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July 2
So I think Luke's getting the hang of toilet-training. We went to our trailer last weekend and he hadn't peed all day so about 4pm I put him on the toilet (we brought his insert) and after a little while he actually peed. One of the BC's had advised that when he wiggles and squirms that's usually when you keep him on a little longer, so instead of taking him off (Luke has a tendency to sign finished when he thinks he's done) we kept him on and he actually peed! Today it happened again. He had not peed all day even though I put him on the toilet a few times; and even teased him with a bucket full of his favourite toys. Nothing. Tonight at 6pm he came over to me and put his finger on his nose (sign for "pee"). I'm way passed entertaining him on the toilet, so I cleaned the bathroom while he sat. All of a sudden I heard a tinkle again... and sure enough, he peed in the toilet. Yay. Later before bed we discovered he peed some more into his diaper... and I kind of thought he wasn't quite finished when he had peed earlier? In any case, yay, yay, yay.

Luke also enjoyed going in the boat with daddy this past weekend; and even held the fishing rod and touched the fish that daddy caught; so he's obviously getting more and more used to the boat. He even steps over the seats carefully and stays put when told to. The thing about Luke is that he's so anxious about trying something the first time (yet willing); and then over a two-week or continued process he adjusts and becomes more and more comfortable / less-and-less anxious.

The other fun thing at Mile High was when a little boy offered Luke some bread to feed to the chickens. Luke took the bread and copied the little boy. Luke signed chicken, donkey, and horse. Later when we visited the chickens again, he signed "eat", meaning he wanted to feed them! I didn't have any bread me with me... too bad.

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Last night Luke was not tired after getting out of bed for the fifth or sixth time; so we finally let him come upstairs and play for a little longer (Joel was fast asleep). You'd think today he would take a nap, but no. I think we'll be lucky if he takes a nap again.

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He had Speech Therapy this afternoon and she was once again impressed with his signing. She commented that when she first met Luke he wouldn't look at her; but now he stares intently into her eyes trying so hard to understand, and doing his best to imitate her actions/signs. It's quite incredible. She even noticed that within the last few weeks his capabilities have increased tremendously. It's great to have an objective eye as she's been with us since Luke was around 18 months old. She was also impressed to hear him say "Daddy" and "Mama".

July 4
Just have to put a link to this beautiful story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpwY0pG0KYE&feature=related
Enjoy!

By the way... when I went into the boy's bedroom this morning, Luke said "Mama" . What a great start to the day!!

July 9
Quick update... been busy here with guests! Luke actually pooped in the toilet on Sunday night. He had pointed to his nose so I rushed him to the toilet and he sat for a bit... then had a big fart (no pee), and sure enough there was a nice little package in the toilet. It was quite exciting (sad, hey)... and Luke's dad came running to look at it. No, we did not take pictures. It's sad enough that I write about all this poop and pee. By the way, he still always goes in his diaper... these are just "random" occasions that he actually gets it right.

Also on the weekend, Luke said "Grandpa"... much to my father's delight. As our current speech therapist will be on holidays for most of the summer, I'm trying to contract to another SP over the next couple months. I don't think I'll be lucky enough to find one (they're scarce and busy in Kamloops). I really hope someone can help as he's prime for pushing his speech right now.

July 14
Spent the weekend with family, and Luke said Daddy, Mama, and Grandpa again. Luke's dad makes him say it every day to keep in practice (he said it a long time ago, but regressed and lost whatever speech he had gained). I have to note that Luke was sitting on the bathroom counter and actually picked up a QTip, "cleaned" both ears and then put it back in the box (we don't do that so I don't know who he was imitating – haha)... so adorable to see that he knows what to do with things and is retaining so much information. He is becoming more and more "naughty" with a gleam in his eye. He constantly requests juice or cookies or chips at breakfast, in the middle of his programs, and pretty much all day long; and usually with a pestering smirk.

We had a naturopath appointment with Dr. Bratt today; it was her first day back from maternity leave. She was very pleased with Luke. Luke and Joel were loud, annoying kids, but nice and typical. We managed to get all our questions answered, as always. She's taking him off one of the probiotics (from 2 to 1 a day) as his yeast seems to be in control. As a naturopath she prefers gentler methods of chelation (leaching toxins from the body) rather than the DMSA drugs an MD might prescribe. So we're starting a "clay bath" this week (2x a week) as per her specific instructions (1/3 cup in a bath and Luke exposed to it for only 4 minutes). There seems to be some new information about possible low levels of cholesterol in children with autism. We mentioned this to the naturopath, and we can request bloodwork to see where his levels are at.

