stuff. She wanted questions, so I asked if the speaker would be able to talk about sensory processing disorder and explained a little about Elsa’s eating. My friend immediately sent me a link to a SPD blog, I e-mailed the blogger for a little more info and was put in touch with some other people. They all suggested that I run, not walk, to the phone and get a call in to the early intervention team. So maybe I am not crazy? I guess my fear isn’t that she’ll have a problem, but that the people will think I’m a stupid helicopter parent. Maybe some kids just take time to eat solids?

So I’m going to call. I really am. Tomorrow. I hate talking on the telephone and I hate making calls when I don’t have a script for them and I don’t know what’s going to happen. Two of my local friends have assured me that the early intervention people are fabulous and won’t think I’m stupid. The best advice I’ve heard: if you had a friend in a similar situation, what would you tell them?

I’d say “make the call! What can it hurt?”

I’m good at dispensing advice or thinking people are making mistakes.

I’m not so good at taking action for myself.

I did make a call to Erik’s future school and get him on the list for kindergarten. That means I’ll be getting a mega-packet in a few weeks and we’ll get a time assigned for kindergarten orientation. I’m really glad that I’m happy with the public school system in the county. Sure, I would love to get him in a private school that would cater to his high energy needs. There’s a distinct lack of financing for this hypothetical perfect school so it’s a relief that I can send him to our public school with minimal angst. I have many, many, many friends who are trying to decide between public school and Catholic school and it is eating them up since they are Catholic and they feel they should make sure their kids go to Catholic school. Since I’m not Catholic I don’t have to feel any pressure in that regards.

In other Erik news, his teacher asked me if I’ve been letting him main line sugar the last couple of days (no!) because he’s “a ball of energy” and had to have “a few time outs” since he wouldn’t quit talking and won’t listen to directions. I don’t know what’s going on with the kid because that’s the first time he’s had problems like that at school since the first week. Even though I certainly don’t want to hear that my kid is having behavior issues at school, I’m glad to know I’m not going crazy. He really is being an extra handful this week.

Actually, reading all the Sensory Processing Disorder stuff has made me think that Erik has a classic case of “sensory seeking.” I don’t know that he needs therapy or intervention, but the check-list sounds like it is tailor made for him.

Spinning–yes
Climbing too high–yes
Climbing everything–yes
Crashing into things (people, furniture, walls)–yes
Mouthing/licking inedible things (furniture, toys, body)–yes
Chewing inedible things (clothing)–YES
Eating excessively–No
Constantly wrestling with siblings–more like parents
Touching everything–yes
Playing with food–yes
Messy eater–yes
Overstuffing their mouth–haven’t noticed
Eating spicy/hot foods–when he was a baby. Not now. He’ll only eat cold food
Under-responsive to pain (‘shakes it off’ quickly)–yes
Dumping out toy bins just to look at everything–is that why he does that?
Excessive sensory play (mud, water, soap, etc.)–maybe?
Jumping–yes
Pushing–he would if I would let him
Loves running barefoot–yes
Chewing on their toothbrush–yes
Can’t sit still in their desk–yes
Falls out of their chair for no apparent reason–all the GD time
Loves loud noises (turns up TV, battery toys against ears, vacuum.)–Dear god yes
Can’t monitor their own volume (you constantly say, “Stop yelling!”)–You have no idea
Smells everything, even bad smells–no

I read another check-list somewhere that had “in your face/in your space” and that one right there is the big BINGO for me.

I have no idea how much of that stuff is “just being a boy” and how much might be a problem, but he sure does fit the check list. Unless a teacher tells me there’s a problem I don’t think I would be interested in pursuing the idea further. He is able to function at school just fine (except for today, apparently).

And now I have to go help him with his goat puppet. He finally allowed me to tell him Billy Goat Gruff and loved it. He has his part totally memorized and is not excited, but not in a state of hatred either. Thanks everyone for all the ideas, links, pictures, goat newsletters, videos. . . It all helped! And we never did go get goat ice cream (can’t say I’m too sad about that).