Breaking it down

It's the smallest of decisions - when do you push it, when do you let it go.

For example, when getting Grant to eat, when do you really take on the battle and make him eat something that is good for him but that he REALLY doesn't want to eat? When do you let it go because he might have a complete revulsion to the smell, texture, or taste of the food?

When there is downtime at the house, when do you push it and get him involved, get him in a learning situation, get him in a social situation when he REALLY fights back? When do you let it go because he just needs some time alone.

When it's time for haircuts, how hard to you push it when he REALLY hates haircuts? When do you let it go?

When it's time to ride his bike to the park, how hard do you push him to learn the skills need to ride on his own? When do you let it go and let him guide the way?

These types of decisions are made every day, often many times during the day. The truth is that we never really know the answers. For the past 5+ years, I've been going the PUSH route with Grant on his bike. For a short time, it seemed to be working; he was riding about 30 yards on 2 wheels, all on his own. He seemed to like it. For whatever reason, that didn't last long.

The past few months, I've reversed my tactics. I think I mentioned in some post that I put the training wheels back on his bike. As we ride along, he insists that my hand is on the handlebar at all times. We continue to focus on his pedaling, getting him to fully realize that he needs to keep his feet moving to get to the park. At the same time, he needs to look ahead. While looking ahead, he needs to keep the handlebar aimed in the same direction he's looking. If he looks to the side or to the back, he can't turn the handlebars that way. When we get to the small bridge over the creek, he has to push harder to get up the small incline. When he comes down the bridge, he can't turn too fast or he'll crash. Whew - I'm so glad riding a bike is so simple!

And so, I'll continue to hold his handlebar as he rides along. One day, he will pedal consistently and convincingly the entire way to the park. Following that, he'll get control over the handlebars. He might one day feel so in-tune with his body that he'll take off down the road leaving my hand at my side. That day may come, and it may not. If it doesn't, I'm going to get really good at running along the side of a bike.

If that day does come, I'll have one less decision to make.

Me so thorny

I haven't shaved my face since Sunday, but it's just at that noticeable stubble stage. So, I'm putting Owen to bed and I give him a nice big kiss on the cheek.

He squeals, "Ouch Dad!! You have thorns on your face!"

"You mean whiskers?"

"No, those aren't whiskers, those are thorns!"

How old am I?

I'm one of those guys who never sees the doctor when he should, and usually not even after he should. I'd rather let a cold die off by itself, even it means a bit more suffering. Infection? My body can heal it. But, I've had this cyst growing on the back of my neck for about a year now, and it was finally starting to bug me, enough that I actually made an appt to go see the doc about getting it cut out. When I asked my wife "guess what I did today", she never came close to guessing that I saw the doc. The cyst is no big deal, it just needs some local surgery. I also had the doc check out some moles to make sure they aren't skin cancer (I've known 2 people recently who've had it); there is one that we need to watch, but nothing immediate.

So, the doc asked me to get some blood work done (the appt was last week) and she'd check for the usual problems. Today, I had the appt to go over the results - all is well... except I have "high cholesterol". C'mon, I'm just a kid, right? Isn't "high cholesterol" that stuff Florence Henderson used to sell on commercials? I'm invincible! I don't get sick, I don't get hurt, not me! I'm sure the doc saw some of those thoughts in my eyes as she told me that my count is actually pretty high (264 total, 197 LDL), it's not just a "wait and see" type of count. She showed me a few pictures of blood vessels and such, but I was mostly thinking about how I would need to do some "real" research later.

Once I actually submit to the idea that this might actually be a real issue for me, it appears that the 2 main changes would be diet and exercise. Fortunately, we started exercising at the Y back in about November. We've been trying to go twice a week, but it looks like I'm gonna have to do more. As for diet, I'm not sure our diet was that bad before, but it's really changed in the past few months with Grant's dietary changes. We've been trying to have him eat the same foods with us and that of course has meant a pretty drastic restriction in our menus. Of course, that doesn't cover lunches while at work, or my really bad habit of snacking late at night.

Oh, c'mon - say it ain't so! One thing's for sure, I'm going to have to cut down on my 100x100 burgers at In N Out.

Chelation update

Yesterday we had our first follow up chelation appt. since early September. The appt. consisted of tracking Grant's progress, discussing any changes to the diet/regimin, making changes to his supplements, and giving him an IV course. Since the last appt., he has had 2 topical treatments weekly (at home).

