Getting back to the blog!

It has been quite a long while since I've blogged about what has been happening. Summer got so busy that this was put aside. Liam has continued his ups and downs throughout the summer, but overall, it wasn't too bad.

We now are going through a very rough stage with Liam and having to recall details of past drug treatments and therapies has showed me just how important this blog is. We have had to recall past medications and why they were changed. With so much going on every day, we of course have forgotten. I now have to go back through my records and locate some information.

I will explain more in a future post once I get more time to collect my thoughts and write them out. All I can say right now is that life continues to be a daily challenge with Autism.

Crazy summer days

This past month has been quite busy and hectic as can be. Each night of the week except Wednesday or Friday, Seamus and Liam had practice. Saturday was all taken up by soccer in the morning, and then baseball at 6pm. The boys have all been playing so hard all day and night. It is just non-stop for them.

Liam has done really well in soccer this year. He has been a little more aggressive and kicking the ball. He has actually focused on the game when he played. Last year Liam was just focused on treats or whatever else was going on around him. Liam has done an excellent job at goalie. He asks his buddy coach Carr if he can play it. Liam has made several saves when the ball has come near the goal. Liam actually does better than most of his peers on the field. When he makes a save the parents who know he is Autistic all cheer for him, it is a sincere response that is nice to hear. Liam does need to be coached and reminded to pay attention. He does occasionally get distracted but coach Carr or I will be near to help him focus.

Liam continues to do well in swimming. He still swims in the small pool and has been using the larger pool more to help develop muscle tone. The water is still quite cool for his liking. Liam has had some issues with paying attention lately. Miss Karen is still somehow able to help him refocus and continue.

Overall, this past month with the kids being outside, Liam’s behavior and anxiety seem to have gotten much worse. Liam just goes from one thing to another and is all over the place. He does play with other kids, but he just leaves in the middle of playing to do something else. Liam has also been more aggressive with other kids. Some kids had teased him and scared him. Liam has then hit other kids. When a situation as arisen, we find out what transpired. Quite often the other kids have done something that has bothered Liam and he has responded by hitting. It is not in his nature to be that aggressive, but when he gets upset he can get mean. We do our best to let the kids know to not tease Liam or continue to egg him on, but it still happens. Liam also has this thing where he will disappear and come out of the house with snacks for everyone. He has been very impulsive and high strung about what he wants. When he is told no to something, his anxiety sky rockets to a point where it leads to tantrums. Quite often the only way to diffuse the situation is to give in. It is a horrible thing to do, but quite often we just rationalize it down to nothing and let him have his way. This is a daily occurrence that happens several times a day. It is very draining. Jill is at her wits end dealing with it all day, every day. We are going to call his neurologist to see if we can increase his medication or help find a way to deal with Liam. I have tried my best to calmly talk to him and it has not worked. We quite often end up doing a time out for him. He then gets very angry and bangs on the window. He has already broken 2 screens in the front window. If this is what the summer is going to be like, it is going to be long and hot. Wish us luck.

Poor communication

That is about how I can explain the communication that goes on in Liam’s school. Tuesday Seamus had a full day at school with a late start. All the students, even Liam, had a late start. Seeing that Jill knew all this, one would think all the other teachers would be aware of what was going on that day. Liam’s normal routine is after class he puts his coat on and goes to Seamus’ classroom. They both then go out the school where they meet Jill. Jill didn’t see Liam so she went to see what was going on. She saw Liam’s teacher at the doors and went in. Here Jill looks down the hall and sees Liam walking with his coat unzipped hanging off him with his backpack over his shoulders. Jill asked what was going on and the teachers weren’t sure. Jill then reminded them that Seamus’ had a full day of school. They apparently did not know. How could teacher’s not be aware of what is going on? As Liam approached he had a blank stare and looked sad. She asked what was wrong and Liam sadly said “Mrs. Johnson said I had to leave”. He was clearly upset and Jill comforted him as they left the school. This just irritated Jill, and myself when I heard about it. Liam with his coat hanging off irritated her even more. The reason for that was the other day he came home from school with his coat on inside out. Where is the help and guidance for him? We know he didn’t do it himself, he can’t even do a zipper yet, let alone do it inside out.

Last week we had to turn in an emotional / behavioral questionnaire to the State of Ohio. It had to first be turned in to the school for Liam’s teacher to review with us. The explanation on why we were doing it was vague as can be. I sent an email to the school psychologist explaining to her we have answered those questions several times about Liam. The explanation we got was that it was to be used for Liam’s next IEP meeting. We are beyond that point with most of those questions on Liam. We have addressed most of those issues asked about when he was 2 years old. We are more concerned with helping Liam develop and to attend a normal kindergarten class, learn the alphabet, learn how to count, button a shirt, zip a zipper, and clasp a snap. In my email I also cited to the psychologist that we haven’t been too thrilled with Liam’s progression this year. There has been very little. The biggest reason we see for this is that none of Liam’s teacher’s have had any training for Autistic children. The response I got back from the psychologist was not what I expected. Rather than ask me for more detail on what I explained and stated, she just mentioned how clear it was there is an open line of communication between us and the school. Huh? Jill read the response and thought the same thing. We are heading into the final month of school. We will have to seriously look at an alternative to school next year. On the bright side, at least Liam will start school at Middleburg Early Intervention Center. We know he will get the therapy and attention he needs there.

What's been going on

It has been quite a while since I have updated this blog. The biggest reason is now that spring is here life has gotten a lot busier with spring sports. Seamus has started playing baseball and soccer. He has baseball practice Tuesday and Thursday and soccer on Tuesday. Soccer and baseball conflict so I am working with the coaches to change the soccer practice time. What will end up happening is Seamus will practice Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Many other parents are having the same dilemmas with multiple kids in sports. Liam wasn’t too interested in playing soccer this spring until he saw Seamus’ first game. As it turns out our good friend and neighbor Sean is coaching a team and could use another player. We asked Liam if he wanted to play for Sean and he was more than enthusiastic. Liam will practice on Monday and have a game on Saturday, the same day Seamus has his games. It will be interesting to see how Liam does this session. The fall session he played was a quite a challenge for him, but I think he will do well if he sticks with it.

