A Braverman kind of day...

So last week I talked about how much I loved watching the ABC Shows Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice episodes dealing with adoption... They just really got it right. (Not so much now the Private Practice part though. Hello!!!! You loose one baby and quit trying all together. What a WIMP!)

Anyway, my Aunt Jimae, my cousin Nicki and a few of my sisters have been telling me for 2 and a half years that I have got to watch PARENTHOOD on NBC. They tell me it is totally my life. I missed the first few episodes and I don't like to get in on a show in the middle so I just never got into it. But after being asked by Jimae, Nicki, Mitzi and Lani SO SO SO MANY times if I watched this or that episode, I finally decided it was a good time to watch the show. I went online and found it available for $13 for the entire season 1 dvd set.

Well, in the first 42 minutes, I cried 7 times! ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? It was so right. They got it so perfect. I love that they have the extended family being such a huge part of the struggle to understand the autistic son, Max. I cried the hardest when Max came out worried about his game and the whole family (Aunts and Grandparents included) jumped to get him to the game. The aunts helped with team snacks, the sister ran to get his uniform. It was my favorite scene. It is me life. It is why I LOVE living in Cary, and having 3 sisters and their families so close by.

The part I laughed the hardest at was when they FINALLY got in with the behaviorial specialist and needed to "rush" to get to the appointment. I hadn't ever seen this show before, but yet I totally started laughing before the scene even finished because I KNEW what was going to happen. YOU NEVER RUSH A KID with this issues. And then the dad turns off the tv!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! I WAS ROLLING on the bed by this point. HILARIOUS!!! These writers are BRILLIANT!!!

Thanks for encouraging me to watch it Aunt Mae, Nicki and sisters. I love that you think of me when you watch it. Yep, that is EXACTLY how it is.

Hahaahaaaa... the dad turned off the tv. What a rookie mistake! Again, hilarious.

And Lani, last Thursday when I cancelled out on going with you and the girls to yoga at 8pm... I had just had a VERY BRAVERMAN kind of day, and I was exhausted. Thanks for being understanding... It really helps.

Super Brighton up in the trees. He loves to climb and never gets scared... no matter how high or huge the tree is!

Brighton does not feel pain like other people do. We are actually having him tested to find out more about this. He can endure intense pain before he fells it which can be good or bad. He also is going to start seeing an Autism behavioral specialist in 2 weeks. We are really excited to see how it works. I loved it when the mom and dad on PARENTHOOD went in to the doctor and I KNEW they were thinking, tell us he hasn't got it. Tell us it is a mistake. And then when the dad asks how long he will have it, like it is the flu... HILARIOUS! Again, GREAT SHOW!!!

My guy

"Mom, sometimes I listen to my brain and sometimes, because of my Autism, I listen to the Holy Ghost." It was such a great moment... He just got it. That sometimes his brain makes "crazies" and he can't always trust that... so he needs to listen with his heart and to the Holy Ghost.

We have been working a lot on using his words, and speaking his thoughts, instead of just breaking down into the "crazies". He now knows when to say, "Mom, it's just freaking me out!"

What a great kid. I love being his mom.

Autism anyone?

They ask me, "Does he ever line up his toys?" Ummmmmm.... ALWAYS!

Brighton, you are an amzing kid, and I am the luckiest mom in the world to get to hang out with you every day. I sure love you a lot!

You are Brighton's mom if:

If you know what IBI, ABA, SDC, ASL, IEP and TACA are.

The only thing that will calm him down is to yell "Baby Sandwich" and then run and catch him and lay down with all your weight on him.

You know that baby ears for breakfast is the greatest thing in the world!

If he is going to be 6 next week, and he is still very far from being potty trained.

You learn to adapt to OCD behavior and it doesn't bother you. You give him time and limits, but let him do it.

If you find yourself doing things in a pattern to prevent meltdowns

If you know to take a bag of gummies, sensory stretchy toys and a race car with you everywhere.

If you know NEVER to offer him a bottle of water without first grabbing a sharpie and writing a capital B on it (for Brighton)

If the clothes you purchase are button and zipper free

If you are still buying pull-ups at the age of 6 and wishing daily they would make bigger sizes, that are cool styles, not the grandma kind.

If you can watch the same section of Kung Fu Panda over and over and over and over and not get frustrated.

If you just picked things up, only to turn around and find them scattered in the EXACT manner as they were before.

IF YOU HAVE PATIENCE.

You have cars lined up always.

You cook the same food everyday!
Breakfast, frozen Waffles with peanut butter and whip cream, cut into strips, eaten with fingers. Do not make any changes!!! Followed by an Otter Pop if good behavior.

Immediately after school, Celeste's Pepperoni Pizza (Silly daddy bought Sausage/Pepperoni.... what was he thinking???) Right now, shout out a HUGE thank you to Celeste's Pizza for being so affordable! $1.00 a pizza! So great! followed, of course, by Otter Pop if good behavior.

He hugs you so tight you can't breathe, but you don't want him to stop as it is so wonderful.

You chuckle at the "problems" other parents THINK they have with a non Angel.

Your heart has broken during a severe meltdown or tantrum.

You are capable of finding many adaptations to make his world a little better.

You remind yourself at least twice a day... It is a short circuit in his brain. It is not him being a brat or a jerk! He seriously does not get it. Talk it out, talk it out!

The Blessing of Brighton!

Wow, Blessings, so much gratitude and abundance.
Our lives are so full of good and wonderful moments this season!

One blessing we have with Cole is that he gets a nurse to come and "play" with him a couple times a month. His respite care nurses are amazing. Luz and Lydia... This gives me time to spend doing something special with Brighton.

Last week I picked Bright up from school and took him on a special, secret date. We went to the Irvine Spectrum and saw a double feature!! Disney's BOLT in 3-D (super cool!) and IMAX Madagascar 2 (Way Awesome)! (Direct quotes from Bright.) We had a really great night together.

Brighton is doing so well. Since April, when we were told that he has Autism with Sensory Processing challenges, we have begun parenting him very differently. He is a new kid. 90% of the time we are able to avoid the crazies. And when we can't avoid them, at least now we know what is causing them, and we are so much better equipped to handle them. Brighton is handling himself so much better.

There were 6 issues that I went to my pediatrician about.
1. Sensory...
Too loud! My drink is too cold! The light is burning my eyes!

2. Potty Training 5 years old and no closer now than we were 3 years ago.

3. Toes, digging so hard and obsessively that it bleeds, and he can't "snap out of " the trance. Fixated on the toes.

4. Transitions. Even if we are going from boring nothing to Disneyland. If I forget to " warn" him, he freaks out.

5. Aggressive Outbursts... normal sweet kid 90% of the time... then all of a sudden, crazy takes over his little body. It's like he can't handle his emotions.

6. Eating... There were seriously only five foods he would eat regularly.
Waffles with peanut butter and whip cream
Pirates booty
Peanut Butter Captain Crunch Cereal
Gummies
Celeste frozen microwave pepperoni pizza.
Everything else was... It's wet, yucky, there's stuff on it.
And no matter how hungry he would get, it did not matter. He just would not eat. It was like he physically could not get it down.

Now we realize there is just a short circuit in his brain. And we are learning how to re-route his thought processes sot hat he can accommodate regular life in his wiring... Life gets easier by the day!

He eats almost like any other kid now. Every once in a while he will still have to bye bye (spit out) a mouth full of food. But if you look at him in June and compare it to now, it is a million, trillion times better.

Learning what the problem is makes all the difference in the world.