COULD SOMEONE PLEASE REMIND ME WHY WE HAVE TELEPHONES? It's just 8:30 in the morning and I have already had 5 phone calls - work, Katie's teacher, a solicitor, etc, etc. Yikes. I'm tired. I was supposed to work this morning - but they called at 6:30 (I was already showered and dressed) and said I didn't have to come in if I didn't want to---they are running behind on payroll -- so I said, "sure, I'll stay home". I have Katie's IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meeting this afternoon - I'm a little stressed about it - so it might be good to be home and get some work done here so that I am more relaxed for the meeting.

We went to Katie's AUTISM DOCTOR yesterday. I call her that because she is the only doctor we have found who will actually give us medications to try and detox Katie's body of the heavy metals. We started a series of B12 shots -- I have to administer the shot -- I did it in the office yesterday - and almost started crying - but amazingly Katie started talking yesterday. She said "on " three times - she said "daddy" twice, she said "hi" several times, and she said "I'm Katie!" last night. Yep-- I know it may be hard to believe but -- after reading Jenny McCarthy's book (see previous posts) and seeing how her son's vocabulary doubled on the days that he received B12 shots - I thought it was something that we had to try. Even after 1 day I am so glad that we did. This is a child whom I haven't heard say much of anything other than "Katie" on occasion for the past two months -- we'll see how it goes. The shots are every other day -- so no shot today - we'll see how tomorrow goes.

BIRTHDAY PICS - FINALLY! Only 8 days late! Sorry, Katie...Mommy has been a little busy. We did a cupcake birthday with ice cream cones this year. Katie loves ice cream - but only on a cone...and you know that cupcakes are all the trend this year :) She was sneaking the cupcakes off the counter all afternoon that day -- and was licking the frosting off. Pretty funny. Good thing Mommy made extras.

Things are going a little better - I think we are close to a resolution with Katie's classroom situation - so that is encouraging. They tried some different things today -- and they seemed to work. So that is good. I will upload Katie's b-day pics as soon as I have a few minutes.....

AUTISM = STRESS

Yep, that's how I feel. Things have not been going well the last few days. It seems like this years has been very transitional as far as Katie goes. We knew it would be a difficult adjustment with new teachers, a new classroom and new classmates - in addition to now going to school all day rather than half a day -- but I never imagined it would be this difficult. I will refrain from elaborating about everything that has been going on, but I will just say that we are seeing a side of Katie that we have never seen before, and it is really difficult. We don't know why she is doing what she does, and I am beginning to realize that even though teachers/aides can teach your children and care for your children, we as parents are truly the only ones that love them - and when it comes to children with special needs, it seems that I wish I could transfer my parental love to them so that they could see what I see and feel what I feel. It's hard for a teacher to understand that my child can't tell me when she's having a bad day, or that she's got a sore throat or a tummy ache. It's always a big guessing game with Katie. I'm pretty good at it, but I'm not perfect (nor do I claim to be). I've cried about it too much today - so I'll move on for now.

On a brighter note, Mary is now reading at above a 3rd grade level (which is great for my big 1st grader). She is loving school and is really excelling in so many ways. It's awesome!!!

I know it's been a few days...things have been busy. Lots going on with the girls, etc. Katie escaped her classroom through a window yesterday... yes, you read that correctly. The window had been left open and the screen was out of the window because of a portable air conditioner they had used the previous day (it had been 86 degrees). When the teacher/aides were occupied, she climbed up to the ledge and hopped out. I know it sounds crazy, but she has climbed out of the window at home before, so this isn't a completely foreign concept. She did it because it was raining that morning and even though the picture card on her daily schedule said "playground", they went to the gym instead. She was mad that she didn't get to go to the playground (her favorite place) - so she waited for the perfect opportunity when no one was looking and she hopped out and went directly to the playground. I'm actually pretty calm about it. I commend the teacher for calling me right away and letting me know what happened. In the classroom Katie was in last year, she got away for an extended period of time and I wasn't even called to be informed of what had happened - so this is an improvement. It's all part of loving Katie -- who by the way will be 5 on Sunday - that is hard to believe. My baby is turning the big 5!!