Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A Kidling Post

Can I just take a moment to tell you all how much I love my kids?

The Bear, standing on his chair at the kitchen counter eating Cocoa Puffs, just discovered the treat at the bottom of the bowl. "Umm!!! Chocolate MILK!" I hear as I sit typing in the next room. It's the little things for him right now.

Little Louie just brought home a report card that showed marked improvement over the last, which was a pretty good report card in itself. But his teacher told him what he had to do to get E's (exemplary) instead of just P's (proficient) and he went up in over 50% of his subjects. And his reading!! Holy moly! Following two dyslexic siblings, to have a natural reader is soooooooo exciting!!

Gil is really working hard on being pleasant and not prickly and finding it's not as hard as he works it up to be in his mind. He's a really compassionate kid, but lets the grumpies get a hold of him and tends to dive off into the meanie end of the pool often. I'm seeing him really work to back down and find the compassionate angle instead of being so testy. I love this sweet side of my Gilly-monster! (And he brought home straight A's, too!)

Belle's technique is really coming along in ballet. She's in a class with girls 2+ years older, and it sometimes takes her a little longer to get to where the best in the class are due to muscle development, emotional development (understanding of her body), and her dyslexia. But recently, I've seen so many improvements in her technique that are just outstanding for an 11 year old! She's really lovely to watch -- even if I am the biased momma bear. (And she brought home straight A's, too!)

And Billy Bob. My Autistic/Asperger's leaning preteen. He struggled so much at the beginning of the school year going from being homeschooled to a magnet school that included grades 6-12, changing classes, and an itty-bitty locker. Oh, the STRESS! The tears! He wanted to stay but every day was torture trying to keep in the self-stim habits that the stress was bringing out. Now? Totally different kiddo. He has friends, is being invited to birthdays, and has cute girls after him. I mean, REALLY cute girls. Plural. Honestly, I really believe I have the ballet to thank for the discipline and co-ordination he's now exhibiting. Not to mention the self-confidence. It's easy to have your self-confidence built when you have a bunch of people treating you like the Second Coming, which is how boys are treated in ballet schools. But the self-confidence and the co-ordination is why my boys began ballet lessons. So happy it's worked for them! (And he brought home straight A's, too!)

As for all the good report cards -- for everyone who says homeschoolers don't learn anything, that it will destroy a child's social skills, that they'll be behind if they're sent to school -- I call BULL$H!T!!!!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Realizations

The Bear, also known around these parts as Stinker, is starting to pick up social cues. He's with me this morning playing Mommy-Makes-A-Really-Good-Playground-When-She-Is-Tired-And-Still-Wants-To-Stay-In-Bed. It's a great game when you're a toddler, I guess.

So after climbing over me, sliding down my legs, hanging on my back sing-songing, "I wuv you!" and all kinds of other fun activities, he lays on his back and starts kicking me. Repeatedly. You can just tell he's testing.

One look. I just gave him with one "Are you seriously kicking mommy?" look.

And he responds, "Whoops! I just jo-king!"

At least one man in my life gets social cues!!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Beer Ministry

I have a wonderful friend who's saved my tushie many a time by allowing The Bear to hang out in her daycare here and there. Well, Wonderful Friend's husband was diagnosed last Christmas day with ALL -- a form of leukemia common and pretty curable in children, but one tough bugger in adults. W.F.'s hubby is currently trying to gain strength to undergo a bone-marrow transplant. The good news? They found two perfect (non family) matches. The bad news? It's still only a 50/50 chance of survival.

Wonderful Friend has four children -- 19 down to 10. And a great church that's been a huge help. And lots of connections in the art community in our area who have also been helping. But she had to shut down the day care to take care of her hubby and protect him from infections. Hubby was in graphic design and watched, over the past five years or so, his business melt away to almost nothing. They were used to, and pretty good at, living on nearly nothing. This illness has hit them in a way that's hard to imagine or even comprehend. They're managing day-by-day and minute-by-minute.

So what do I do to make it better? I can't cure his ALL. I can't even really help all that much. But what I can do is take this conservative Christian woman out to the bar for beer. And chat. And food. And time AWAY. We were laughing the other day about not knowing where the Bible mentions Beer Ministry. I believe Beer Ministry is inferred. Falls under the category of Everything Under the Sun Can Be Found In The Bible, whether it specifically says it or not.

