Stuff With Thing

Thank you for the comments, I find it difficult to call people as the girls interrupt most telephone conversations, email is far less frustrating :grin:. Chiloe, I’m not sure exactly how tall Heidi is, we are due for another height/weight check this Wednesday. I do know she is wearing size 4/5 clothing, it hangs off her because she is so skinny but at least it fits length wise.

This going to bed when the girls do thing is really starting to make a difference. May only mean an hour or twos extra sleep a night but it adds up. I’m probably averaging about 6 hours sleep a night instead of 4. That makes a huge difference.

The not so good stuff from Sunday.

- Brown outs around 6pm, the electricity kept flickering on and off. About half an hour of that all up.

- Annie broke the bottom draw in the bathroom cabinet. She was talking to her imaginary friend (?reflection?) AhTee in the bathroom mirror. To be able to see in the mirror she has to stand up on something, so bye bye bottom draw. I’m thinking of just putting the draw into storage, rather than risk a repeat. Can’t put the step stool back in the bathroom (it is in storage) because Heidi uses it to climb up and stand on the cabinet.

- Heidi discovered the toilet paper and we had several rolls of toilet paper unravelled and scattered around the house. Due to lack of storage space I’ve been stacking the spare rolls on the floor of the computer room/study. Can’t leave it next to the toilet as fishing whole rolls of soggy wet toilet paper out of the S bend is not pleasant.

- Heidi found some whiteboard markers and decorated the cushions in the lounge room. Possibly with help from her sister.

The good stuff from Sunday.

- Kitchen got cleaned - floors, walls, doors, dishes, bench tops, the works. Me being busy in the kitchen in some way goes to explain why the girls had the opportunity to get into the marker pens.

- Heidi’s new car seat has been installed, she and Annie played in the car whilst I did that. See I learnt from the earlier mistake and took them out where I could keep my eye on them. That was a good idea because I needed Heidi to sit on her seat a few times to check strap lengths and stuff.

- The bowls of frozen veggies that you steam cook in the microwave may be expensive, even from ALDI, but they taste good. A small point but it was great to be able to serve the girls veggies, see them get eaten and actually enjoy eating them myself.

- Ralph woke up at 2.30pm, so I was able to get him to help me rearrange the dining room a little. I was inspired during one of my ’still not sleeping naps’ to figure out a way to fit the roll top desk in the kitchen. Pretty. Going to use it to store the girls art/craft stuff. Thus hopefully freeing up a little space in the linen cupboard - maybe I can put the toilet paper there :grin:. Also means we have a bit more space in the garage now.

- We stayed home all day, didn’t have to go anywhere. Got to keep our PJs on (expect for Annie who changed outfits about 5 times) and had no obligations/expectations to meet.

- Got to have a good chat with S.

The annoying for Monday
- Picasa is still showing me grey squares instead of pictures and wont give me thumbnail linking code and stuff. Grrr. Seems to happen every 3rd/4th picture.

Mr Potato here needs a caption…

SIL L had offered to babysit the girls for us on Sunday morning so that Ralph and I could go see a movie together. We had tix that had to be used by 30th Sept. She couldn’t babysit any other time.

Then the boy gets rostered to work Sunday night. We decide to go see a movie Saturday morning and take the girls along. Movie of choice Ratatouille, which seemed to be a great movie, pity about the two horrendous toddlers some idiot brought along that screamed and ran around and ruined the whole thing… oh wait that idiot was me.

Basically after the first 30 minutes of being good and watching the movie things went downhill.

The problem is Annie. She is really amping up the attention seeking behaviour. None of my usual tricks worked, no counting to three, no time outs.

Day went downhill from there. I had a major melt down in the car, which I recall involved me yelling ‘fuck’ a great deal at Ralph. Even going to the market and getting pizza turned out bad, which is a first :sad:.

Speech Therapy was a disaster, Heidi screamed and tantrumed the whole time. Finished with our therapist saying she is going on Maternity Leave next weekend and can we come in Friday to meet her replacement. Fuck No! I didn’t budget for another consult this fortnight. But seems it has to be Friday, she is going to text message me a time.

