Taking Bets: Teaching My Old Dog New Tricks?? and why I might want to...

Between my daughter with Apergers and my daughter with Down syndrome/poor eyesight/hypotonia, somebody around here would certainly qualify for a service dog if we pursued it... and happened to have a heap of extra money we didn't need for any other purpose.

Service dogs are becoming increasingly popular for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) as they can help a high-functioning child focus, prevent them from stepping out in front of a jogger or oncoming car, and they can also help prevent more profoundly autistic or cognitively disabled children from running off, with the use of a tether. See: 4 Paws Service Dogs & Autism and more info on Service Dogs for autism.

This is a Service Dog:

This is MY dog:

And this is my dog:

And this is my dog:

So - I realize most service dogs happen to be the notoriously "intelligent" breeds like Labradors, German Shepherd Dogs, Aussie Shepherds and Boarder Collies. Brandy Ann is an Olde Victorian Bulldogge (OVB). For all intensive purposes, this is a designer breed and not AKC recognized, though the breed has a large following. She's pretty, but she doesn't look that smart, does she?

On the other hand, she is patient, indestructible, powerful, she doesn't jump up on people and she loves my kids.

So maybe training my 7-year-old OVB to become a service dog for my kids is a pipe dream, but then again, maybe it's not all that "out there."

The Skink has severe hypotonia and has difficulty walking. Her balance is poor and she tends to fall a lot. She can't go down steps without holding something or being carried, and she's getting heavier every day! I think I've mentioned a time or five in previous blogs that I have an old back injury that makes it very difficult for me to pick up heavy objects... like my daughter. Brandy, on the other hand, could wear a specialized handle for The Skink to grasp to help her walk. Brandy could also care less if The Skink pokes, prods or pinches on her.

The Skink also still has no sense of self preservation when it comes to roads and speeding cars. Yet if tethered to my faithful 80lb OVB... well... she's not going ANYWHERE if Brandy stays by Mom!

Alright... alright. It sounds nuts. A 7-year-old bulldog?? Really?

So, with a bit of an embarrassed flush in my cheeks and armed with a pocket full of goldfish crackers, I marched out the front door with my goofy-looking dog earlier today to perform a service dog aptitude test.

A few years ago, I taught Brandy to sit and not to pull on the leash. That's about it... yet within 5 minutes, she was matching my gait, stopping and sitting at each stop. In 10 minutes she was obeying a "stay" command while I walked away from her, towards her and past her in the other direction.

Taking her floppy mug in my hands, I looked deep into her eyes and spoke to her in soft words.

"Who are you and what have you done with my big, dumb bulldog?"

So, I guess I have a lot to learn, and even more to teach my big, dumb-looking, old, sweet, smart dog. She won't need to learn to call 911 or retrieve a key out of a wallet, but if she can learn enough to help me keep my kids safe in busy public places, I'll be absolutely over the moon with delight!

I'm looking at a few do-it-yourself DVDs and books like: Teamwork and Teamwork II but of course money is tight all the way around right now. Perhaps I'll start with hints I find on the interwebs. I know most of the basics (and Brandy will do almost anything for a goldfish cracker) and we'll see what happens!

I'll keep ya updated on our progress... unless I get lazy and decide I really am nuts to try this.

I'd love to hear your opinions on this!!

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Kids and Garden and Stuff

When he moved from TX to VA in November, 2009, Broadway was thrilled to learn his new high school has JrROTC. He doesn't even mind that it's Air-Force ROTC even though he wants to join the Army some day. His ultimate goal is to become an Army Ranger.

Needless to say, the kid LIVES for ROTC these days. They only have uniform day once a week, but I don't think he'd mind a bit if he got to wear it every day. He has been participating in tons of after-school ROTC activities, community service events and training exercises. Getting straight A's in the class is nice, but getting a ribbon or medal to pin on his uniform is a veritable Nirvana in his eyes!

