School Pics

Though they won't go up on the walls, school pictures came out pretty well this year. Connor offered his usual "fake" smile, Sawyer was not impressed at all, and Xander was his usually charming self. We opt for candid snapshots on the walls, but we always order a few of the school snapshots for keepsakes.

Back Home

Our day started really early. Though 5 o'clock and I are not really good friends, Sawyer is generally awake that time of the day. And by generally I mean on any day that you don't have to be anywhere at a certain time. Because on those days, that's when he likes to sleep in. Like today. When I had to drag him out of bed at 5:45.

We arrived at the surgery center shortly after 6 a.m., where we filled out more paperwork and signed more consent forms. And then we waited. Once we were called back, they went over the procedure and then we signed more papers. And then we waited again. Then the anesthesiologist came in to go over their part. And we signed more forms. And then we waited again.

About 7:45 Sawyer was taken back. We let him keep his iPad with him, to make the transition easier. He looked back over his shoulder a few times, as if to say why aren't you coming with me, but he never cried or complained. He just went right back to his movie on his iPad.

Fifteen minutes later, I was called in to talk to his ENT. The procedure went well. Only one stitch required, just to minimize excessive spreading. It will dissolve on it's own, so no removal required. In addition to the anesthesia, they also using an injection to numb the area under his tongue. His doctor told me again how he thinks it will be beneficial long-term for Sawyer, as he had already seen increased mobility. Recovery is only expected to last through the day.

I was sent back to the waiting room for another 10 minutes or so, then I was called back into the recovery room. Having warned them that he could be aggressive if he woke up in a strange room with strange people, they wanted me there with him as he woke up.

Immediately we saw him sticking his tongue further out of his mouth than he had ever done before. He also was sticking his fingers into his mouth and licking everything in sight. Our challenge during the day is going to be keeping his hands out of his mouth and also to keep him from licking everything he sees. He definitely has a sensory and/or texture issue with the procedure, at least initially.

The good news is he seems fine. A little grump, especially with all of the reminders to keep his fingers out of his mouth. But he's already finished two Gatorade drinks, a few popsicles, and even some applesauce. He passed on the ring pop (very unusual), but picked it back up after he finished the applesauce.

We're taking the rest of the day easy - watching some favorite animated movies on the big screen and snacking at will. The free-flowing drinks and snacks, he's all for. The constant monitoring by Mommy to keep those hands down, he could do without.

All in all, a successful day. Most likely he will return to school tomorrow, and we will follow up with the ENT in a few weeks to make sure all is healing well. And we'll hope that the procedure not only increases mobility (which it already has), but that it also helps with long-term speech production.

Just another day in the life ...

Wish Us Luck

Silly, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.

Bright and early tomorrow morning (or actually dark and early, since the sun will not be up), Sawyer and I will be headed to the outpatient surgery center for his ENT surgery.

He's currently still dancing around in his room, which means he's probably not going to be awake at 4 in the morning for the first time in weeks. He's going to want to sleep in tomorrow, of course, instead of leaving the house at 6 for 6:30 check-in.

Wish us luck. It's a relatively simple procedure that will only take a few minutes. It will, however, require him not to eat or drink anything in the morning (which is not going to make him happy either). It also will require general anesthesia.

Recovery is only a day or so. Hopefully he will heal quickly. And hopefully it will help with speech production in the long-term.

Snapshot Sunday ...

... the lost photos.

It doesn't happen often, but I forgot to upload photos from two different trips to the park in the last few weeks. And because I'm slightly OCD, when I uploaded them tonight, I changed the dates to put them in chronological order on the Flickr site. 

Yes, you can do that. 

And yes, I did.

The first trip I missed was on October 15, when I took the twins back to the big park across town on their last day of Fall Break (Connor was still in the mountains with Grandma and Grandpa). Those photos start here.

The second trip I missed was on October 23, when the whole family walked up to the neighborhood park. Those photos start here.

All About Connor

Time could move a little faster, if Connor were in charge. It would move right on up until Summer vacation and then stop. Forever. He might like a little pause for Halloween, his birthday and Christmas, but just for the holidays. Baseball season is okay, too, but just the weekends.

