Summertime Catch-Up

Wowzers. It's been nearly six months since I blogged last. Can't believe it! I guess time flies, especially during the summer time.
Well we started out the summer with t-ball, which actually went much better than expected. He wouldn't get out of the car at the first game, and by the last game he was running the bases! Ok, so he was screaming while Travis or I was dragging him around the bases... but it was progress!
No t-ball pics this year, he was way out of sorts on picture night, and there was no way I was going to get him to stand still for 30 seconds fully clothed. Oh well.
Mid-summer we had another appointment with Dr. Hoffman (the developmental pediatrician). We got a great report. He was very pleased with Waylon's progress, and with the diet and therapy changes we had made since our last visit. He encouraged us to try a vitamin D3 supplement, and beef up his other vitamins a bit. So we did.
Waylon started a powdered vitamin supplement shortly after our appointment with Dr. Hoffman. Apparently there are testimonials out there of how well it has worked for people with many different health issues, including autism. You are supposed to give it four times a day, so it's kind of a pain. He doesn't really like it, and we have to mix it in chocolate pudding. Plus instant pudding is not on his diet, so I have to make cook and serve pudding. Combine that with his schedule, and I was sending this souped-up vitamin pudding to daycare, preschool, therapy, and then trying to get it in him before bedtime, and it was a pain in the butt.
And then he got constipated. And it was a literal pain in the butt.
I don't know if the vitamin mixture was causing the constipation, but we stopped it about a week or so ago to see if it would help. It's pretty difficult to teach a kid to poop regularly when he can't talk. To save you all from being grossed out, I'll just say that we cleaned him out rather thoroughly and we're trying to keep him from getting that clogged up again.
And, it was a pain in the butt. (Did I mention that?)
This summer we did a research trial with the Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training. We collected Waylon's saliva on a few different occasions and went to Lawrence two different Saturdays for developmental testing. They mailed us the results, which were as always, a little depressing. (His receptive/expressive language skills and visual reception skills were the equivalent of a two-year-old's, and his vocabulary testing was in the 8th percentile.) But hopefully the results from this study helps other families affected by autism!
And, now that fall has started, we are back on our school-year schedule. Preschool in the AM and Autism Concepts in the PM. I am so hopeful that this is the year that he takes off! This is our last hoo-rah before kindergarten! Wish us luck!

And ps- I will try to update a little sooner next time!