Outside of all the outdoor activities, Liam continues to have his struggles with anxiety. Everyday continues to be a struggle with him, his tantrums, and anxiety. Now that it is nice out he wants to be outside playing all the time with his buddy Kelly. If she is not around, Liam will go to other children’s houses nearby to play. The biggest struggle that normally leads to anxiety and a tantrum on occasion is when we tell Liam he can not go to someone house for a given reason. Liam has a hard time understanding the reasoning why he can’t go. All he hears is “NO” and his anxiety just takes off. The result is whining, crying, kicking, and that screeching he does. Sometimes we are able to redirect him to something else, but not always. Liam will often have a complete tantrum in which he will lay on the ground kicking, crying, and screaming, when he is not allowed to go somewhere. Liam will be told he is to stay in the yard and he will repeat to us that he has to stay in the yard so we know he understands. We always try and go out with him and watch him for safety’s sake. We still do not have 100% trust that Liam will know to stay out of the street or not chase a ball in the street. He will sometimes be unable to resist leaving the yard and will just go over someone’s house. This is always a challenge for him to stay in our yard. We will continue to work with him in this area. Liam has grown tremendously in the past couple years with staying in his general play area. Liam used to roam without concern anywhere in our neighborhood. One time Liam wandered out our house to a neighbor’s house we did not know and started playing with their dog. The neighbor saw this and went to talk to Liam. Liam then walked in her house, saw her tv and video collection started looking at them. Jill was out calling for him when the neighbor noticed and called Jill over. Another time Liam sneaked out of our house and wandered into the woods behind us. This was extremely dangerous seeing that there is small pond back in the woods. Any child could easily drown in it. Jill searched all over and was panicked. She was about to call the police when she heard some rustling in the woods and through the brush saw Liam’s yellow shirt. We got extremely lucky to have found him! It was after this that we had special locks and an alarm put on our front door to prevent him easily getting out. We even had our playground fenced in for safety sake. Now, the fence isn’t really needed seeing that Liam knows how to unlock it now and so do all the other kids in the neighborhood. Liam has also been very good about staying in areas he knows.

Liam continues to do extremely well at swimming. I hadn’t seen him swim in over a month and I went with him a couple weeks ago. WOW! What an improvement in just one month. When I was last there Liam was just starting to learn free style swimming. Liam was so on coordinated with his arms through the water and his kicking at the same time. I was amazed at how much he improved. You could still see him struggling with his arms rotating and kicking, but he was doing it. He is easily swimming the width of the pool he is in. To help build strength Miss Karen has taken Liam to the Olympic sized pool to have Liam swim that. He has done very well and has used a kickboard to help him make the distance. The biggest problem here is the water is too cold for Liam. It is a struggle to get him in. Once he is done he wants to go right back in the warmer pool or towel off and get dressed. It’s good to see Liam doing so well in swimming.

Liam’s progress in school still isn’t going as well as we would like. We got his progress report and the progress is minimal. Jill and are beginning to question whether or not Liam is getting the education and therapy he needs there. Most of the activities he brings home look like nothing more than the normal school art kids do. Everything Liam does needs to be geared towards his development. The fact this his teachers have not had one day of training on Autistic children is becoming more of an issue. Liam’s teacher has also been asking for his doctor’s reports the past few weeks. It has aroused suspicion with Jill and I at her persistence. Our assumption is that she is questioning Liam’s diagnosis. I will say when Liam is having a good day he is quite charming and comes across as a normal child. At school I think this is how he is most of the time. When he is at school he really works hard and does his best. Jill spoke with a couple other parents and asked if they were asked for their doctor reports and they weren’t. So, I think it’s safe to say that is what she is doing. When she calls next we are going to ask her why she needs the reports so badly. Stay tuned!

Jill also took Liam to see his neurologist recently. She again continues to amaze us at her true concern and care for how Liam is doing. She listens to Jill and makes notes about everything said. This time Jill made special note of how Liam still seems to be having problems with his potty training. He seems to just dampen his underwear. We aren’t sure if it is due to him being under sensitive, or if it is a medical issue. His neurologist made note and was going to contact Liam’s pediatrician to discuss options. Jill also mentioned how we are going to have an evaluation done by Integrations Treatment Center in Mentor. This evaluation will assist us in Liam’s next IEP meeting. It will also give us a better idea of where he is now, and what we can do to help him. We will note here how the evaluation goes. Jill also mentioned how his teacher has been asking for his doctor reports. The neurologist quickly said she has no business asking for them due to HIPAA. With this in mind, Jill and I are going to ask the question when she calls why she wants the report, and cite HIPAA. Liam’s neurologist also said she will write a note to her on our behalf. I was very impressed and pleased when I heard that! To further show how effective and happy Jill and I are with the neurologist, Jill got home at around 4pm. By the time she was home, the neurologist had already spoken to Liam’s pediatrician and have a plan on what they want to do with him. I honestly never expected a doctor to work that fast. It pleases and assures us that the neurologist Liam is seeing is definitely worth it.

What's been going on

It has been quite a while since I have updated this blog. The biggest reason is now that spring is here life has gotten a lot busier with spring sports. Seamus has started playing baseball and soccer. He has baseball practice Tuesday and Thursday and soccer on Tuesday. Soccer and baseball conflict so I am working with the coaches to change the soccer practice time. What will end up happening is Seamus will practice Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Many other parents are having the same dilemmas with multiple kids in sports. Liam wasn’t too interested in playing soccer this spring until he saw Seamus’ first game. As it turns out our good friend and neighbor Sean is coaching a team and could use another player. We asked Liam if he wanted to play for Sean and he was more than enthusiastic. Liam will practice on Monday and have a game on Saturday, the same day Seamus has his games. It will be interesting to see how Liam does this session. The fall session he played was a quite a challenge for him, but I think he will do well if he sticks with it.

