The first appt

Today I met with Kristopher's pediatrician. It was an appt to rule out anything physically wrong, causing the food issues. He had a complete physical, and mouth checked out a little closer and nothing was found. We found out that he is a pound less than his 5 year check up. Almost 2 years ago. They still are not concerned because his weight is on the higher part of the chart. He was 54lbs, and almost 51 inches (4 foot 3). They did feel that since kids are apparently suppose to gain 4-6 pounds per year at the post baby stage, that he needs a little extra boost (for real boost essentials for kids) so that the lack of eating doesn't cause more drama. We were given 2 samples and he says it tastes really bad. I'm sure it does. I tried to drink it when I was pregnant since I was so sick, and it made me barf more.

But anyway. The doctor asked him a bunch of questions, and we've determined that he has a lot of worry about his food. He's worried that his teeth come loose, and one falls out while he's eating and he swallows it. He's worried if that happens, it will hurt his stomach and make him really sick. He's worried that his teeth will hurt while he eats something. He says he's scared he will choke, like with the popcorn last weekend. Even though that was not the same as we would call choking, to him, it was a traumatic experience. The doctor said based on what I described the behavior as, it was classified a panic attack.
He's also really worried about tornado's and thunderstorms causing us to be hurt, or our house...or cars. Or being out trapped in one and lightening hurting us. That's something new, because he use to think storms were cool. I'm assuming that has to do with the night we rushed him to the basement during the tornado.
The doctor also believes that there was a lot of anxiety and worry about the change of school ending. He said he thinks the food issues were triggered to the extreme because of that. All 3 big things happening in the same time frame, caused it all to make him not able to move past it.
I asked about the possibility of autism and other things like that because of the extreme emotion and drama he has. He said he does not believe it's that at all. He says at most, this is an anxiety disorder, and because he is so young, therapy should help with that. So that's reassuring that I made the right approach. He reviewed the chart and history and said he has always met milestones on time or early, asked how he is in school and socially, and he said he does not fit near enough criteria for us to even try to label him. That's reassuring.

He gave me a ton of tips, so that this does not end up as a major food fight for a long time. He explained it in front of Kristopher, so he knows that the "rules" did not come from me being mean. He knows that the doctor said it's important, and how it will keep him healthy. So he has done amazing tonight. The rule is now, no special meals. Before I was giving in just to get him to eat something. His choice was all junk food, and that bothered me. It has been over a week since he's ate a veggie, and almost as long since he's had any type of fruit other than applesauce. So, the rule. We will give him a plate of what we are having. Obviously I'm not going to start making him eat something that I know he clearly does not like. In normal cases, we will give him a plate with what we are having. He has to eat at least 6 bites (1 per year old) before he is done. Of each item on the plate. So, if it's something he says is nasty, he still has to eat 6 bites before he's allowed to move past. Obviously if he likes it, I expect him to eat it without drama. If it's a fight, try the 6 bites. After that, if he does that and is still hungry, then he is allowed a dessert. If he does not do it, we will save it in the fridge. In between meals, if he asks for a snack, we are to reheat what he didn't eat, and he has to try to finish those 6 bites. If he does it, great. He can have something else if he's still hungry. If he still fights it, there's nothing else till the next meal. At the next meal either way, it's a clean slate and we start again. He did great tonight, and he realized ways around the textures he doesn't like. Tonight it was grilled hot dogs, at his request. Then he had started to panic about the "crunchy" and pulled out chewed food in a panic. I told him he can pick off the part he doesn't like, but to remember the rule. He was happy with that, and ate the rest without a problem. Supper was less dramatic, and everyone left the table happy.

He also seem to think the night terrors were part of anxiety. He says that he would have looked into it further and probably recommended therapy back at the 6 yr appt if he'd have seen us. He's shocked that it was just blown off like no big deal back then. It's been months since we've had that happen, but these other issues started coming out more instead.
I feel like we have some progress. He is definitely feeling better, and has been hungrier today. I just hope we can get to a point of not having to count bites. Monday I meet the therapist, and Tuesday is his turn.

One of those kinda nights

Do you ever have one of those nights where you just can not sleep because of everything on your mind?
I wish I could say I don't know what that means. It's been more and more lately.
Tonight I'm trying to figure out a good monthly budget to make things easier, and maybe make a goal by spring. It's stressful though.

