Okay... updating a bit....

Dr. Visickle(?) called last Thursday to let us know that all but the one test had come back and everything was in normal ranges. So while still waiting for the last results, it looks as though Benji has Ketotic Hypoglycemia. The treatment? Make sure he stays hydrated and eats complex carbs before bed. Along with the 3 meals and 2 snacks during the day. And when ever he isn't acting normal and isn't eating right... we now have a glucose meter to check him with. It's the OneTouch Ultra 2. Anyhow... that is that until we get those last test results.

On to the rather interesting and most awesome things....

After Benji had the seizures on Dec 8th he got more clumsy in his walking. And then suddenly he started jabbering ALOT more. Well... we are nearly 3 weeks after and the news is AWESOME! Benji is saying more words and using more signs, he is putting together sentences he has never put together before. (gimme that, hey, that mine, let's go) Benji is also more sturdy on his feet and not falling as much. And the major caught us off guard thing? The last two days Benji has been asking to go potty and he has peed in the potty 3 times now!

This is so awesome! Do you want to know why? It's so awesome because Benji had gran mal seizures. They are suppose to take speech away and they are suppose to cause problems in the neurological system. With Benji, God used the seizures to heal! When I cried my desperate cry that morning when we thought we were going to lose him, I begged God to heal my baby. I believe we are seeing the answer to that prayer.

Christmas 2007

Hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas. Benji had a very busy Christmas. At first we didn't think anything would take him away from Britt and Kimmie being home, but then he realized what those things wrapped up in paper was.
We are ending our day over sensitized and bouncy. It was good. All is well. Thanks to the Lord's blessing, the kids had a blast.

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Got the Results from the CDC...

First off I find this funny... (humor me... the ER trip wasn't fun, but it got things moving.) On Dec 12, I got the report from Genetics that I have been waiting on since May... and yesterday we got the report from CDC and it mentions Benji's hypoglycemia. I just find it funny... had the ER trip not happened... I wonder if I would have either report.

Anyhow... as of right now... Benji's developmental diagnosis is 313.9 Disorder of Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence and 315.32 Severe Expressive and Receptive Language Impairment by History. That tells me that there is something going on but we aren't quite sure what it is yet. But that's okay. The reason it's okay is because Vanderbilt Children's has given recommendations.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Continue TEIS.
Upon leaving TEIS Benji should be enrolled in a developmental preschool.
Pursue Occupational therapy and see how best to deal with the sensory and motor issues.
Get with speech and consult on how best to use the Picture Exchange Communication System in home and later in school. Home visual schedule too.

So... we are going to get the visual schedules going and plan more on outings and such. I got lucky today at Micah's Pre-K Christmas party. Benji got very overwhelmed but we got him back under control before we had a complete meltdown. That and he got some pringles. LOL...

Benji's Christmas Picture 2007

Endocrinology Update

Okay.... got up really early this morning.... (5.30am) got everything together and Benji ready to leave by 6.30am. Jeff was wonderful and started the truck so it wasn't completely frozen. Drove into Children's through rush hour traffic and got there at 7.45.... then I had to find a parking spot the expedition would fit in.

So... get Benji's bag and then my bag and I was pleasantly surprised that Benji was awake... he got to walk.... got in and rode the elevator up. checked in and he realized he was VERY HUNGRY. Tried to calm him but he wasn't having it. Finally got called back... did blood work that he was not happy about... and waited for the doctor.

With out the lab results, they think it is ketotic hypoglycemia. Good thing is he should out grow it by the time he is 7-9. Bad news we will have to check his blood and keep an eye on him, especially if he gets sick. We will have lab results in 2-3 weeks.

After all that Benji got to eat and we went to the Pizza Hut in the hospital and while we were there Santa and the Mrs, were there doing pictures. (I will upload it in a bit.)

Now... home for a short rest and then I get to grab Britt from school and take her to the pulminologist.

I need a rest... at least Benji seems to be doing well. He slept all the way home and the visit at Nana's.

Benji @ CiCi's

somebody says yummy....

After hard work at speech and Christmas party shopping for the school aged kiddos... Benji had an appetite. (4 breadsticks, 2 pieces of pizza and he's just getting started) Momma's just grateful boo is free.