Outside of all the outdoor activities, Liam continues to have his struggles with anxiety. Everyday continues to be a struggle with him, his tantrums, and anxiety. Now that it is nice out he wants to be outside playing all the time with his buddy Kelly. If she is not around, Liam will go to other children’s houses nearby to play. The biggest struggle that normally leads to anxiety and a tantrum on occasion is when we tell Liam he can not go to someone house for a given reason. Liam has a hard time understanding the reasoning why he can’t go. All he hears is “NO” and his anxiety just takes off. The result is whining, crying, kicking, and that screeching he does. Sometimes we are able to redirect him to something else, but not always. Liam will often have a complete tantrum in which he will lay on the ground kicking, crying, and screaming, when he is not allowed to go somewhere. Liam will be told he is to stay in the yard and he will repeat to us that he has to stay in the yard so we know he understands. We always try and go out with him and watch him for safety’s sake. We still do not have 100% trust that Liam will know to stay out of the street or not chase a ball in the street. He will sometimes be unable to resist leaving the yard and will just go over someone’s house. This is always a challenge for him to stay in our yard. We will continue to work with him in this area. Liam has grown tremendously in the past couple years with staying in his general play area. Liam used to roam without concern anywhere in our neighborhood. One time Liam wandered out our house to a neighbor’s house we did not know and started playing with their dog. The neighbor saw this and went to talk to Liam. Liam then walked in her house, saw her tv and video collection started looking at them. Jill was out calling for him when the neighbor noticed and called Jill over. Another time Liam sneaked out of our house and wandered into the woods behind us. This was extremely dangerous seeing that there is small pond back in the woods. Any child could easily drown in it. Jill searched all over and was panicked. She was about to call the police when she heard some rustling in the woods and through the brush saw Liam’s yellow shirt. We got extremely lucky to have found him! It was after this that we had special locks and an alarm put on our front door to prevent him easily getting out. We even had our playground fenced in for safety sake. Now, the fence isn’t really needed seeing that Liam knows how to unlock it now and so do all the other kids in the neighborhood. Liam has also been very good about staying in areas he knows.

Liam continues to do extremely well at swimming. I hadn’t seen him swim in over a month and I went with him a couple weeks ago. WOW! What an improvement in just one month. When I was last there Liam was just starting to learn free style swimming. Liam was so on coordinated with his arms through the water and his kicking at the same time. I was amazed at how much he improved. You could still see him struggling with his arms rotating and kicking, but he was doing it. He is easily swimming the width of the pool he is in. To help build strength Miss Karen has taken Liam to the Olympic sized pool to have Liam swim that. He has done very well and has used a kickboard to help him make the distance. The biggest problem here is the water is too cold for Liam. It is a struggle to get him in. Once he is done he wants to go right back in the warmer pool or towel off and get dressed. It’s good to see Liam doing so well in swimming.

Liam’s progress in school still isn’t going as well as we would like. We got his progress report and the progress is minimal. Jill and are beginning to question whether or not Liam is getting the education and therapy he needs there. Most of the activities he brings home look like nothing more than the normal school art kids do. Everything Liam does needs to be geared towards his development. The fact this his teachers have not had one day of training on Autistic children is becoming more of an issue. Liam’s teacher has also been asking for his doctor’s reports the past few weeks. It has aroused suspicion with Jill and I at her persistence. Our assumption is that she is questioning Liam’s diagnosis. I will say when Liam is having a good day he is quite charming and comes across as a normal child. At school I think this is how he is most of the time. When he is at school he really works hard and does his best. Jill spoke with a couple other parents and asked if they were asked for their doctor reports and they weren’t. So, I think it’s safe to say that is what she is doing. When she calls next we are going to ask her why she needs the reports so badly. Stay tuned!

Jill also took Liam to see his neurologist recently. She again continues to amaze us at her true concern and care for how Liam is doing. She listens to Jill and makes notes about everything said. This time Jill made special note of how Liam still seems to be having problems with his potty training. He seems to just dampen his underwear. We aren’t sure if it is due to him being under sensitive, or if it is a medical issue. His neurologist made note and was going to contact Liam’s pediatrician to discuss options. Jill also mentioned how we are going to have an evaluation done by Integrations Treatment Center in Mentor. This evaluation will assist us in Liam’s next IEP meeting. It will also give us a better idea of where he is now, and what we can do to help him. We will note here how the evaluation goes. Jill also mentioned how his teacher has been asking for his doctor reports. The neurologist quickly said she has no business asking for them due to HIPAA. With this in mind, Jill and I are going to ask the question when she calls why she wants the report, and cite HIPAA. Liam’s neurologist also said she will write a note to her on our behalf. I was very impressed and pleased when I heard that! To further show how effective and happy Jill and I are with the neurologist, Jill got home at around 4pm. By the time she was home, the neurologist had already spoken to Liam’s pediatrician and have a plan on what they want to do with him. I honestly never expected a doctor to work that fast. It pleases and assures us that the neurologist Liam is seeing is definitely worth it.

What's been going on

It has been quite a while since I have updated this blog. The biggest reason is now that spring is here life has gotten a lot busier with spring sports. Seamus has started playing baseball and soccer. He has baseball practice Tuesday and Thursday and soccer on Tuesday. Soccer and baseball conflict so I am working with the coaches to change the soccer practice time. What will end up happening is Seamus will practice Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Many other parents are having the same dilemmas with multiple kids in sports. Liam wasn’t too interested in playing soccer this spring until he saw Seamus’ first game. As it turns out our good friend and neighbor Sean is coaching a team and could use another player. We asked Liam if he wanted to play for Sean and he was more than enthusiastic. Liam will practice on Monday and have a game on Saturday, the same day Seamus has his games. It will be interesting to see how Liam does this session. The fall session he played was a quite a challenge for him, but I think he will do well if he sticks with it.

