Shirt Tags

It's been a real pain in the ass getting Dominic ready in the morning lately. He's started to get really upset over shirt tags but I'm not going to start taking them out of his clothes. Everyday I put his shirt on and the first thing he does is pull the tag out. After a few minutes of fussing about it I'll distract him, push it back in and he stops making a big deal about it. This has been happening everyday now for the past month and just started out of the blue. I don't get it because it's never been a problem before.

Back in Gymanastics

Last night Dominic went back into Gymnastics. I talked to one of the instructors afterwards and she said he did a great job he's just got to learn to listen to them and do as he's told. I told her we took a month off because of how he acted the first month and I told her about his ADHD diagnosis and how we thought maybe this would help him out some. She said she thought the month off did him some good because he really appreciated being back. LOL We ended up missing the lesson since we went to look for a new vac but I'll make sure I'm there next week. I really wanted to get some pictures.

Everything has been going pretty well. Seems like there are days where I think to myself that Dominic is totally fine, just being a rowdy boy but then there's day I can barely handle him he's so wound up screaming and just all over the dang place. We can tell him "no, don't do that" 20 times and he'll still keep doing it like he doesn't hear us which he does. He hasn't taken a nap in so so long and still stays up till 10 atleast but we put him to bed at 8:30. It's frustrating. We've been so busy we haven't scheduled another therapy appointment either. I've been researching Homeopathic Herbs for ADHD instead of going ahead and sticking him on the Adderall. There's so much information out there and it's all quite confusing! If herbs work though, I'd rather do that then anything.

He Lives....He Breathes..........Thomas

Red Dye Dangers??

I heard there was going to be a special on the news last night about Red Dye and it's affects on children so I wanted to catch it. I had no idea what it was really about but after watching it Dave and I just looked at each other like what the??? Could that be our problem?

Here's an article on the internet about it.

So basically they are saying children have a sensitivity to dyes put in our kids food which causes behavior problems. The lady on the news said her 4 yr old would scream "I'm going to kill you!" and "I'll hit you!" Which are two things we hear alot out of Dominic. She said that after 2 weeks of getting the foods out of his system he was a totally different child. We decided to go in the kitchen and low and behold EVERYTHING has Red Dye in it. Poptarts, juice, toaster strudels, canned fruit, cereal, etc. The kid will starve to death now if we try the 2 week experiment. I'm thinking we should at least try cutting it and see what happens. I just can't believe I had never heard of this before.

Meltdowns

The meltdowns have gotten to be too much lately. I don't know what to do anymore. Any and everything upsets him, even things that you would think he'd appreciate. Daddy and I are basically begging it seems just to appease him. I'm probably not making sense here so I'll explain with a fake example. We give him a cookie, but it's not the kind of cookie he wants. He doesn't want a Chips Ahoy, he wants an Oreo. So we give him the Oreo but it's either too late the damage is done or it's not in the right bowl and he's hysterically crying. Then we give him a cup of chocolate milk to go with it but he didn't ask for chocolate milk which he absolutely loves so he'll freak out crying even more, screaming that he wants regular milk.

Most of the other meltdowns are from him not getting something he wants such as running around the stores, getting pushed back from Alex or Damien when he's bothering them, or something is wrong with a toy he's been playing with.

Sunday afternoon he was outside riding a tricycle and I told him he would have to come in because it was freezing out. Bad move. I had to carry him kicking and screaming inside. He threw the biggest fit for a good 30-40 minutes crying because he wanted out. I had to use our locks on the tops of the doors to keep him in because he was so determined to get out.

Yesterday for no reason he was bothering Alex and her friend playing Hot Potato. He kept kicking Alex in the back over and over and then trying to do a somersault between them. I asked him if he wanted to play with them and he'd scream "NO!" He continued over and over till finally he decided to jump on Alex as she was sitting on the floor and she ducked down which made him fall over her and hurt his back on some plastic toys. He cried and screamed and cried and screamed for about 30 minutes. Even when her friend's mom came to pick her daughter up he wanted nothing to do with her either. He was very angry screaming "leave me 'lone!!!!!"

This morning I was trying to get him ready for school but he insisted on not only peeing on the toilet but pooping too but he didn't really need to do it. FYI- he only poops or pees on the toilet when he wants. When he really does have to go he usually just goes in his pants. So after 20 minutes of me saying we need to get dressed or you won't be able to eat before the bus gets here he finally came out. It wasn't because of me saying that either, because for 20 minutes all he did was slam the bathroom door and scream "leave me 'lone!" and "Go 'way!!!" The way he screams at you just makes you want to pop him in the mouth. He's very hateful and loud.

I did notice him snoring the past 2 nights but I moved him and he'd quit so I'm sure he got plenty of sleep. He hasn't taken naps forever now it seems. The afternoons are mainly him playing with the trains for a few hours. He did take some interest in hotwheels cars yesterday which surprised me. He hardly ever plays with anything besides the trains. We might as well sell every other toy he has.

