Some Cute Progress

Yesterday while picking up my babies from daycare, the teacher said she had something to show me. She made a "crawling" action with her fingers up Calen's right arm. She went all the way up to the back of his neck. He flinched and giggled. Then, she held her arm out and he repeated the same action!!!! I could have fallen over! I was so excited, I yelled out "I'm so proud of you!" and gave him a big hug and lots of kisses all over his face. He giggles when I do that. I am so happy for him.
I would recommend this daycare to anyone with a special needs child. They don't specialize in such care, but they do such a great job anyway. Calen gets one-on-one attention, too. I made a surprise visit to the school and saw him receiving special attention from his teacher. All the other kids in class were sitting at the table doing puzzles and my baby was in his favorite high chair with Nikki (teacher) right there at his side playing with his toy...a yellow school bus filled with little children. I am so pleased. The daycare is Just Kids on Kelsey Ave. (the street running beside Swamp John's). The owner is Lib Grissom. She has very low turn over. These young ladies have been working for her for at least 3 years.

I made a call to Lisa Highfield. She's the Special Ed. Coordinator. I left a message because no one was in the office. I'm waiting to hear about whether or not she will provide ABA therapy or at least training within Calen's class. This decision will affect our willingness to stay in this area. Huntsville schools send their children to the local ABA center (The Riley Center) at no cost to the parents. If Mrs. Highfield says no, then I'm moving Calen to another school. My friends are encouraging me to stay and fight for it. I would, but I already know that the other parents are acting as if they are afraid to stand up for their children. I would have no support, not that I need it. The main reason I'm saying no is because my son deserves the most help as soon as possible. I would be taking that away from him if I stay and fight. He could be getting therapy now rather than a year or two from now. This area is behind because it CHOOSES to be behind. Mrs. Highfield is a part of the Autism Coalition. There is no excuse for not having any active movements going to help our local autistic children. The way I see it, she should be sitting down with the parents of the special needs children and discuss the various options, such as diets. Muscle Shoals should be "the place to be" for autistic children locally due to her efforts, if any are made. Maybe I'm expecting too much or maybe there's some legal issue preventing her from doing certain things. I don't know. We need to ban together and attempt to get an ABA center here. Or even better...a center that provides various types/combinations of therapies for autistic children. There's not just ABA. I'm also still waiting on someone from Auburn to e-mail me. Their Autism Center has openings for 3 to 5 year old children. I'm interested in getting Calen in there, but if it costs money then I won't be able to. Right now, I'm looking toward Huntsville, Franklin Co, TN, as well as the town of Franklin, TN (right outside Nashville). If Mr. T is reading this, he will be glad to know that I've gotten the FAFSA and student loan paperwork in for Athens State and University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa for their online degree programs. Thanks for all your support. Kind words and encouragement can do wonders for a person feeling burdened. Now, no matter where we may have to move, I can still earn my degrees!

I have Calen on oral B-12, but Nancy Cale from GenerationRescue.org told me that injections work a lot better and get into the system quicker. I called my neighbor who is an RN and asked about numbing topical. When I had my gastric bypass, a nurse rubbed some numbing medicine on my hand when starting an IV on me. I didn't feel a thing. I was hoping my neighbor would know what this stuff was. She didn't know, but volunteered to come over anytime and help hold Calen down while the shot was administered. I said okay. She said that she knows of some numbing med but it would burn if I used it and then opened the skin with the needle.

I plan to order a gf/cf cookbook. I attempted to make some cookies for him but it turned out to be a crumbly cake. He ate it all up though! I think he misses that bread texture. I've also come up with a barbecue sauce that he can eat. It's my mom's recipe and all I had to do was change one ingredient...the ketchup

Gf/Cf Barbecue Sauce
2/3 cup Organic Ketchup
1 12oz can cola
minced onion to taste
minced garlic to taste
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste

Mix all these ingredients into saucepan and allow to cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes. It will thicken as it cools. As for the cola, use Coke or Pepsi or any type of cola. Diet or regular, caffeine or caffeine-free...doesn't matter. DO NOT USE DR. PEPPER!!! All you will taste is Dr. Pepper. I use regular cola because Calen can't have the artificial sweetener in the diet drinks.