2/20/09

Lily continues to do well, as usual. I've been thinking for awhile that she has seizures from time to time (silent seizures) because there have been times that she blanks off for a minute or two and has a blank stare that I can't change and then just kind of snaps out of it. Since the EEG came back negative I haven't thought much about it, even though I don't think they could have ever gotten an accurate reading while she screamed bloody murder for an hour. A few days ago I think she had a mild one in my arms. She was being very cuddly and as I was holding her her limbs began to jerk. Not hard, but it went on for more than 5 minutes and during that time she was whimpering. Afterward she was very tired and she passed out on the couch (a first for her and completely out of character). There's really nothing that can be done for it, so I'm trying not to concern myself. Meds would reverse all of her progress and would alter her state of being so at this point since it's not bad we'll likely leave things alone. I really wouldn't want to put her through another EEG, it was so traumatic for her. I just pray that if she is having seizures that they stop or at the very least remain mild. It's very common for autistic kids to also have seizure disorders and my aunt is epileptic but I'm hoping everything is just a coincidence. I'll talk to her doctor about it in a couple of weeks, but I don't think there will be any action to take.

A couple of days ago Lily walked into the kitchen, pointed to a banana, and said "nana". After I gave it to her she ate half of it! The ironic thing is I think she just asked for it because she could. She wouldn't touch bananas before that and hasn't since, lol. Shortly afterwards I was trying to feed her some dinner and she tried to push me away and said "oh" (which is her "go"). So her communication is bitter sweet at this point. She's really starting to be a great pointer now and will point to EVERYTHING that she wants.

I've learned/realized from one of her speech therapists lately that as Lily needs new stimulants as her skills grow. She will not play with old toys the same as she will a new toy. For example, she has baby dolls at home that she could care less about, but when she was presented with one in therapy she couldn't get enough of her and was feeding her and cuddling her and putting her to bed, etc. She will play with her toys the same way she always has, but will only use new skills on new toys. This makes sense to me. We've been trying to curb spending so I haven't really bought her any new toys for quite some time I was use to getting her things every week. It's hard not to when you see something that might spark something in your child so that they will learn and grow. We have to engage her in more play with toys but she won't do that with old toys. She's just going to want to continue her patterns. So I'm going to have to get creative and come up with games that we can play together but creativity is certainly not my thing, so it's gonna be hard. I'm open for suggestions if anyone has any, otherwise Walmart will continue to get more and more of my money, lol. We really need to step up her pretend play because it will really help her speech develop faster.

Lily's eye contact has gone down quite a bit. Her speech therapist says that it is because she no longer needs the visual with the audio for processing. I guess it makes sense, but I'm still not happy about it. I've been making her look at me when she has a request but sometimes she will throw a complete tantrum because she doesn't want to. It almost seems really hard for her at times. I need to think of creative ways where she doesn't have a choice while at the same time creating an environment where I don't have to ask her to look at me. Fun stuff.

I'm realizing more and more how much Lily really loves music. She sings, hums, dances (or sways if she's in the car) and tries to play her own music with her instruments. I really need to look into some music therapy for her I think. She's so happy when there's music playing.

Today I went to use the bathroom and Lily followed me so she could go too. It was really cute, but she still doesn't understand that she needs to take off her diaper before sitting down to go.

Lily's been eating a lot more candy lately and really needs some variety, but she's been taking her cod liver oil. I'm so proud of her! I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but she has been sleeping better. Though I had a hard time opening her bedroom door the other morning because she was sleeping propped up against it, lol.

Lily made a clear choice today for the first time (this was a very big deal for the girl who wants it all!). She wanted to bring her toys and her blanket into the office and I told her she could only take one or the other with her. She took a moment, looked at both and decided on her toys. She left her blankie in the car.