Peaks and Valleys

Remy has been doing exceptionally well in the last few weeks!

I just want to report that I've been consistently using doTerra oils with him on the soles of his feet at least once a day (depending on what my work schedule is, I make it a priority to oil him three times a day), I do cortices on him ideally twice a day, my friend performs BodyTalk on him from a distance, and Remy has been learning at his IBI program.

So, what growth do I see?  Well, he's using a PECs book now and stringing TWO words together on a velcro strip and giving it to us!  And yesterday he kept giving me the words "Eat" and "lunch" even though he had already had lunch.  He guys sure loves eating!  And NOW he can actually articulate it.  What a joy!

Remy's dad has been taking care of him as well as his sister's lunches and breakfasts while I go to work, so it has been an adjustment, but things are working.

With all this new development of "language" communication, Remy has had some more challenges of staying dry at night, but I believe that this is temporary as he masters the communication that he is learning right now.

I am grateful for this amazing time in his life as he is starting to hand us his requests, showing us what he wants.

Happy Holidays to you!

Kim

Progress in overnight dryness!

Wow! I want to share some really exciting news!

It is Hallowe'en today, but that's not the exciting news.

In the last few weeks to a month, Remy has had the longest stretch of waking up and getting out of a DRY bed! 

What are the changes?

Well, a friend started doing BodyTalk sessions in him, I started regularly doing his cortices, he is not wearing diapers at night and he is receiving a date every time he gets out of his dry bed in the morning :)

So, what are we seeing?

Let me give you the account backwards:

Today - bed wet

Yesterday - bed dry; got up at 3 am to use the toilet!

6 mornings of Dry bed!!!!! (So far is the record)

2 days wet

2 days dry

So there you go :) excellent progress, Remy!!!! Thank you to everyone for their support.

Happy and healthy Halloween,

Kim

Speaking a bit after using essential oils

I am hearing Remy more these last three days. His nodding and shaking his head to affirm or negate continues with intent eye contact. 

A course days ago Remy approached the kitchen door. I asked him what he wants and he said "pea" meaning peach because he nodded when I asked "you want a peach?".  And of course to confirm this he engulfed the peace quite quickly!

Today he asked for "blueberries"! He also said "mama" after I modelled it. Could it be too early to tell of it' the doTerra oils that are indeed helping with the extra speech and language attempts? I am really curious :)

I have been using the oils on him for about a week now, and I do find him calmer in general. 

Little by little, layers ate coming off to reveal the bright and precious Remy!

Here are a couple of photos of when one of Remy's former volunteers (our super super babysitter) came to visit. 

Little Sister and Tina were playing ring around a Rosie when they Remy joined them in the falling down part!  Amazing :)

So proud of my little guy. He is such an inspiration and motivation for me to keep learning and growing.

After second Osteopathy visit

Well, it's been just over two weeks since our last osteopathy appointment and I am finally getting to write about Remy's progress.

Remy's first appointment was back in April before his seventh birthday. It was a pretty good first appointment since he just sat on the mini refrigerator overlooking circulating traffic through the huge window. Our osteopath is also a naturopath, so it's really handy to have one person help is troubleshoot diet, supplements and osteopathy.

At the end of the first appointment it was time to put hands on Remy. Well, that was not easy! But with enough gentle persistence and help with the entertaining window of moving traffic, Remy did allow Jason (our osteopath and naturopath) to touch his stomach and back. In fact Remy started shifted Jason's hands to where he wanted the touch!

So our second appointment was even more spectacular. Remy still watched traffic while sitting on the mini refrigerator but Jason was already with towels in the right places. Remy allowed about 15 minutes, and Jason was able to get to work on his head and neck.

The whole afternoon after the second appointment Remy was very calm! I love that!

Let me just share the most exciting daily developments I see with Remy:

1. He has been opening doors for me to push the stroller through
2. He is consistently nodding to respond to yes-no questions while looking right into people's eyes
3. He even shakes his head if the response is a 'no' - we are just trying to give him enough time to process the question and give him the chance to respond.
4. He continues to wave hi and bye-bye to people with less prompting.

We definitely see some positive growth.

Along with the growth, there also some challenging behaviours to embrace as well such as running off, ripping leaves, urinating in public or in places other than the toilet, etc. but what do I want to focus on and nourish? I want to celebrate his positive growth!

Yay, Remy! Let's keep growing :)

Thank you all for spreading our video and for your kind thoughts of hope.

Blissful blessings,
Kim

THANK YOU for participating in Remy's 7th Birthday Fundraiser

What a month April was.

