Oh Em Gee.

I know I've gushed on and on about The Awesome School Jaysen is currently in. Even (half) joked about wanting his I-Team to follow him through college.

Just received the Best.News.Evar as it relates to school.

I was fretting because after school tweaking around with budgeting, this is Jaysen's last year at The Awesome School. This year has been such a success, I really just wanted onemoreyear, just to have that positive experience. Alas, the school only goes up to 4th grade now. Which makes this a transition year. We all know how much we lurve transitions.... Since the next transition is to upper elementary for grades 5 and 6, it makes the whole upper elementary school experience a whole transitional clusterfeck. Nerves...worry...anxiety...gaping chasm in the ground swallowing me up.....

But!

I received a personal phone call from Jaysen's Resource Room teacher. Y'know the one who digs my kid for who he is, appreciates him, encourages him, and has faith in him? Also doesn't put up with his crap? Yes, the magical faerie-like teacher whom I probably owe my life to...okay, well at least my sanity...

Well, she called to let me know that she accepted a job as a counselor....at the upper elementary school! Uh...did I hear that correctly? Jaysen's not losing his Team, he's actually gaining them for another 2 years! Whoot! She also confirmed that we will need V, the sp.ed district head to attend Jaysen's transition IEP meeting, to ensure he follows the kids he is with now (as we are not at our home school).

Seriously peeps, I almost collapsed.

She's going to be a fabulous counselor. I honestly can't think of anyone better for such a job. Srsly, she already does that a good portion of the time.

So Yay! Congrats, magical faerie-teacher!
Spread your glitter and cupcakes all over the upper elementary!
You will be awesome and rawk it like you always do!

And yay for 2 more years of success!

Um...wow.

4th grade is.........AMAZING!
I am happy to report that Jaysen is off to a great start this year- in school, and at home.

His parapro reports that his anxiety/frustration level is way down this year, and when he does have difficulty, he is using strategies to help diffuse himself.

Wow.

At home, I am seeing a happy, social kid, but also a helpful one. I can't even begin to tell you how helpful Jaysen has become. He follows directions with little to no grumbling, and will do things like get himself ready for bed, or get dressed in the morning, without me even having to ask him.

Wow.

He is helping his brother cope when his little 3 year old temper flares. He helps him get ready for bed. He asks his opinion on what movie he would like to watch. He takes turns with him when they play the Wii. He answers Rylan's incessant questioning. He encourages him, and tells him he's doing a good job. He tells him to have a good day when he leaves for pre-school.

Wow.

He's also more accepting of the suckier things in life. Like dentist appointments, homework, taking medication, and bedtime.

Wow.

That is not to say my son is perfect. He is my son, after all...
He still has bouts of frustration. He still gets lippy, and he still doesn't know how to constructively express or deal with certain emotions, but he's actively working on it. And you can see it in his face when he is truly making an effort.

Wow.

He also informed me, "Mom...your little boy is growing up."
Yes, sweetheart......he certainly is.
*sniffle*

First day of school - fourth grade

Dear Fourth Grade,

Why did you sneak up on me and bite my ass at 10pm last night? Didn't you know that all the good school supplies were already gone? That was not very nice of you.

~Momzilla

Space Cadet

Damn. I miss you guys.
I'm sorry I've been spacing and not updating, like, at all....
But guess what today is?

It's move in day!

Yay! One year, two months and two days later- I get my house back!
We can actually say we are home!
And that is an awesome feeling.

I promise, after we get settled, I will post pics.
You are going to lurve...

Still clicking my heels...

Update? Sure.....

Haven't written much for a variety of reasons- nothing much to write, not much time to write, and just plain ol' don't feel like it lately. Meh.

Anyway, the house is still not done.
Our landlord flipped out and booted us, so now we're staying for 2-3 weeks in a hotel. It's actually not that bad. They're suites, so there's a kitchenette and two bedrooms. It's small, but there's places to "escape" when necessary. Also? There's a pool. So Jaysen is happy.

Speaking of Happy-Jaysen, he is doing great with the help of the Abilify. He seems more able to process things, is more reasonable, and just seems...happier. More at-ease.

Hand?
Still sucks. Seems the suckage is getting more and more. I really need to see a pain doctor to get a handle on this, because "toughing it out" is making me a mega-bitch. And this hyper-sensitivity? Oh yes, I now know (on a smaller scale) what some of our kids are going through- and it's no joke. This can be some painful stuff.

Jaysen is not participating in ESY this year, which is fine with me as it really didn't do much for him anyway. Instead, he is attending a camp through the YMCA, and has only complained a few times about going. He has basically gone the whole summer at this camp! Huge.

Still looking forward to our Charlevoix trip in a couple weeks! :)
Whoot.

P.S. I am totally NOT freaking out that summer is almost over and there's back-to-school stuff stalking me everywhere I go. See? Thisismetotallynotfreakingout....

Things you would have heard this morning if you were a fly on my wall...

Rylan: (two fingers intently pointed on the sides of his head) Mommy! These are my nipples!
Me: Um...no, sweetie. Those are your temples.


Jaysen: Mom......where's my Abilify?!?
'Bout knocked me to the ground...never thought I'd ever hear something like that in a million years...

Skillz with pillz

Against my better judgement, I am totally going to post some superfantabulous news, about a superfantabulous gain we have made.

Hold onto your stickybuns, because this is HUGE.

So, you know my son...the one with sensory issues, who only eats things that he deems non-vomit-inducing? Okay, and we also know his sensory issues cross over into medications. No oral medications (makes him all barf-o-rama), has resulted in M-tabs and suppositories.

Jaysen was off meds for about a month. He started to get tweaky, so we revisited the med route. Upon familial suggestion (don't you just lurve that?!?), we tried Intuniv. Don't try this at home folks...my kid was berzerker. Like not a funny hyper berzerker... mean joe green berzerker. After only 4 days, we switched him to Abilify. Muuuuch better.

Huh?
What's that? Abilify comes in pill form?
Yes..... I know.

I had been prepping him for the meds... up until now, I had been able to successfully sneak him the Risperdal, but I wanted him to be informed as to what was going on and why he was taking these medications. Of course he bucked, but when I explained that the med was to help him not be so angry, and he might like how it makes him feel balanced, he said he would try it.

We spent the night before practicing swallowing pills using Skittles.
He thought it was funny and was really proud he could do it.

When it came time to "go live"....
Went without a hitch.
Perfect.
He even made a big production out of it.

If that's not awesome in its own right, here's what he said to me at bedtime-
"Mom...thank you for practicing me the Skittles...it helped awesome."

And now... he has taken it every day, on his own (with parental supervision).