Outside of all the outdoor activities, Liam continues to have his struggles with anxiety. Everyday continues to be a struggle with him, his tantrums, and anxiety. Now that it is nice out he wants to be outside playing all the time with his buddy Kelly. If she is not around, Liam will go to other children’s houses nearby to play. The biggest struggle that normally leads to anxiety and a tantrum on occasion is when we tell Liam he can not go to someone house for a given reason. Liam has a hard time understanding the reasoning why he can’t go. All he hears is “NO” and his anxiety just takes off. The result is whining, crying, kicking, and that screeching he does. Sometimes we are able to redirect him to something else, but not always. Liam will often have a complete tantrum in which he will lay on the ground kicking, crying, and screaming, when he is not allowed to go somewhere. Liam will be told he is to stay in the yard and he will repeat to us that he has to stay in the yard so we know he understands. We always try and go out with him and watch him for safety’s sake. We still do not have 100% trust that Liam will know to stay out of the street or not chase a ball in the street. He will sometimes be unable to resist leaving the yard and will just go over someone’s house. This is always a challenge for him to stay in our yard. We will continue to work with him in this area. Liam has grown tremendously in the past couple years with staying in his general play area. Liam used to roam without concern anywhere in our neighborhood. One time Liam wandered out our house to a neighbor’s house we did not know and started playing with their dog. The neighbor saw this and went to talk to Liam. Liam then walked in her house, saw her tv and video collection started looking at them. Jill was out calling for him when the neighbor noticed and called Jill over. Another time Liam sneaked out of our house and wandered into the woods behind us. This was extremely dangerous seeing that there is small pond back in the woods. Any child could easily drown in it. Jill searched all over and was panicked. She was about to call the police when she heard some rustling in the woods and through the brush saw Liam’s yellow shirt. We got extremely lucky to have found him! It was after this that we had special locks and an alarm put on our front door to prevent him easily getting out. We even had our playground fenced in for safety sake. Now, the fence isn’t really needed seeing that Liam knows how to unlock it now and so do all the other kids in the neighborhood. Liam has also been very good about staying in areas he knows.

Liam continues to do extremely well at swimming. I hadn’t seen him swim in over a month and I went with him a couple weeks ago. WOW! What an improvement in just one month. When I was last there Liam was just starting to learn free style swimming. Liam was so on coordinated with his arms through the water and his kicking at the same time. I was amazed at how much he improved. You could still see him struggling with his arms rotating and kicking, but he was doing it. He is easily swimming the width of the pool he is in. To help build strength Miss Karen has taken Liam to the Olympic sized pool to have Liam swim that. He has done very well and has used a kickboard to help him make the distance. The biggest problem here is the water is too cold for Liam. It is a struggle to get him in. Once he is done he wants to go right back in the warmer pool or towel off and get dressed. It’s good to see Liam doing so well in swimming.

Liam’s progress in school still isn’t going as well as we would like. We got his progress report and the progress is minimal. Jill and are beginning to question whether or not Liam is getting the education and therapy he needs there. Most of the activities he brings home look like nothing more than the normal school art kids do. Everything Liam does needs to be geared towards his development. The fact this his teachers have not had one day of training on Autistic children is becoming more of an issue. Liam’s teacher has also been asking for his doctor’s reports the past few weeks. It has aroused suspicion with Jill and I at her persistence. Our assumption is that she is questioning Liam’s diagnosis. I will say when Liam is having a good day he is quite charming and comes across as a normal child. At school I think this is how he is most of the time. When he is at school he really works hard and does his best. Jill spoke with a couple other parents and asked if they were asked for their doctor reports and they weren’t. So, I think it’s safe to say that is what she is doing. When she calls next we are going to ask her why she needs the reports so badly. Stay tuned!

Jill also took Liam to see his neurologist recently. She again continues to amaze us at her true concern and care for how Liam is doing. She listens to Jill and makes notes about everything said. This time Jill made special note of how Liam still seems to be having problems with his potty training. He seems to just dampen his underwear. We aren’t sure if it is due to him being under sensitive, or if it is a medical issue. His neurologist made note and was going to contact Liam’s pediatrician to discuss options. Jill also mentioned how we are going to have an evaluation done by Integrations Treatment Center in Mentor. This evaluation will assist us in Liam’s next IEP meeting. It will also give us a better idea of where he is now, and what we can do to help him. We will note here how the evaluation goes. Jill also mentioned how his teacher has been asking for his doctor reports. The neurologist quickly said she has no business asking for them due to HIPAA. With this in mind, Jill and I are going to ask the question when she calls why she wants the report, and cite HIPAA. Liam’s neurologist also said she will write a note to her on our behalf. I was very impressed and pleased when I heard that! To further show how effective and happy Jill and I are with the neurologist, Jill got home at around 4pm. By the time she was home, the neurologist had already spoken to Liam’s pediatrician and have a plan on what they want to do with him. I honestly never expected a doctor to work that fast. It pleases and assures us that the neurologist Liam is seeing is definitely worth it.

Strange behavior, anxiety, or sick?

The past week has been a strange one with Liam. He has been throwing up at random times. He hasn’t seemed sick is the puzzling part. Liam will suddenly say “gonna puke” and we will have to rush him to the bathroom. Luckily he has made it several times to the bathroom, but on a few occasions he has not. What a mess to clean up. We are trying to determine if it is some learned behavior he is doing, if it’s his anxiety, or if something is medically wrong. Where do we start? What doctor do we see? We’ve decided to continue to observe him to see how long it lasts.

This past weekend at the fish fry Liam was in the middle of eating and he said “puke” and Jill had to run him to the lady’s room though the crowd. Luckily he did not puke. Saturday Liam was laying on our bed watching tv when he says “puke” and before he could get up, he threw up all over our bed. So it was time to head to laundromat to wash blankets.