Every April 2nd is International Autism Awareness day.  Remy was diagnosed with Autism in April 2009.  Ironically, Remy's birthday is also at the end of April. 

Every year we receive so many presents and birthday wishes for Remy.  Thank you all for your thoughtfulness and generosity.  Thank you for helping us spread this video.  If you haven't seen it yet, just click below :)  Feel free to share with anyone it may inspire.

 

Update

Since sending out my email with Remy's birthday video present, the video has had 144 views!  Thank YOU for making this happen.  With each passing day, the number is views increase, and I am encouraged by it.  Thank you for taking the time to watch and share.

To date, Remy has received $65 from three donations via PayPal, a $50 cheque in the mail and $120 dollars in cash from family.  Thank you so much.  

Remy was actually sick in bed for the day of his birthday last week, but he did get out of bed to eat the strawberries off the side of his special no grain cake.

What we are fund raising for

These are some estimated expenses for Remy's care in the next 6 months.

Osteopathy - $120 per session (estimated to be once a month for the next 6 months) = $720

Connecting with Autism (CWA)
- Online Training Course - $150 (for the month of April 2013) or $225 (regular price)
- Growth through Play System (GPS) Evaluation and Reports, and Sensory Processing Evaluation and Reports - $280 (this includes a 1 hour consultation)
- Ongoing going consultations - $120-$150 per 50 minute session (once every 6-8 weeks, so that $150 x 3 = $450 for the next 6 months ) = $880 USD

RESPITE
  - This one is HUGE
  - $416 ($16 for two hours for the next 26 Fridays)

A Juicer as part of his GAPS diet for detoxing.
  

The Benefits of Giving with an Open heart

Do you want to give to a good cause, but just haven't done it? Do you feel that what you can comfortably contribute is too little or insignificant for to reach the goal of the fundraiser? Are you putting it off until it's more “convenient”? Do you feel that the cause resonates with you, but that you're embarassed about how small you can contribute?

I want to tell you that if a cause resonates with you, it's inspiration. And when inspiration knocks, act on it, or it will pass.

I used to think I didn't have much to give so I wouldn't. What I did feel that I could contribute seemed so little that it would be no use to even donate that. I was embarrassed and felt I would judged for giving so little so instead I would not give.

Fast forward many years and through many life's lessons, I've learned that I have a lot more to offer than it seems. No amount of contribution is insignificant. In fact, I want to demonstrate how our thinking and actions impact the way things work out.

My friend Jackie was fundraising for $20,000 just recently to go toward  bringing her son to the Son-Rise Program®  Intensive at the Autism Treatment Center of America. I saw her family's fundraising video, and I was inspired! I've learned from Joe Vitale that I should give my money to who inspires me. Now, in the terms of cash, I am limited at the moment, but, I could afford $20. Now looking at 20 to 20,000 seems quite small. But this is how I thought

I am inspired, and I want to donate toward this cause. I feel that I can give a token donation of $20. This donation represents my desire to help reach their goal of $20,000. Along with my donation  I am sending my wishes that their donations will multiply. I have faith that with enough people contributing what they CAN , this family WILL reach their goal.

Jackie's family surpassed their goal a few weeks ago!

Now on the flip side, I could think (as many people may think):

“that is a huge goal. My $20 means nothing. I can't help them out.” Now imagine that 20 people have this same thought... that's $400 dollars added together!

I want to wrap up this post the story entitle “Stone Soup” that I heard when I was a child. This story really resonated with me, and I am retelling it and explaining what I learned from it to you.

So as I remember the story, a stranger comes into a village during hard times. People are poor and there is little food to eat. The stranger is hungry, and so he knocks at people's doors asking for food. He is turned down with responses that there is not enough food to share. So the stranger sets up a pot, starts a fire and puts in water with a stone.

Soon people were wondering what was going on. They started coming out to see what the stranger was making. “I'm making stone soup,” he explained. Then he tasted it.

People asked, “how is it?”

“Mmm. Not bad,” he responded. “Oh, but it would taste even better if it had some onions.”

Someone in the crowd volunteered some onion, and the stranger added it to the pot.

“How is it now?”

“Mmm, it's much better.” Then he thought, “it would even taste better with some carrots.”

Someone volunteered carrots.

“How is it now?”

“Mmm. Great! Now if we only had some celery.”

Someone volunteered celery.

“This soup is getting really yummy. But it would be so much better with some zucchini .. some tomatoes... potatoes...”

