The anxiety goes on
Last week I was out in Portland for work. I arrived in Portland on Sunday to review one of my employees who works out there. I got to see Multnomah Falls and Mt. Hood. Multnomah Falls is along the Columbia River gorge. It is really a beautiful place to see. I also made it to Mt. Hood and got to see what real snowfall looks like. Mt. Hood has already had 47 feet of snow this season. The day I left, they were calling for a long snowstorm. The storm ended up dumping 6 feet of snow in 3 days! Pictures are available over at my smugmug site.
In preparation for my leaving, I kept telling Liam where I was going. Saturday I showed him and his brothers on a U.S. map where I was going. This gave him some idea I was going away. This usually helps Liam understand where I’ll be. Sunday I arrived and went to Multnomah Falls. I had called Jill earlier when I landed. She called me as I was hiking a trail 1.5 miles up to the top of the falls. It was good timing as I was ready for a break! I told Liam what I was doing and he seemed intrigued by it. The rest of the week he kept asking me every time we talked if I was climbing a mountain. It was cute. All week he did very well while I was away. He still had his typical bouts of anxiety over just about anything during the week.
Friday night we took the boys to the IA fish fry and it was packed. Liam ended up having a great time. One of the kids down the street from us, and who is on his school bus was at the fish fry. Liam was excited and ended up hanging around and playing with him. It was really great to see Liam being excited about playing with other kids.
Saturday was a nice day outside. The boys spent a good portion of the afternoon outside playing with all the other kids in the neighborhood. It was really nice to see Liam playing with other kids. His buddy Kelly was outside with him and they played for quite a while. I noticed later in the afternoon that another neighbor girl came out to play with Kelley. I saw the 3 of them talking and then Liam came speeding back saying he was told he had to go home by the other girl. The other girl is never nice to Liam. We think she senses something different about Liam and as children do, she gets mean with him. I then told Liam to go join his brothers over another kids house where they were playing. They stayed there outside for a couple hours. It was great to be outside! Spring fever has sprung.
Sunday morning we decided to take the boys to Ihop for breakfast. We got a booth and Jill and I sat on the ends. They were all pretty good at first, but after a while Liam could hardly sit still. Overall, Liam was very well behaved. He was louder than his brothers and he had a very hard just sitting still. He was constantly in some sort of motion or talking about something. We then took them to Costco to get a few things. There the pent up energy from the restaurant came out. He was all over store touching everything and wanting everything. At times when I would hold him, he was literally vibrating. Luckily the store wasn’t very crowded so it made things a lot easier. On the way home the boys started falling asleep. It was short lived as we got home and the boys just wanted to play. Jill had to go shopping so after a “rest period” the boys went out and played. Liam was again playing with Kelley and his brothers Aidan and Brendan. When it came time to come in and get ready for bed the boys were all exhausted. It worked out that they were having some dinner and then went up to take a bath and go to bed.
The one thing that has gotten bad lately has been Liam picking at his teeth. Sunday Jill noticed Liam had blood on his fingers. We looked at his mouth and saw his gums were red, sore, and even yellow colored. It looked terrible. We have done our best to keep his fingers out of his mouth, but he does it at any time he can. For example, the boys were playing on the playground and Jill saw Liam on the top deck of the playground and he was standing there picking at his teeth. We watched this for a few seconds before going out and stopping him. It is when we are not able to watch him that we know he does this and causes a lot of the damage to his gums. His habit with this comes and goes, but after a while it may cause serious damage. We are definitely doing our best to control it, but how can we watch him all day long? It is just another one of the many challenges we face every day.
In preparation for my leaving, I kept telling Liam where I was going. Saturday I showed him and his brothers on a U.S. map where I was going. This gave him some idea I was going away. This usually helps Liam understand where I’ll be. Sunday I arrived and went to Multnomah Falls. I had called Jill earlier when I landed. She called me as I was hiking a trail 1.5 miles up to the top of the falls. It was good timing as I was ready for a break! I told Liam what I was doing and he seemed intrigued by it. The rest of the week he kept asking me every time we talked if I was climbing a mountain. It was cute. All week he did very well while I was away. He still had his typical bouts of anxiety over just about anything during the week.
Friday night we took the boys to the IA fish fry and it was packed. Liam ended up having a great time. One of the kids down the street from us, and who is on his school bus was at the fish fry. Liam was excited and ended up hanging around and playing with him. It was really great to see Liam being excited about playing with other kids.
Saturday was a nice day outside. The boys spent a good portion of the afternoon outside playing with all the other kids in the neighborhood. It was really nice to see Liam playing with other kids. His buddy Kelly was outside with him and they played for quite a while. I noticed later in the afternoon that another neighbor girl came out to play with Kelley. I saw the 3 of them talking and then Liam came speeding back saying he was told he had to go home by the other girl. The other girl is never nice to Liam. We think she senses something different about Liam and as children do, she gets mean with him. I then told Liam to go join his brothers over another kids house where they were playing. They stayed there outside for a couple hours. It was great to be outside! Spring fever has sprung.
Sunday morning we decided to take the boys to Ihop for breakfast. We got a booth and Jill and I sat on the ends. They were all pretty good at first, but after a while Liam could hardly sit still. Overall, Liam was very well behaved. He was louder than his brothers and he had a very hard just sitting still. He was constantly in some sort of motion or talking about something. We then took them to Costco to get a few things. There the pent up energy from the restaurant came out. He was all over store touching everything and wanting everything. At times when I would hold him, he was literally vibrating. Luckily the store wasn’t very crowded so it made things a lot easier. On the way home the boys started falling asleep. It was short lived as we got home and the boys just wanted to play. Jill had to go shopping so after a “rest period” the boys went out and played. Liam was again playing with Kelley and his brothers Aidan and Brendan. When it came time to come in and get ready for bed the boys were all exhausted. It worked out that they were having some dinner and then went up to take a bath and go to bed.
The one thing that has gotten bad lately has been Liam picking at his teeth. Sunday Jill noticed Liam had blood on his fingers. We looked at his mouth and saw his gums were red, sore, and even yellow colored. It looked terrible. We have done our best to keep his fingers out of his mouth, but he does it at any time he can. For example, the boys were playing on the playground and Jill saw Liam on the top deck of the playground and he was standing there picking at his teeth. We watched this for a few seconds before going out and stopping him. It is when we are not able to watch him that we know he does this and causes a lot of the damage to his gums. His habit with this comes and goes, but after a while it may cause serious damage. We are definitely doing our best to control it, but how can we watch him all day long? It is just another one of the many challenges we face every day.
posted by Jim McIlwee at
9:24 PM
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