Sunday was a special day. We were taking the boys to Kalahari Resort and Waterpark in Sandusky. We were expecting Liam to right in his element in the water. We knew Seamus would have fun, but we were skeptical about Aidan and Brendan. We had a suite in the hotel so there was plenty of room for the boys. We got to Kalahari and the boys were extremely excited to be there. Once we got settled in we went to the waterpark. The boys all had a great time, except Liam. The water was too cold for him. Aidan, Brendan, and Seamus had the time of their life in the water. Seamus was big enough to go on a lot of the cooler slides so he and I hung out a lot. Jill had to hold Liam to keep him warm as Aidan and Brendan were having so much fun in the kiddie pool and slide. Liam whined repeatedly he was done, and wanted to go home while he was with Jill. We finally got out of the waterpark around 6pm. We were there for 5 hours! We were all beat. We took the boys back to the room, got cleaned up and went to dinner. We brought their Leapsters and Gameboys to play with while we waited for dinner. The restaurants were very family oriented as their entertainment was geared towards the kids. It made for a real nice time. Liam and his brothers were dancing in the booth while the DJ played music and encouraged the kids to dance. When we finished eating, Aidan and Brendan had to go potty. Liam was engrossed in a game. After Jill was gone for a few minutes, Liam asked where she was. I told him and he wanted to go see her. I tried to calm him, but he quickly got anxious. As I was holding him, he says “puke” and I grabbed my napkin to put over his mouth. Sure enough, he threw up and I had to run him to the bathroom weaving through people. I ended up catching most of it, so the mess was minimal. By this time the throwing up is becoming a concern. The boys went right to bed in their own room with a tv after dinner. They thought it was the coolest thing. They were exhausted and went to sleep quickly. Monday we ordered room service for breakfast knowing the boys would think it was cool. The other reason was we were leery of Liam throwing up again. After breakfast we checked out and went to waterpark for a few hours. Seamus, Aidan, and Brendan, each had a great time again. Liam was done. I decided to stick with him so Jill could go with Seamus and have some fun. Liam did enjoy the hot tub that was there, but after 15 minutes, it was time to get out. We headed for home after a few hours in the waterpark. One thing we are considering is looking for a wetsuit for Liam to help keep him warm. He has gotten used to the warm pool he has his adaptive aquatics in. This will allow Liam to swim in cooler pools he will no doubt encounter.

Monday evening we met Jill’s parents at Stamper’s for burgers. I was a bit reluctant, but we thought Liam would be ok. While we were waiting for our food Liam and his brothers were playing around and having fun. All of a sudden, “puke”, and Jill grabbed Liam and ran him to the women’s restroom. He did start to throw up as she carried him. We have no idea why, he was fine, no reason for anxiety, or anything. It is just absolutely perplexing why he is doing it.

The rest of this week there have been more throwing up incidents. It just seems to have stopped. We continue to watch him and determine what exactly the cause may be. Liam is on spring break this week so it has given Jill a chance to watch him better. The only problem here is Jill is sick now. Very sick. She has been unable to get out of bed. She seems to have the flu. So, hopefully she’ll get better soon.

Thursday I took Liam to his swimming class since Jill was sick. Liam gets really excited when I take him since it doesn’t happen too often. The last time I saw Liam swimming they were starting to work on freestyle swimming and he was really struggling to get his arms over his head in the stroke motion. It was really a challenge for him. This week the progress he has made is awesome. He is now able to do the arm stroke motion with each arm. He struggles to do it smoothly, but that will come along with time. His underwater swimming and diving have improved tremendously. If you recall, I described his diving as a belly flop. This time I could actually see him coordinating his leg movement to jump and push himself off. It was great to see his progress. Liam continues do wonders in the pool. It’s great to see him progressing like this. It just shows what a good teacher can do for an Autistic child. It would be great if we could see more progress at school now.

Spring break time!

This past week for Liam has been much the same. Anxiety continues to be an issue, as well as stopping him from picking his teeth. He has had a few more tantrums this week. The reason has been he has wanted to go out and play, or go to Kelly’s. It has still been cold Liam almost seems to think it is summer time. When Liam is not allowed to play after dinner he gets quite angry and has a tantrum. He will lay on the floor kicking and screaming, or banging on our windows. When we try to calm him he will start trying to kick us or scratch us. He will eventually calm down, but this has gone for up to a half hour at a time.

Thursday was a rough day for Liam. As I’ve stated, change is a difficult thing for Liam. This morning started off rough for Liam. His school bus arrived and Liam started saying “That’s not it, that’s not it”. Jill wasn’t sure what Liam was talking about as she was looking all around. Liam finally pointed to the bus and said “that’s bus 6”. Liam normally rides bus 5. His bus driver assured him everything was ok as he got on. When Liam arrived home from school he was quite upset getting off the bus. He was clinging his blanket as he got off. As it turned out, Liam was on a completely different bus style with a driver he has never seen before. The driver told Jill Liam got very upset when he got on the bus. It was no surprise that the bus changes today really bothered Liam. Liam also brought home a note from his teacher in which she stated Liam seemed very anxious today and he stated he was not feeling good. Liam took a rest before he went swimming.

When it cam time for swimming Liam was feeling much better. He insisted he take a donut with him to swimming. When they got to Lifeworks they sat down in their cafeteria so Liam could eat his donut. Jill said Liam had another great day at swimming. She said he had his lesson alone today and his attention was the best she has seen it. Liam was really working hard at the lesson he had today. Liam of course got to have his McDonald’s on the way home. Jill said there he didn’t really eat that much. Once they got home Liam insisted on having his bath right away and getting his pajamas on. When I arrived home from work around 4:45 Liam was already for bed. He was shivering when I saw him. He sat down on the chair and Jill wrapped him in a blanket. She checked his temperature and it was 103. He fell asleep after Jill gave him some Motrin. When he woke up around 8pm he wanted to sit with me in the chair. He did and within a few minutes he was sound asleep again. Who knows if he just wasn’t feeling well today, or if the whole day of changes affected him this way. We will see how he feels Friday. Hopefully he isn’t getting sick again. This would be a big damper on our plans for Sunday at the water-park resort.

Busy Busy Busy!

It has been very busy this past week at home and for me at work. Each night I have gotten home I have been ready for bed at the same time as the boys! I haven’t done a good job keeping this updated, so I hope to do a better job.

