week 13.

This week was hard for me; I'm not going to lie. Emmett was a handful and I felt like I didn't get any kind of a break. I am exhausted. Most of the time I feel as if I'm treading water and I can barely keep my chin above water; while trying to dodge the waves that slosh over my face. I love to swim, but this is difficult. Many people don't understand the definition of 'exhausted'. Most people just think it's another word for tired, but it actually goes beyond the level of tired. It happens slowly, over time. It affects mind, body, and spirit. It wears on you and begins to make you dull. Exhaustion has affected me in bizarre, often embarrassing ways. Auto pilot kicks in, and that becomes your new awake. If someone tells you they are exhausted, please don't just tell them to go take a nap. They need much more than sleep.
 Emmett has been doing a lot more stimming lately. He cannot control his excitement. Hand flapping, hopping up and down, and making loud high-pitched giggles are just a few of the things Emmett does when he is happy. Although it may appear cute, it becomes a problem when we are at public places, such as a pool. Emmett gets so excited being in the water and watching the other kids, he begins splashing everywhere and throwing toys. Even though he isn't necessarily splashing or throwing at the other kids, it still happens and people get mad. This week we went to the pool twice and I had many 'looks' from other moms and one mom actually came up to me, requesting that I make my child stop his splashing and throwing. The problem is, no matter what consequence I give Emmett, he does not learn from it. I think his actions are out of his control.
With that said, Tianna (OT) tried some methods on Emmett to try to calm his body down, such as 'brushing' his body with a soft silicone brush, joint compressions and deep tissue massage. Trying this methods before we go out in public might help with keeping his body calm. This can make trying to get out the door even more challenging, especially because I'm not used to doing these things. We will learn more about these methods next week.
Speech therapy went fairly well this week. Zena is beginning to have Emmett try to describe things that he's doing while they play.
On Friday, Emmett had the second part of his psychology assessment with Children's in Mpls. Aside from one meltdown, the assessment went really well. Dr. Mary, the psychologist (not the friendliest, by the way), performed an IQ test along with others. Now, we wait for the results. She wants him to have another assessment in one year.
In addition to the assessment, we had Emmett's 3-month follow-up appt with Dr. Amy at Children's. She asked us how intervention treatments were working and wanted to make sure we were getting all of Emmett's needs met. She is really nice and helpful. We need to go back and see her in 6 months.