If I had any hair left,  I would be pulling it out right now.  Emmett is absolutely impossible lately. He is aggressive,  moody and ill tempered.  Lizze described his behavior pretty accurately when she said Emmett is acting like teenage girl with PMS. He is literally all over the place.  He's not listening,  he's bullying his brothers and the dogs.  Anything he can get his hands on,  he will destroy.  The little booger is even going into Gavin's room,  just to go into his drawers and throw his clothes all over the floor. He's dumping toys out after they have been picked up and put away.  It's not like he's lacking attention,  as he gets more attention than anyone in the house. It's almost like his personality is shifting and…

We saw the doctor and this is where we stand.  There doesn't appear to be any infection and that's a positive thing.  The inflammation measured something like,  11cm long by 9cm wide.  Those numbers are what stick in my mind right now,  I never actually wrote them down. This is one of the known reactions to the particular booster he received the other day. At this point there isn't much we can do.  We can treat the symptoms with benadryl,  Tylenol,  cold, compresses and hydrocortisone cream.  If the inflammation or the pain gets any worse we have to get back to her right away. We also spoke with the immunologist and she is going to test Elliott's antibodies.  She is very concerned about Elliott receiving his MMR booster.  So this…

#Autism and problems with communication is one of the absolute toughest parts of this whole special needs parenting thing,  at least for me. Of my three boys on the spectrum,  Emmett is by far the most difficult to communicate with.  While he has made great strides in the speech and language department,  he is still severely speech and language delayed. Expressive language is the biggest struggle at this point. He knows what he wants but he can't express it very well. He's very difficult to understand and it requires a great deal of guess work. It's frustrating for him and it's frustrating for us. Not being able to effectively communicate is something that most people could never understand. I wanted to give you a chance to step into my shoes.…

Elliott and I are already at the pediatrician's office.  The redness and swelling is continuing to spread and Elliott says his arm feels like it's on fire. He's pretty nervous but handling it well.  I,  on the other hand,  am pretty freaked out. They said over the phone that one of the concerns is cellulitis,  if the swelling continues.  We have been putting on cool compresses on his arm all morning but it doesn't seem to be helping much. We just can't seem to win.  As I was leaving this morning,  I accidentally shut Emmett's finger in the goddamn door.  He had reach to grab the door and stop me from shutting it and I didn't see his little hand there.  Father of the year......sigh :-( **Thanks for reading**  …

Elliott woke up this morning complaining about his arm hurting.  He had received two booster vaccines 2 days ago so it seemed that tenderness was to be expected. However,  when I looked at his arm,  I was taken aback.  His entire upper arm is swollen and and stiff.  The skin is very hot to the touch.  This appears to be a rather serious reaction.  We are calling the pediatrician to find out whether we should there or straight to Akron Children's Hospital. Elliott is freaking out and I'm a bit worried myself. This was not like this last night. This has occurred within the last few hours.  Has anyone ever seen this. The pictures don't show all the redness but you can see what I'm concerned about. Please say a…

This has been the day from hell.  Thankfully,  Elliott is feeling better but he and Emmett have been at each others throats all goddamn day. I swear they are setting out to drive Lizze and I crazy. A large portion of the problem resides with Emmett.  He has been in a really weird place for the last few days.  He's not getting along with anyone right now. There has been more screaming today than in the entire series of Scream movies.  I mean,  it just never stops. If the slightest thing goes wrong or the tiniest thing is out of place,  Emmett just freaks out. The combination of Elliott whining and Emmett screaming is something that would break even the most difficult people to interrogate.  Although it does border on…

Today's Victory is brought to you by Mr.  Emmett John.  I meant to share this yesterday but I guess I forgot.  Anyway,  I was reminded today because Emmett did this again. Emmett, the world's pickiest eater has decided that he likes Kashi Granola Bars.  This is awesome because these are really good for him and there is nothing artificial,  at least as I understand it.  Tons of whole grains and protein. The reason this is a Today's Victory is because it's a big step forward for him.  He doesn't like many textures and this is something he has always refused to eat. Great job Emmett.  Daddy is sooooo proud of you.. Posted from WordPress for Android

Elliott did stay home from school today because of his fever last night,  however,  he's seems to be doing just fine now.  He helped me clean out Emmett's aquarium before lunch. I made Elliott chicken nuggets with whole grains breading.  He had some grapes and a glass of chocolate soy milk. This is about as adventurous as he gets when it comes to eating.  He ate everything accept all the grapes.  He loves grapes so I wasn't sure what the problem was.  I told him to just eat 5 grapes and we'll save the rest for another time. When he came down to the last 3 grapes he really began to struggle.  When I asked him what was wrong,  he explained that the holes were to big. I was like, …