This past week has been another “typical” week of late. Liam’s anxieties continue to be a battle every day. We continue to keep an eye him picking his teeth that he seems to have eased up on lately. Now that the days are getting longer with daylight, the boys are getting spring fever. They want to go out and play after dinner each night now, but we have to keep telling them it is still cold, only in the 30’s and 40’s lately. They insist, so we bundle them up and go out for a short time. As expected, they get cold quickly and want to come in.

Thursday Liam had another great day swimming. They continued to work on back floating and free style swimming. Liam continues to struggle with the coordination of all the muscles, but you can see he really works at it and is progressing. Liam continues to enjoy swimming with Marcus and even having a few minutes with Addy whose lesson is after Liam’s. Jill gave Addy’s mom some pictures I took of them a few weeks ago. She was very grateful for them. The value of these swimming lessons has been phenomenal. I think it has really helped his coordination as he walks and runs. Liam used to require braces on his feet to keep his heels flat on the ground and to keep his toes from pointing in so much. I now notice when he runs he does not trip anywhere near as often as he used to. His whole body just looks so much more in sync when he runs and walks.

Friday was the big day of the week, St. Patrick’s Day. Liam and his brother’s looked so forward to it all week. It was a nice day, just very cold, in the 30’s all day and windy. Seeing that Aidan and Brendan were just getting over being sick, we opted just to go to the Hibernian’s post parade party. Liam had been having some anxiety over the noise he remembered from last year. A marching band from Belfast played at the party and was extremely loud. The loud noise really bothered Liam and I had to take him out of the room to calm him down. We weren’t sure if they would be there this year, but we kept assuring Liam it would be ok. It turned out the band was not there and Liam even reminded us! What a memory he has. The party was another great time as always. It was everything St. Patrick’s Day should be, good friends, family, good Irish music, and of course, beer! Liam and his brothers had a great time playing with the other kids and dancing to the music. A great time was had by all!

The rest of the weekend the boys spent recovering from all their fun Friday. Liam continues to be up at 5:30 each day no matter what. We have been telling him to not get out of bed until mommy or daddy come and get him. Liam ends up waking the whole house up! Sunday Jill heard him up and took him back to his room. I told Jill to look at the bright side, in 3 weeks it will be daylight savings time. When Liam wakes up at 5:30, it is actually going to be 6:30! Instead of losing an hour of sleep, I think WE will be gaining one!

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.

Good days

This week hasn’t been as bad as last week. Liam seems to have mellowed out a little the past couple days. He has not been picking at his teeth luckily. He still has his moments of anxiety and still wants his bath right when I get home from work. This must just be a down phase for him, but we’ll take it!

Jill’s parents got home from Florida Tuesday. They came over Wednesday night so Jill and I could attend the Autism Society of Greater Cleveland’s meeting. When Grandma and Grandpa arrived the boys were all excited to see them. Liam did something that really surprised me, and it was very touching. When Grandpa McCourt came in the boys were all saying hi and Liam said “I missed you Grandpa” as he hugged him. It surprised the hell out of me, and I think it even surprised Grandpa. I think we are truly blessed that Liam can at least communicate as well as he does verbally. Knowing how language is such a challenge for some Autistic children really makes hearing him say things like that even more meaningful and special.

We went to the meeting and heard therapists from Integrations Treatment Center speak. The vice president of ASGC and his wife took a class with them and were completely impressed. Jill and I were both just as impressed with their presentation, and the video clips they showed from their facility. The one thing we both were impressed with was that they offer training sessions in which they encourage parents to attend. The training they offer is covers the approach they use with autistic children. This was the first group we have seen that wants to teach parents what to do. Other agencies just offer their services at a cost. That’s fine, but seeing that we are with Liam more than anyone else, it would be great if we could learn how to best work with Liam. They have a class coming up and we are looking into having one of us attend it. We also are interested in their service of evaluating Liam’s needs. We think that will help give us some leverage with his school. We are going to suggest to the school’s program administrator send one or two teachers to Integrations for training. There is also a program coming up at Landerhaven in June that is excellent for teachers, therapists, and parents to attend. We are going to also present this to the administrator. I think it will be a huge benefit for them to attend.

Thursday Liam had his Adaptive Aquatics again. Jill said Miss Karen said this was by the far the best lesson he has had. Jill said she could see Liam really concentrating and working hard in the pool. Today’s lesson they really worked freestyle swimming. Liam really struggled with the kicking, arm movement, and turning his head to breathe. Miss Karen came up with a clever idea that really seemed to help. She had him hold a rubber rocket in his right hand and when he brought it over his shoulder he had to say “To infinity and beyond”. When he would say it, he had to have his head turned out of the water. It was really effective, but it will continue to take time. All these different muscle movements that need to take place in sequence is quite a challenge. We will see how this goes. Based on past performance, I’m sure Liam will do fine.

The meltdown arrived

Friday night at the fish fry went very well again. Liam was very well behaved as there were quite a few other kids there that he and Seamus knew. They all ate and went about playing with the other kids there. They colored and watched movies with quite a few other kids. Jill and I got to enjoy time with our friends and family that we knew there. It was another enjoyable evening there. By 7:30, Liam was ready to go. That is his typical bedtime and as part of his regular routine, he was ready. He told me he wanted to go home and take a bath. So we went home and did his nightly routine.

Saturday turned out to be a relatively nice day so Liam and his brothers all played outside. Liam was back and forth between our house and his buddy Kelly’s house. It was really nice to see Liam playing with Kelly. All afternoon they hung out together and were having a nice time. Once it was dinnertime we could see Liam was tired from his busy day. By 6:30 his anxiety was getting bad as he was repeatedly asking to take his bath. I got to him as soon as I could. by 7:15 he was sound asleep!