UPDATE::: While Benji did eat a bit... (he had some brownies afterwards) He went into meltdown. There were alot of young kids there on a school field trip and he wanted to go play. That and his diaper leaked everywhere. So... Momma's very upset, very tired, and damp baby cried almost non-stop all the way home. But once we got home and got our clothes changed he calmed down for the most part. And now we are taking a nap.

This Morning...

Benji is still asleep, but we went ahead and checked him since it was time for meds. His blood sugar was 83, He was also sweaty. So, gave him his meds and some koolaid hopefully that will keep him up.

Me and my researching, I found two things of interest. 1) There is a link between hypoglycemia and propranolol. It is typically in behavioral treatment cases, so I don't know there. 2) The other thing of interest is Ketotic hypoglycemia. Benji's symptoms match it quite closely. The seizures when it dropped. He didn't eat dinner Friday night and got up hungry early Saturday morning asking for bread. Since then he has seemed peaked and we are having the vomiting. Both Sunday night and yesterday morning when he threw up his sugar was in the lower 80s. Which stereotypically that shouldn't mean anything except both momma and papa get the cold sweats and dizziness in the low 80s. So... it's a thought.

I think this is gonna drive me crazy before Monday. I don't like the feeling of not being able to fix it right now. I mean shoot, we just got the stable heart a month ago. We are suppose to be able to relax right? And I know that God is in control and I know that Benji will be healed. My hang up is I want to know when and I want to know how. And I want to know what is going on. Which I know.... God is in control. I have to accept it. I need to give Momma Bear a Valium. LOL...

It's not over yet....

Okay... so Saturday was the seizures and the ER trip.... That night Benji seemed to be okay, but tired. I would think that is to be expected with all that happened.

Sunday morning we got up and Benji was a little pale looking but other than that seemed to be fine. So we went to Worship Service at church. Figured we would just keep him with us. After the 2nd or 3rd song, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the pew and went towards the nursery. So we let him go based on the belief that his stuff going on was just his sugar bottomed out. After church we ran to Walmart to get prescriptions and then also snack foods for him. He seemed to be getting overloaded again... I really think it's walmart on that one.. and by the time we got out to the truck he was looking quite tired. He fell asleep on the way in to home. He slept from 1:30-4:30 and actually longer than that. It was closer to 5:30. Then we had the Christmas Program that Allie, Brittany, Josh and Micah were in. He got too fidgety during the program so Jeff took him out. He snacked alot on pb&j crackers, smarties, teddy grahams, and his juice. (I know... too much sugar... I did have other things with he just didn't want them)

On the way home from church he threw up... it STUNK!! Very sour and mostly liquid. Threw him in the bath tub when we got home and he then had a HUGE BM. I figured he was backed up (hadn't pooped since Thursday) and that was why he did both, vomited and the big poop. No diarrhea, just alot of poop. So... he setlled down, I checked his sugar level in the middle of that at it was 84. That was after he threw up the first time. I say that because vomiting can drop the blood sugar.

About an hour later he climbed into bed with me and a little while later he sat up and started throwing up again. And again... and again... Jeff grabbed him and got him in the bathroom... and he threw up again... Cleaned up our bed and him and he went to sleep happily.

Monday morning Benji got up about 7am and got his meds an hour late. Checked his sugar then (before meds) and it was 105. He asked for drink so we gave him a little bit of koolaid and he wanted bread to eat. He had two slices and then crawled back in bed. He fell back to sleep. At 9am I called the dr's office and set an appointment for 11a with him. Benji slept until we got there.

Once there he started waking up. By the time we got back in the room, Benji was literally bouncing off the walls. Talked to the doctor and explained the symptoms and everything. While he wished that Horizon had done at least an EEG, he felt there were no tests that he could run right now. He assured me that we would attempt to find out what is going on. He then cited that with Benji's runny nose that he could just have a virus and that is what caused the vomiting. He also reassured me that if anything else happens to call and he will do what he can. Also that if Benji's sugar went below 80 to call. He also told me worst case is a glucose problem. Seizures can be treated and possibly grown out of. Hypoglycemia is for life.

So... at the doctor's office Benji snacked on fruit snacks, had a chocolate chip granola bar and koolaid. Went to Nana's house where he got more drink. He also ate some cheerios. At Nana's he was mostly relaxed. He did hurt Papa's ears a couple times with his squeals. Most of the time we were there he was lying down though.

Last night he seemed to be okay. He had another granola bar and then for dinner had some french fries and a grilled cheese sandwich. He was asleep by 7:30.

