Shower Time & Sleeping

Kevin and I have had progress with his shower time.  I would have to help him with shampooing his hair every night.  You know the usual problem getting it washed and rinsed out properly.  He would be stemming so much that it was hard for him to stay focused with the job at hand and most of the time I would be drenched from helping him.  Thankfully his shower is at night and I’d just change to my PJ’s.   This past week he’s been able to do it himself and seems pretty pleased when I’d tell him how proud I am of him when he was done.  I do believe in positive reinforcement, opposed to negative.  I still supervise to make sure he’s staying focused, but I think one day he won’t even need me to do that anymore.   I’m so proud of him and every small accomplishment he makes.  As for his sleeping pattern he’s changed there, too.   He’s become a teenager.  He gets up in the morning, but falls right back to sleep on the sofa and sleeps until about 10:30 or 11:00.  Then at night he’s wide awake, but his autistic mind is telling him its bedtime.  He’s funny at night because he’ll lie on the sofa watching TV saying “Goodnight” and start to giggle all bright eyed.  The only problem is he really does want to go to bed at 8pm and then he’ll lay there ‘til late at night tossing and turning.  I don’t sleep unless I know he’s asleep, so I was able to take his ½ Risperdal he was getting at 2pm and the ½ Risperdal at 6pm and combine them into one whole pill at 6pm.  I couldn’t do this during the last school year and I’m so hoping I can keep it this way.  Last year he’d come home worked up from a day at school and need just that ½ to help him relax.  In the past his doctor has changed his dosage around to help with sleeping issues.  Risperdal can make you sleepy and knowing this about Risperdal I tried the change to help him sleep at night and it seems to be helping.  The plus is that he can get through the day without that ½ in the middle of the day.   I did ask a friend of mine who’s an RN if it’s possible that as Kevin’s small intestines heal and he starts to absorb more nutrients and medicines if it could be possible that his dosages could become too high for him.  She thought it was possible, because it not washing out of his system like it use to.  That’s food for thought if you ask me.   We’ll just have to wait and see.

A very different week for Us

This week was the first time it’s been just Kevin and I at home for a whole week. His brother and Uncle went to Florida for vacation while we stayed home. As much as I wanted to go on vacation with them I had to work, so Kevin stayed with me. We did have a good time. We went to my mother’s for lunch one day, while my sister was there with her grandson who was visiting her. I dug out the boys old Thomas the Train set for the two boys to play with during our visit. It was fun to watch them play. Kevin would just get all the trains on the track and my great nephew would knock them down. Kevin would just smirk and put them all back on the track. It was amazing to watch Kevin’s reaction. I had thought he would get mad at his cousin, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all. Kevin seemed to really enjoy visiting with his cousin. I did discover one day that Hunt’s Ketchup is not a good idea for Kevin. I thought that just a little wouldn’t hurt. Ha! Later that evening he had issues. Nothing bad really happened, but there was enough of a difference for me to notice. This morning he seemed to be fine before I left for work today. Good thing too since my mother is watching him for awhile today until his respite worker comes to get him later today. All in all we’ve had a very quite week just the two of us. I can’t wait to see what his reaction will be when his brother gets back from vacation Sunday.

Wonderful Weekend with His Dad

Kevin had a wonderful weekend visiting his father and stepmother.  He was Mr. Talkative in the truck on the way home Sunday evening. They had gone hiking to one of the waterfalls on Saturday.   He told me he saw an alligator at first and I said “no you didn’t see an alligator.”  Then he said he saw trees and water.  That’s when his brother said they’d hiked to a waterfall.  I’m so jealous; it’s much too hot here to do any hiking.  I’m thrilled that they were able to hike.  Just before bedtime he started telling me who all he saw over the weekend; naming his dad, stepmother, stepsister, stepbrother and then all of the dogs.  Apparently someone had puppies, because there were a lot.  I said to him that’s a lot of dogs and he started counting 1, 2, 3, under his breath and then 8.  I’ve never seen him do that before.  He was so focused on it.  I was fascinated watching him count the dogs.  I almost forgot he showed me his boo-boos on his knees from when he slipped on the trial once.  He said they were dead and I explained no they aren’t dead just bob-boos. It was so funny to hear him say that and it also made me realize that he doesn’t understand what dead means.  Not something I want to get into right now with him.   In the mean time I was able to go out early Sunday morning to Barnes and Nobles and browse through the cookbooks.  There were a ton of them and after a while I was lost in Gluten Free Cooking.  I left there and went to Earth Fare to stock up on pizza crust and pretzels.  I’m so happy he had a good visit with his Dad.

Happy Belated 4th of July

I’m hoping that everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday.  We ate until we couldn’t eat anymore.  It was one of the most relaxing holidays.  Kevin hung out in the hot tub which was turned down to 93, while watching his brother light fireworks in the backyard.  Thankfully the day wasn’t too unbearable for us to sit outside on the patio.  To my discovery Kevin has lost some weight, which is a really good thing.  He had put on weight over the winter and I noticed it during the Special Olympics’ Swim Event.   His bathing suit was way too small and unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it that day.  I had bought him a larger size not long after, because I knew we would be hitting the pool soon at a friend’s house.  The past couple of times going to the pool I noticed that Kevin’s new suit was too big.  Yesterday I decided to try his old suit on him and guess what.  It fit!  I was so thrilled to find that he had lost some of the weight he’d put on over the winter.  His doctor at his last visit had said he’d put on weight and she wasn’t surprised at all.  The Risperdal will make you gain weight and it wasn’t the first time he’d gained it like that over the winter.  I’d just like to have him not go up and down on his weight like that at all.  I’m hoping that reducing the Risperdal that will help with his weight issues and there won’t be any more fluctuating during the winter months.  What a wonderful 4th of July gift for Kevin and myself.