Sunday morning Liam seemed to be very high strung from the time he got up. His anxiety was higher than we have seen it in a while. Liam was all over the house going from one room to the next monopolizing the TV’s. Once I told him he could not watch every TV, he quietly slipped away. I found him in our room watching TV. I stopped that and he got very upset. Jill had to run to the grocery store and Liam kept insisting that he go. We told him he had to stay home and Liam’s anxiety went through the roof. As Jill was leaving a full-blown meltdown ensued. It was one we have not seen in quite a while. Jill had to slip out of the house as I restrained him and flipped the latch over the door so he could not get out. He then ran into the living room where he opened the window. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to get out, or just open it. I had to physically restrain him to close the window. Liam then began banging on the glass. I had to try and hold him back from the window to keep him banging on it. Liam was struggling with me the whole time. He then just laid on the floor and was kicking. I let him lay there and kick as I started to ignore his behavior. He was then insistent on kicking me. I would move and he would keep scooting across the floor trying to kick me. I then looked at him once more and said he needed to settle down and to come sit with me. He kept kicking the floor and screaming as I walked away. Five minutes later Liam came and sat with me in the chair. He was slowly settling down and about 15 minutes later he was asleep for a nap. He woke up 2.5 hours later and still anxious about everything. He ended up going to bed by his regular town around 7:30.

Monday wasn’t too good a day in the morning. At some point after breakfast, Liam had picked at his upper front gum and had bled a little. Jill noticed his teeth were blood stained. After she looked at his gums, she could see they were enflamed, and discolored yellow, hopefully not from infection. We will continue to keep an eye on this, he has become very discreet when he picks his gums. This morning Liam’s teacher noticed his gums were enflamed. She asked what the dentist or doctor had said about it. Jill explained to her how he does it and how discreet he is. It is clear that during the school day with all the other kids and activity going on that she is unable to observe him picking at his gums, and I’m sure unable to observe other things. Noting this observation from school really makes us wonder if Liam is really getting what he needs at Olmsted Falls. This is just another one of the many things for us to note and remember.

Lovin' his baths!

Liam continues to want his baths as soon as I get home from work. I have started to just give him his bath right away. This has allowed me to get changed while he is in the tub as it fills up. I then bathe him and get him ready for bed. I can then come down stairs and enjoy my dinner without his anxiety and whining. We just hope it is not going to start something later on. It has been working out for the better so we will just keep doing it as he asks.

This week at school Liam has had one of those weeks where we kind of wonder what goes on. Tuesday Liam came home from school and Jill noticed right away his sleeve had blood stains all over the lower right sleeve. Jill also noticed some drive blood on his finger tips. The front of his top gum line was very red and enflamed. She could right where he was picking. Wednesday Jill asked his teacher if they saw him picking his gums and they said they had not. Liam can be quite sly about it, that is for sure. Jill was sure to mention to the teachers to be aware that this has started again. Wednesday on the way home from school Liam pulled a sucker out of his coat and asked if he could have it. Jill asked where he got it and it came from the speech therapist intern. Jill gave it to him and Liam started telling her it was yucky, it was hot. Being perplexed by the flavor and how Liam was reacting to it, she asked for it. She tasted the sucker and gagged! She said whatever flavor it was, she couldn’t tell what it was. The only mistake she made was she threw it out. I would have liked to taken the sucker to the school and ask the therapist just what flavor it was that she gave him. It certainly wasn’t cherry, lemon, lime, strawberry, or even grape. Now giving a child with sensory issues a bizarre flavored sucker isn’t exactly a good idea. These 2 events this week just made us shake our heads and wonder if Liam is truly getting the help he needs at the school.

Thursday Liam and Seamus had not school. Jill ended up taking them all to Liam’s swim lesson. Since the boys were there, they could not be in the pool area. Jill had to occupy their time for 45 minutes as best she could in the lobby of Lifeworks. It was certainly no easy feat. As with all kids without something entertaining, they got bored and a bit difficult. They finally got out of there and all went to Burger King where they could burn off some energy in the play land, one of my least favorite places, since it was nothing but a germ breeding ground.

When I got home from work I didn’t even have my coat off and Liam was ready for his bath. He was bouncing up and down asking me to take him up for his bath. I went ahead and gave him his bath. I then ate my dinner in some peace and quiet. As I was eating, Liam started asking me to go upstairs and sit in the chair with him as we do at bedtime. I had to tell him no several times since it was too early. Liam ended up playing with his brothers a little and watching The Polar Express. Liam was definitely tired after his day of swimming. Liam was sound asleep by 7:15.

Friday we will be going to the fish fry again, so we will see how that goes. Hopefully it will be another successful time.

On we go

This past week Liam has continued to struggle getting over being sick. He has been on medicine and only has a bad cough right now. He is on a cough medicine for that and it is slowly working.

Liam went to school Tuesday for his Valentines Day class. The class was having a little party and parents were invited. Aidan and Brendan still weren’t feeling too well, but Jill didn’t have much choice and took them to Liam’s party. As soon as she got there Liam was ready to go home the moment she walked in the door. She told him not until after the party was over. He immediately got very anxious and would whine, jump up and down, and pull on her arm, to leave. She then had to try and settle him down. While she was doing that Aidan and Brendan were enjoying the party in the class. Jill ended up settling him down a little, but he would start back up a short time later with the whining to go home routine. The rest of his week at school went pretty well for him. Liam came home and was quite happy each day.

Thursday I ended up taking the day to work at home for work. I had work to do that I can’t get done during the day at the office. That afternoon Liam had swimming at 1pm and then a doctor appointment at 3:30. I was going to just stay home and work, but Liam was insistent that I go to his swimming. I ended up rescheduling a conference call I had and was able to make the time in the afternoon. I went to his swimming and he had another great day. I got to see him and his buddy Marcus working together and it was really net to see. The town them have really developed a relationship in a short time. When they saw each other they exchanged hellos and smiled. In the pool the instructor’s would use each of them as examples for the other. The big focus this lesson was on free-style swimming. Liam was just struggling with rotating his arms around and kicking at the same time. You could really see him having to focus and concentrate while Miss Karen would coach him as he swam. Considering this was only the second week of this lesson Liam did very well. When their lesson was done the young girl Addy who is after them was brought in the pool with Liam and Marcus. They were all very excited to be in the pool together. They took turns tossing a beach ball to each other for about 10 minutes. All 3 of them were smiling and having fun. On the way home Liam and I stopped at McDonald’s for a snack as that has become part of his routine. We had to hurry out so Liam could get him and get to his doctor appointment. That night Liam was asleep by 7pm, he had quite a busy day!