I'm also worried about appts we have scheduled next week. Monday I meet with the therapist, just me, to talk about what I've been noticing with Kristopher. On Tuesday he has his first appt. Today was a better day and he ate almost like normal. He was asking for a lot of snacks through out the day, so he's starting to be hungry again. I just need to find a new way to get him back on more healthy foods, and less of whatever he will eat to get him to eat type of foods.

My diet sucks this week. Too much stress, too much take out, very bad combo.

We move in less than 2 weeks. I haven't packed a single thing yet. And probably won't till late next week. I'm trying to keep myself from stressing too much, and also for the dog. She doesn't know it's happening yet. No boxes to be found. This is a pretty easy move I think. It's a mile away. I plan to take it room by room, and not pack a ton of stuff prior. I was thinking of just loading up some storage totes, starting with the kitchen, as I move it. So, the day I decide to the the kitchen, I'll clean the new place then come back for the stuff in the cabinets. Put it straight into the new ones, back for more. Then clean them here as they are emptied. It sounds easy in my mind. Fingers crossed that it truly will be.

I'm also trying to plan supper, lunch and snack menus for the rest of the time we are here. And would like to do a big grocery trip tomorrow to last us till we're in the new place. I find it a royal pain in the butt to move a ton of groceries, so I'm skipping next weekends grocery trip and will do it mid week once we're in the new place. I'm betting that in 2 weeks, it's another really bad diet week.

Tomorrow we have a doctor appt to make sure that this lack of eating thing is not something physical. I think it's mostly a waste of money since the therapy appts are pretty obviously needed, and how he was there a week ago. But I'll do it anyway. Hopefully we don't wait an hour and half like last time. That is always a blast.

Something else really random before I go to bed. I want to figure out how to do some of this crazy coupon stuff. Tonight I had coupons for my bath wash, and a sample shampoo that I liked. $2 off each, and I bought conditioner too, so I saved a total of $6. I felt pretty proud of myself. I wish I could figure out this crazy stuff of getting a cart full of groceries for next to nothing. I'd probably get banned from the stores here because we have some nasty people running registers who clearly do not want to do anything extra whatsoever. I just find it kinda fun to see how much I can actually save. All the coupons I find though that would truly save, are not things I use. Apparently I'm looking in all the wrong places.

Anxiety

After some more talking, we've discovered that a big part of the issues with Kristopher are because of school ending. He is very upset that school is over. We also live in town that has a lot of army students, who are only here for the school year. It figures that one of his really good friends will be moving. Actually, half the class will be moving on. So he's upset about never seeing some of those people again. He's upset over not being able to keep his kindergarten passwords and specials, and that he won't be able to go back to school till almost September. He was crying in class yesterday, on our walk home, and again this morning.
He's definitely an extreme thinker, deeply emotional and now a major worrier. We have talked and tried hard to hype up how cool the summer is going to be. We told him how proud we are about how well he has done this year, and we have promised rewards for that behavior. He will be talking to the school therapist before he leaves today, and I'm still keeping all the appts I have scheduled.
Right now I feel pretty horrible as well because he is heartbroken about this, and there's nothing I can do to fix the main issue.
Here's a picture of him on his last day of school. When he leaves today, he's officially a 1st grader.