Then... we were awakened this morning at 4:58a to him throwing up. Several times. Checked his temp... normal. Once he stopped throwing up and we were able to get him to calm down we checked his sugar. It was 83. Since then he has eaten applesauce and peanut butter crackers, along with some koolaid.

He has speech today at 11, so... not sure what else today will bring. Hopefully the throwing up will just be a viral thing and go away now.

Bad day today

This morning I was woke up to Benji having seizures and turning blue. When he had his six o'clock medicine Jeff had said he felt a little clammy like maybe he got hot while sleeping and started sweating and then got cold. So he put him in the bed with me. An hour and 15 minutes later I got woke up to Benji stiff as a board and muscles spasming. We called 911, they argued about who needed to respond (we are in the middle of two districts) then 10 minutes later called back for directions. Meanwhile we got Benji to start breathing again and the blue started going away but still gray. It was shallow breaths and still seizing. The first responder got here with an oxygen tank about 20 minutes after the call. Another 5-10 minutes the first responders and then the ambulance got here. Girls it was so scary. I thought I was going to lose my baby.

As soon as they got him into the ambulance they checked his blood sugar, it was 21. Which is so not good... if mine hits 60 I am passed out. Because his sugar was so low and he was having the seizures they gave him a Valium and we went to the local hospital that I do not like. After there for about 4 hours they sent us into Vanderbilt Childrens. Vandy checked him out and gave him food and drink, set up an appointment with the pediatric endocrinologist for the 17th.

We are now home.... and I never want to ride in a ambulance again. we got from Horizon in Dickson to Vandy in Nashville in about 20 minutes... it's normally a 45 minute drive. And you can imagine traveling that fast the bumps were horrible... Benji would start to fall asleep and we would hit a bump. Poor fella...
Benji is calm, he still is weak and he looks like he don't feel well. We have to make sure he eats every 4 hours and before bed complex carbs.. (i.e. peanut butter and jelly sandwich)

So... tomorrow we are getting the glucose meter from my SIL's sister... she just happened to get a buy one get one free this past week. (Thank you God) And it has everything with it. We are hoping to make it to church, we really felt the power of the Lord over us from our church family. While we were waiting for the ambulance I had called my mom and they rushed over here only stopping to call my SIL. Once here, my mom went two doors down to the neighbor that also goes to our church and got her on the phone to call everybody. It is so awesome to see the body of Christ lift each other up.

Please just pray that we find out what is going on. The hospital has diagnosed him with hypoglycemia... both me and my dad and one of my brothers have it. So it didn't surprise me until we found out that it is EXTREMELY rare in young ones. Then when Jeff was talking to the pdoc the pdoc told him it was either he had hypoglycemia or a seizure disorder that was also very rare. So please... just pray for my little guy. We know he's tough, but momma can't handle these scares.

Turkey Day

We pray everybody is enjoying their thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for this year with Benji's health. Another year has gone by and he is doing wonderful health wise and we have the developmental getting taken care of.

Praise the Lord for he is awesome!!

Barber Shop

I forgot to post it last week. Benji got his first offical haircut the night of the 8th. He looks like a big boy now.... no more baby.

Momma's little one is growing up way too fast.

Once again.... he got to sleep while I drove...

The evaluations went well... Benji was asleep when we got there and a bit on the stubborn side but for the most part, he cooperated. He did show his tantrum side and he did get overwhelmed. The appointment was at 1:30, we were called back about 1:45 and I was leaving the Vandy parking garage at 5:22. He leaves with no diagnosis. They HIGHLY suggest OT for his sensory issues (oral and tactile along with the vestibular, he loves to spin). He could be considered for PDD-NOS except he is too social. He could be considered for Asperger Syndrome except he has the speech delay. (He was diagnosed in June with Speech Apraxia) Neither have been thrown out. They do believe he has a form of OCD. (Things have to be just so, he obsesses on certain colors and order, he is repetitive but not a certain amount of times) And they have said his hyperactivity may be an indicator of ADHD in the future. So... there is no official diagnosis, but we will be getting more therapy. They have also told me to call once he transitions to the school system out of early intervention if there are ANY problems getting him the help he needs.

All in all it went much better than it could have. Although Benji was over stimulated both days, he calmed down quickly. I believe it was because he got the flu shot Monday. He's been snotty and sleepy since so it helped me. And thank the Lord I do not have to go back into Nashville until Monday.