My Own Observations

I was going to list some of the things/issues we have going on with Dominic mainly for my record. This is off the top of my head so it may not be too complete. I'll probably have to add things later on.

• Running around all the time
• doesn't like to sit and listen to direction.
• runs all over the place when not secured in a basket
• no naps
• very loud play even after asked to be quiet
• hates changes such as sitting in a new spot in the car or if something moves
• Usually cries or holds his ears when babies cry. Gets upset when he's yelled at and says to stop.
• ALWAYS playing with Thomas the train

Videos for the Week

I noticed some slight snoring last night with Dominic. He didn't really have his mouth opened real wide or anything. I moved his blanket and he stopped. I'm not going to have his tonsils removed "just to see." That's just stupid. I'm glad his Dr agrees with me on that one.

I had told Dominic's teacher awhile back I was trying to catch Dominic during some of his wild times and recording it (when he wasn't looking) so I would have proof to show like his Dr or anyone else. These are some recent videos I took of his behavior.


Here's two with his hyperactivity. This is pretty much him from about 3:30-8:30 and why I always say he acts like he's cracked out on Meth. BUT this first video is from 7 AM this morning.

This one is two different temper tantrums. He either hits or will freak out on the floor.

Here's an old one I think right about when we realized Dominic had some issues going on. This fit was over a snack and I gave him a poptart but not the one he wanted.

Talked to Dominic's Ped's nurse today. She talked to his Dr and he doesn't feel at food allergies would be something that is his problem. I thought it was a bit far fetched myself but thought I'd ask. He said to go ahead and continue with therapy (unless I really want the meds) and see what that gets us. So I guess we'll call and find out if the woman we went to has some references for a Child Psychologist for us. Her title in general is a Social Worker. She has like 5 letters behind her name but I'm not even sure what it stands for. His Dr also said that with only seeing 1 instance of snoring in the past week he doesn't think I should have his tonsils taken out which is what I felt too.

Note to self: No Nap/Slept from 9 PM-7AM/Didn't snore at all. Breakfast Ate 2 cinnamon rolls, Milk, Lunch: 4 chicken nuggets, 1 1/2 banana, milk.

This weekend Dominic has been acting pretty insane. Running around, jumping on Dave when he's laying on the carpet, being extremely loud, aggravated by the slightest thing like if Alex looks at this toy catalog we got in the mail he'll freak out. We went out to eat yesterday and it actually went pretty well. It was also 4 PM since I like to go when it's totally dead so we don't get looks from people. He was pretty vocal and loud so we had to keep hushing him but I brought playdough and we made things which kept him occupied for a bit. He did venture under the table a few times but came up if we asked.

The worst this weekend has been the crying. I swear he's a bigger baby than Damien and will cry at the stupidest things. Alex sat down at the table for breakfast and he went under the table bawling. Damien takes a toy truck that he's left on the floor he starts bawling. This isn't just alittle crying too it's the meltdown cry where he just drops to the floor and you can't talk to another person because he's so loud. We try to comfort him but it usually just gets him even more pissed off and he starts sceaming "leave me 'lone!!" One thing though, he's super excited for Christmas and has been going through ads and having me write toys on his list. He shines with happiness when you mention Christmas is coming which is really cute.

Note to Self: No Nap/slept from 9-7 AM/No Snoring that I noticed

I can't think of anything off the top of my head that made yesterday extremely hard to deal with, with Dominic. For the most part it was really good. Before school he ate 2 toaster strudels! At lunch he ate 5 fish sticks and some grapes. After lunch Spongebob was on so he was glued to that for awhile since he loves Spongebob. At naptime he played with his trains as usual so that occupied him for a good hour or so. I had to get to the bank so he was excited to get out of the house. We ended up taking the truck since my van battery got drained somehow so he was especially excited about taking the big truck. He did rather well in the store and didn't stray far from the basket but on the way home he got pretty upset because instead of the food store he wanted to go to the regular store like Walmart or Target so he got whiney and upset on the way home saying "no go home." After we got home, I went to make dinner. There was some random arguing with him and Alex at the table before dinner but nothing major. He ate 1/2 a hamburger, 8 hamburger dills and a few fries. Around 8 my dad came by and then he turned all crazy. He kept trying to jump on the back of the couch, jump on my dad, and play in this sleeping bag. We had to yell at him alot during their visit to settle down but this is normally how he acts when they come over. They didn't leave till late so we just threw them in bed.

Note to self: No Nap/Went to bed at 10 PM-7 AM this morning/No Snoring last night.

First, Dominic's Thyroid test came back normal so his thyroid is not causing any of his behavior issues.

Yesterday there were a few difficult moments with Dominic. He went to school, finally got on the bus after getting upset about "the man." After school he ate really good! A whole Grilled Cheese just didn't eat the crust and some grapes with some kool-aid since we were about out of milk. Then in the afternoon I had Kelsey (4) so since she needed a nap I put him on the couch in the basement for "quiet time" since he doesn't nap. He played quietly downstairs for about 2 hours without coming up for anything. After Alex got home though he turned into a live wire. He kept getting upset about everything with his blanket not rolling out on the floor perfect because he was rolling himself up in it as a mummy. He was pissed off that the blanket wouldn't cooperate and just kept screaming and bawling about it throwing the biggest fit ever. I told him that I was going to put him in his room if he didn't behave but that really didn't work.

