February 22
GO CANADA GO!

I can't believe it's almost March! We're leaving this Friday afternoon to stay on the coast for 5 weeks of HBOT treatment for Luke. We're also looking forward to partying at the Holland Heineken House in the heart of Richmond BC where all the Dutch Olympians go to celebrate. We're just 3.5 hours from Vancouver, so it's a MUST that we get into the middle of the craziness even if it's just for one day!

Luke actually copied Joel the other day and said "Go Canada Go!" which was fun to hear. He's still not interested in tv, but glances at it every once in a while. Joel's overly enthusiastic about the Olympics with two hands pumping in the air screaming YAY and GO CANADA GO! It's pretty funny. We did take both boys to the torch lighting which was a cold, but fun experience (took the city bus which added to the adventure). Luke was overdone though... and kind of shut down mentally for a few minutes (freaked me out). I think it was just way too stimulating an environment because it was cold, he was tired (close to bedtime), and he had to go pee. It made me really realize that "autism" is still there... lurking below his surface... regardless of his leaps and bounds of progress.

We've been cheating on his diet by adding some corn and chocolate and he seems okay [for some reason he's been carrying around a plastic ear of corn lately... am I reading too much into that? kind of too coincidental isn't it? but I get tired of guessing the whys]. I'm very nervous though and will probably take him off the corn again, just because he seems to be regressing subtly... a little obsessed with doors and lights again... sigh. I'm really hoping the HBOT will give him another recovery boost again. On the other hand, Luke and I have been having some great conversations. I've been having some serious talks with him about behaviours and what's socially acceptable and what's not. In particular I explained that while I love it when he touches my face and looks into my eyes, it is not acceptable for him to force/push my face towards him nor is it okay to do so to other people. After the talk he stopped doing it. Unbelievable. So I've been trying to have one-on-one's with him regularly to explain things and teach him more and more. It's quite special to connect in a way that he's responding to. He wrecked a couple of Joel's games (memory and the train set) out of peski-ness and I took him aside and validated his frustration and told him he would figure out how to properly play with them in his own time... and not to be too hard on himself.

A couple other amazing things... Luke seems to be trying to somersault over me and the couch more since going to gymnastics. He's quite assertive with his couch jumping and getting more and more daring. Joel and him push each other (when we're not looking) and fall all over each other... basically wrestling with lots of giggles. Luke has also taken a liking to "spinning" in the big black office chair. He sits on my lap and says "pin"... so we go around and around really, really fast until I'm dizzy... haha. This makes me smile because a year ago we were gently spinning him 10x one way, 10x the other way, to stretch and exercise his awry vestibular system that wreaked havoc with his balance (and caused major anxiety).

B12 shots have been going nice and smoothly. He's such a trooper.

We had a visit to Dr. Wagstaff and his yeast is in control. He was tested for a variety of common viruses and at least 6 were found in his system, including rhinovirus, pneumonia, chicken pox, influenza, etc. He's been given drops to cleanse these from his system. He has an intolerance to latex again, so he was treated for that since he'll be wearing a latex seal around his neck for the 5 weeks of HBOT. Other than that, Dr. Wagstaff was pleased and impressed with our diligence and all that we've done for Luke. Ms. S., the assistant and Ms. G. were so tickled by his conversation and improvement, especially when he said "Hi S" "Hi G" when prompted. Yay Luke.

Had a team meeting which went well. Luke continues to progress at his own pace... some things are easier than others, just like any other child. I am still a little concerned at his delay, but also thrilled about his progress. Despite some niggling concerns, we've been surprisingingly relaxed the last little while.... we've both finished quite a few non-autism books during these winter months; and actually went out for dinner one night and DIDN"T talk about the kids... it was totally weird, but wonderful.

We went to a new church with the boys yesterday and Joel fit right into the nursery. Luke, on the other hand, exhibited regressive behaviours in the church school which is discouraging (rolling crayons off the table—a stim from two years ago!, and he also needed constant coaching, from Dad, to focus and colour and listen). I have to respect that he's just resorting to "comfort" actions since he's in a strange new place... it's how he copes. Hopefully, over time, he will adjust and so everyone will see the "real" Luke. We've requested a teen helper and hope that something will work out.

We've been working on his "recall"... being able to tell us something he did the past morning. I was pleased that when I asked him what he had for snack at preschool and he replied (correctly) after a bit of thought... crackers. This is so wonderful. This morning Ms. M. after preschool asked Luke what he coloured today... and he thought and thought and said "Circles" (they coloured the Olympic rings). Getting better at recall.

Cutest words coming out of Luke's mouth lately: "Ya", "OK", "But", "Whoa". He does still parrot, but we're working on giving him time to "think" and respond appropriately, rather than repeat what we just said. He's getting better and better at communicating. It's so funny to hear him say "Ya"... especially when Joel asks him a question. Joel's very patient and will ask a question over and over and over. Sometimes Luke answers very simply and sometimes he doesn't. Joel does (sometimes) play very nicely with Luke and guides and coaches him when it's his turn or if he needs help or pointers. Joel, of course, cannot stop talking if his life depended on it. I was going to spend a day counting how many times he says "Mommy?", but my 40+ brain will not be able to keep up let alone remember. It's a lot though. A really really lot. I know it's probably not the right thing to document, but there are certainly some blessings of autism... Luke was so sweet and quiet for so long. Blissfully quiet. Joel has also embraced the concept of "candy" with fervor. I am annoyed at how quickly his whole world has begun to revolve around candy and when he can get his next fix (with serious tears and anger!). Luke, on the other hand, is completely oblivious to candy.... and while this is not "typical", it is, to be honest, really quite nice.

We also celebrated, on February 15, 2 years of Luke being seizure-free. Woo Hoo.

Forgot to mention "the glasses". Found them after 5 days of searching behind the bookshelf in the living room. Apparently Luke says "Don't yike gasses"... and will not wear them. Sometimes we sneak them on for preschool, but otherwise we've given up a bit. We'll be seeing the developmental optometrist at the end of March and will see what he says.

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February 24
Forgot to add something... a few weeks back Luke woke up in the night screaming... having a nightmare. I settled him down and crawled into bed with him and waited for him to fall asleep. He didn't. I finally told him I had to go back to mommy's bed and he was totally upset! Finally, after a couple tries between daddy and myself, we managed to leave him alone on the condition that we leave the hall light on and the door open! Just as we were leaving the room, Joel wakes up and asks us to close the door and turn the light off... hahahaha. Anyways, the interesting thing is from then on, Luke insisted on keeping the door open and the hall light on. I'm okay with this because I've waited a long time to have Luke behave in a typical way... and I've often worried about him alone in the dark.