Doing a happy dance

Woooo, I have had such a WONDERFUL week!!! Sure we've had a few incidents, like Jayden waking up from his nap and opening his bedroom door, then opening the front door...and walking outside into the street!!! I just so happened to be in the guest bedroom and saw a little boy out of the corner of my eye. Thank goodness for being in the right place at the right time huh? We now have doorknob covers in place. My husband and I have both been locked out of the house this week by the same little boy! Thank goodness we both were home at both times to let each other back in! LOL! Oh and the said little boy has also picked up a bad word and uses it appropriately. But hey, it's all typical of a 2 yr old little boy. Certainly things we can laugh at, but we try hard not to laugh in his presence!! Now on to the good (GREAT!!!) stuff!

First of all, I cannot stress how happy my husband and I are that we can finally have dinner as a family. I actually look forward to dinner now. In the past (very recent past!), I admit to going to bed without dinner b/c I would lose my appetite over the screaming and crying coming from a child who simply did not want to see any other food on his tray other than french fries. It was a very stressful situation. Like I said in my last post, he is really accepting his gluten free foods now. He loves his bread and I love to sit there and watch him eat it with a smile on his face! It makes me so happy to see him enjoying bread again b/c I know he loves it. He now comes running when he smells something cooking in the kitchen. He runs straight to his booster seat and yells "HELP ME!!" because he wants to sit down and get ready for his serving. This is an entirely different child people!! The other night I was getting ready to put some cinnamon rolls in the oven for my husband and I. We always have to have our snacks at night after Jayden is in bed. So I thought he was in bed, but he came running to give me a kiss goodnight and just as he ran in I was busy being baffled by the fact that there were eight cinnamon rolls in the can, when usually there are just 5. So he ran in and I said "Eight?!?!" Jayden saw the picture of the rolls on the can and immediately said "Mmmmmm, EIGHT!!!" and ran to his booster!! LOL!! I put the "eights" back in the fridge and told him we would eat them tomorrow. Well, all week he's been asking for eight, so I'm on the hunt for some GF cinnamon rolls for him. HEHEHE!! He's too cute.

Yesterday, we drove out to Birmingham to spend the day with my best friend and her husband and their 6 month old son. I also planned to take pictures for them at theBotanical Gardens. We did not expect Jayden to be on his best behavior and we were prepared for the worst. However, my best friend is an occupational therapist and is used to dealing with kids with special needs and behavioral problems. We got to Birmingham and met up with my friend and we headed to Red Robin for lunch. I sat on the end of the booth, prepared to walk Jayden around the restaurant and to the game room area once he started to act up. Well, I never had to leave the booth. I actually got bored waiting for him to act up! He took pictures with my camera (cute pictures too!) and everytime he happened to get a person in the picture he'd yell "I got you!!" very loudly. But it wasn't disruptive at all, so we let him have his fun. Besides, we were in Red Robin and they love kids. Jayden had the grilled chicken on a stick and when his food came he ate quietly. He chewed on the chicken and then would spit it out. I think it was too tough, but the fact that he tried eating it was enough for us. He devoured his fries of course and impressed my BFF by showing her all of his signs he uses during dinner time, and how politely he uses them...he makes sure he wipes his hands off on his shirt before he signs! It's not polite to sign with dirty hands you know! lol. We were even able to sit for about 20 minutes after finishing our meals and just chat...UNHEARD OF!! He didn't have one.single.fit. I was one proud momma. So then we headed to the Botanical Gardens for pictures. My husband had Jayden and they stayed off to one side playing while I took pictures. We worried that Jayden would just hop in front of the camera and cry for me if he saw me doing anything without him. Well he showed us...he actually assisted me! I am often found lying on the ground when I take pictures of babies. Well Jayden saw me on the ground, squealing and calling the baby's name to get him to smile and Jayden felt that he could help me. He ran up beside me dancing for the baby, sat on my back and called the baby's name, and even said "CHEESE!!" LOL!! He was the PERFECT assistant. You should see the eye contact I got from the baby once my little helper joined me!





After the pictures (which were a huge success) we headed to TCBY. Jayden had an orange sorbet with sprinkles and he was in heaven. By now he was getting tired though so he exhibited some of his selective hearing traits...hehehe! But never did we have to put him in a time out or tape him to a seat ;) Once, when the baby got fussy, Jayden ran over and started teaching him sugn language. Oh boy was that cute. He really wanted the baby to sign "dance" and to dance at the same time. That takes a bit of practice though.

When we hit the road to head home last night, I had a renewed sense of peace...and patience. This wonderful week with Jayden was just what I need to refill my cup of patience. This may sound mean to you if you haven't had to experience what I experience 24 hours and 7 days a week of bad behaviors, but now when he looks up at me with those sweet eyes, I can remind him of what a good boy he has been lately and how proud I am of him, as opposed to smiling at him but crying on the inside b/c of what a bad boy he had been. My husband and I have been talking about how well he's been behaving all day today. I love it!! The Dr was telling us that we would never be sure how much of Jayden's autistic behaviors have to do with the untreated celiac disease, but if this is not some type of phase, I would think it's safe to say that it had alot to do with a bad stomach. Don't get me wrong, he still has his issues, mainly the social anxiety and although he is talking more, he still has a significant speech delay, but that's where the other good news comes in...

We received a letter in the mail Friday stating that our insurance approved us for the ECHO program, which will pay for Jayden to receive ABA therapy here in MS! We were worried about that b/c they will only cover us until my husband retires in Jan and we were having a hard time getting the last of the papaerwork filled out to get the ball rolling on the insurance coverage. In the letter they state that Jayden's insurance is officially active and we have 90 days to complete the paperwork (which I know we will have completed by then), but for now he can start therapy asap! This makes me so happy. I know he will be okay b/c I'm already seeing positive strides from him with just the strict diet change. We are finally making our way out from behind these dark rain clouds and starting to see some sunshine :)