First Blog

Well, here I am in the blogging world. Not sure that I'm doing this for anyone but me. My oldest son, Brett just recently calling me Mamasita. Hence the name of my blog. :) Kids are so funny. He asked me several times if it was okay to call me that and I don't care. It shows his creativity. LOL
I just got a new computer. I was having so many problems with the other one, it was quite frustrating. The boys' dad, Kevan was going to just fix it, but decided to build me a new one. That was very nice of him! I just did not get a chance to get all of my programs off the other computer, so I'm having to kind of build as I go. Luckily I saved my pictures on a flash drive before I gave him the old computer.
Yesterday, the boys and I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park with our friends, the Spence's. They were our neighbors when we lived in San Diego and we have kept in contact. We try to get together several times throughout the year. They have 3 kids, Shelbie who will be 12 in September, Robert Lee Jr aka "Spud" who is 6 yrs old (Just 11 days older than Brandon) and Jackson who will be 4 on the 13th of August. Our visit yesterday was a Birthday party visit for Jackson. We went to their house after a couple of hours at the Animal Park for Swimming and cake! We had a good time. Boy! I am sure wiped out today!
Spud and Jackson always try so hard to play with Brandon, but Brandon with his Asperger's isn't too much of a social kid. We try to see the Spence's as much as financially possible, but for poor Brandon with him not seeing them more often it's like getting re-aquainted every time which takes him awhile. By the time our visit is almost over Brandon is finally feeling comfortable enough to hang out with the boys.
Speaking of Brandon with his Asperger's. I finally got him into a really good Dr I was recommended on July 31st. Let me give a little history on that "diagnosis": Brandon was actually diagnosed with PDD-NOS in Oct. '08 thru the Regional Center. That is Pervasive Development Disorder, not otherwise specified. PDD is the "Umbrella" that Autism and Asperger's falls under. Well, I don't just take a blanket diagnosis like that and let it sit. I am the type of mom to do my research and seek answers to figure out the best thing to do for my son. Brandon is a very intellegent 6 yr old (July14 birthday). He loves to read and do math. He had no problems in Kindergarten getting his homework done. The reasons why I had him even evaluated is with his social skills and in Summer of '08 he had regression. Brandon was a very easy going, friendly toddler. He has always had a hard time with loud noises even as a baby. He was on board with walking (walked at 10 months) and talking (started right around a year.) His talking was a lot of baby babbling with words in between, but that improved as he got older. He was the type of toddler to go up to anyone and give them a hug. As he got closer to 4 yrs old and in Pre-school I started noticing more of things different. He did pretty good in Pre-school, but he had a hard time at time with switching activities. He wasn't real adept to changes. He still does the parallel playing and takes a long time before he plays with anyone else. He'll respond to another child talking to him sometime. Anyway, he started having meltdowns at Pre-school and at Church he had a really hard time with "worship time" where they took them out of class for worship. The music bothered him and moving out of class seemed to bother him. He started spending his time finding "treasures" during recess instead of interacting with friends. Treasures are any sort of shiny object on the floor, usually trash or string or old toy pieces. He stopped talking to people and really seemed to regress. I had a DR say "at 4 yrs old, kids don't usually regress." Umm, excuse me! I'm his mom, I know my son. He's regressing. Anyway, I brought him in Jan. '08 to a DAN (Defeat Autism Now)Dr who helped me get him on a supplemental regime to help clear out his system. He uses probiotics and other vitamins and enzymes to help him with his digestive system. Brandon seemed to improve over the months. He still had some of the symptoms I was seeing, but my sweet Brandon was coming out again. Well, here we are in August of '09, Brandon just turned 6 last month and started 1st grade last week. Brandon is using a medicated patch during the day to help him to be more even with his moods and attitude. When he would have melt downs and problems dealing with his little actions, he seemed to be so upset with himself to not be able to control it. It was really sad to see him. He knew he wasn't wanting to act that way, but he didn't seem to know how to control it. He would cry with me at night and tell me things like I don't want to act like that. It took me a while to decide on the medicine, but it seems to help him be able to control himself. His Kindergarten Teacher, Mrs. St. Onge, said that Brandon without his medicine is just not the same little boy. It's like Dr Jykl and Mr. Hyde. Brandon does better with me on the weekends than he seems to do with other people. He and I have developed a real stong bond between Mother and son. I am blessed for that.
Anyway, this new Dr., Dr. Curry, just saw him for the first time on July 31st. His first impression of Brandon is that he has ADHD with insomnia. Well, I guess with the hyperness that can be predominate with Brandon and his lack of sleep, that is what it seems. Although, there is definately something more. I know this as a mom who has been very observent thru this whole process. However, lately it has been his poor sleeping patern that has been a big problem for him. So, we are working with a new medicine in the evenings to help him sleep. It seems to really help him with sleep and hence help him in the day time to better function. I met his 1st grade teacher on Friday and she said he is a very bright boy and reads very well. Yesterday, Marie Spence threw out a couple of math problems for him which he just quickly rattled off. So, he does awesome academically. I often joke that it is quite interesting being a mom to a genius. LOL The kid just picks up on things so quickly!
Okay, so this blog has been real theapeutic for me to have this noted somewhere and I'm not sure if it'll be one anyone else would enjoy. LOL but here it is anyway.

I forgot to add that on Brandon's first day of 1st grade last week he was asked to write what he wanted to learn. He wrote that he wanted to learn to sleep. "Mom help me learn to sleep." It made me cry. I'm so glad we are using this new meds that's helping him sleep. My poor guy is so in tune with himself and all around him. He must has heard me talking to the Dr about his sleeping, too. He's so smart and so sweet. I love you Brandon.