September 27, 2009

The GFCF diet working is great. We are seeing improvements everyday. Princess actually watch a half hour of Mickey's Club House this morning. She watched me make breakfast and wanted hugs and kisses. She is also wearing underwear instead of pull ups. She kept taking off her pull ups yesterday and I think it was because she saw Little Prince wearing big boy underwear and she wanted the same thing. So far, so good. She has gone potty at least 3 times this morning but had one accident. She has loose stool and I think she had a little gas. She goesn't usually "poop" so early in the day.

Now, Little Prince is a different story. He had three accidents (if that's what you want to call them). He stood in front of the TV, watching Mickey and peep in his underwear and all over the the rug. Every time he goes it, I have him sit on the potty. The next time was about a half hour later. This time he really made a mess. I'm sure he just stood and peep a big puddle on the living room floor. I sent him on to the potty and told him "no more Mickey today". Well, then he let out a very loud scream which woke up DH, who had only been asleep for about 2 hours. Not a good thing. Little Prince ended up in the corner for screaming. Needless to say, I'm sitting in the living room with my laptop, watching him very closely.... he just came running in from the bathroom asking for an M&M for peeping in the potty. I was so proud of him for going himself!

September 25, 2009

Seeing is believing

Princess has been on the GFCF diet for a little over a week now. We are already seeing results. We really didn't notice at first but then I realized after I picked her up from daycare the other day, she didn't make a peep in the car. She didn't make any OOOO sounds or say ticka, ticka, ticka like she usually does. In fact, I can't even remember the last time she did "ticka". Earlier in the week, I asked her to pick up her toys and put them in the toy box and she did it!! In the past, I had to tell her to pick up each toy and then tell her to where to put each toy (which was in the toy box). She is also keeping eye contact more then before and will sit and watch cartoons. Watching TV is a big improvement too. Last week she couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes. Yesterday morning she watch most of the Mickey Mouse Club House. Most days are good but we had another bad night of crying. I still thing it might be withdrawal. It was early in the week and only a few days from starting the diet.

The GFCF diet is challenging and some what expensive but we are learning. We discovered Princess won't eat the GFCF pretzels. We went to Rainbow Foods to buy some more sandwich cookies and also found some rice chips she likes. She seems to like the bread with peanut butter and jelly. I also found a blog site that had a recipe for homemade chicken nuggets. I haven't tried them yet but I will. I am also going to try a recipe I found for GFCF bread in the bread machine. PB&J is a good quick lunch for the ride home from the "visit".

The kids had a parental visit for the first time in three weeks. Little Prince didn't even acknowledge his mother like he had in the past. He just went right to the puzzle table. The mother tried to get a hug and kiss from Princess but she just put her arms down by her side and turned her head. Their mother didn't look so good. She wouldn't make eye contact with us and didn't seem happy to see the kids. I left some PB&J sandwiches for her to give them and explain which one was Princess' and they could not get mixed up. I think there is only one visit left on the books. We should know what's going to happen within the next few weeks.

So, everything is going good at this point. Little Prince is trying to use the potty more and Princess is showing improvement with the GFCF diet...seeing is believing. (Maybe someday I can show video of before and after). We are not allowed to video foster children.

Last night we attended a mandatory training for the foster agency. It was about 3 hours long and was full of information. We saw people who attended the same training as we did when we started. A group of us even got our picture taken for the local paper as new foster parents. We saw the foster parents of the twins we did respite for. I really expected the twins would be back with their parents a long time ago but they are still in foster care. We saw one of the girls (Cuddly), we both agreed she didn't have the sparkling smile she had four months ago. I hope she was just tired and hasn't given up. I also saw the girls we kept for our first respite. DH talked to the foster mama and she told him their adoption should be final in about 3 to 4 months. We are happy for them and the mama

September 20, 2009

Slow start..maybe for the best.

I talked to the DC owner this morning telling her that Princess had a bad night. I couldn't get her to sleep until around 10pm. All she did was cry and I mean really cry. I thought maybe she had a tummy ache or something like that but I never did figure out what was wrong. I have a thing about not letting them cry themselves to sleep but finally I had to just put her to bed and leave it at that. She was asleep within 5-10 minutes. Princess has been on the GFCF diet a little over two days now and that could be what was wrong. I thought maybe she was over tired, having to get up so early yesterday but DC lady told me that Princess took a nap yesterday (unusual). Then DC lady told me what she gave Princess for lunch - Manwich and broccoli with cheese! NO DAIRY!! I reminder her of the no dairy "rule". She felt bad. The more I thought about it, it wasn't the end of the world. We really want to do this but maybe easing into it will be better for Princess.

Today I printed a list I found on the Internet of the foods to stay away from. I hope this helps. DH and I want to do anything to make it easier for the school and DC. Even if we have to send food along for meals. Princess only goes to school for about 3 hours a day so she really only eats a snack. Last night could also be because she is withdrawing from the gluten and casein. As far as I understand, it acts like Morphine in her system. That could explain why she doesn't cry when she gets hurt. She bumped her head the other day and didn't make a peep. If Little Prince had done that, he would have screamed!