Benji's trip to the Cardiologist

After falling asleep on the way in to Children's Heart, Benji was more than content to stay asleep.

He stayed asleep until it was time to do the pulse ox. Little man's feet are ticklish. Anyhow his oxygen level was 93-94% pulse 122.

His blood pressure readings were high but that was because he was upset and crying about it. Not even Elmo could calm him down.

The ECHO went good. Benji cooperated mostly and all measurements were made.

So, I guess you want the news huh?

Praise the Lord!! Rejoice! His aortic valve is stable.

Flu Shot

So, we went to the Dr. today to get the annual flu shot. It was rather uneventful. Thank the Lord!

=]

He cried when he first got it but then was fine. I think he was more upset because he had to stay still than getting poked... LOL

Trains and Balls

So, me and Benji had decided that this afternoon to help warm up the house (it's in the 50s here) that we would make chocolate chip cookies, but we couldn't find the chocolate chips. LOL =]

So, I dug out the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and looked through the cookies. We decided on the shortbread cookies because they are easy to do cut outs and Benji found his train cookie cutters.So, armed with the trust aged recipe....
1 1/3 cups flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 stick butter
We then turned the oven to 325' and got to work.

Once we threw all the ingredients into the bowl (Which Benji helped to do, although he didn't want to give up the sugar..) Benji helped me stir it up really good.

Then Momma formed the dough into a ball and rolled it out. (A hint on this is to use two sheets of wax paper that way it doesn't stick to the rolling pin.) We rolled it out to about 1/2 inch thick and used the train cut outs to make engines, cars, and cabooses. Benji really had alot of fun with this, although Wonder Pets on the TV did distract him a little.

As you can see Benji is very proud of his work. He did good with me holding his hand to use the cutters. Last time we used cookie cutters he didn't like me putting my hand over his. He still didn't like it, but it's like he understood we had to.

Wonder Pets did eventually win out. Benji had enough of doing the cut outs and didn't understand why he could not eat raw cookie dough. It wouldn't have hurt him to eat the shortbread cookie dough, but I don't want him to develop the habit. Don't need the little guy getting sick on us. LOL

As seen in the picture though he liked playing with the dough. I think it reminds him of playdough. It was buttery. But he really enjoyed "helping" do the cookies. It was really alot of fun working with Benji. Especially knowing he has improved a lot with letting me hold his hands while doing a project or even him wanting to help. He was excited about the trains and that we made a few of them. LOL... I think we were only going to do one complete train, instead we did three!

In they go.... oh! While the trains were cookie cutters Benji has had for a while, we used a small juice glass to cut out the balls. Benji liked that even more than cutting out the train. That or it was because by then Wonder Pets was over.

So after we got the cookies on the sheet we put them in the oven. They cooked for about 20 minutes and while that was going on... Benji cleaned up. LOL..

Al Menah Shriners Circus

enjoying the circus

we had a playdate today after speech.... Benji ended up being the oldest.... but they still had alot of fun

Pic Op

Momma and Benji enjoying the afternoon...

Somebodys sleepy

Graco Crib Recall

So... this morning as we were cleaning up the trash and running it up to the dump we took Benji's crib. The metal piece that the mattress sat on was bent awfully. Micah would jump on it and it snapped. So we got him the new bed that I posted about the other day. He still likes it and sleeps most of the night in it.

Anyhow... so we turned the news on and found out something .... the crib has been recalled. (http://www.wmtw.com/family/14173353/detail.html) In fact in the link there is a picture of a crib and it's the exact crib they had.

How wonderful is that? Thank God we never had any problems. Both Micah and Benji used that crib until they moved up to the beds they are in now.

Busy Day

So, our Wednesday was a very busy day. We started off by going to speech and working on 'yes' or 'sure'. We are also pushing the beginning sounds of the words. Benji likes to ignore them and still expect us to know what he is saying. =]

After speech we decided to go to storytime at the public library. We got there a little early, so Benji kept himself busy while I picked out a couple books for him. (This Old Man: the counting song, Trupp: a fuzzhead tale, & Hush, little ones)

Once storytime started, Benji wasn't sure what to do. He did not want to sit still. And then there was alot of things to distract him in the room. Which he made sure to investigate.

Story time had things we didn't expect but made it all the better. The librarian read two books. (I think they were Figaro and then Grandma's Cat) The letter of the day was C. There were also a small show and tell where some of the kids brought things that started with C, like a cookie, can strainer, cake pan, costume, and clownfish. We will have to make sure to bring something with a D next week.

