Sasha and Munchkin Photos

Okay, okay .. I have MANY, many things to post about but don't have time for a lengthy, witty re-count of the whole month of August at this time so I'll work on the other entries which include Six Flags, Mia's Baptism with a MAJOR wardrobe malfunction, the Brookfield Zoo and the first day of school. For now, I'll just post some cute photos and a brief re-cap.

The munchkins are doing well. Mia and Blake have developed a deep bond and you can often see her staring at him and laughing. He is funny so I totally understand her sense of humor and it's such a blessing that both our children love animals. Here she is leaning against her big buddy during his nap.

While we think in many ways that Sasha is getting better, in other ways, he's still having challenges. In the past four weeks, he's ripped the blinds in his room, then a couple weeks later, he ripped the blinds completely off the window. We speculate that he was just being thorough and 'finishing' the job that he had started. I put a curtain back up on the window last week and he pulled them so hard that the curtain rod bent and the whole mess was in Mia's crib when we arrived on the scene (he swears that Mia did this but even if she could swing on the curtain like Tarzan, we doubt she is heavy or strong enough to have handled this entire project on her own). He pulled the curtains down again the next day and started this week by drawing "spidey webs on Mama's car" with a rock on both driver side doors. What's amazing about this is that Sasha hates to color so while I could be celebrating his sudden interest in drawing, it's hard to get past that his one spontaenous art session had to be a permanent masterpiece on my new car.

So .. in the parenting game we are obviously falling short on the crime prevention front. He is now sleeping on a mattress and box springs on the floor (after I walked in to find his little munchkin feet on the top of his headboard as he was scaling the window) and the kids' room has an early prison cell sort of a look to it.

Our current speech therapist suggested that we seek a private occupational therapist as many of his escapades would indicate that he doesn't have a 'safety filter' and that this is another sign of sensory integration disorder (Sasha has this and he's most definitely a sensory seeker but we've been able to keep him at an even keel with a steady sensory diet through out the day which doesn't seem to be working at the moment). I chatted with the OT today and she thought that we should have Sasha checked for food allergies. We know that he is sensitive to some foods as he gets red patches on his face occasionally. We have yet to figure out what exactly causes it but we know it's food-related.

I spent the large part of the day trying to find an allergist that could handle children, that wasn't 50 miles away and that could do the food sensitivity stuff as well as the allergy tests. You'd think there'd be tons but there really aren't. I'll continue my search tomorrow. I will say that I am getting de-sensitized to disaster and havoc in our home. The events that might have set my hair on end and caused me to loose my cool in the past, have less of an impact on me now. I'm not sure if this is a positive outcome but I'm sure this is preparing me well for the kiddos' teen years :)

So .. the kids are doing well and we will get Sasha back on track again. I'm going to start by eliminating dairy and see if that helps his mood while we're awaiting an appointment with the allergist. Discussions in our house have already begun for big Halloween costume selections. Sasha seems steady on the idea of being a ghost although he occasionally mentions a prince or a troll (definitely Enchanted-related costume choices).

Have a great week and I'll try to post some 'back issues' over the next week or so.