I just want to mention that I am almost finished the book "Starving Brains" by Jacquelyn McCandless, and I highly recommend this book as required reading before you begin your naturopathic journey. It is SO important to follow a certain "protocol" or "process" with the naturopath's specific directions in order to have the best results. For instance, chelation cannot begin until the gut has been healed. This book really explained the science of what's going on in our children's bodies.

Another note is that we are quite certain Luke is allergic to either cats or dogs. We were at a friend's house for dinner for 4 hours and he was constantly rubbing his eyes and his nose was running non-stop. If it gets worse we may see a Dr Wagstaff in Winfield. Apparently, if he has a reaction, we can give him a quarter scoop of the Buffered Vitamin C that we have; it will lessen the reaction.

July 17
Just a couple things to add about the diet. We really discovered that not only should Luke be GF/CF, it is VERY important that he is also SOY FREE. (according to the Starving Brains book and our experiments with soy). Remember when I said Luke wasn't himself? It was because of the soy in the waffles he was devouring. After we took the waffles away he went through another little die-off (stinky poops). He still doesn't seem 100% and now we discovered it is because of the white vinegar in pickles (vinegar can contain gluten). Luke would just devour these. It seems right now he's going through another little die-off since we've taken the pickles away. It is so true that you have to be so strict about the GF/CF/SF diet and any infraction is so noticeable, so much so that you need to watch what he seems to be eating a lot of ( ie: Luke would eat all the pickles on his plate, search for all the ones that might be under the plate, and start on Joel's plate and finish all of his too; in an almost-trance-like state).

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Skip this paragraph if you just as tired reading about toilet training as I am writing about it *sigh*. (I often wonder if Joel's going to be jealous because I'm not planning to document his toilet-training in such great detail?!?! I'm really hoping there will be nothing to document... he'll get it in a week and that will be that – please allow me to dream, haha). Yesterday the BI and I put Luke on the toilet for 45 minutes after 2 glasses of juice and he finally peed. Couple hours later I put him on again and he peed again (after only 20 minutes). The trick seems to be to ignore him, and I put his favourite toy on the edge of the tub (out of reach) as incentive. This seems to work. The kid prefers to have us entertain him, but when we ignore him and walk away (I have much better things to do!), he eventually pees. Later that day he pooped/peed in his underwear and came running from around the couch touching his nose (sign for pee)... so I raced him to the bathroom, too late of course. But hey, he signed and knew. I honestly think this was still a bit of a die-off poop because they've been quite mushy and can come with not much warning for the little guy (TMI – I know).

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We gave Luke his first clay bath last night. In a blue basin for 4 minutes, and then into the tub for a cleanup. It is murky water, and is not "clay" as we know it; it's grey clay powder. Luke would not sit down in the basin which was an okay thing because you're supposed to start out "gentle". Luke's dad poured the water continuously over Luke's body for the 4 minutes. Haven't really seen anything to write about, but we shall see over the next few weeks.

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Made an appointment with Dr. Wagstaff in Winfield for August 11 at 2:30pm. Not sure about this decision yet, as the first visit may cost from $400-500 that we really don't have. I'll have to think about this and talk with Luke's dad... we're very, very happy with our naturopath, but when names/ideas come up and appointments are easily made, I have a tendency and faith that believes they're put at specific times in our journey for a reason.

July 21
Luke has been succesfully peeing and pooping on the toilet all weekend (We are so proud!). Yay. Our prayers of toilet training before preschool have been answered (Thank You God). Now onto the next prayer....

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We have some extra funding from the government and if you don't use it, you lose it, so we've been fortunate enough to contract a local speech therapist, Ms. V.; as our regular SLP is on vacation for the next month. Ms. V. came over Friday afternoon and we are encouraging "Bubble Blowing" in order to improve Luke's oral motor skills. It is believed that Luke is quite delayed in his oral motor activity which has a profound impact on his ability to speak. This delay could easily be a part of the hypotonia that he was born with. So we need to start at the very, very beginnning and teach him to blow a bubble; and to pucker his lips around a straw. Fortunately he is eager to learn and very patient in trying; although he is not quite getting it yet. We have exercises that we will be doing with him 2x a day for the next while. I am very please with our substitute SLP and look forward to learning from her over the next 6 weeks.

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I've put a call into the Children & Family Therapy Centre because Luke has been on the list for a preschool assistant for about a year now. I hope, hope, hope they will be able to provide one for him come September. The lady in charge is on holidays so I left a message. This is just another prayer in case people need something specific to pray for!

