Waves of Optimism

We finished off this week with more rounds of Brainwave Optimization.  I will update you now and tell you that Isaac has been doing really well, physically and mentally.  He's growing leaps and bounds as far as learned knowledge goes.  He loves to do his "work" as he calls it.  It's a preschool workbook full of concepts that children should learn, like the difference between big and small, first and last, red and blue.  As far as his health is concerned, he seems to be fine.  And by fine, I mean that it's the first time in a long time that I forget about the diagnosis and really consider him to be just another normal kid.

We scheduled the treatments now (as in this weekend) for a couple of reasons.  First being that Grandma Tammy has so generously offered to pay for them.  We are so blessed.  The second is that doing the next round of treatments within a relatively short time of the first round will give us the maximum results.  It also helps us avoid the cost of another assessment.  And finally, Troy was able to help out on Saturday, when we scheduled two of the four sessions.  Remember, we have to wait for him in our car, so the extra hands do help.

I'm very optimistic about the results from this mini session.  Isaac is pretty sure that this work on his brain is going to make him a genius (his words).  I wouldn't mind the genius factor, but I'm just shooting for good bowels.

Since we were all together, and out and about, we decided to make an adventure of our Saturday.  Our adventure, going to beach.  I know, I know.  We've been plenty since moving to Houston, but what differed this time was the time of day when we went.  Usually we wake up before the sun does and head out there and enjoy the beach with few others.  It's nice to beat the crowds and the heat.  So we were really shaking it up this time.

It was pretty sunny and a little windy.

We kept with our tradition of building a sand castle.

We rescued a tiny fish from the moat around our castle.

The boys did a great job making it look really ruinous.  

Here we are taking credit for Daddy's work.

Daddy found a small hermit crab.

Then he found some more.

Annie had to rescue them all.

Going to the beach in the late afternoon was surely a different experience.  It was pretty warm outside when we got there and pretty sunny.  We managed not to get burned, but it did cool off pretty quickly as the sun set.  We felt less rushed in the evening.  Troy even mentioned staying around for longer than we did, but the kids were getting pretty cold and tired.  Another difference was the amount of people.  We were not the only ones on the beach.  It's okay, a crowded beach and all, but I prefer the quiet time away from the people.  *Sidenote- What is this new mullet of a bathing suit style that women are wearing now a days?!  It's almost a one piece in the front and definitely a bikini in the back.  Huh.  Back on track.   The sea gulls were out in flocks in the evening.  I'm sure it has to do with dinner time/people out there feeding them.  But we managed to avoid any droppings, so that's good.  We will probably do the evening beach excursion again.  We will definitely do the early morning excursion this summer as well. 

In summary, I'm enjoying the wave that we are riding on now, so to speak.  Good health and great fun.  In my opinion it's a great way to start off the sunny season.

*Sidenote- Happy April Fools!

Deep Breath In

A friendly hug outside Whole Foods

To say the least, I was conflicted about starting this last week.  Isaac underwent 10 sessions of brainwave optimization.  That in itself was exciting.  The office where we got the treatments done was clear on the other side of town.  The treatments were each 2 hours long and we were doing 2 a day with a 2 hour break in between.  Those were the things I wasn't looking forward to.  Deep breath in.

I was looking forward to Isaac getting the treatments and excited about the possibilities it held for him.  I wasn't looking forward to a 40 minute drive each morning, waiting in a waiting room for 4 hours total with my other two kids, and then driving back 40 minutes to get home.  But we (I) pulled it all together, gritted our (my) teeth, and "happily" went along with it.  Deep breath in.

In our van

Now, I won't drag it out.  I'll let you know right now that after the first 2 hours in the waiting room, I was politely told that my kids were too loud for this office's reception area and that I would have to find some place else to wait.  A really deep breath in.  Now, I won't deny that my kids made noise while we were there.  They're kids.  Duh.  But I will defend them and say that they were well behaved and getting along and making the best of being in a waiting area that definitely wasn't made with a single child in mind.  So where did we go from here?  Our van.  Yep, we spent 4 hours each day waiting in our car for Isaac to get his treatments.  Deep breath in...

On the flip-side, Isaac did really great.  He had a good time and behaved himself just fine while having the treatments done.  It's too soon to tell how well it will work for his bowels, but we can already tell a difference in his concentration, speech, and sleeping behaviors.  And chances are that we will see some results in the next 1 to 6 weeks.  

What do you think it is?

All things considered, it was a good week.  Our lunch breaks were spent at the dinosaur museum and Whole Foods.  We got to dig for dinosaurs and learn about malacology.  We played at the park and watched movies on the laptop.  We survived.  Deep breath out.

But the end of the story involved a broken water pump, smoke coming out of the hood of our van, a tow truck, a constable, and eventually a rented car.  Deep breath in...and hold...