During the story time, Benji did start rocking while I was holding him. I am not sure if it was just he wanted down or the stimulation got to him. He did seem a bit glassy eyed.

After the reading they played music. It was a cow song, because it started with a C... LOL. They did sorta like a line dance and Benji had a blast. He absolutely LOVED it.

After the line dancing, the kids got coloring sheets featuring things that start with C. I really like the way storytime is set up. It's an actual learning time not just sit and listen and drive your mom crazy time. =]

So Benji colored and colored. And then he colored some more. He actually went back and forth between coloring and dancing for several minutes. It was so cute. After coloring they played a game that was a cross between mother may I and simon says. Hard to explain. Benji enjoyed mimicking the other kids. He was the youngest one there save one little girl that was only a month younger. She was able to do so much more than Benji. It's hard to realize that Benji has definite delays until we get around other children his age.

Anyhow, while we were attempting to leave the library Benji found the reading room and it had a couch in it like Nana's. So he decided he had to go see Nana... and we did. He got lunch at McD's first though. Chicken Nuggets and Fries with sweet tea. (We are southern ya know) At Nana's he played and had fun and gave hugs and seemed to come out of his hyperness. We left Nana's about 2:20p and by the time I got half a mile from her house he was dead to the world.

Once home he slept until about 5 and was grouchy when he woke up, but it quickly changed once we got dinner and then went to church. He loves his church. It is so cute.

But that was our Wednesday.

New Bed for Benji

Benji is happily enjoying his new bed. bed.... $25 paint for bed..... $7 had we bought a new bed? at least $50

Healing and Speech

So.. Benji's stitches have been healing... He doesn't like it too much, they apparently itch. On close inspection we can only feel one. Not bad considering it's day 7. When Britt had hers it too 10 days. It looks like he might have a scar. And he does still says it "urts". We aren't sure if it's a word he is using because he gets attention or if it's because it really hurts.

So, that was that excitement.

I took pictures this weekend with the 35mm so, when I get them developed I will add. I prefer the quality of the 35, but the accessibility of digital... What's a girl to do?

There was the Football games on Saturday. We went to East Hickman, essentially Lyles, TN. It was about a 45 minute drive. Aside from no cell service and a creek that the boys were begging to go in, things were good. We brought the play pen for Benji, and realized that he's too big and can easily climb out of it. But it wasn't that bad and we were able to convince him to stay in with crayons. The Pee Wees and Minors lost badly, but our Majors won! (Britt and Kimmie cheer for the Majors.)

Sunday we had church and then went to the store. That wiped out our day. Benji really enjoys the nursery at DFA. It is outright amazing that I don't have to fight with him to stay. He enjoys it and is always ready to go. The rest of the kids enjoy it too, with Kimmie being a little angsty. She's nearly 13 though so I chalk it up to the age.

Monday we had a cookout with Nana and Papa. It was very fun and enjoyable. Benji and his brothers played very well and at one point Benji had gotten one of the girls' old Barbie computer and was showing Papa how to use it. I have a picture I will share once developed.

Tuesday we had speech. Britt went with us to figure out what was going on with her. I have always noticed some sort of slur when she was tired or speaking quietly but then when reading out loud it corrected most of the time. So while Benji eagerly ran into the speech room with Ms Laura, we stayed in the main room with Ms Kathleen. After maybe 5 minutes, Kathleen figured out that it was the shape of Britt's mouth.As she matures and gets the rest of her permanent teeth it may fully correct on it's own. She can how ever articulate correctly when it is needed so there is not really anything that we need to do at this time.

Back to Benji, he really enjoyed speech today. Kathleen's daughter was there because we had no school today being a in service day and he warmed up to her quickly. After a slow and quiet start, Benji started using many words.

Words:: uh-oh, mine, my turn, this, ball, momma, here, oh-no, Brittany, off, out, go, bye, see ya, yeah, no, meow, done, let's go

So... we are progressing... slowly but positively.

A rather eventful week.

Actually not really. This week has been a good one. (Which I know it's been awhile since I have updated and I really need to get on it.) Monday Benji had speech for the full hour and he did really good. Many spontaneous words and he is also using signs. Tuesday was a day of relaxation. Wednesday, Micah's preschool teacher and assistant came over for a home visit. (School starts September 10th for him) Then the fun begins.