Do you see the pattern, that he would like to skip over any day that involves school?

Connor is very nearly eight. Just two more weeks and he will be celebrating his birthday. He is in the second grade, though he would prefer not to talk about school. He would prefer to sleep in every morning and stay up late every night. He definitely would prefer not to have any homework, especially the kind that involves either writing or reading. Though he will also be the first to tell you that he loves his second grade class, and that his teacher, Mr. A., is the coolest teacher at school. He gives out more "gotcha bucks" than anyone, and that goes a long way in Connor's world. You earn rewards based on your good deeds, and his teacher is generous in noticing their good deeds.

We are in between baseball seasons, so that makes Connor a little sad. He's happy to see his beloved xbox (once he's finished his homework and earned his screen time) again, but he misses baseball. He's looking forward to spring, and even talking about perhaps trying soccer next fall. We are talking about putting the twins in a special soccer league next spring, which is where I think this talk is coming from. We tried to get him to give soccer a chance this fall, but baseball won out. I have a feeling it will win out again next year, too, unless the twins' soccer experience really impresses him.

Speaking of xbox, Connor is a little bit obsessed with a game called Skylanders. Whoever designed the game is a genius, because there are all kinds of figurines you can buy to play different characters in the game (and I mean hundreds of characters). He already has eight, but Connor's current Christmas wish list contains no less than four new characters, not to mention the new "Giants" characters that just came out. So now there are two versions of each of the characters. Joy.

School is going well. Connor is not at the top of his class, but he's also no longer receiving additional instruction in math or reading. His math skills are actually pretty impressive, but his reading is still a slow process. He's always in a hurry, and tries to mumble his way through the words that he doesn't know. His teacher assured me this is typical behavior for a second grade boy. But it's also something we have to keep working on.

Connor has been on a lot of adventures so far this school year. He went with Grandma and Grandpa to the mountains over fall break. He even got to spend time with Uncle Brian and Cousins Austin and Kyndal, as they joined them in the mountains. Last Friday, he got to spend the afternoon with Grammy at the school fall festival and then dinner and a movie at the country club before spending the night with Grammy and Pappy. Aunt Kelly has also taken him to a movie or two and out for lunch. We love that he gets those moments, that one-on-one attention that is sometimes hard to come by in not only a family of five, but a family of five with two working parents and two special needs siblings. I feel like the grandparents and extended family give him back a little of the childhood that autism sometimes takes away from him.

Speaking of childhood, do you remember the guppies that Connor begged to bring home from school last year? Connor brought home five or six guppies and one snail from the classroom tank, and then babies came, making the total around nine or ten before several of them died off. Now he has one lone guppy and somehow 8 or 10 snails. His excitement over his fish tank didn't survive the summer, so don't expect more fish should this lone guppy decide she's had enough. Mommy is a little tired of having to remember to feed the fish every night.

One issue that we did battle this summer was Connor's skin. He inherited Mommy's incredibly dry skin, which was just bad luck for him. But it got even worse, and he had the honor of impressing his dermatologist with the worst case of sudden onset eczema that he had ever seen. It was so interesting that his doctor called several of his colleagues into the room to take a look. Connor had a few chlorine baths and a topical steroid treatment for a few weeks, and it appears to have cleared up. That's the good news. The bad news is he will likely have outbreaks all of his life, as there was no change or apparent cause.

Other than that, Connor has been doing well. He's your typical nearly eight-year-old. He's not a fan of school or reading, but his teacher tells me he works hard and does well once you actually get him out of bed and get him there. He loves to play baseball and run around on the playground at recess (we do not have a single pair of pants without holes in the knees, if you're wondering). He loves playing computer or xbox, particularly Skylanders. He likes going for rides on his big boy bike with Mommy or Daddy (and not with brothers, because they slow you down). He loves to go anywhere and everywhere (he is our have suitcase, will travel child). The world is one big adventure, and he's happy to go along for just about anything and everything.