Things at the end of the year

Well, let's see. Where are we now?

Rachel and Sarah got bikes for Christmas. It'll be interesting to see how that will affect their gross motor skills. It'll also be interesting to see the rules we'll need to put in place surrounding the bikes and going out on them. For now, the girls are only going to ride them when we can supervise, mostly because they have no idea how to ride a bike (or where). Also, though they've gotten much better at communicating, they still have trouble with sensory input and being constantly aware of their surroundings.

Rachel and Sarah have, for the past couple of months, been going to Activity Days. And doing a great job. :) The report back is that the other girls love them and things are going very well. I can see the possibility of a challenge in the future regarding boundaries, but I'm very proud of them so far in their social abilities. Very happy. :D

As for Stevie, we took him to a chiropractor friend of ours around Thanksgiving. He gave us several things to think about and avenues to explore. He also pointed out that Stevie seems to be suffering from lower back pain. That would make sense considering his hips seem to be doing fine and I haven't noticed anything weird in his legs. In the meantime, we've modified some of what we've been doing for him. Here's some things we've added.

Fresh Juice - our chiropractor friend talked to us about the digestive problems and brought up the option of enzymes. So, because we had to stop the breastmilk (had to for a separate reason that had nothing to do with Stevie) we have been giving him fresh carrot, apple and grape juice (separate, single juices... not all at once) as much as he wants with a focus for a week (carrot one week, apple the next, then grape, then we go back to carrot again). He really loves the apple and grape juice and will tolerate the carrot juice... we may end up mixing the carrot with apple so he gets enough. You'd think he'd drink huge quantities, but so far he hasn't downed more than three cups in a day, no matter how much he seems to love it.

Increased Sprouted and Living Food - Whenever he asks for fresh fruits or veggies, we give them to him. And we try to make sure most of his grains are sprouted and low-heated, then blended so they're easier for him to digest. Flour products, even whole grain, are a rare thing now.

Three Oil Massage - Yup, we're doing that full tilt again: castor oil applied before bedtime for two days, then olive oil for two days, then wheat germ oil for two days. We've found it really helps him if he takes a warm bath first. Also, we've found nothing takes out castor oil if it gets on clothes, so we lay down an old towel on his bed for those nights and put him in clothes that are specifically for those nights that we don't care about losing if they get stained. He LOVES the massage, especially when we get to his back and starts giggling now when he sees us get out the oil of the day. I give him the T.O.M. to feed his body through his skin as well as help him stay aware of his muscles. He's always more likely to bounce around and play after a massage (you'd think it would relax him but that hasn't been the case since the first week). I go along with this and we end up doing some of the games I used to play with Rachel to improve her muscle tone, as well as some that help with lower leg and abdominal strength.

"Cleansing" Tonics - I hesitate calling them this because they're really more nutritive than cleansing. They support the functions of different systems in the body. We're using these as a supplement to the slippery elm and Kid-e-Reg to increase his body's ability to break down the foods we give him. As of right now, he's taking Liver/Gallbladder Formula to help with bile production, Kidney Formula to support those organs while we work on that part of the digestion, and BloodStream Formula which is a general all-around tonic that we've found helps with digestion among other things.

Complete Tissue and Bone ointment on his spine - After the chiropractor pointed out that he seemed to have lower back pain, I used Cayenne Heat and CTB together on his lower back. After about a week of that, he complained when I used the CH so I took that out and just used CTB. Then, because I noticed he kept his whole spine straight and didn't like to look up at stuff, I used it on his whole spine from the top cervical to the tailbone. I apply it in the morning and when I do the Three Oil Massage.

The result? Well, we started the ointments around Thanksgiving and we're now on week three of the juices, extra formulas, oil massage, and ointment on his whole spine. Stevie now bounces along the floor instead of the straight, careful scoot he was doing before. He's started playing with sitting up and laying down, essentially doing sit ups... he avoided that before... it seemed to cause him pain. This also applies to side-sit-ups, which he's been doing more often as well, usually as a game with me. Also, he's been going crazy with hitting things with his toy hammer. He'll tap the floor with it as he scoots along. Which reminds me, he's starting to scoot without touching the floor. Often this is because he'll have two things in hand and doesn't want to let go of either of them.

We've also been noticing his sensory issues have been going down. He's not as sensitive to sensory input as he was before and I'm wondering if these "sensory issues" weren't the same as when I used to be in pain and wanted the rest of the world to drop off.

We aren't as concerned now with reflux. The only time I get concerned is when something gets him laughing really, really, REALLY hard.

Most importantly, he smiles most of the time now. And he hasn't been in the rocking chair for over a week... he's been choosing the floor so he can explore the house. :D

As for the doctor issue, one of our possibilities moved. And her replacement doesn't sound very promising. Oh, and another isn't accepting new patients right now; we're on her waiting list. So, we're still looking. I may try signing up on one of those mom bulletin boards like Mom Cafe and see if I can't find a local one that fits our family. This is becoming more difficult than I thought.

But hopefully we'll find one and I'll be able to get the girls involved in Spirit Horse next year. That's one of my goals for the year.