So we made it through October, November and ALMOST ALL of December without too many serious issues, meltdowns or tantrums. The Nemechek Protocol continued to show progress within reason and we spent our days preparing for the upcoming winter season. Sawyer did have surgery (to have his ear tubes removed and patches placed on the ear drums) 5 days prior to Christmas. We did have to stop one of the supplements (Omega 3 Oil) included in the Protocol a few days before the surgery due to the possibility of thinning out his blood. The surgery is relatively less invasive than most procedures and he seemed to be ok after surgery but putting him under sedation was a bit of a challenge. Sawyer (like most kids and adults on the spectrum) is VERY strong. It took the anesthesiologist, a nurse and myself to hold him down with a mask over his face to sedate him. The look he gave me I’ll never forget…it was that look of confusion and fear. I cried the entire 15 minutes he was under because I felt like a horrible mom who did this horrible thing to my child. He didn’t understand that what was happening was not to hurt him but help him (what kid his age would understand? Let alone one on the spectrum). He did have to stay in recovery a bit longer because he tried inhaling his breakfast and juice right after surgery and threw up all over mom *ME* twice…yikes. I smelt horrible! Then Christmas Day came and again for the most part everything (Holiday gatherings included) went off without a hitch. Sawyer seemed excited at the sight of all the new toys Santa had left for him and was interested in them for 2.5 seconds but spent more time with the boxes and wrapping than he did the toys (typical for a baby yes, toddler not so much) but that’s ok, at least he enjoyed himself and that is all that matters to this mama! He started to feel lousy the later part of that day and wound up on antibiotics later in the week (for safety precautions due to surgery they didn’t want to take the chance of his sinus infection OR cold turning into ear infections). I also failed to mention dad was sick before and during the week of surgery so I doubt that helped and then I fell ill the week of New Years. Even with the illness it didn’t really slow Sawyer down much but therapy schedules were disrupted AND THAT my friends made all the difference in the remainder of our Holiday break from school (it was rough!). Most of you who have children on the spectrum are all too familiar with what I am about to say. Holiday breaks from school, therapy and routines in general can really turn our world up side down! Sawyer became very behavioral (we noticed an increase in his head hitting), his stimming also increased more and sleep was a bit off due to the Full moon that took place the day following his surgery (that in itself is another topic I will elaborate more on later). We also had a death in the family and my brother deployed over seas. 😦

With all of that behind us we looked forward to the New Year! Like every New Years Eve we prayed for a quiet night at home. We spent New Year’s Day in our pjs and watched movies. We looked forward to the day that school was back in session and our routine could return to normal. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

SO here I am again, 3 (yes I said THREE) months since my last post. Sorry life has a way of interrupting sometimes…heck who am I kidding?! ALL THE TIME! So since the last post we’ve had 4 Holidays come and pass..lets start with Halloween.

Let me first start by saying it went so much better than I hoped for or expected it to. 🙂 Sawyer dressed up as “Where’s Waldo?” And although to some his costume might have been a lousy choice it worked for him so it worked for us! It was sensory friendly and he left his beanie on the entire time we were out trick r’ treating! That was just icing on the cake. So we started in our neighborhood but quickly realized everyone was either gone to other neighborhoods getting candy or simply didn’t participate by handing out candy to the kiddos. However; one kind dad stopped us to give Sawyer some candy and much to our surprise SAWYER PICKED OUT HIS OWN CANDY…AND PUT IT IN HIS OWN BAG!!! I wish I would have videotaped that moment, yes I know to some that would sound silly but that’s a BIG (little) milestone in our world. We ended up in another neighborhood and Sawyer willingly walked like a big boy the entire 2 hours and we got plenty of candy for his first Halloween “doing it like a big boy.” His dad and I call that a success!!!

Fall went by rather quickly it seems..after Halloween, Thanksgiving came and went. We went to my side of the family gathering since my husband’s family lives all over the U.S. We didn’t have to travel very far thankfully. I say that because Sawyer has never been a child who likes extended periods of time spent in the car. We ate, we spent time with family..and Sawyer actually joined in on some rough house play with his cousins and his uncle Josh. Again all in all, a successful Holiday! Quick & painless.

Sawyer, Dad & Mom Thanksgiving Day 2018