Speaking of Little Prince, I have never seen anyone fall down or bump into things as much as he does. He had bruises up and down his legs. He runs into walls because he looks back at something or someone and doesn't watch where he's going. He also can not shake this cold he has. I'm not sure if it's a cold or allergies. It doesn't seem to be effecting his sleep. Once in a while he asks us to "suck it out". We use a bulb syringe. He's real good about holding still and putting his head back. Gosh I love that little guy. Oh, both of them have been sleeping though the night (no parental visits for the past two weeks).

September 19, 2009

GFCF

We started Princess on a Gluten-free/Casein-free diet yesterday. We went to Whole Foods to get her gluten free snacks. We bought pretzels, cookies and cereal. I sent some to school and some to daycare. The daycare will make sure she doesn't get anything with gluten or dairy. We also bought some soy milk and rice milk. We are going to try to figure out which one she likes best.

I gave her some soy milk on her cereal yesterday for breakfast. She seemed to like it, but when I picked her up last night from daycare they told me she had two accidents. The DC lady asked if we had started the soy milk. I guess that's what did it. So far she likes everything we're feeding her. Although, we received a note from her teacher yesterday; "we gave ____ pretzels for her snack and she very politely placed the pretzel back into the bag, closed the bag and pushed it aside". We gave her a few pretzels last night before dinner and she seemed to like the pretzel sticks better than the pretzel twists. I also gave her about 3 oz of soy milk along with a half Lemon-Ginger cookie (gluten free) after she ate all her dinner. She liked it. (so did Little Prince).

September 12, 2009

Kimochis!

I found this neat blog while I was "surfing". The site was actually "Ten Kids and a Dog". There is a give away of this product called Kimochis. It's four different characters that have little feelings that a child an pick to express or learn about. I picked the cloud for the give away because the cloud "is a bit unpredictable" and because the cloud can "sometimes be moody", kind of like Princess. I don't think I have mentioned it before but Princess has autism and she doesn't really speak. I'm really thinking this might help her with her emotions. I figure it's worth a try. Please check out Ten Kids and a Dog and Kimochis

Bad Dreams?

Both kids had bad nights. Princess woke up around 12:30, crying. I went into her room and covered her up with her blanket but she didn't open her eyes and she didn't move. I think she was still asleep. I lightly ran my hand across her hair and she stopped crying. About two hours later, Little Prince came running down the hall into our room - crying. I asked him if he had a bad dream and he said "yes". I let him crawl in with me and told him after he fell asleep I would put him in his own bed. Needless to say, I fell back to sleep and it was about 4am before I carried him back to his bed. When I did put him back to bed, I heard Princess babbling in her room, she was still in her bed so I didn't bother her. I think she might have even been still asleep. Both kids had a hard time falling asleep at bedtime and both were really tired when I had to get them up at 5:30 to go to daycare. Tonight should be more relaxing since I don't have to work tomorrow and we can spend the day together.

September 11, 2009

Testing the water?

I'm not sure if Princess and Little Prince are acting like any other kids their age or if they are testing us. According to our classes, we had to take, foster children will test you and they certainly are. I don't know if the kids have picked up the acting out thing at daycare or if we just treat them differently than their past foster home.

I know we probably made the mistake of giving Little Prince attention when he was crying but we are trying not to do that anymore. We started noticing that every time he doesn't get his way, he cries (without tears). We have tried everything to keep Princess from jumping on her bed but nothing is working so far. We even bought her a little trampoline with a handle bar on it and she still jumped on her bed. DH ordered the trampoline from someone on eBay. It arrived yesterday afternoon, so he put it together right after he picked them up from daycare. Princess jumped on it for about 10 minutes or more. I also had her jump on it right after I put her PJ's on. Then it was time for bed. I put her to bed and snuggled her brother. I no sooner sat down with Little Prince when I noticed her bedroom light on and heard her breathing (I can tell when she's jumping). I put LP down and went in to tell her to lay down and go to sleep. Probably about 10 minutes later the same thing happened again. This time I "escorted" her to the living room to jump on her trampoline and tell her she can only jump on it and not her bed. I let her jump until she stopped (about 2 minutes.), then back to bed. Soon after I was sitting back down with LP in my lap, I heard her again. This time I didn't do anything. LP wanted to get in his own bed, so after I took him in I made a visit to Princesses room to find her playing on the floor. I made her get in her bed and told her to go to sleep. By the time I got Princess in bed, LP was crying for me to sit with him. By the time I got to bed I was upset, worn out and wanted to sleep. I guess was upset enough that I couldn't get to sleep and I woke up so many times through out the night I was very tired at 4:30 this morning.


Since DH has to leave for work before I get home tonight, I had to take the kids to daycare at 6:00 this morning. He usually takes them, but we only have two car seats right now. I will pick them up after I get off work. Both of the kids were pretty tired this morning, although I try not the wake them it's impossible not to. Little Prince woke up as soon as I moved him and the first thing he said was "eat". I told him it was too early to eat and he was going to be "playing all day" (that's something he says when he's been at daycare). I got him dressed and then woke Princess to try to go potty. I dressed her and then rushed out the door. I have to do the same thing tomorrow morning (boo)


I hope we can get this under control soon. DH told me last night that he doesn't know if he can do it anymore. (Earlier yesterday, DH told me that LP was giving him a hard time.) I think if it wasn't for Princess, I would be fine.