At dinner though he turned back to normal and ate some pizza before we all went to Alex's Brownie meeting. He loves going to Brownies but sometimes can't do the activites or Alex won't share with him and he gets upset. One of the mom's gave him some pipe cleaners to make candy canes with so he was really really good. He didn't run around like he was on crack, he didn't climb under the tables or climb on everything. He was actually pretty enjoyable to have there. Before we walked in the door, Alex slammed his head with the van door so maybe she knocked some sense into him. I felt so bad for him, that had to hurt but he was ok after a few minutes. When we came home I promised him popcorn as a BT snack so he was more than willing to get in the bath. He cooperated getting ready for bed and listened as I read to 2 books to the kids.

Note To Self: No Nap, Asleep by 9:30 PM, very light snoring when first asleep but then no other snoring heard throughout the night.

The Man

Dominic is having a hard time getting on the bus in the morning now because he wants to ride the bus with "the man." I basically had to tell him he couldn't take a train (a fiddle toy) if he didn't go. His bus driver was out for a few weeks so they had a man bus driver come for him and a different man bring him home so now he only wants to get on the bus if it's "the man." Ugh. Is this kid difficult or what? I don't get it.

For my info: Dominic did not snore at all last night. He slept from 10 PM- 7 AM with no nap.

ENT and Thyroid Appointments

Well I'm not even sure what I should have expected from going to the ENT Dr. While we were waiting I actually thought to myself that this was probably a total waste and that he's just going to say let's take out his tonsils "just in case." Sure enough. He says that if it was his 5 year daughter in this situation and she was snoring occasionally and jerking in her sleep and having behavior problems, he'd probably go ahead and take out her tonsils so it was ruled out. He said they aren't abnormal but they are large. They can do a sleep study but it'd probably have to be done in Wichita or KC. He was sympathetic though in seeing what kind of a difficult position we're in on this whole deal which was nice since you could tell he was obviously not feeling well. In the waiting room I overheard the receptionists calling his patients for the day canceling and saying he was sick. I'm supposed to get back to them on if we want to do the surgery or not. I'm going to feel awful if we were to put him through a unnecessary surgery so I'm thinking on this one for awhile. I told him I think for the time being I'll keep a log on how many times a week I catch him snoring and how loud. Last night he did not snore at all that I noticed. I didn't hear anything coming from his room.

Before the appointment we went to the Lab to have blood drawn to check his thyroid. I wasn't worried at all since the kids just had lead tests back a few months ago and they did fine with Dave. Boy was I wrong. As soon as she inserted the needle he started screaming and crying "owweee!" and took his other hand and tried ripping the needle out of his arm. It took a second to pry him from it, scared all 3 of us to death. They got the blood though and we'll hear back on that soon.

Dominic's ENT Appointment and Thyroid Blood Draw- November 8th.

Dom's had stomach flu on and off since Thursday, November 2nd. He's pretty much been off milk and drinking 7up and applejuice. Would it be weird to say that he's acting better? Could the therapist be right and maybe he IS allergic to milk which causes his erratic behavior?? It sounded pretty far fetched to me but he has been so much different. I wouldn't say it would be milk though unless he was 100% well. If his appointment on the 8th show him as OK then I guess we go the allergist route next and rule out any allergies.

First Therapist Appointment

Well the woman we went to talk to about Dominic wanted us to go by ourselves the first time then the next visit she'd have Dominic come so she could give us her perspective. By the end of it though, she wants us to rule out any "physical" problems first so I'm going to be calling and making him an appointment with an ear, nose, throat specialist on his snoring and a blood test to check his thyroid. Sounds stupid but it is the right thing to do. Kids can actually have behavior problems from allergies to foods also so they may want to rule that out as well.
Dominic has a snoring problem but I really didn't think anything of it till the other day when one of my daycare mom's said something about it. I guess if a child has snoring and sleep apnea, it can actually cause them to be more active during the day instead of an adult who just wants to sleep. On the thyroid issue, I think it's alittle far fetched but my Mom, Grandpa, and Uncle all have Graves Disease so we do have thyroid issues in the family but to have it skip over me and go to Dominic just seems strange to me. On the food allergies, I'd heard about that in the past but I don't think he has one.
Basically last nights appointment was about us as a family. She wanted to know how long we'd been married, jobs, etc. Then she wanted to know our concerns on Dominic. I told her after a year old he just got so much more active and then by 2 was when I really started having issues. I told her about some of the problems at school and home with his anger and over activeness. So after she heard all that she decided we should look into his physical health, and if that looks OK then it sounds like she may refer us to an actual child psychologist. Ugh. This is going to be one hell of a process. Thank God D's insurance gives us 3 free visits before insurance kicks in.