681 + 577 Weeks

Carmie got over her cold from last week fairly easily and was better by the weekend, but poor Arley came down with it on Saturday and is still sick today.  He has always gotten over mild illnesses very quickly, but he still sounds pretty awful today.  I had to take both kids to the paediatrician today, and she's not worried.  She said Carmie's growth seems to have slowed down, which is good news as far as Carmie's back and posture are concerned.  And Arley has lost some weight and is back in the 50th percentile for height and weight, which is great news.

On Saturday the weather was lovely and Jeff convinced me to go down to Caloundra with him to ride our electric unicycles.  I'm a little scared now to go where it is congested, and it's pretty peaceful down in Caloundra, so we went for a ride up and down the coast, and then had lunch at the Greedy Gringo.  Now that the kids are older, we are feeling a lot more free to leave them at home without guilt.  They rarely want to join us, so we don't fight it!

Arley's mouthpieces stopped fitting as snuggly as they are supposed to, so we are back to the dentist tomorrow, probably to get scans done and have them refitted.  We are so close to the end of Arley's dentistry, I'm really bummed.  When Arley realised they weren't fitting properly he was really upset - I found him crying in his room with the door locked.  He thinks he has messed his teeth up and it was all for nothing.  It's not true, his teeth are looking great still.

I don't have much more to add.  Because Arley has been sick, I have had a bit of a break this week.  He hasn't been following the token system, and I am a little worried about starting it up again, but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

680 + 576 Weeks

Poor Carmie has had a bit of a rotten week.  On Saturday she went off to a six hour D&D social group with some teenagers (aged 14 and over, we just squeezed her in).  At the same time, Jeff and I were off at an education fair advertising his guitar school.  Lolo and Dida looked after Arley all day.  Carmie called me right before we were wrapping up, almost at the end of her session, telling me that she was sick and had just vomited.  Jeff and I packed up early and went and picked her up.  When I got there she was white and clammy, rushed past me and went and threw up again in the sink, in front of all the teenagers.  Poor thing.  Somehow she had been glutened, even though they were really careful with her food.  She was really sick.  She is so slight, when she gets sick like that, her whole body takes the brunt.  We brought her home and she threw up some more, and then spent the evening and all of the next day in bed because she was quite weak and her throat was all torn up.  I hate that she has coeliac disease, I really do.

And then just last night, Carmie woke me up at 3am asking for medicine because she thought she was getting sick, and now she is in bed with a sore throat, headache and stuffy nose.  She couldn't go to her D&D session this afternoon, and she has two new sessions starting tomorrow (one is online from home) that she probably won't be able to attend either.  Poor bugger.

Arley had a really tough morning on Tuesday.  He had a huge meltdown due to our new token system.  We knew there were going to be hiccups, but it's still hard.  It was really bad, but he recovered well.  I am always left feeling emotionally drained afterwards, and I am sure he is too.  We headed up to see Lolo afterwards, and even managed to get the kids playing a game with us.  The new token system is actually working, but some days Arley still fights it.  He is still spending a lot of time on his screens, but he has changed from gaming for most of the day to learning coding and scripting, which we are really happy about.  He still needs to do a hell of a lot more exercise than he does, but we will get there eventually.

With all this going on, I've taken it easy this week.  I'm getting our taxes done and doing a lot of work for Jeff's guitar school.  Not fun but necessary.  I have been asked to do a painting for a friend's gallery, which I'm really excited about, so I'm going to start working on that some time soon.  Fingers crossed!

Only one photo this week, of Arley and his cookies that he made with Lolo :).  Also one photo of the latest painting I finished for my nephew Zach.  It's of the Bamber's cat, Bitly.

679 + 575 Weeks

So, I have no photos to add this week, nor do I have much to say.  It's been a bit of an easy week - I wish all weeks were like this.  I spent most of my time scheduling the kids, keeping track of their screen time, encouraging Arley to do different activities.  He made it to a session with Clint at Chambers Island, and then off to his session with Sprinkle.  Carmie has been to her D&D sessions, and I've also booked her in for a 6 hour D&D 'one shot' session on Saturday.  She just loves it.  This morning Jeff and I took the kids to the movies to see Inside Out 2, which is a very apt movie for us!  It's all about emotions, and a girl who has just turned 13 and is dealing with anxiety.

I didn't get to my figure drawing session, but I have started a painting this week.  I've also been working out, as has Jeff (he is so fit now!).  I am hoping this rubs off on the kids, but no luck so far.  They are like I was as a kid, not really predisposed to exercise!  The good news is, I turned out alright, so all is not lost.  LOL.

And that's it for this week. :)

678 + 574 Weeks

Well, it's been a tough week!  I'm a day late with the blog, and I still don't feel in the right headspace to write. But I shall persist!

Firstly, it was the kids' birthday on Tuesday.  They wanted a day at home doing whatever they wanted.  Easy!  Lolo and Dida came over in the morning for presents and cake. And then it was a chill day at home, spoiling the kids.  They loved their presents - it seems like we got them all right!  Carmie got a new phone (thanks Pop!) and Arley got a new iPad (thanks again Pop!).  Arley got new computer headphones and a web cam, Carmie got D&D dice and books.  Carmie also asked for makeup - scary, she is a true teenager now!  Their birthday was a lovely day.

The rest of the week has been difficult.  Well, at least the last two days have been.  On Wednesday we started implementing the new 'earn-your-screen-time token system'.  We expected Arley to be upset, and he was, but we handled it well.  That was on Wednesday morning.  He then made it through the whole day without much drama.  Our behaviour specialist came over on Thursday for a meeting, and Jeff and I told him how well it was going.  Literally an hour after he left, Arley hadn't earned any tokens for his screen time, and all hell broke loose.  The poor bugger went into full meltdown, ripping the token charts off the wall, hurling things across the floor, screaming so so loud it hurt my ears.  We managed to calm him down, but the same thing happened today.  It is awful when he melts down.  I managed to calm him down by making him a slushy, and Jeff was helping to soothe him, which is such a help.  Arley actually turns to Jeff for calming now, which he has never done before, and it helps so much.  Poor Arley, his whole world has been shaken up.  Carmie hasn't noticed as much because she is out of the house a lot, so it's not nearly as difficult for her.  We have made the system as easy as possible, with lots of activities for Arley to choose from to earn screens, but he is really struggling.  I think it is more the loss of control that is affecting him.  I feel like I have been put through the wringer.  I bet he feels worse.

It's been school holidays, so some activities have been cancelled.  Carmie had breakfast out one day with our support worker Savannah, and she has also been to her social groups.  Arley has barely left the house, which suits him just fine.  We managed to get him outside for a family game of Finska, and Arley and I actually won, which is a rare happening! I didn't get to my figure drawing this week because it fell on the kids' birthday, and I've barely done any art either.  I think it will be a while until my time is my own again, as most of my time is now spent trying to sort Arley out!  Deep breaths!!