So much has been going on. Earlier in January our Darling Girl was Diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder, also known as Sensory Processing Disorder. More information and an explanation can be found here:

http://www.spdfoundation.net/index.html

This diagnosis has come after a year of visits to a Neurologist, working with  physical Therapist and doing home PT for some other issues. Alyson was originally sent to PT for Cortical thumbs. She would always have her thumb tucked under her fingers instead of over her fingers. So we did the therapy, we had her wear her Mkies and things got better. She always balls her hands into fists when sleeping, even now after all is said and done. Alyson does not like to have anything on her hands, EVER. If she is playing and something gets on her hands she will stop and wipe her hands off right away. Paint, food, gel, anything on her hands is not a good thing for her.

Alyson has a hard time with certain food textures and she never chews on her toys or anything else. We had also noticed from day one she hated being swaddled, at the Hospital the nurses would wrap her up and she would just cry and cry till we unwrapped her little body. The tag in her shirt will bother her and she will scratch at the offender till she will leave open scratches on her poor little neck. She never cared to eat baby food as it was never the right consistency. Alyson also does not care to be cuddled or to look you in the eyes as you hold her. It is very rare to see her do that. Alyson eats only a handful of things, green Veggies are her favorite, cheese, yogurt most days, french fries-no salt,  dry cereal, puffcorn, and some other crunchy snack foods. She is not a huge fan of sweets, she would prefer her veggies.

My daily routine is to get up, eat breakfast and then I set her loose to play with her toys. This is my time to get some things done. If we are having a a good day I can get the dishwasher loaded or a load of laundry started. Then she and I get to play. I try to get a sensory bin or two out, we play with her toys or we will go outside, when it is nice enough too. Then it is time for lunch. We spend some time eating and then I clean up while she runs off some more energy. After lunch I try to get her down for a couple hour nap. I have to hold her either on my lap or next to me in my bed to get her to sleep for a few hours. After nap time she plays some more. I am able to finish up anything I need to do hopefully before we do more playtime. Around 5 or so I begin to cook some dinner for us while she plays with the stuff in one of the cupboards or I turn on a Dora show for her. We eat dinner, and this is usually followed by a bath. Bath time has it's very own routine which I will fill in in a moment. After her bath is done we will call daddy or snuggle up with Grandma for a bit.

Bath time for Alyson is a whole routine all in it's own glory. We begin by telling her while she is eating Dinner that after dinner we will do a bath. Then I strip her down after she is done eating and I have the water all warmed up for her. I take her to the bath and I have to set her down in the tub while the water is running. I then shampoo her hair while she cries and screams at me. Then I try to attempt using a body wash on her and get her all clean and shiny. After I have rinsed her hair and she is all clean I will put the plug in the tub and start to fill her tub with water and I have to add the bubbles to the water. She will play for a while and when she runs out of water after she pulls the plug out I have to wrap her in a hooded towel and dry her while she cries. If I need to put lotion on I will do that while she thrashes around and around and screams and cries. So all in all Bath time is not fun for mommy I do love to watch her play freely in the water when she is enjoying it. But the beginning and the end is hard.

To get Alyson to sleep, I head to my room about seven to start winding down and we video call with Daddy when he is at Grandma and Grandpa D's house. We chat with daddy for about an hour then I give her a bottle of milk and she will drink that down and rest, the second milk bottle is usually the one that gets her to go to sleep, Whew! No if only she will stay asleep. I am able to get her to sleep for at least an hour, then i will try to move her to her crib, this results in a baby awake and unhappy. I will try to lay her down and get her to go to sleep again but most nights I am up till 1 or 2 in the morning with a fully awake child who is not going to sleep. I have tried so many things. I have the white noise CD going and her cozy blanket, and her weighted blanket are all things we have to help her sleep. No luck. I am frustrated and I am at a loss as to what to do. I have discovered the reason for this trouble is the SPD. Her mind does not stop to process the information her body sends and she just is never shutting down for good sleep, therefore neither does mommy.

My DG is the center of my world, I am willing to do anything to help her. We have  had 3 evaluations so far to figure out the best plan for her. The clinic has us scheduled 2 days a week for in clinic therapy. And we are scheduled for 1 more evaluation to get in home help through the school district. We also have HeadStart one day a week. So my schedule is filling up fast.

Sunday- 10:00 Church & Our family day
Monday- 9:30 AM clinic OT, shopping for the week
Tuesday- Hopefully our in home day.
Wednesday- no therapy or home visits scheduled so far
Thursdays- 8:30 In home HeadStart & in the afternoon we have socials at TCC 2 times a month
Friday- 8:30 Clinic OT then spend the day with Grandma & Grandpa D.
Saturday- Morning with Grandma & Grandpa D- Family activities

This is just the places we will go. I am also looking at a schedule to follow for home sensory therapy and keeping us all on a healthy sleep schedule and diet. So I am even more busy. I do not mind however. I actually think this will benefit all of my family members being on a schedule. Now if I can make the schedule work, we may get more sleep and feel better over all.

So a lot of Information for the mind to process. I know I am now on a new path in life I never expected to go down. My husband and Father-in-Law both share the same issues as my DG but neither has been DX with anything. She is a happy child and she makes all of us so happy.