Wednesday evening we went to church at DFA, we've been going for about a month and this was our 2nd Wednesday night. Jeff had gotten Benji from the nursery while me and mom were talking with a few other people. While we were talking Benji was being cute, trying out pews. Then Jeff tried to catch him before he took off but was too late. Benji took off running and ran smack into the pew. To the best of our ability we believe he smacked his head on the communion cup holder. Still we didn't realize what had happened. Jeff got to him and he was laying face down with his hands up to his head, sorta crying. Then Jeff saw the blood and said uh-oh. I ran over there and as Jeff got Benji up blood started pouring down his face.

So, we had a mild heart attack.... several ladies and a few men gathered around our crying little guy and Wes went and got an ice pack. The prayer calmed Benji (and us) and the ice started to slow the bleeding. We decided he needed to get stitches and headed in to Vanderbilt Childrens.

Did I mention that during service we had prayed for rain?

About the time we got in to Cheatham county it was raining. Not too bad, but it was raining. Then we got into Davidson county, all of a sudden the bottom let out and there was a gullywasher. Driving a rear wheel vehicle on flooded roads is not fun. Add to that I have never had a rear wheel vehicle until we were blessed with the Expedition. So I made it with many "Jesus take the wheel" type prayers. I had made the brilliant decision to get on the interstate to skip the street lights and all... That was a close call I don't want to relive.

Got to the hospital (I forgot to mention I called the triage line ahead to let them know we were coming.) Dropped Jeff off with Benji and went to park. By the time I got there they had him in the triage room assessing him. My only complaint there is we had told them that Benji was a heart baby and they didn't believe us. That is until they pulled up his records.

Long story short we had to wait 2 hours in the waiting room, nearly and then when we were called back they put the numbing gel on his head and we had to wait another hour. By the time we had gone back, Benji was very tired and had fallen asleep right after the gel was put on.

As you can see in the picture, he wasn't distressed really at all and I contribute that to the prayers. The wound went from when we first cleaned to thinking we could see the skull to by the time the doctor cleaned it that it don't really look that deep.

So that's through Wednesday. WE left the hospital I think around 1am... with the incident happening at 8:20pm. God is good... Benji might have a slight scar from it, but all and all he's fine. It's sore and bruised, but I have been keeping a clean and dry bandaid on it. I know the nurse said to leave it uncovered, but when we tried that Benji started picking at the stitches. So, hopefully the stitches will dissolve in a few days and all will be well.

Speech Day

Benji did well in speech this morning. He is using alot more words now. He has his own jargon too, of course. Making slow but positive progress. Now if we can just get him to chill out afterwards, we will be doing great.

Johnson Tribe 08.05.2007

Ugh.... Wednesday-Friday

Okay... Wednesday Benji wasn't hungry. He ate half a bowl of cereal for breakfast (that's without milk) Then for lunch he nibbled on chips and had a peanut butter sandwich. Dinner he had a hotdog no bun. To drink it was koolaid.

Thursday Benji ate cheese puffs. That was all he wanted to eat. All day. He also had orange koolaid. About 3pm - 7pm he had 5 BMs and each one got pastier and lighter with the last being nearly gray. Seems his milk sensitivity is all dairy and it looks to be caesin, not lactose.

Friday.... Benji didn't eat breakfast. He had diluted Juicie Juice. For lunch he had a chicken nuggets happy meal (4piece) and he ate all of it with sweet tea. Dinner he had a grilled cheese and orange koolaid.

Okay... words kinda diminished. While mama, mine, drink and Brittany were still obvious he said no sentences and by Thursday afternoon lost the sentences and went back to the jibberish. By jibberish I mean he was talking in his own language. Friday he was gasy and mumbly.

Behavior.Thursday he got to be a handful doing what he wanted and running all over the place. Friday he would say no and stick out his tongue if we told him to do something he didn't want to. Both nights he was difficult to get to bed.

Tuesday

Okay....

Breakfast was half a bowl of honey nut cheerios and a cup of koolaid. Benji wasn't very hungry this morning... Really he wasn't very hungry all day...

Lunch.... He grabbed the potato chips and also had some smiles fruit snacks. More so just grazing. Had koolaid to drink... orange with half the recommended sugar.

Snacked on the chips for a bit..

Dinner had 2 chicken strips and some french fries with sweet tea. Then had some vanilla wafers.

Had more koolaid before bed.