You guessed, it. For every vegetable, someone in the crowd was able to offer to the pot.

At the end of the story, the whole village was able to enjoy the wonderful soup that everyone contributed to. It started with one person putting in a stone. Then one addition of an ingredient inspired the next ingredient until finally, there was an abundant pot of soup for everyone to enjoy. 

So, all this is illustrate that your contribution, no matter how small you think it may be, is significant and is appreciated!

Lots of love to you!

Remy's Birthday Video Present

For Remy's Birthday

Wow!  Can  you believe it?

Remy is turning seven at the end of April!

 This year, I hope to make him a birthday party theme with Cookie Monster incorporating it into his GAPS diet. I hope that by that day we will be into the FULL GAPS so that I could make him a cake and some cookies. Of course the ingredients will consistently of seeds, allowed fats, nuts and dried fruit or honey.

To be honest, Remy does not play with many toys. The things he enjoys are good food, fish oil, having fun with someone loving one-on-one and his IPad.  

Every year, we receive very thoughtful wishes and gifts for Remy, so this year we welcome financial gifts that will go toward his ongoing therapies. We appreciate all your kindness and generosity!  

Our ongoing fund raising goals:

Supplements:

Speak fish oil - 
Probiotics -

Consultations and Therapies

Osteopathy - $120/hour - At time of writing this blog post, our first appointment is booked for April 17th.  This initial appointment will be for 1.5 hours and will cost $170.  Once we have the initial assessment, we should be able to find out how often treatment is recommended.  I will update once we find out.

Connecting with Autism consultations - $120 to $150 per 50 minute session
Connecting with Autism GPS (to help Remy's homeschooling success) - $280
Connecting with Autism online training course - $150 for the month of April or $265

A juicer $380.00 would be helpful in getting him the juices he needs for detoxifying as part of the GAPS diet. 

This year Remy has his own bank account, so all birthday cheques can be written in his name:  Remy Laurin. If there are therapies that you would like to personally fund, please let us know.

Thank you all for wanting to be part of Remy's growth.  

We could not do this alone.  Your contribution, love, and belief in us are vital to the success of healing.  

Remember, there is no such thing as a contribution that is too small.  Many times people think that because what they can give is so small that it is insignificant, so do not even consider it to be helpful.  But help is cumulative!  

Imagine we received one dollar from each family member, friend, stranger who receives this message... now imagine that some people will want and can give more than a dollar.  I'll be here to tally up and show you the evidence that gifts grow!  

We are excited to share the wonderful gift of Remy and all that he offers to us.  

Blissful Blessings,

Remy's INTRO GAPS DIET day 3

Remy GAPS diet day 3

March 31, 2013

This morning I gave him a probiotic with water before anything else. Yesterday was the Metagenics one and today's was the TruFlora. I have read that probiotics could cause 'die-off' reactions, so I am giving only one a morning to start.

After having soup with a raw egg yolk in the morning before 9am, Remy started to get very upset. He was crying and thrashing. I was in the shower, and Alex didn't know what to do.

Quickly after showering and washing my hair, I took Remy downstairs to the playroom. There he cried and thrashed his body on the mattress and on me. Within 5 minutes of me just being there loving him and holding him he started calming down. We got down to the playroom at 9:30 and he started being "happy" again by 9:37 or so.

I told him I would make him some tea. It was a fifteen minute tea party! It was pretty good. Remy loves the hot camomile tea with honey. I just had to be very careful he didn't burn anyone with the hot tea. I poured him a tiny hit in a small ramekin again an again. It was a good activity as it gave us a chance to practice "pour", "tea", "hot" and "more". Remy has been using the sign (ASL) consistently for a few months now.

Making lots of soup and bone broth has been central to the GAPS diet so that is what I have been soon for the last week and especially for this weekend.

Today I decided to give Remy some mashed avocado in his soup, which is in stage three of the intro diet, after he pieced my forearm with his short but very sharp strong nails. In retrospect I am not sure if it was a good idea since I didn't want him to think that hurting people would get him what he wants.

So far so good. Remy really enjoys the soup, so we may be introducing scramble eggs tomorrow. Oh, and I will probably make him some sort of casserole to give the diet some textural variance.

Getting ready for Monday now. Happy Easter.

Remy homeschool day 9

Remy homeschool day 9
Thursday, March 28, 2013

Remy got up this morning and went to the toilet on his own. Starting to count again his streak of waking up with a clean and dry bed! I love that he's been going to bed without a diaper ever since last week.