So? For Jesus and the love of my neighbor, (REALLY!) I'm taking Wonderful Friend to the bar tonight. Buying her three or four Black and Tans. Listening to some great music. And hopefully giving her the ability to cope a little bit longer with what life has dished out.

48 hours sugar free

Actually, I just counted and I'm at 59 hours sugar free. Not that I'm keeping track or anything.

Not only sugar free, but carb free except for veggies and some plain, fat free yogurt. Oh, and a tiny bit of hummus. (Not that I'm keeping track of anything!)

This is huge for me. I tried to do low-carb as a weight-loss plan years ago. It went so well that by day two, my hubby was trying to pry an ice-cream sandwich out of my hands. It was a shining moment in my life.

I'm finding it's easier to wrap my brain around this and commit as a health thing rather than a weight loss effort.

But poor hubby! He's with me on this and I found him wandering around last night moaning, "But what CAN I eat? Can I have a banana? Can I have ?" I have to give him credit, though. He's being great, especially since he doesn't HAVE to do this.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

B-12 update

It's been three weeks since my first B-12 injection and they seem to work. For a week. Then I spend a week DYING for my next one. I'm currently in the, "I WANT MY SHOT!" phase. It's not pretty.

But, even more interesting, I have a family history of B-12 deficiency called Pernicious Anemia which can pass through the generations. Even curiouser is the fact that hypothyroidism and Pernicious Anemia often go hand-in-hand. Hmmm. . . could it be?

I've yet to see blood work results, will see them next week at my appointment. They might be telling.

Right now debating whether I should give myself a third injection, or call my dr. and clear it with him first since it's only been 8 days since my last.

Health Ramblings

As I've told you all before, I have a slightly kooky doctor. He draws diagrams to illustrate what he's telling me, talks about how osteoporosis is similar to the reason the Twin Towers fell on 9/11 (with the help of some crazies and their planes), and says things like, "What blood type are you? O? Oh, you shouldn't be eating peanut butter anyway. Almond butter is better for you." And no, he's not saying people shouldn't eat peanuts, he's saying people with Type O blood shouldn't eat peanuts.

I guess he's basing it on the book Eat Right For Your Type. Which I picked up this week and thumbed through. Now, I don't know how it lines up for the other blood types but a lot of the medical/allergy tendencies line right up with my family's medical issues. (We're all type O's.) Autoimmune disorders? Check! Hayfever? Check! Lots and lots of other, weird, allergies? Check! Wacked out sometimes too strong immune system? Check! Example of a wacked-out-too-strong immune system: Belle, now 11, had chickenpox. But? We didn't know it. Her version must have been a bit of a sniffle, maybe a runny nose, and a headache. But not a SINGLE SPOT. We had a titre done on her as she'd been exposed time and again but never developed the pox. It was positive. She's immune. Lucky little monkey.

Anyway, so I've been curious about why I shouldn't be eating peanuts and what I SHOULD be eating. So I hit up the health food store near the kids' ballet school and rented a few recommended books. One is the Eat Right one I've wanted. The other? The Yeast Connection. Eat Right tells me O's should eat mostly meat and certain veggies, stay away from wheat, oats, most grains, in fact. The Yeast Connection tells me I should eat mostly meats and veggies during the onset phase of dealing with yeast -- stay away from fruit and all grains (for now), refined/processed grains and sugars (forever.)

All I can say is AARRGGHHH!!

I look around my kitchen and see frosted shredded wheat, honey nut 'scooters' (Cheerios), oatmeal, fruit, and, yes, junk food. Eating 'right' (according to two authors) is going to be tough. Even tougher? Changing a family this size to rice and buckwheat based products. Getting rid of the corn chips, the potatoes and pasta, the breakfast cereals and whole grain breads. Re-doing the Sunday morning pancakes and waffles.

The thing is, for Hubby and I, this is something we really need to do. For my health if nothing else. I'm plagued by chronic yeast issues. Get rid of it, comes back. Wanna guess who else is carrying it? Yep. Probably Hubby. So if I get rid of the yeast, he'll give it right back.

So here we go again. On a diet. But for health rather than weight-loss. (Although that should be a great side-effect.) Anyone want to place bets on how long I'll be able to last?

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On a fun note -- I make the Bear leave his paci in his crib in the morning. He must have some stashed because he just came up to me, paci in his mouth chanting, "Haha! Got 'nother paci! Haha! Got 'nother paci" with his mouth full of pacifier. He's potty trained but still has his paci. Can you tell he's the baby of the family?!