Friday, January 12, 2007

Dear Noah:

It never ceases to amaze me sometimes how simple things most take for granted can become huge chores for you. Take brushing your teeth. You do that pretty well....but not with loose teeth in the front of your mouth. THOSE teeth you don't want to touch. I cannot blame you. They look like they would be a bit tender on the top. The top because you have your new permanent teeth already coming in down over the old baby teeth. Only one of the older baby teeth is down lower and seems to be pretty loose. The other baby tooth seems to have gone back upwards and gotten tighter. NOT good.

We have been dealing with this awhile now because I personally did not want to face the nightmare taking you to a dentist would entail....but I am going to have to make an appointment and take you. I do not want you my little man to grow up with permanent bucked teeth.

sigh.........You have made huge progress over the years. I am still needed in the bathroom after your bowel movements to make sure you are clean. You will wipe...not consistently......and most times just want me to do it. You are now 8. I never dreamed I would still be wiping your butt after bowel movements at 8 years of age. I don't mind...I am not complaining. It is just one of those things. Harder to understand sometimes because I know you could do it....but because of all your sensory issues and fears of getting dirty hands, etc. you don't want to do it. PLUS you don't have the strength in your hands to actually wipe appropriately. I know it will all come to pass in time. Getting you out of diapers was another major milestone. That did not happen till you were 5-1/2 years old.

I have been trying to get you to eat a real vegetable or fruit. You will still eat Stage 3 Gerber baby food bananas.....but that is it. Gone are the days when you would even be willing to take a micro-bite of an apple. Heaven forbid a banana. NO way for a veggie other than perhaps 1/16th of an inch of a bite of a corn kernel or green bean or carrot. You will take a couple 1/16th inch bites of raw carrots sliced in really thin strips. Everything still has to be so-so. So hot or not. So brown or not too brown. So salty or not. Pepper or not. Mushy or not. It can be hard to keep up with all the specifics!

But we are making it. As you get older you are slowly branching out more. You will now eat my homemade chocolate chip cookies which is something you never would have dared do 18 months ago! You have licked chocolate off your hands the other day from the muffin mix and liked it! In the past you would not have even wanted the chocolate mix to come into contact with your hands.

I know over time things will all fall into place. I guess that is one reason why I tend NOT to worry too much about you. Somewhere in the back of my mind I know you will do just fine.

I love you....forever I will.

mommy :X

7 comments:

KC's Blog said...

Hi Melinda:)
It's official, we are homeschooling and it's such a relief! K.C. will be home for the rest of the year because the school wants to send him home everytime he headbangs, can you believe it? I wrote about it on the blog.
K.C. is still in diapers (sigh) he will be 6 for his b day.
It's so cool that Noah will lick the chocolate off his hands!

Melinda said...

I cannot believe they are wanting to send him home for head banging. It got like that for us and Noah. ANY time he would PUSH something or someone. They would allow him FIVE times to do it and then they would call us to come pick him up. Many times they would set him off and it easily escalated to FIVE times and we were endlessly picking him up early. I don't think they realize how hard that is on the parents let alone their child! WISH YOU THE BEST......need anything let me know!

Anonymous said...

Oh Melinda, you amaze me, you really do ... you are so, well stoic, about it - in Ireland they say that god sends special children to special people - it is most certaintly true in your case.

nq said...

i've heard that saying about special children and special parents as well. i think i will send my mother some of your blog, if that's okay.
i was diagnosed as bipolar w/ some psychoses at age 18, after a closed head injury and bleeding episode nearly killed me. my sister has major anxiety issues, depression, and severe adhd. we've both been committed for suicide attempts. i hate to compare that to noah, but everything "special" about children requires a different sort of "special" from the parents, and my mom is at the end of her rope w/ my sister just turned 18 with no readiness to ever move out and my still living ten minutes away at 21. my parents are both over-educated at ivy leagues, and they can't understand how they ended up with us as children.
and yet, i think they are saints for what they're put up with/ dealt with. and i think she will appriciate reading about someone else's very much more intense/condensed "special" journey...
i wish you the best of luck!
keeping track of the little things always seems to help remind people of just how much has actually been accomplished :-)

Melinda said...

nq or amy?: Feel free to send anyone here you like. I have another blog on blogger too....a mix of all sorts of things....but I also talk about my personal struggles with crap......we have a lot in common! that other blog is at

http://takeaslowbreath.blogspot.com

but you are more than welcome here or anywhere...as is your mom! thanks for the visit!

Melinda said...

amy: I will have to tell you about my history some day which is very much similar to yours. I also think the parents end up smarter for a reason! hahaha.....so it all ends up being a GOOD thing.....part of the process!

nq said...

i agree that it's a good thing for everyone, my struggles have taught me so much, and i'm sure they've taught my parents even more....
i'd love to hear your story some day... soon!
no pressure, of course...