Today was uniform day. He was kind enough to allow me to take a picture of him. Apparently, wearing the uniform requires a certain level of ceremony. Smiling is not part of that ceremony.

Don't mind the ugly gates in the background on the front porch. That was a feeble attempt on my part to keep The Skink contained. Much to my consternation, she figured out how to escape from mommy's dumb gate in less than 3 minutes flat. Before I knew it, she was butt-scooting down the front steps and making for the road. Of course at that point I had to figure out how to let myself out of the gate... I wasn't as quick as she was (LOL).

Iraq has fully recovered from her bout with the stomach virus, thank goodness. Unfortunately, 2 days without her medication has left her very anxious. When she got home from school, she started crying immediately and told me she did NOT know how to do her homework. I picked up the 2 sheets of homework she had and reassured her she had done the same kind of thing at least 20 times  in the last few weeks. No dice! The tears continued. Then the wailing started. *sigh*    *deep breath*

I calmly offered her the option of going up to her room and taking a nap, or sitting down quietly to do her homework.

Don't you wish it were that easy??

I always follow up with what I say... yet she always has to test the boundaries of my sanity just to make sure I still have some hint of it left.

I finally got her to sit down and look at the paper (once she decided she did NOT want to take a nap). I attempted to get her started on her math work by drawing out a number line to make adding and subtracting easier. I made the dire mistake of drawing it on one of those magnetic, erasable pads. In a huff, she erased it and screamed that she didn't WANT the help of a number line - she wanted MOM help. (Yes - and I can assure you MOM was craving a little help too!)

*another deep breath*

I calmly informed her that MOM HAD helped her by drawing her a number line which she chose to erase. I again offered her a nap.

In tears she wailed that she was SOOOORRRRRRYYYYYYYY! She didn't MEAN to erase the number line and would I PLEAAAAAASSSE draw her another.

*another deep breath*

"I'm sorry. I can't understand you when you use that voice. When you are ready to use a nice voice without wailing, I will be able to understand you and help you."

*Sob* "I'm..." *sob* "trying!" She gasped.

"Noope... still can't understand you." *another deep breath*

At this point I'm starting to wonder when I will keel over from hyperventilation.

Amazingly, after only four or five mom-daughter exchanges, she realized she could do the homework, and that she was really quite good at it. Five minutes later she was skipping out the door to play with some friends across the street.

*banging head against wall to relieve stress from not loosing it with Iraq*

It has been raining on and off the last few days and Iraq has not had to water her garden. Still, she enjoys going out each day to admire her masterpiece that she herself grew from teeny little seeds. Gardening has proved a calming influence on Iraq... as long as we do everything HER WAY and the plants are kept in neat, orderly lines. This is how she has them arranged currently:

And just look at how our strawberries are doing!

And:

The Skink spent the morning wearing a Little Swimmer diaper as a hat. I was thankful it had Nemo on it as opposed to being plain white... She would have looked like a tiny little Klan member if it weren't for the fishie! She is a gangsta at heart, preferring to wear her absorbent headpiece down over her eyes. If I tried to pull it up a bit, she would yank it right back down and peek out at me with glowering eyes - ever questioning why I would try to *fix* something that she thought was fine just the way it was! My bad!

As for me, I am very happy to say that my new washer and dryer were delivered today! The Skink was most helpful in closing and locking the door each time the poor delivery guys would run out to grab another part or piece. I got some great exercise wrangling my tot as the guys worked their magic. The  washer and dryer can be used as side-by-side units and you can buy the pedestals for them, or they can be stacked. The house we're in right now is almost 100 years old and has been retrofitted to accommodate a  stackable unit. The new ones fit perfectly in the space :o)

Aint they beeeyoootiful? The last washer and dryer we bought were a really nice used side-by-side set which now resides in my parents' lower level laundry room. A stackable unit came with our rental house, but unfortunately the washer needed to be banged every now and then to get it to spin, and the dryer chewed up it's fair share of our clothes. I really can't complain... I mean, most rental houses don't even come with a washer and dryer! We also have some wonderful landlords (they came with the house) and the last thing we wanted to do was complain about this proverbial "gift horse." I'm really excited about this set!! They will work in whatever house we end up in next (though we plan to stay here for a while). Yet they also mean a little less stress in my charmed life. OK - enough blogging - I gotta get back to reclining on my chaise lounge and eating bon-bons! (Yeah - like that's ever gonna happen!) LOL!

