"Dip Dip"

Melinda is a genius. We all knew that already...but she really really is.

She figured out that Abigail might not be liking the food because it does not have enough flavor. I can not believe I missed this. It makes total sense. This is a child who used to eat Jalapeno flavored potato chips...and like it!!

The last couple of meals have been pretty easy. For hot dogs Melinda discovered a calorie free ketchup, that Abigail gets to dip her hot dog bits into..."Dip Dip?" she asks suddenly excited for dinner. There is calorie free syrup for her ketopancakes that she gets to "Dip Dip" the pieces into. We are also letting her sit with the food for a few minutes and start to eat on her own time. It took about 15 minutes this morning but once she got the first bite in she plowed right thru the plate of butter soaked egg's and cheese.

Abigail's communication skills are also improving 10 fold. This morning I asked her if she wanted to drink her cream. "No" she says..."No drink cream". Do you want me to put it in a syringe? I ask. "Yes" she says..."Cream in syringe please" she answers. I fumbled around looking for a syringe for about 30 seconds while I recovered from the shock that I just had a conversation with my daughter.

I was away for the weekend with friends and Melinda tried putting Abigail to bed in her own bed and left her alone to fall asleep. It worked really well Saturday night. So when I got home last night I asked her is she wanted to go to sleep on the bed in the office like she always does or if she wanted to go to bed in her own bed.

"My own bed!!!" she yells and bolts for the stairs. "I go night night in my own bed" she chants as she goes up the stairs. I put her giggling wiggling mass of three year old to bed, read her a story, turned out the light, and left her alone. I heard her playing with her mass of stuffed animals and her xylophone for about 20 minutes before she quieted down and dozed off. Melinda and I only had to go up for about 5 minutes each to get her to drift the rest of the way to sleep. We have been talking about putting her to bed in her own room for sometime but there was always something that kept us from trying it. We used to put her to bed on the office bed so we were close at hand if she needed us. She used to have 2 or 3 sets of seizures before going to sleep and would often wake up several times a night with them as well. We would carry her up to her own bed when we were ready for bed. I am going to miss her drifting off to sleep on my chest.

Mine all Mine!

Sorry its been an interesting week.

We have all been sick. Shelby first, then Abigail, then me, then Melinda. That was one nasty cold.

Sorry I have not posted recently as with the colds we also had a party for Shelby's 11th birthday this weekend. She had a great time having a few friends over for a movie and then a sleep over.
The girls all had pizza and Melinda even made a little Keto Pizza for Abigail that she loved.

One of Abigail's new phrases is..."I watch TV....I watch Jeopardy!". The kid loves Jeopardy what can I say. When you think about it from the aspects of the evil that is TV it is not that evil. It is just one man asking really weird questions to an even weirder group of people who have way to much free time or miss wired brains that soak up anything and everything they come in contact with. Hey its even educational.

Abigail continues to improve with her language skills, and I can now leave her at her Tuesday and Thursday preschool for over two hours with out having to be there. I might even try and schedule some client time during those hours now.

Last week we thought we might have been seeing more micro seizures, she would get quiet and look around like she did before, but they were really quick and the moments would pass. This week however things are looking better.

Abigail also slept thru the night with out waking up once for the first time in three years this last week. She used to wake up multiple times a night due to the seizures, Melinda and I take turns going in with her until she goes back to sleep. This more often than not would result in us going to sleep as well. How many three years do you know that have a queen sized bed :) I hope she continues to improve her sleep habits.

were off to see the neurologist, the wonderful wonderful neurologist.

We took Abigail to see her regular neurologist today. She was very impressed with Abigail's improvements in all areas, she even got a big hug from Abigail as well. That was the first time A ever did that. We discussed her current medication, which is the Vigabatrin, and the consensus is to wait another two months before messing with the dosage. Things are going so well that we just don't want to start changing anything. Abigail's neurologist is normally very formal when we deal with her, she is good neurologist, but I think she keeps a very stoic front, which I imagine helps in dealing with some of her more stressful patients. However after seeing Abigail today she was smiling and her overall demeanor was almost one of relief, I even found out she has a teenage child. Who knew? About a year ago she was trying to find away to let us know that she thought that Abigail might be autistic, this base on very obvious autistic markers that Abigail had at the time, no direct eye contact, lack of verbal skills, lack of interest in her surroundings. The thing is......is she would only do these when she was super tired, which for some reason seemed to be during her appointments with the neurologist. The rest of the time she was a loving, joyful, I am going to squeeze your head till it pops or my shoulders dislocate sort of child. So for the doctor to be finally able to see Abigail at her best and not have to rely on our reports, it must be a relief to watch Abigail talking, playing, hugging normally, and being an overall cute 3.5 year old with french braids.

