It's been awhile since I really updated on Trevor. So, today's the day. (Since I don't have any new pictures of Trevor, I'm going to throw in some old ones, just for fun!)
Trevor's been a pretty funny guy lately...so I'll share some of the fun with you.
I found this in on his floor this week:
Any guesses what that's all about? It looked like a year to me, so I asked Trevor if that's what it was. Nope.
1,440. That's how many minutes are in a day. He had added it up, and he didn't want to forget the number, so he made it in legos. Hmmm... I guess Trevor does mental math in his free-time...you know, just for fun.
Another funny thing is a remark he made recently. We were working in school, and I think were talking about food chains, or something. I was drawing out little pictures of what we were talking about, and happened to draw a little bee. I like to draw cute bees...simple, chubby ones with cute wings...something like this:
Trevor, ever the literal thinker, said, "Oh! A flying abdomen!"
(You have to remember that insects have 3 parts...head, abdomen, and thorax...and since my bee only had one round part, he thought it was humorously incomplete.)
Oh, Trevor.
One last thing...As I was driving the other day, I was listening to Trev and William having a conversation in the backseat. They were talking about guns. The conversation landed on BB guns, and whether they were dangerous or not. Trevor insisted that they were...and matter-of-factly mentioned that, "Dad said I can't have one until I learn to control myself better". Uh, yeah! Understatement of the year!
So, we are getting closer to our departure date. Just this morning, Trevor said One more week til my therapy!
Things have been rough around here lately...but in a somewhat different way than I expected. A month ago I wrote, "I predict that we will have a few rough weeks with a highly distractable and wild child." He certainly is that in the mornings, but during the day he does a little better. That is probably due to the fact that we haven't cut out ALL of his medicines. We are still giving him his focalin...his concentrating medicine. We are still using it, because it is only an 8 hour medicine...in his system in the morning, and out by dinner time. Even though it is a medicine for ADHD, which Trevor doesn't have, it does help him control his impulses better. Trevor is VERY impulsive. I counted this morning, and saw that we have 5 pills left. Let's see...that should get us through Thanksgiving...and then...perhaps we'll all go crazy!
Let me try to paint you a picture of Trevor--unmedicated. First thing in the morning- once he crawls out of bed, that is- he is LOUD and WOBBLY. Loud like a flying monkey, and wobbly like the Scarecrow. I often wonder, with his sensitive hearing, how he can stand to listen to himself?
{I THINK that he does that because his sensory system is trying to figure itself out... One of his doctors explained it to me by comparing it to what you or I might do when we are sitting in a class, or in a meeting, when we get tired. What do we do? We start bouncing our leg, or tapping our foot, or twitching our pen. Maybe I'll blink my eyes, or shake my head. We are trying to rouse our mind...wake ourselves up. That's what Trevor is doing...although he doesn't realize it. His brain is trying to figure things out...and it uses his whole body.}
Sooner or later, Trevor will come downstairs. Just this morning, he came down, and stood by me while I was working on the computer...and he started perseverating.
New word?
per·sev·er·ate Verb /pərˈsevəˌrāt/
To repeat or prolong an action, thought, or utterance after the stimulus that prompted it has ceased.
It means he repeats things...over...and...over. Now that he can read, he sees a word, and he says it over and over, until he sees another word...which he says over and over. He did it over my shoulder at the computer. Then he did it while I was pouring his cereal...reading off the box. Uuhhhhh... It can be exhausting to listen to him.
When his meds kick in, he stops. He is able to control the impulse to repeat things. Without the meds...who knows? Sometimes, something will grab his attention, and hold it strong enough that he will totally focus on it, and then he might be quiet. Or he might sing, or hum, or hoot.
But, as nice as these meds are, they make him irritable. The other medicines he took sort of balanced that out...but we quit taking those. So, he has been getting more irritable every day. He gets frustrated really easily...like if he makes a mistake in school. He gets tired easily...sometimes after writing one sentence he is just so tired and frustrated that he can't go on without crying. He cries most days...sometimes many times a day...just from being so frustrated.
Also, noises bother him more. He is more irritable with his brothers. Wouldn't you know it...now is the time they would get a cold? Samuel has been snorting for days. He just can't figure out the whole blowing your nose thing, so he snorts. He has snorted probably 10 times just while I wrote the last 2 sentences. (I was listening...I heard.) Sometimes Trevor can take it...others he can't. Like in the car. Or during dinner. Samuel! Samuel, please! Samuel, stop!
We are getting worn out. I don't know how much of this the therapy will help. In fact, they say it often gets worse before it gets better. But, at least we have a goal..something to hold out for.
And, I know lots of people have things WAY worse than we do. I try to keep perspective.
And, incidentally, God has been teaching me lately about abiding in Christ. In John 15, when Jesus talks about abiding in him, he says that if we do, we will bear much fruit. He says that if we will obey his commands, we will abide in him. And the command he gives is love one another.
I have been praying about, and thinking about LOVE. I can't think of another thing that would be more timely. Of course, I fail all day long...but I'm learning a lot! (Thankfully, Jesus is the worker of my salvation, and not me!!) And, I hope God will bless the loving choices I sometimes make, and will bear his fruit in me...to his glory!