Overall, the process has gone smoothly, certainly more so than we had expected. For a boy who has hated having extra things (stickers, layers, etc.) on his body, hated dr's appts, hated taking medicine, the list goes on..., he has adapted amazingly well. We would never have believed anybody who told us Grant would allow himself to be strapped on a doctor's table and given an IV, would take supplements twice a day, would keep his sleeves up for the chelation cream twice a week on his inner arms, and would allow us to collect urine for the various tests. Now, it didn't start out like this right away, that's for sure, but he has adapted. We try to explain that we are trying to help, that this is good for him, and I think he understands this at some level.

Even better, because of his very strict diet, we simply had to get him to eat new foods. Grant was the classic autistic boy who would live on chicken nuggets, french fries, and bread. For years, we had tried to get him to eat new things, but until this process, we had not been "forced" to make it work. Over the past 4 months, we have progressed to a point where Grant will eat chicken, beef, and pork. The suprise and excitement never gets old at our dinner table; I can't imagine that any boy in America gets more praise for eating a bite than Grant does. :) He is also a little more willing to try new things on his plate, although we have a long way to go. A few weeks back, Cassidy bet Staci $10 that she could get Grant to eat a baby carrot. We laughed - ha, sure go ahead, no chance in the world he will put that in his mouth. She walked over, picked up the carrot, said "Grant, here, eat a carrot." He took it, put it in his mouth and chewed it up!

We'll have the test results from this appt. (and the urine collection after) in a week or two. In addition, he will now be taking 1800mg of "Phosphatidyl Choline" twice a week. This is a combination of Omega 6 / Omega 3 that is designed to help the cell walls secrete the metals being removed by chelation.

I should also add that we've been pleasantly surprised by the office and staff. We weren't quite sure what to expect when we started all of this, but everything has been beyond reproach. Any office could learn from the care and comfort given by this staff to our son.

Wii-iiiiiiiiiiiii!

So, what did you get for Christmas? Believe it or not, I shared a gift with Cassidy - the Wii! Soon after it's launch, it was the top item on both of our Christmas lists. However, unless you were crazy/smart enough to camp out and get one on launch day, it was almost impossible to find one. Some stores would get a couple in, but you'd have to be there when the truck dropped it off to have a chance. Since I have to work for a living, the chances of driving around to stores waiting for deliveries - well, let's just say there had to be a better way. Enter the www....

I found a site that monitored several online stores for changes in the availability of the Wii. I checked that site probably 30 times a day and I bid on several Ebay auctions. I missed a couple of opportunities and then happened to catch one just at the right time. It felt like winning the lottery. Once it came in the mail, it was so hard not to open the box and try things out before Christmas. It was fun, though, pretending that it was impossible to get one, and seeing Cassidy's shocked face on Christmas morning when she opened the box.

The hype is all true. It's good - it's crazy good. The motion controllers truly change the way you play games, making it much more realistic and compelling. Even better, long play periods don't result in painful hands and thumbs. Cassidy and I love to play Zelda together - the new Twilight Princess for the Wii has not disappointed. The new controls make it so much easier to control and move through the game. The sports game(s) which come with the Wii are simple and yet captivating; everybody, including Staci who is not a video game player, have had a blast playing the games. Even Grant picked up the controllers and started playing Zelda - he figured out right away and had a blast getting Link on and off Epona, the horse.

Now, it's not perfect. I think it's definitely a 1st generation change in the way we'll play games in the near future. The graphics and sound are way behind what you'll get on an Xbox or PS3; the controllers will become even less tethered as time goes on; etc. This list of negative Wii items is one of the better I've seen.

Now, back to Zelda!

At the beach

First - exactly.

Second - what a great way to start the new year. We all slept in after a fun party at our place New Years Eve. It's our tradition to have a party at our place - kids included. These days, the kids outnumber the adults but they haven't figured that out yet. :) Anyway, New Years Day was the last day before going back to work after 10 days off, so we wanted to get out and do "something". Around 1:30, we were still lounging around when the ultimatum came down - either we are taking the Christmas stuff down or we are going to the beach! 30 minutes later, we were on the road...

It was an absolutely beautiful day in Santa Cruz. We walked around looking at starfish, sea cucumbers, sea anenomes and all that fun stuff. Each of the kids enjoyed the day in their own way. Cassidy is our explorer - she was off on her own, shoes off and pants rolled up. Grant was determined to chase down a seagull. Owen let everybody around know that he was a big boy jumping over the puddles in the rocks!











One of these days, we're going to catch these 3 in the perfect picture. Until then, we'll keep trying...














Here are a few of those starfish...















And to cap off the day, a wonderful sunset.

May all of "our kids" experience a grand 2007, with all of the education, therapies, and "help" they can handle.