Words....
Please, mama, I want out, Look, there, drink, drank (i.e. I drank drink), eat, dog (he said og), mine, Britt (for Brittany), come here

Sentiences.... (I am so excited to list these.)
I want drink
I want Brittany
I want out
that's mine
Brittany come here


He's been very tired and lazy today. Most of the morning he was either laying on my bed or in the living room floor. This evening he played outside for about an hour and was again tired. Trying to get him to bed has been a challenge as Brittany and Kimmie got home a little after 9 and he got excited. He missed his sisters.

Monday...

Okay... so I am posting a day late... we will survive right? LOL...

Breakfast consisted of bread and potato chips. That is horrible for breakfast but that is what he wanted. So I gave in. I was rather surprised that he ate potato chips. They aren't soft and mushy and they are not round. They are however VERY salty. Benji loves salt. He will eat straight salt if we let him. He drank juicie juice diluted 50%.

Lunch was hotdog, smiles fruit snacks, whales cheese crackers and then orange koolaid.

Dinner was hotdog and cheesepuffs with koolaid.

Our menu was not the best yesterday and we are going to have to improve. However... Benji was jabbering up a storm.

Words:
drink, eat, out, kit (kitty), momma, I want

Those are what was clear. The I want was said with drink and eat. So we have a sentence finally!!

We did get in the pool last night also and Benji had lots of fun. We had gotten an inflatable mini-boat for him to sit in and that was fine for a few minutes but then he decided he wanted to be in the water. He used one of the rings we had for the other kids and had a blast. He was holding on like he had been doing it all his life. After about 30 minutes in the pool we had to get him out though because he was getting cold. The water was warm but we had a slight breeze.

After he came in and got warm clothes on he fell asleep and slept until 9am.... So about 13 hours. Which was nice to see. He did wake up crying about 1:30am and came to bed with us. That's a common thing and it reminds me alot of when Brittany was that age.

FYI

looks like we have a future reader.... or shopper.
Benji is having a ball reading sales papers and telling me what he wants to buy. It beats being outside and playing in the rain.
Just a heads up that starting Monday I will be posting food and behavior diary. I'm gonna try to keep it going for at least 2 weeks to see if we can notice a pattern of behavior based on what he is eating.
So... hopefully we can get that figured out and go from there. I will also start keeping better track of words with him too and all that jazz...

I'm off...

Splish Splash

splish splash! Benji had alot of fun today. He finally got in the pool and discovered it is fun. Benji splashed and kicked and relaxed and had lots of fun playing toss with Micah. After about an hour he had enough though and was ready to just go play in the yard.

Rompin' Stompin' Reading Roundup

So... today was a busy day. This morning we went to the library and signed everybody up for the summer reading program.
Benji got to pick out 5 books for us to read to him. He really enjoyed the kids area alot. There was a train table similar to his wooden Thomas trains and then there were computers.

Both Micah and Benji were very interested in the computers that were there. Benji was almost too excited...... LOL Micah played the games a little bit, Benji just wanted to hit on the keyboard.

So... we do plan on visiting the library at least weekly. The boys were also excited that they got library cards with their names on them. =]

Books that Benji(28 months) Checked out:
Let's Look at Mouths by Simona Sideri
Colors and Shapes Everywhere (Caillou, Concept Book)
Like a Windy Day by Frank Asch & Devin Asch
Little Yau: A Fuzzhead Tale by Janell Cannon
Pinduli by Janell Cannon


Books that Micah(46 months) Checked Out:
Scoop Saves the Day by Diane Redmond
Space Case by Kim Yaged
The BIRD Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
Transformers Energon: Terrorcon Attack by Andrew Donkin
Transformers Energon: Megatron Returns by Andrew Donkin

Boredom strikes....

I'm so bored..... sitting in the parking lot waiting on the kiddos. Benji's evaluation went well... He is 28 months and his speech is 14-16 months. They are recommending 2-3 days of speech therapy a week for an hour at a time.
And they speech pathologist also suggested based on the behaviors he presented that he has a sensory integration thing going on and recommends Occupational Therapy eval. I'm gonna be eval'ed out by August... At least then I will get a little break thanks to school starting.
So on to enjoyment.... once I pick up the kiddos I get an extra one and she will go home around 2 or 3. Then tonight is softball at 6.

ending with a cute pic of my cutie.... taken when we went to Michael's Saturday. It's Benji.