Croup: Season 8, Episode 2 (Elijah)...and frogs and crickets.

Based on lots of sneezing and a certain little something I could hear in Elijah's breathing yesterday, I knew there was a chance that croup would happen last night. At 11:00, he woke up with mild (thank goodness) stridor. We gave him a dose of oral steroids and I sat with him in a steamy bathroom until he complained that the room was too hot. I brought him to bed with me for a bit just so I could hear if it was going to get worse. Sometimes it does, but usually the steroids help. After listening to him snore for an hour, I brought him back to his bed. This morning he had a bit of a cough, but was doing much better and seemed to sleep great for the rest of the night.

Speaking of sleep, we may have discovered something that helps Elijah sleep better. His in-home behavioral therapist was here earlier in the week when E was having a really rough time. There was a lot of screaming and refusing to do anything that was asked of him. So she got out her phone and turned on a noise app. She told him he could listen to any sound on the app and he chose....FROGS AND CRICKETS. Uhhh, ok. He immediately calmed down! So that night he asked if he could turn the noise machine in his room to FROGS AND CRICKETS as opposed to the white noise we always use. We were hesitant because who the heck wants to have frogs croaking in their ear while they sleep? We let him do it and he slept till nearly 6:00am! This. Never. Happens. We have turned on FROGS AND CRICKETS every night since and he has slept until at least 5:30, sometimes even a little past 6:00. This morning I said to Dan, "Seriously? FROGS? And CRICKETS? That's all he needed?"

The frogs and crickets have NOT helped with behavior this week. Oye. It was a DOOZY week. My energy and patience were depleted and I remembered just how challenging things could be when the wind blows violently and directly against me. We did a med increase at the end of December, but I'm wondering if we need to do another. We have an appointment to see Dr. M on Monday, so we'll see what he says and go from there. Even with the tough week we had, I don't and NEVER will blame Elijah for it. He is not the difficult one. Those detoured pathways in his brain are to blame. They make him overwhelmed and things get scary for him when that happens. It's not his fault. If anything, even through the very frustrating moments, I feel so terribly for him because I know he doesn't feel good. I have experienced anxiety in its truest meaning and it is a HORRIBLE feeling. The worst feeling. I am not always able to do this because I sometimes am too worked up and upset, but sometimes I'm able to pull out a miraculous bit of patience in the midst of a storm and.....HUG ELIJAH. It is counter-intuitive on so many levels, but it helps.

Amidst the stormy seas of NLD, we have done a few fun things in the past week! Dan and I had a night away from home without the boys. It was sooo nice and relaxing and left me wanting more! This year we will celebrate our 10-year anniversary, so we are determined to celebrate all year long! We feel super grateful that we have not only survived these 10 years, but THRIVED! That's something to celebrate.

I can't remember if I mentioned the field trip I went on with Sammy's class last week. We had so much fun snowshoeing with his class! He has the best little group of friends. They are all so sweet and kind and respectful. Which brings me to Sammy, my sweet boy. He has gotten a few extra reminders to have good behavior this week at school, which is unlike him. His teacher isn't concerned, but since it's not typical for him she thought it was worth mentioning. I asked what sorts of things he had been doing. Are you ready for this? While standing in the lunch line, he bent over and made his butt cheeks "talk" to his friends. Yep! He was SO UPSET when we gently tried to talk to him about the reminders he needed. He was so worried that his teacher was mad and that we were mad. I assured him we definitely were not upset, but that we at least needed to discuss it. He covered his ears and buried his face in the couch because he couldn't handle the thought of being in trouble at school. Yesterday he didn't need any reminders, so the gentle talk must have worked! The butt cheeks have been silenced. :)

The boys don't have school today, so they are at daycare for the first time since summer so I can work. They were so excited to see their daycare friends! Dan will be out of town tonight, so it's just the boys and me for pizza movie night. Tomorrow Elijah has snowboarding and Sammy will get to watch him for the first time. I'm still trying to figure out a way to get Sam on the slopes without a meltdown. Ice skating and sledding will be good first steps and I'm hoping to make those happen in the next few weeks.

Have a great weekend! Sorry for the ranting post. That's what happens when I only post once/week!