When Mom Gets Sick

In my household, Mom is the caregiver. Mom takes the kids to most of the therapists and doctors. Dad is awesome and steps in when he has a day off, but in general, it's mom. There's always so much to do in our house. Just keeping up with the 3 kids is challenging enough, then add chores, school, appointments (I forgot to take the Skink to a follow-up to her ear tube surgery last week) and whatever else.

Normally when I get sick, I can still function enough to handle my usual mom-duties. Unless, that is, I happen to come down with the dreaded stomach virus!

I had something called a pyloric stenosis when I was born. Basically the opening at the bottom of the stomach isn't very open, and puts a "Return to Sender" label on all the food. I had surgery at 1 week of age to correct it. It worked, but whenever I get a stomach virus, the scar tissue causes the muscles in that area to freak out. We're talking a seemingly unending cycle of charlie-horses in the stomach muscles, galloping out of control.

I try to avoid getting the stomach virus.

On Friday night, The Skink (who also had a pyloric stenosis repaired at the same time she had her g-button inserted) apparently quietly vomited in her bed and happily went back to sleep. The evidence presented itself when we got her up in the morning. She was in a great mood, so we just figured maybe it was post-nasal drip related.

It wasn't.

Fast forward to early Monday morning - we're talking, just-barely-waited-until-Mother's Day-was-over-12:15 A.M.-early. It began.

The by the time my hubby's alarm went off at 3:15 A.M., I knew this wasn't a *mild* case of stomach virus and begged him to stay home. By 7:30 he was driving me to the hospital with my bucket in hand. Poor Iraq started vomiting about 3 hours after I did. With a sick kiddo and two more that needed to get off to school, my hubby dropped me off at the ER entrance and left.

I was super lucky - the ER was virtually empty. I was to the point where I was really dehydrated and craved a drink so badly it hurt. On the other hand, there were a lot of other things that would hurt even worse if I did. As I sat and waited to be taken back, I couldn't help feeling it was a cruel joke that the name called before mine was "Waters."

So I was taken back, plugged in to enough equipment to make me look half cyborg, and given over 2 liters of fluids plus meds and potassium. Just as I was starting to feel less ill, the ER gurney began to haunt my 17-year-old back injury. See On-line book, Ch. 5: What Back-Breaking Work Martyrdom Is!

Something very similar happened when I was pregnant with my 3rd child. I had pre-eclampsia as it was, but my back couldn't take the hospital bed and sent my blood pressure skyrocketing. Luckily for me, my best bud in TX just happens to be a chiropractor... talk about room service! No such luck here in Virginia. I didn't have anyone to call to come adjust me, and when I asked the nurse if I could get up and move around, she took one look at my blood pressure and told me I shouldn't move! Aaahhhhhhgggghhhhh!

I got this lovely shot with my cellphone camera. Yes - you read that right. 184 over 104. Normal is about 120 over 75-ish and anything over 140 over 90 is BAD! LOL! I've always been a bit of an over-achiever.

The doctor was called in and I told him what was going on. Within minutes I was shot full of sedative and painkiller. The next thing I remember, it was about 4 hours later. I called the nurse and told her I didn't have time to be in the ER and needed to get home to my kids (I may have been a little dopey still).

All in all, I spent 9 hours in the ER. When my hubby came to pick me up, he had his own bucket in hand. Poor thing got the bug just hours after dropping me off.