Went to Officeworks as planned to get more Velcro. I swear PECs keeps the Velcro company in business.

Thought about going to IKEA, thought about the grand finals day crowds at the footy. Discussed the urgent need for a new car seat for Heidi and decided that was more important than shelving.

Then things got a bit better. Car seat was half the price I expected. Still had a bit of fun as Heidi is so tall, got the tallest seat in the shop:

Of course it doesn’t have a 5 point safety harness - none of the ones that fit her did. So off to another shop to find a shoulder harness because BabyCo where we were had sold out of them.

That was good as we walked through Target to get the shoulder harness I saw the dresses Mum got for the girls. Like the one Annie is wearing here -

Mum got the girls dresses at Best N Less - Target sells almost identical dresses, but they have a Barbie logo on them and cost $5 more. So we saved money, that was a bright spot.

Then there were more tears and tantrums, mostly from Annie. I had a nap, the girls cried some more, then Ralph had a nap, Heidi refused to sleep and life continued to happen

Thank you everyone for the support, it really does help, far more than you may realise.

I got the latest “Embroidery & Cross Stitch” mag this week. On the back cover are a few stitchery projects I’m tempted to try.

Had a great visit with the Autism Outreach Worker yesterday. She was here for just over 2 hours. Nephew M came over about halfway through for babysitting, so Naomi (our outreach worker) got a real dose of our life.

Some points I need to remember to follow up:

1. Get Heidi tested for sleep apnea. With the in-laws family history of sleep apnea being so strong we have to rule this out as a cause of Heidi not sleeping.

2. See an Occupational Therapist to work out if there are any sensory issues keeping Heidi awake. Naomi seemed to think Heidi was under stimulated at bed time - which I always thought was the idea but apparently not.

2.a - it could be something as simple as getting high thread count sheets onto the bed which will be the thing that helps Heidi to go to sleep and stay asleep. FARK! Which is why we need the OT.

3. There is more funding we can access for things like
- bed rails to stop Heidi falling out of bed (I ordered them yesterday $275! but they will actually fit the bunk which nothing cheaper has done)
- new car seat which Heidi will sit comfortably in and stay in.
- sensory toys.

4. Barbie movies/DVDs are good, they are age appropriate viewing for Heidi. Naomi was adamant - no Teletubbies. Also probably cut down on Blue’s Clues which Heidi loves. Reason - Aphasia/Ephasia (?sp) something about copying inappropriate speech patterns which are then very hard to break.

5. Talk to our Speech Therapist today about putting a bed time schedule up on the wall beside Heidi’s bed.

6. No toilet training or anything else until the sleep is under control.

7. I’ve been doing pretty good bumbling along in the dark with little outside/professional help.

I put No. 7 down to the support I’ve received both here and in real life. Having somewhere to vent and people to say ‘it is okay’ gives me strength to keep going on.

And to round out my post - some pictures from the wedding that was not.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/leech…343252189599170

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/leech…343260779533778

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/leech…343265074501090

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/leech…343269369468402

Quick shout out for these ID bracelets for children - http://www.lookinside.com.au/

I like the idea of putting my name and phone number on the tag so if Heidi does a runner she can be returned to me. Found that permanent marker works during winter to write my name and phone number on her arm but in summer the sunscreen rubs it off.

Woo Hoo! I got some stitching done Once again I didn’t get the wording centred properly. Have not pulled it out as god only knows when I will get to stitch again.

Thank you for the comments on my previous post. I’m sorry to bore on so much about my problems here, it is just they are consuming my life right now and I need an outlet.

Respite group rang yesterday. Basically for regular respite my main option is to book both girls into daycare. They recommend home based daycare for children with Autism as there is less problems settling in. Yay, NOT. The wait list in our area for home based daycare is over a year long. That is even if we could afford it, which we can not.