Remy was quite calm this morning. He just wandered into the kitchen looking for food, no loudness nor hyperactivity. He tried to get to the pieces of orange that his sister wouldn't eat that we're in the sink, but I caught him on time and redirected him to his soup and bison bone broth. He had several small helpings and seemed satisfied.

I feel good about starting this diet officially with the intro tomorrow. He likes the food, an I am getting the hang of dividing up the preparation.

We took Sister to school taking the long way. At the school, Remy went around and around the garden raised perimeter very very fast while using me as balance. Then we ran together all the way home with some walking breaks. He seems to really like me running with him, and I am SO enjoying it too :)

The baby was crying when I walked in the front door. It seems to be that stage now where he will cry for me to pick him up. Today we got home at 9:10 am.

With some guidance from me Remy hung up his coat and put his shoes away before using the toilet and then going downstairs to the playroom.

While he played fish activity on the iPad I managed to eat my breakfast and feed as well as change and potty the baby before going downstairs to join him.

At 10:00 I guided him to use the toilet then we came back downstairs to drink his bison broth. It was too hot and Remy said "hot"! So he waited patiently trying the broth again and again intermittently until he was able to drink all that was in the thermos.

This morning remy has been more interested in iPad with the fish than going up on the windowsill. Going on the windowsill has been the regular activity these days but today he is really pleasant and calm with exception of some mild giddiness and giggling. He initiated me to muff his ears as well as engage with me with open fingers hands up over the table. He likes interlacing my fingers with his.

I have noticed Remy making his fingers into twists. It seems that he is trying to stretch them out as well as shake them out. He also has been blowing on them. I wonder if he has punched nerve causing him to feel burning or tingling sensations in his extremities. He also has not been letting me do buzz snap hands (one of this HANDLE activities that he had no problems with a month ago). I am looking forward to seeing what the osteopath can offer to help us.

After soup Remy has been really calm and focused on flash cards that he tried to get by himself by puttin a chair on the mattress to reach. The cards he likes he bends and wrinkles them.

From 11:15 am some family came to visit us in his playroom. Remy was quiet and calm looking at his flash cards and just taking care of himself.

As the guests were leaving. I walked Rwmy upstairs too. He sat on the windowsill in the kitchen as I was gathering clothes for our cousins. Remy ate two ripe pears on the windowsill quietly. What a guy :)

We returned downstairs after using the toilet. Then I took a few minutes to feed the baby and to get Remy more soup. When I returned he was foun a puzzle activity on his iPad calmly at the table.

He welcomed his soup by putting his iPad aside. I brought him small portions of soup several times, and he finished every serving each time.

I had him stay learning with his iPad in the playroom as I tried to eat my lunch and feed the baby. During this time the handyman came to touch up the baby's room door. Remy came up the stairs to go have a bowel movement. As soon as I recognized this at 1:14 pm, I turned in both hallway lights for him so that he wouldn't streak naked turning those lights on to indicated BM. It worked!

From 2 to 2:38 we went out for some exercise outdoors. We walked, we ran and we jumped. Remy initiated jumping 2 times and he came up with a chasing game in which he would pull me behind him and he would run off laughing giving himself a head start! But I ran fast too and quickly caught on to his game. His eye contact while running (and jumping in trampoline) is so sweet and amazing.

As we were going to get the mail and open the front door Remy ran off to the neighbour's front yard to get whatever remaining dirty snow there was. He laughed, but I got him back to the house rather quickly.

He took off his coat and hung it (not very elegantly, but it was on the hook!) and put his shoes neatly where I pointed.

I was able to attend the Q and A webinar getting my questions about the GAPS diet that I needed to know before officially starting Remy on the Intro diet tomorrow. My mom helped me keep an eye on Remy while I was on the call. Thank you, Mom!

In the evening I was on a health history call so Alex was taking care if all three kids. Near the end of my call, Remy apparently urinated all over his bed and comforter. And Alex discovered that Remy had poured my cup of water out in the playroom. Lesson to self: keep all histories under one hour and always keep liquids out of Remy's reach when he is not supervised.

All in all, a wonderful day today. It has been great so far since last Monday.

Remy Homeschool Day 8

Remy homeschool day 8
27 march 2013 Wednesday

Great morning start! Remy didn't eat anything before we left the house to take Sophia to school. I showered him because he had peed his bed overnight.

Coming home from Sophia's school was awesome! Remy went on the perimeters of the school garden around and around quickly holding my hand. The guy has very good balance like a heavy ballerina :)

He started running off an I would run along side him instead of telling him to stop or wait. I kept doing this and I think Remy was impressed with my new stamina! I have been feeling slimmer the last two days and I felt a lot more strength and endurance to run with him instead of after him.