These are the times having a 15-year-old around the house comes in very handy! Broadway stepped right up and took over. He fed The Skink and kept an eye on her. He took care of all his daily chores, and most of mine. He made sure we all had what we needed and he never complained once!

I'm happy to report we are all doing much better now! I have still had nothing but crackers, chicken broth and ginger ail, but my blood pressure is way down! Iraq is feeling better too. Unfortunately she couldn't take her medication for the last 2 days, and her anxiety level and OCD behaviors are up a bit, but she should be back at school tomorrow.

And The Skink... she is enjoying the two new beanie baby cows I ordered on Amazon.com. I got her another of the black and white "Daisy" cows that she already had plus a "Bessie" the brown & white cow. Tonight she went to bed surrounded by the entire herd, with Bessie in her arms. I said "I love you!" and she simply replied...  "Moo."

On A Side Note

If you are a return visitor to my blog, you may have noticed a shiny new banner just under the one for my book The Littlest Sister. I honestly didn't feel like going through all the rigmarole with a publisher again  - why take months on end when you can publish your own book in under an hour??

 
This one is just for fun! It's comprised of a silly poem and some artwork. As crazy as it sounds, the poem came to me in a dream. All I had to do is hop out of bed and type it. Of course I did that back in 2007 and it's been sitting on my computer ever since. I did the illustrations in 2008... ahhh yes... fine wine takes time... and a little procrastination. I haven't received my first edition in the mail yet, so I can only hope the layout is correct. It seems to be, but you never know for sure until it's in your hand!

Today was teacher appreciation day, so Iraq liberated some of our neighbor's flowers to give to her teacher.

I don't think the neighbor will notice. Her Wisteria is running rampant!

At least Iraq couldn't reach the neighbors roses.

Although the trellis looks like it just might be fun to climb :)  I'm afraid our roses and trellis aren't it as good shape, but as a renaissance girl, I rather like the cracked & peeling paint look.

I'm pretty sure that's lead paint...

I don't like it when the kids at the bus stop start playing rough. Eventually they end up in the road, so this was my solution. I draw a new one after every rain, and all the kids seem to really enjoy it! Even the boys play... of course they turn it into a timed event...

And finally, our garden is still growing, despite my brownish/black thumb. We just might get edible tomatoes yet! Iraq is still taking good care of her garden and enjoying the experience! Broadway shows little interest, though he keeps asking when the strawberries will be ready.

And peas...

So that's it for now. I gotta go get The Skink. I put her down for a nap an hour ago, and I can still hear her playing in her crib.

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Cow... MOO!!

The other day The Skink made up her first song. It was sweet and her little voice went up and down in the best tune she could muster. The words could not be understood. For about a minute, the song went on. It went something like this:

"Asha leber no ahtamaaaa, prillee doofa dub meee,
Moper dukah pooshie new, adah Cow...     MOO!"

In that moment, the joy that filled me was akin to what Beethoven's mother must have felt when he first showed his musical talent. The song had a substance and  clearly, to The Skink at least, a story... about a Cow.

As it happens, The Skink's favorite animals happen to be horses and cows. Her favorite toy - the one she doesn't want to sleep without - is a Beanie Baby cow that is black and white. She carries it about the house. Every so often the cow takes flight, and upon landing a small voice joyfully yells "Moo!" It's the one toy she has that has explored the interior of the washing machine many, many times. It's the one toy I really need to locate a doppelganger to... just in case!

Iraq's favorite item at the same age was a pink blanket. Lucky for us, the blanket's identical litter mates were sold in every Wal-Mart across the country. Though Iraq no longer requires the constant companionship of the blanket today, I believe we still have about 6 pink blankets tucked safely away in a drawer. Luckily for us, The Skink's reaction to having to go to bed without her prize cow would never reach the magnitude of the melt-downs we used to witness on the few occasions Iraq's pink blanket wasn't ready and waiting in her bed.

Last Christmas I looked everywhere for cow toddler bedding. I found CowBOY and CowGirl bedding, but no plain ol' cow bedding... so I ended up making some.