July 31
Can't believe it's been 10 days since I updated the blog...

We've been able to purchase a lot of new toys for Luke, and about $250.00 worth of books with some "leftover" funding, so most of our spare time is reading, reading, reading. Every book gives us some new little bit of information that we can apply to Luke's life. For instance, the book "Overcoming Autism" gave some great tips on getting Luke to talk. Dave tried this technique (which basically you hold up a thing he really, really, really wants; say the word; and wait for any kind of verbal reply before giving it to him... the trick is he has to "say" something, anything and then he'll slowly realize that this verbal communication is the key to getting what he wants). Anyways Dave tried it with bubbles and Luke actually said a two syllable sound that was his best attempt at the word bubbles. It was so amazing to both be there to hear him. I've tried it with other objects but I haven't pressured the approach just yet. The book says not to try too much too fast, so we're going to attempt one new "word" a week and see how we progress.

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The new Speech therapist is wonderful and she brought a "honey-bear" container with a straw to help Luke pucker his lips and suck juice up the straw. Believe-it-or-not, within 2 minutes of trying to teach him to suck (with his lips only) he caught on. So we've been letting him drink his juice out of the bear-cup 2x a day for the past week or so to get him used to "sucking" and working his mouth/lip muscles. This was amazing to watch as well, and we realized juice is a great motivator for Luke. He's my little "juice-junkie" :). If he's not signing for chips (all day), he's signing for juice. We will continue to try to get Luke to say "mmmmmmmmmmm" over the next week. "M" and "D" and "B" are pretty much the first sounds babies say.

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Since the naturopath recommended the "Tomatis Method" of Auditory Integration Therapy, I've done some research and there's a new trainer in Merritt available to work with Luke. She is the niece of the newsworthy psychiatrist/professor/pastor Lucien Larre who recently gave up his Order of Canada in protest when Morgentaler was presented with his. Anyways, I've set aside the last two weeks in August for this training and have spoken to Ms. L. and we're working out a possible schedule for the therapy. In a nutshell (although I don't know all the details yet): Luke and I both have headphones on and listen to "music" for a certain amount of time, take a break, and listen again. This is done for @ 12 days straight. A month or so later, it's done again for 5 days straight, and then one more session after that. It is quite expensive so I need to look into possible insurance coverage (not likely), or they kindly have a payment plan. I know it may seem like an odd type of therapy as it's not well documented or scientifically proven, but I'm really feeling called to try it with Luke. I've read one book already about the amazing success (Sound of a Miracle), and I just purchased another which tells of more success stories. Anyways, as Merritt is 45 minutes away and gas is an issue, I put out a request for help from my bookcub ladies. The daughter of our receptionist at work has offered her trailer on a lake for me and the two boys to use for the 12 days. I'll need the car, so Dave will be commuting to work via bus or bike for the duration. Nothing has been confirmed yet, however, as their equipment is out for calibration and we're not sure when it will be back. It all seems a bit wild to me, but it seems like everything is falling into place for this plan, so I'm flowing with it. The lady who will be setting up the headphones, etc. has a one-year-old so I'm welcome to take Joel to play with the little girl. I'll know more in a week or two. Luke's dad and I will hopefully meet with the people in a couple weeks and go through all the details and preliminary testing. I'm so fortunate to have such an open-minded husband about all these treatments!

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I've touched base with the woman in charge of coordinating assistants for preschool-age children, and confirmed that we're really hoping for one for Luke. She remembers us and while Luke has been on the waiting list for more than a year, there are no guarantees. So I'm praying that this will all work out. We should know in the next week or so.

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Two of our BIs will be videotaped next week, so it will be really neat to compare tapes from earlier this year to now. Sometimes we're so caught up in the busy-ness of the day-to-day we forget to be thankful for how far Luke has come. This morning, for instance, he waved to Ms. S. without prompting or asking. He is eating well right now and is pushing our buttons like most typical 4-year-olds. He looks really, really healthy. He's honestly "running" in circles on the trampoline and just recently starting doing "seat-drops". He went pee and poo on the toilet every time (not beside the toilet this week!); so he's in underwear full-time (haven't started the "night" training yet... one milestone at a time). He can open and close the screen door so he can come and go outside as he pleases. He sits still with me for long stretches and wants me to read books to him over-and-over (signing "read", "book", and "please"). We read an A-B-C book the other night and he signed from a-e.

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