It became like a game. We would run and then "1, 2, 3 jump!". He smiled looked me, laughed in delight. It was nice and sunny! What a wonderful start to our day.

We got back to the house at 9:04 am! I think that's a record for coming back so early. I made him apple sauce out of an apple mixed with some probiotic. He finished it up rather quickly, and came to me with the empty bowl looking for more food.

Because my mom told me not to give him tea with the suspicion that it caused him to laugh for over an hour yesterday, I decided to not make him any today to see if there would be a difference. But we were out to the library and health food store and he seemed just fine. I cannot determine if it was the tea. Only through experimentation will I figure it out like most things.

Remy ate two substantial bowls of lentils before we went out so he wasn't hungry. We ran and walked. He looked at me and got me to scratch his back as we made our way to the library. He used the toilet there no problem. He just wanted to wash his hands more.

He was OK at the health food store too. He jut hoisted himself on the counter a few times like usual but no running around.

Remy kept pushing his stomach and got me to push his stomach on the way home. This is an indication to me that something is going on internally with his gut.

When we got home, I fed the baby while Remy enjoyed leftover veggies in chicken stock. I am SO grateful that he has taken to the meat stocks and mushy veggies. I think that we can begin his intro to the GAPS diet this Friday. I just have a Q and A with Julie Matthews tomorrow afternoon about the GAPS webinar two weeks ago before I am ready to execute the intro with Remy.

In the afternoon our transition coordinator came to do a little assessment on Remy using the ABA method. I got a jar of kale chips to help her in doing the assessment. There was a lot of demands put in Remy by the stranger in his playroom. Most of the time time he just ran off laughing and trying to sneak the kale. He also jump quite a bit on the trampoline, but with a lot of physical manipulation (or "prompting") she did manage to complete the 5 level assessment. Remy didn't pass the fifth level which was putting a dry piece of sponge (he kept trying to eat them) in either the yellow tin or red box. I was pretty impressed though by what he actually did for a stranger.

Although we have been waiting a long time for funding (almost four years now) to give Remy the recommended IBI treatment, I am not sure I want to use that method to teach him. The relationship piece has been so rewarding; I want to continue to build on it. The ABA just doesn't feel right or in alignment with me.

At bedtime Remy went into the bathroom rummaging in the magazine rack and he pulled out a Golden Book entitled Puppy Love starring Bert, Ernie and dogs. He took it back to his bed and looked through it. I sat down with him on his mattress. Then he looked at me and gave me the book, so I started reading it to him. He took the book back before I could finish the first page.

Every day is a journey. Enjoy it thoroughly!

Kim :)

Day one of homeschool

Yay! It has been a success.

A couple of weeks ago just before the March Break both Remy's dad and I agreed that public school just wasn't the right place for Remy the time. So we made the decision to homeschool him after the March Break.

The March Break was more and more challenging as the days progressed. The school Remy had been going to started writing about Remy's irritation just prior to lunch time. Well, I also experienced that in forms of scratches to an blows to my body during the March Break. Happily, put first day of homeschooling saw much calmness and smiles.

Looking forward to his developing program.

Enjoy your day!
Kim

Restarting Remy's Room

Today was the last day before Match Break starts tomorrow. Just a week ago I was trying to figure out how to survive the ten day holiday with all three kids... Now I am also working on planning homeschooling starting after the 'break.'

We sent Remy to public school last October because it seemed that he was just running around the house eating, breaking things, etc. I thought it was the coolest and most wonderful thing that he got into a structured learning classroom.

Remy quite seemed I enjoy the bus. It's sometimes really difficult to get Remy to get off the snow as he jumps his whole body onto the white ground.
Well, when I just mention that the bus is coming, he would get up and wander to the edge of our driveway waiting for the small yellow-orange school bus.

Today was his last day on the bus. I trust that he knows it.

I had a consult today with our family coach, and I am feeling good for trying to homeschool Remy again. The top concern about homeschooling was about burning out and making sure to give myself time for self-care.

One very important thing to get right away is finding a reliable helper to dedicate two hours a day to give me respite.

I believe that we will find the right person or persons. This time I feel confident that our program will be sustainable and effective.

Let me know if you or someone you know is interested in volunteering Monday to Friday between 9 - 5. I can be more specific with the hours when you get in touch.

Thank you!
Blissful blessings,

Kim