Yup - found pink and "cow" striped flannel and accented it with a black & white cow print for the bedspread and dust-ruffle.

And yes, she loves it!

Here are some new Skink shots of the day...

The COW is never too far behind... MOO!

With Daddy on the front porch swing.

Skinks -N- Roses

Hypotonia... Skink style!

Just... The Skink!

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Better Late Than Never...

I'm just now trying to catch up from the two weeks I spent in bed, but... better late than never! Here are some pictures from Easter!!

The Easter Bunny was kind enough to create three different hunt areas - one for each kiddo. The Skink was very excited when she realized there were EGGS in Mimi's yard. This was her first discovery...

Check it out! There's something IN here!!

This is FUN!

Nothing cuter than a Skink, in pink, by a lake!

The hunt resumes...

A bunneh!

Later!

Broadway and Iraq, finding the goodies!!

Iraq was generally too speedy to catch, but I caught up with her for this one. Broadway, on the other hand, doesn't want anybody to know he still likes to hunt Easter eggs at 15... I can't publish any of the other shots I got of him. *sigh* Teenagers!

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Hope For The Future

Tonight we took Iraq and The Skink to a big MacDonald's with an indoor play land. It had been raining on and off all day today, and both were ready to run and play. We got our food and sat down. Iraq headed off pretty quickly to go play and The Skink sat in the booth like a big girl and ate all her food. (She looked so grown up!)

After The Skink finished her meal, she wanted to go play too. She checked out the toddler area, but was soon drawn to the big slides and tunnels the older kids were playing on. I helped her climb the first part, but there were TONS of kids there which made it hard for me to stay with her. With a bit of worry, I set The Skink loose and hoped for the best.

After about 5 minutes, I realized a boy of about 8 or 9 years of age was sticking close to The Skink. He followed her about from tunnel to tunnel and gave her a boost when ever she got to a climbing area she couldn't manage on her own. Right there in public, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I watched the boy gently help her play... and helped her feel just like all the other kids.

I know Iraq and The Skink had a wonderful time tonight, but I'll just bet that I had the best time of all.

Even though I have a positive outlook and a lot of hope for The Skink's future, I have my moments of doubt. I have moments when I wonder how The Skink feels when she is not able to keep up with her peers. I wonder if she will be left behind and forgotten. Then... some kid shows up and takes a child he has never met before, by the hand. A child who is much younger, and clearly a bit different than the other kids. Unafraid, he moves away from the other children his age. He gently guides her through the maze, making sure the other children don't step on her, and seeing that she gets a gentle push up to the next area.

And then I know everything will be OK.

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I Want It MY Way!

Poor Iraq just got home from school where she did not have a very good day. Apparently she had to sit out of recess after shutting all the stall doors in the Girl's bathroom and locking them from the inside.

I think I may have mentioned before that Iraq likes everything to be lined up neatly and look orderly. I'm sure the Girl's bathroom looked much more orderly with all the doors neatly shut. When asked why she did it, she simply said she wants things her way.

This is not a first. For the past few weeks she has been saying this a lot. Each time it comes up, I explain that in order to have friends and get along in this world, we have to be willing to share - to participate in give and take. She hasn't been impressed with the concept.

At this stage, having things her way seems far more enticing than little things like, say... friends. Other people don't really seem to matter too much. Admittedly, this is just part of autism. Children in the autism spectrum can feel quite detached from social structure. Though girls in the spectrum will often mimic their peers far better than their male counterparts, it is still just mimicking. The actual desire to help and please others does not exist beyond an expression of what they have seen acted out by friends and peers.

Unfortunately, if Iraq is to make it on this planet, she is going to have to learn to mimic the natives as well as possible. She does not understand WHY this is important at this point, and I know this will be a harsh lesson to learn as time passes. I am NOT looking forward to Junior High! These years are hard even for the most "normal" of girls, let alone someone with social detachment.