Friday we decided to take all the boys to the fish fry. We weren’t sure how it was going to go as the previous week was too much for Liam. To our surprise everything went wonderfully. Liam and his brothers had a great time. Around 7:30 as the fish fry was ending Liam was showing signs of being tired, it was past his bedtime after all! He really had a good night and that certainly for a nice evening for us.

Sunday we went over out friends Matt & Dani’s for a Daytona 500 party. We knew it was going to be a long day for Liam. As always we have to anticipate and plan that Liam will not be able to handle a social setting as the one we were going to. It turned out that Liam had another good day playing with the toys and other kids that were there. He still had a few moments where he wanted to watch videos while the race was on, but he easily understood it wasn’t going to happen. He kept busy the whole time we were there and by 6pm he fell asleep and slept the whole way home. It was quite a busy and fun day for all the boys.

Monday the boys were off from school since it was Presidents day. Jill didn’t feel like staying home all day so she took them to the nature center in Bay Village. Jill said the boys were very well behaved at the nature center. They got to see all kinds of live animals. Since they were so well behaved Jill took them to Dairy Queen. They had a nice lunch and came home. Jill said overall Liam was actually pretty good the whole time. He still showed moments of anxiety at times, but not as bad as it can get.

The only things lately we have seen Liam doing lately are things like picking his gums again to the point that they bled. He has also continued to want his baths right when I get home from work. He has even gotten so anxious during the day that he has convinced Jill to let him take a bath. Liam has had days where he as taken at least 2 baths. When you see him in the tub, you can just see his whole body and mind relax. That is his way to help himself calm down. We’ll continue with his baths since it is clearly a means to calm him.

Ridin' the axiety train

The past several days Liam’s anxiety continues as usual. Liam has those little moments of anxiety and then the ones that last until he is appeased. Liam continues to want his baths right when I get home from work, and sometimes even in the middle of the day with Jill. If you have been reading this blog for a while you probably have noticed how many of the posts sound redundant. Well, that’s how it is. It is a regular routine of day to day struggles. Every day we are analyzing and observing everything he does. Attention to Liam consumes nearly every waking moment. It has become rather routine observing him though. We’re always looking for changes in his how he copes with his anxiety behavior wise. For example, we’ve had issues with him picking at his teeth. This was just something he did as a result of his anxiety. Lately we have noticed he has not picked at his teeth so much. He is now chewing on his blanket, coat, or sleeves. I guess this is better than picking at his gums that has really done some damage. It is these kinds of self-destructive things that one was to watch out for with Autistic kids. Not all of them do it, but it is quite common. We’ll just keep on watching Liam and hopefully make a positive turn one day.

One thing that is kind of funny though are Liam’s eating habits. There are some foods that Liam just can’t stand. One is chocolate’s. Liam just does not like chocolate. Some meat’s he will not touch because of their appearance, or even their smell. Lately Liam has liked scrambled eggs. He used to not like scrambled eggs but suddenly he does. I made him some on Sunday evening for Dinner. I made them and as I was giving him them he asked for ranch dressing on the side. I reluctantly gave it to him and watched him as he dipped his scrambled eggs in ranch dressing. YUCK! He at them all though.

This past weekend Seamus and Brendan were sick on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. They each started to get better Sunday while Liam and Aidan got sick. It seems like it is just a 24 hour bug they got. Seamus played his soccer game on Saturday and was clearly not 100%, but it was great to see him give the effort to play. Sunday Liam became very whiny and just wanted to be held all the time. This continued into Monday. When he wasn’t being held he would constantly repeat “Sit with me” to me or Jill. This would just repeat itself over and over. It certainly makes for a long day.

We’ll see what this week holds for us. As always we continue to look for progress and hope for the best in his development.

A return phone call

Today was another typical day of late for Liam with his anxiety. He did have his swimming today (Thursday) and he had another good session. Liam continues to do very well in his swimming. Each week he looks forward to going and he continues to excel. It is great to see Liam excelling at something. I know it sounds a bit negative, but I mean it in a positive way.

Jill got a call back today from Liam’s speech therapist. She and Jill had a nice talk. His therapist said she has not seen his stammering very much one on one, but she has heard it on occasion in class with other students. This we find a bit hard to believe. Liam stammers more than he talks clearly lately. He at times does talk clearly, but lately it has been a lot of stammering. Another thing that they noted was when Liam talks, his words all seem to run together. There is no rhythm in his speech. Hereisanexampleofwhatwemeanwhenallhissentencesruntogetherwhenhetalks. This got Jill thinking and she brought up that Liam does not sing. He only says little snippets of songs he knows. This has us thinking that maybe music therapy will do him some good. It also has us thinking that with Autism being a sensory issue, which he doesn’t know how to sing. It is like we have to teach him. Another thing that came up was that the speech therapist has a graduate student that has been working with Liam lately. Now the irritating thing here is, why we weren’t notified a grad student would be working be working Liam. What if we didn’t want a grad student to work with him? A surprise like that is just bothersome. Now Jill’s conversation with the therapist went fairly well. They talked about what else they were doing at school and what her plans are. I think we will make regular phone calls his therapist. The information Jill got today was informative and a big help. We should have this more often from the school, but we can’t leave it up to them.

Liam was thoroughly exhausted after his day of swimming. After his bath he just wanted to go to bed, at 6:30. I did my best to keep him up. As I was cleaning up downstairs it was quiet upstairs. I went back up around 7:15 and found Liam, Aidan, and Brendan, asleep. Hopefully they won’t be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow!