334 +230 Weeks

We have had a week of the most beautiful weather!  I am actually sad that summer is coming, because it can just get too hot, and this last week of spring has been amazing!  On Saturday we took the kids exploring - we got in the car, drove south and pulled off the highway to discover a new beach.  We found a park and a walking track which we followed to the beach, and it was gorgeous.  We had Bella with us, and she had a great run around.  The kids loved it, and Arley almost completely refused to come home.  He took off down the deserted beach on his own and had to be coerced back.  After our beach exploration, the kids went to their grandparents' house to have a play with their little cousins who were down from Sydney.  We then all had a family picnic in the park.  Poor Arley, however, was doubled over in pain from a stomach ache, and it was the second one in five days, so I took him up to the hospital to get looked at.  We had to stay there a while, but it did pass, and they think he just had gas. :/  We missed most of the picnic, and Arley missed most of the play time, so when it was time to go he pitched a fit because he couldn't play on the slide with his dad.  And when I say pitched a fit, I mean yelled bloody murder over and over again!

On Sunday I went to the gallery, and the kids spent the day home with Jeffrey playing games and having far too much screen time!  On Monday, we had our homeschool buds over to make Christmas wreaths (thanks Deb!).  I had to do most of the wicker work for Carmie and Arley, but they had a lovely time decorating them.  And the kids had a good play with their friends.  Arley was a bit off however, and was pretty ornery.  

On Tuesday we met our same friends at the new Mollymook park.  We ended up staying about three hours, and we were just thinking we'd be there for a quick play after morning tea.  On Wednesday I had to see our behaviour therapist.  I love this woman, she is so full of wisdom.  And she is so spot-on with her advice.  She has been telling me to be completely non-reactive to any negative behaviour, from either child.  With Arley this has translated into me turning my 'magic ears' on when he shouts.  I completely pretend that I can't hear a word he says, and it drives him crazy.  It is making him shout less and less, and he has really started to believe that I have magic ears!

Today wasn't such a great day.  We went to see the naturopath, and we had an hour and a half appointment, which meant that the kids had a whole lot of screen time.  If they don't move their little bodies enough, they go haywire.  Arley completely lost the plot in the car afterwards - it was a pretty bad episode.  Carmie had an attitude all day and was being a right little miss.  I took them to the beach for some exploring rock pools and fresh air, and it totally helped with Arley, not so much with Carmie.  She told me that she doesn't like our new diet and that she thinks it is affecting her.  Tomorrow we are going to sit down and revisit it so that I can make her a little happier.

As for the naturopath today - we got Arley's hair test heavy metals results back.  He has high levels of aluminium in him, as well as low zinc, magnesium, selenium and iodine.  It is pretty upsetting, but explains a lot.  It can all be remedied with diet and supplements though, we just have to figure out the best way to get him levelled out.  I also got my test results back (I had bloodwork done a few weeks ago).  The naturopath told me I have the lowest level of iodine she has seen in sixteen years of practice :(  This isn't good news, but explains SO much.  I have a lot to do to get myself back on track too, which isn't really what I need right now, but I am sure I will function better for it.

Anyway, it has been all ups and downs, but at least we have had our beautiful weather!

Here is a video of little Arley reading.  He is getting so good at it so quickly, it is amazing!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuqhax5xMSE

 Decorating her wreath

 The amazing Winny with her wreath headdress

 Homie day at the park

Today at Narrawallee Beach

333 + 229 Weeks

First off, we have about a thousand photos from this week.  The weather is just brilliant at the moment, so we are outside enjoying our beautiful beaches as much as possible.  Also, the new park at Mollymook finally opened, so we had a morning there with our homeschool buddies.  It is pretty great.  The kids loved it, and I think we will be there a fair bit.  The kids and their friends decided to play hide and seek there, and of course Arley and Winny went missing for what seemed like far too long.  They were hiding together in the toilets, which was, of course, the last place we looked after the panic had set in.  But apart from that, it was a great morning.  The pirate ship mists water, so the kids spent half their time there cooling off.

We also had Saturday night beach dinner.  We took Bella to Collers beach for a run while we ate.  The  weather was perfect and the sky was beautiful for photos, so that is why we have so many shots of the kids.  There was a bit of turmoil in our house before that, so it was really good that our dinner was peaceful.  Arley had a bad day on Saturday, and Carmie wasn't so hot either.  Arley was very aggressive again - all of those behaviours we thought we were pretty much done with.  That night a friend messaged me to tell me to have a look at his supplements.  I checked out his magnesium supplement, which I had just upped that day to a full cap (we had been working up from a quarter cap), and low and behold, there is something in it that reacts with excess glutamate.  So, I didn't give it to him the next day, or since for that matter, and he is back to normal.  He still is having immediate emotional regulation problems when things don't go his way, but no day-long aggression which was what we had on Saturday.  He actually had a big breakthrough last night.  For five months we have been working on him being able to pick up a pen and put it in his hand the right way.  Last night he sat with his dad to do some dot-to-dots, and he was able to pick up his marker and start drawing.  Then Jeff showed him how to colour in between the lines, and he went from pure scribble to neat colouring, right away!  And today, at every opportunity, he was 'practising his writing' - colouring in his dot-to-dot book.  He even chose to do this over computer time!  And despite the fact that we were out for three hours this morning, and then went to swimming, I still managed to get dinner cooked and the kitchen clean before Jeff got home.  So it cemented in me the fact that Arley has been my time-sucker all along!!  I got everything done while he sat at the kitchen counter and coloured.  I actually got to use the bathroom and brush my teeth on my own!  I felt free for the first time ever with him still at home with me.  Hoping this is how life is from now on!

I have also enlisted my mum to help with our baking, so that just helps us out SO much.  I dropped off a heap of ingredients and some recipes to her, and now we have a supply of baked goods, which is just huge.  With all the cooking I have to do these days, it really frees me up to do more with the kids and get things under control a little.

On Wednesday I took Arley up to his OT session while Carmie spent the day with Mum.  Arley's session went really well, and his OT got her very first 'hello' from him, and she said he is ready to work on handwriting, as he finally has the focus.  So much progress!

Today the kids and I decided to make a quick run to Dolphin Point for our morning tea.  But we stayed for three hours.  It was just too beautiful there.  We did running races, and drew in the sand, went exploring and marvelled at having the place to ourselves.  We really do live in the most amazing place in the world!

Saturday night beach dinner

 At the new Mollymook park

 Proof!

 Dolphin Point today

 And then this happened tonight while I was getting dinner ready!  Huh??