Double pickiness

These two.....I don't know what started it, but both are extremely picky lately. I'll start with Zoey because her drama will be shorter. For a few weeks, she has been abondoning her food. She use to inhail it as soon as it was put in the bowl. Actually, she would push us out of the way while we were pouring it in, and food would go in her water, or on the floor. Now, she stares at us like seriously? You expect me to eat that? And it will sit there for half a day before I finally worry too much and sit near her while she eats it. Forget her eating from the kitchen. She's too good for that now apparently. She is acting normal, so I guess it's an old dog thing. I have a call in to the vet (who's on vacation) so hopefully some answers soon.
And on to the boy drama.
He's also extremely picky. He use to eat like a grown man. Now, especially in the past week or 2, he is EXTREMELY picky. Major sensory issues going on. Stuff is too crunchy. Sticks to his tongue wrong. Looks weird. Anything you can think of, it's wrong. He will take a bite or 2, then gag and have to spit it out. And at that point, he's done. Nothing more can convince him to eat. The weekend took a major turn and he had a really big panic attack about popcorn. In the middle of the movie theater lobby, he freaked because a piece of popcorn touched his tongue weird and was stuck. He was convinced it was choking him and he was going to barf and he just lost it. Again this morning, with pancakes. They were "crunchy" and he had to spit it out because he was going to barf. We explained how important it is for him to eat, so he doesn't end up passing out and going to the hospital. We even tried to scare him about the fact if he did not eat, and went to the hospital, that he'd need an IV. He knows what that means, and this morning he got his shoes on and asked which one we would have to go to, because he had no intention on eating breakfast. So, after a talk, he went to school without eating. I made some calls, and the school therapist pulled him out and talked to him for a while. I called another therapist and they are working at getting him an appt for an evaluation. He has an appt with the regular doctor on Friday to rule out any concerns, and a dentist appt next week. Covering all the bases. According to the talk at school, he has major anxiety about eating. Part of it is from when his teeth are loose, he says it hurts him to eat. He has only told me this once, and it was with the most recent tooth he lost last week. And he was super excited about that tooth. She said he told her he is worried about how many more he needs to lose, because they hurt when they get wiggily. He was in tears. He also is very worried about something like the popcorn happening again. More tears. She feels there is an underlying problem, and there has been some mention of high fuctioning autism, and a few other possible reasons. It's more than just a phase in their mind.
Tonight I talked to him more, and explained how important it is for him to eat. And how many people are worried about him when he acts this way. He said that he just feels really full, and sometimes his belly hurts. I explained that when he skips eating, that he can cause more pain because he's not eating when he should be. He's also lost 2lbs.
So we let him pick supper, and sides. He chose a burger, and I cut it in half. The deal was if he could eat one half, he could play computer games. He forced it down, getting a drink every couple bites. Then, he got his reward. After I said time was over, he willingly quit, and went back to the kitchen and finished the entire plate of food. Then tells us that apparently he is all better now. I asked what was wrong, since he had told me he was feeling fine all along. "I guess I just didn't eat enough." And that was the end. No more complaints or weird behavior. Just over like that. I hope that's truly the end, but I worry too that there is something more wrong.
What I do not understand is how it just developes from nowhere. He's always met all milestones without any concern, and usually early. He's crazy smart. He's always been fine with eating, and eating anything offered. And we usually have to make him stop. He is extremely emotional though, and very deep thinker. He thrives on routine, and a change in that will cause drama. He still is behind on fine motor skills. Apparently these flaws, have them thinking there is a bigger picture. I'm scared, and completely confused. It will be a week or 2 till we meet with the therapist, so I really hope it goes by fast. I haven't slept very good, and I feel like crap from all the worry. I have to stop reading and researching till I know what I'm looking for.
I also feel really hurt that he can open up like that to the therapist at school, but always tells me nothing is wrong, "i'm fine", etc. Even tonight, he was quiet until I said that I talked to her after him.
So, I guess it's always something here. I hope that I can get answers fast, and get him whatever help he needs to over come this. And the dog too.

Another tooth lost

Tonight, after an hour of pulling and what seemed like the end of the world, Kristopher pulled his 10th tooth. Here's a picture of his excitement of it being pushed straight forwards and freaking me out. I think wiggily teeth are really gross. Not sure why. The sound it was making, and the way he was twisting it....just gross. He insisted it had to come out tonight, and it was causing him pain. He wasn't eating right this week and clearly uncomfortable. So, when it was finally out, he seemed better. I'll try to get a good picture of the giant holes in his mouth tomorrow. This is the best I got prior to it coming out. It was 10pm and the flash was blinding him.

Before we started experiencing all the tooth losing drama, I never realized that bigger kids had teething issues like they do as babies. I'll say that he was a pretty easy teether as a baby, and I never had any major issues other than cold like symptoms. But, the bigger teeth cause more issues than baby teeth. About a week before he manages to get them out, he doesn't eat much, he is constantly sticking his fingers in his mouth, and he's clearly uncomfortable. And he doesn't sleep that great. Tonight he actually went to bed crying and whimpering about his mouth hurting. And begged me to help the tooth come out. I tried once, and he said it hurt. I tried to convince him to keep it in there till it was ready and just falls out, but that wasn't happening.
At least with this one, it looks like we have a break for a while. Nothing else loose and he is not "suppose to" lose any of the other ones for another year or 2. We will see. My kid is anything but normal.