We continue to have some serious issues with getting Abigail to eat her regular meals. Dinner tonight wasn't to bad, Melinda made a chocolate milkshake that once we got the first sip in her she just loved. It was chocolate protein powder, cream, ice, and sugar free maple syrup. When we handed her the cup she looked at us like we were crazy, we had to bribe her to take the first sip but once she did....man it was all about the cup. She downed it all down in less than 2 minutes.


I miss Abigail's Fierce Hugs.

Just what is normal.

Its either getting easier or we are getting used to it.

Maybe its a little of both. Routines are settling in and a new "normal" is being established. Abigail continues to be stubborn at meal time but will eventually eat her meal. Melinda continues to find new and interesting meals to keep Abigail more willing to eat.

Last night was one of the first times where we did something as a "normal" family and there were no melt downs, tantrums, or yelling. It was nothing special...we went for a spontaneous walk around the "block" (We don't have sidewalks where we live so the "block" is really a gravel road, and two really long paved streets).

We were outside trying to get Abigail to ride a training bike, one of those bikes with no pedals or cranks, just two wheels, a low slung frame, and a set of handlebars. Shelby was zipping up and down the street on her razor scooter and Abigail would yell "Run Run" every time she went by, which would make Melinda or I have to run while crouching and pushing Abigail on the bike with her feet making running motions. Its really cute, but murder on your back. After we were done riding Abigail decided it was time for us all to go for a walk, she walked the entire distance around the block, maybe a half mile, and was watching everything. When we got home Melinda and I sat at the table and talked, Abigail played quietly with various toys and Shelby played on the computer while talking to a friend on the phone....it was all very....normal.

Just what is normal? I really don't know. Since Abigails seizures have stopped, every day is different from what previous days have brought. I am not sure where we are going or when we will get there but the ride has changed from what it used to be, and what we used to think it would be. It has been almost a month since Abigails seizures stopped (I just knocked on some wood) and we are, just now, starting to allow ourselves to hope a little bit more each day that we all will see and end to her seizures.

Stickers

Abigail is still really into blocks. However now she is crazy about stickers...stickers on little pieces of paper, on the table, the underside of her little while stool, my head. She walks around with two blocks and a handful of stickers and has never been happier.



Melinda made a chocolate substitute the other day! Its coconut oil, splenda, and chocolate protein powder. You freeze it and viola you have chocolate that goes down like fudge! Not only that, its also meal replacement and mild laxative in one attractive package! Coconut oil is a natural laxative. I am going to have to come up with a quick blurb for a commercial for that product....the possibilities are endless.

Sure why not.

It used to be that Abigail would walk for everyone except me. I used to carry her everywhere and would get brief respites of rest at say bank counters, the post office counter, or random bench's. I could even periodically get her to walk after pleading on behalf of my left arm. Abigail seemed to have a sixth sense as to when the last bit of feeling would come back into my arm and ask to be carried again. I think it comes down to the fact that she knows I am a sucker when it comes to my girls...."More carry me daddy!!!?" Abigails asks. Sure why not. "May I watch more TV dad?" Shelby asks. Sure why not "Can I have the shiny red convertible Dad" Both children will ask when they are old enough to drive. I will fight the words from escaping my mouth, but they will slip out and I will say "Sure why not".

The point of all of this is that Abigail now no longer wants me to carry her everywhere. We walk hand in hand, slowly but at a steady pace, almost everywhere now. She even knows to run fast when we cross streets or are in parking lots to keep up with my quickened pace. Her little fingers firmly grasping my left hand with a kind of frightened determination, as if finally wanting to explore the world on her own two feet, but still wanting that reassuring connection to me.