In the good news, if we have something coming up (wedding, date night with hubby) they will provide ’special respite assistance’. Just need to book in.

Better news. If I need someone to take the girls away NOW - they can do it. Just call, any time of the day or night, any day of the year. So if I am melting down or sick there is emergency help available.

I know of two occasions in the past few months that had it not been for S and Ralph, I would have been really in trouble. Is good to know there is another support avenue available.

A spot on the palm of Heidi’s hand blistered up in the bath last night and started peeling off. This is wigging me out. Going to try and get her into the doctors today. She cried all night - yet remained sound asleep. I put her in bed with me so at least Annie would sleep solidly and not be Miss Cranky Pants today. Me tired again :: rueful grin :: life is back to normal.

SIL L is off to get her CPAP machine this afternoon and we get to look after Nephew M for her. Annie is very excited her cousin is coming over.

Red Rooster (BBQ chicken place) here have started a promo giving away wrestling toys. We missed out on the Undertaker car so I asked for it at the wrestling forum. Is now on the way to me via Aussie Post. So glad because I almost didn’t ask - didn’t want to get in trouble with TPTB at WNA.

Got a couple of very cute pictures of my nephews yesterday:

Nephew M

Nephew N

Hope that last link works - for some reason Picasa is being a pain and showing me grey squares instead of my pictures.

I slept! Is delicious to sleep.

Got the girls to bed just after 7pm and was in bed myself by 8pm. Annie woke up at midnight but I got her back to bed and sleep without waking Heidi. Minor miracles do happen.

Heidi woke up at 5.30am and we were all out of bed and showered/dressed by 6.30am.

So amazing to feel not exhausted. I actually poured milk without spilling it this morning. Can’t remember the last time that happened. 7.30am and I’m just on my first coffee of the day. By god I feel good. Heidi has been so great all morning, little Miss Sunshine, I think the sleep did her good also.

Yesterdays plans kinda went skew-wif but I got everything done. Even got a free movie ticket in the mail. Now to find a babysitter and decide what to see.

Was meant to be meeting up with S&J on Friday but our Autism Outreach worker rang and wants to see me at midday Friday. So catching up with S&J another day. Hopefully the Autism Outreach worker will have some ideas about the sleeping thing. Also got insipired to email the nurse who helped us with getting Heidi to sleep when she was just a newborn.

Todays plan is to go to Wriggle It, the indoor playcentre. I’ve got my pink ribbon to finish stitching. The girls can run and play to their hearts content. Going early because it is school holidays and will get busy later.

I feel so good

To Add - I’ve emailed the group that provides Respite Care in our area as well. Been a week of good stuff on the Autism front that I thought I should try them now.

Sometimes I just want to sit down and cry because it all seems so dreadfully unfair. Most especially after I’ve spent time with Nephew N who is 6 months younger than Heidi and way way in advance of her in communication and social interaction.

But today I’m happy, we all slept, Heidi used her PECS to ask for a hug this morning and when Ralph went to bed she took her blankie and put it in bed beside him.

Over the past few days I’ve been debating about if I should post the pictures of the stash I got from Mum. Seems wrong to celebrate something I only got because my Mum is very ill. OTOH she is also incredibly generous and could have held on to everything.

So in celebration of my Mums generosity I’ve put the pictures up in my Picasa web album, starting here -http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/leech…022273846248338

Another bad night. I went to bed at 8.30pm and officially got up again at 6am. Ralph was up all night and home, yay nightshift roster. I kept waking up which is really frustrating me. Might have to see doctor to find out what she can suggest. I’m just so used to waking up when the girls start fussing that I can’t not do it on the nights when I don’t have to (does that make sense).

Due to my incredible tiredness I forgot to put a nappy on Annie so another wet bed and more washing. Ralph came to bed at 3.30am only to discover his mask has been broken. Bloody kids. I had our bedroom door locked all day yesterday bar 1 hour early in the morning. So another job for today. Heidi woke up just after we discovered the broken mask. She also had wet the bed. :rolleyes: Ralph went off to settle her and I dozed until 6am when the girls were starting to wake up.