*sigh*

Live and learn. All I can do is try to help her to the best of my abilities... whether she wants to listen to what I am telling her or not. If I just keep explaining it, maybe she can assimilate simply by acting out the behaviors I describe until she understands a little better... but then... you can lead a horse to water...

A Little of This and a Little of That

Yes - It's been a while since my last blog. An unfortunate case of almost-pneumonia and then a nasty reaction to the antibiotic prescribed for the almost-pneumonia laid me low for a bit, but thankfully I seem to be on the mend now.

The weather has been lovely the past few days - cool but with plenty of sunshine. Iraq had a swim lesson yesterday and did quite well. The Skink enjoyed playing at the on-site child care center during the lesson. Iraq likes to play in the pool following the lesson. It can be very difficult to get her OUT of the pool (especially if I am not in the pool with her) but I have learned that giving her ample and regular warnings about how much time she has left to play works wonders! I generally start with a 10 minute warning, then do a 5 minute, 3 minute and 1 minute warning. I was thrilled yesterday when she got right out without a complaint when her time was up.

All three kids got their report cards this last week. Though Broadway had started the grading period in high style, he finished with one A, a flock of C's and one F. It seems the problem arose when he went to spend Passover with his paternal grandparents. I had contacted each of his teachers a week prior to his departure to ask them to make sure Broadway had all the work he would be missing at school during his trip. He brought it all home, but somehow left his entire book bag in his room when he left for his grandparents house. Grrrr... That kind of thing is VERY common for kids with ADHD. In the same way, many times in the past he has completed all his homework only to forget to take it to school and turn it in. He's quite intelligent - he's just not organized and can be very "scattered."

Now we're making him write down all his homework assignments and have the teachers initial it each day. Keep your fingers crossed that we see his consistency levels rise :o)

Iraq got 3 A's and 3 B's. Not too shabby. As a reward, she got to pick where we went to dinner on Friday night. She chose IHOP - - a GREAT choice considering kids eat free at dinner time! What a smart kid!!

The Skink also brought home a report card. It was basically a great heap of papers bearing an uncanny resemblance to her IEP. Most of the listed skills were marked with "Satisfactory" marks, a few were marked as "Mastered" and 3 - 4 were labeled "Insufficient." "Insufficient" is like Fail, I suppose, but I have to laugh that someone would give a 3-year-old failing grades. Now let's see... She received "Insufficient" marks in the following skills:
- The Skink will match primary colors "red, blue, green, yellow" after sorting has been demonstrated by an adult, 3 out of 5 times by 3/15/2011.
- The Skink will walk throughout a crowded classroom with no more than 2 falls each day while maneuvering around objects in her path by 3/15/2011. (Really?? She's not allowed to fall more than 2ce a day... and someone is going to watch her for the purpose of counting her falls??)
AND... much to my artistic chagrin, she apparently "failed" in the "purposeful" scribbling with crayons department - LOL!

I'm really not worried... I'll bet by the time she goes to college she'll know how to draw with crayons and walk through a crowded room without falling.

In light of The Skink's grades, she got to accompany us to IHOP, where she asked for, "Bacon, pancake, egg!" She devoured her entire meal as did big sister Iraq. Broadway was not excluded from the dinner, of course... he ordered steak!

I should also mention that I haven't killed Iraq's garden yet. I have discovered that peas don't like a lot of direct sunlight or heat, so they are now residing on the shady front porch. Our strawberry plant has a flower, and we're growing some of our tomatoes upside-down just for the heck of it! To avoid pests (and hopefully the use of pesticides) we are growing a number of veggies in containers, but we did put the cantaloupe plants, lettuce plants and some of the great number of tomatoes that sprouted, in the ground.

Here are some pics of a few of the things we've had "growing on" lately.

Peas:

Strawberries:

Upside-down tomatoes:

So... we'll see what happens. I'm just hoping we get a few edible tomatoes and veggies for Iraq to feel proud of.

Have a great day!!