Thanksgiving Break!

The boys were off for the entire week of Thanksgiving. I had to work Monday and Tuesday. They actually survived being home alone together for those two days! I spent Wednesday running some errands and then we had a pulmanologist appointment at 3:30 that afternoon that went to 6:30. Not my idea of fun, but it was the only time that day they had available and I was trying to avoid taking a day off from work. Jacob grew over an inch and gained a few pounds. Elijah grew 1 cm and lost two pounds! Elijah sounded great and had a great breathing test. Jacob has a sinus infection and his breathing test indicated he hasn't been taking his advair like he should, so I am going to have to step in and monitor that more closely.

We drove out to my mom's for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. My sister and her son were there as was my brother and his family. He has one girl and one boy, who is now about 15 months old and of course was the star of the day. He entertained us quite a bit. We ate way too much, as you should on Thanksgiving and enjoyed some great desserts. The boys and I drove back that evening.

A friend and I went shopping on Friday morning, but it was late that morning before we got out. We still managed to find some great deals though. I got our Christmas decorations up on that day too, including the Christmas tree! My sister and mom drove in yesterday and we had dinner last night. Elijah got to spend more time with his cousins and they enjoyed playing on the Wii. We are recuperating today and gearing up for the three weeks of school prior to Christmas break. I am hoping Elijah will stay on track with his behavior. He was doing well the few days before Thanksgiving break! Jacob needs to buckle down and get his work turned in!

I will be busy with work over the next three weeks and with baking. I like to give cookies as gifts and they aren't hard to back but do take some work. I am almost done with my shopping, but still have some things left to get! Christmas will be here before you know it!

Things Have Gotten Better!

Elijah had a rough start on Monday at school, but things are much better now. I have started back with a ticket system that is tied to behavior at school(he has a form that comes home each day) and to behavior and chores at home. His new schedule didn't start on Monday so that was part of the problem. He did earn some tickets on Monday, but wasn't allowed to "spend" them.

Things have been much better since then. He has had several good days with just some minor issues. He has earned LOTS of tickets and used them for the iPad, Wii or nintendo. I have had to really enforce the time limits, but it is worth it.

I had called the doctor on Friday of last week and she returned my call on Monday morning. We decided to up one of his mediations by 100 mg and I think that has helped as well. He has one more day left this week and then both boys are out of school for Thanksgiving break next week! I think we are all ready for some time off!

Never a Dull Moment!

Well, parenting a child like Elijah means there is never a dull moment. I never know how things will go with him. Right now he is having a rough time in school. I am still trying to figure out what the issue is. I am hoping when his schedule changes on Monday, things will be better. We discussed some things today and I think he is holding back some tics.

Getting back to the never a dull moment....he was up at 6:30 this morning. I didn't get up until around 8:00. I heard him up, but he usually does pretty good on his own for a bit. I had left out his cereal for him to make his breakfast. Due to his behavior he has lost all privledges to electronics and I kept the TV remote in my room for the den so he was limited on what he could watch. Well I walk into the den this morning to a cat toy TAPED to the ceiling fan and tape on several other fan blades. I also noticed some white spots on the fan where he had pulled tape off of the blade and pulled off some of the brown varnish. I removed the tape and had the same outcome. Needless to say, I was not pleased. Instead of staying home with brother today, he got to go and run errands with me.

He has really been "off" this week. I am not sure if it is due to the time change, hormones, or just something that will happen sometimes. Thankfully it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it is maddening for me.....and I am sure it is for him too.
I know I sound like I am complaining, but the tourettes, OCD and ADHD are just hard to figure out. I never know what will happen next, or what will work for him. He is on some major restrictions this weekend and I am working on a reward system. We shall see how it goes.

IEP Meeting and Update

We had Elijah's annual IEP(we call it an ARD meeting here in Texas) and it went fairly well. We are going to change his schedule around and have him in a resource Science and Social Studies class. He needs the smaller class size due to his behavior and due to his academics. He is reading at a 3.5 grade level and is progressing with his deaf ed. teacher. She has been with him for several years.

There are concerns about behavior. He has been yelling a lot lately and that is something everyone is working on. He and I even talked about it today. We are hoping that by changing his schedule that his frustration level will lower and that will lead to better choices in behavior. He starts his new schedule on Monday and we shall see how it goes.

Jacob is doing well in school. He still loves ROTC. He has learned to shave with a regular razor. His grandpa helped him with that! He is so handsome! He can be quite nice at times, and other times a grumpy teenager, but sometimes I am grumpy so I guess we all have those times.

We are gearing up for the holidays. Each of the boys has a short list of things they want. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break! School is going well for me, but I am so busy!

Keeping my fingers crossed that we see improvement with Elijah and I'll keep y'all posted.