Todays plan -
Go out early buy chicken and sweetcorn soup ingredients.
Make soup.
Dress girls up nice, deliver soup to FIL and guests - it can cook during the day.
Take mask to CPAP shop which is handily located next to McDonalds.
Get McDonalds.
Go grocery shopping, check mailbox, eat market pizza.
Come home, unpack, collapse in quivering mess.

At some point have to get out the Barbie castle as Annie has been asking for it for days.

Both Heidi’s thumbs had blisters on them which she has peeled off :yuk:. I don’t know what caused the blisters or when/where she got them.

I so want to try this , maybe for Annie’s next birthday party.

Think the hardest part would be the rocket launcher construction.

Yesterday was pretty funny and the girls were both so happy I couldn’t be upset at them.

While we were up visiting the parental units I got into the habit of going to bed at the same time as the girls. Continued that once we got back home, it has really cut into my day - no child free time to stitch in the evenings or do anything else. OTOH I have been getting more sleep which is great. My body clock is still waking me up after four hours, even so I’m feeling heaps better.

Last night I stayed up late, once Ralph got home at 8pm I headed over to FILs house to clean the kitchen floor again. Had only been two days since I did it last but the white mop cloth came out black when I finished.

Dropped off the welcome basket I had prepared. Turned out pretty well I think -

Was 11pm by the time I got to bed, much later than usual. All week Annie has been having nightmares about Heidi getting hurt, flushed down the toilet, hitting her head etc. Last night was no different. Midnight I wake up with a sobbing Annie beside the bed. Got her calmed and back to bed. Sadly Heidi got woken up. Was after 4am by the time she finally went to sleep. Ralphs alarm went off at 4.30am. I dozed until 6am when Annie got up and now feel rather like I’ve been hit by something large and ouchy.

So I think even though it means giving up mucho personal time it is really important that I keep going to bed when the girls do.

Oh and to round out my day both girls wet their beds in that brief period of time between 4am and 6am. So Mount To Be Washed has just doubled in size.

Looking on the bright side, my welcome basket is pretty and we have plenty of coffee.

I like to think of myself as pretty experienced at this whole parenting thing. Over the last 4 years since Annie was born I’ve learnt a great deal about small children and their ways.

Today whilst I attacked Mount To Be Folded the girls went outside to play. They played happily and quietly together for several hours. Yes it took me several hours to fold the washing – there was several weeks worth of clothing there. Finally Mount Folded had emerged from the wreckage of Mount To Be Folded and there was order.

BUT! BUT! But did you notice I said they played happily and quietly together? That should have set of warning bells, alarms should have been sounding all over the state of Victoria; for it is well known that children do not play happily and quietly together, unless there is some nefarious scheme afoot.

Possibly I’ve been reading far too much Georgette Heyer.

Out in our backyard Annie had set up a dolly hospital using the last of my clean towels and face washers. Young Heidi fed the dolls her lunch of fruit salad and let them drink from her water bottle. Evidence of their meal is still present in the mashed banana and wet dolly hair and clothing.

Then my darling girls decided to set up a plant pot garden to cheer up their patients. Actually I’m pretty certain Annie initiated this scheme but was most certainly enabled by Heidi pulling plants out of the garden.

Cups and bowls were stolen out from my kitchen to be used as plant pots. Annie most helpfully decided that they had made a bit of a mess and she should clean up. So plants, dirt and other contents of the bowls and cups were emptied into the bathtub – this being the perfect place to establish an indoor garden. Cups and bowls were then washed in the bathroom sink and dried using the remaining tea towels from the kitchen.

Such good helpful children I have. I think tomorrow I shall clean the bathroom and attack the newly raised Mount To Be Washed. Today I finish putting away Mount Folded and possibly rewash those cups and bowls. And if there is to be a bath this evening I may have to relocate our indoor garden. Looking at my darling grubby girls I most certainly do believe there will be a bath this evening.