We are still here.

We let the boys watch Xmen this weekend. I kept asking Brent, “You do remember this movie well enough to remember if I need to cover their eyes for any reason, don’t you?” He assured me that he had seen the movie many times. Anyway, as each new character is introduced into the movie, the boys are getting more and more excited to see what their powers are etc. There is a guy in the movie (Scott/Cyclopes) who has to wear sun glasses all the time so that he doesn’t shoot laser beams out of his eyes when not necessary. (I know, I know.) Reese runs out of the room, and then comes running back in with his glasses on. He says, “I am Cyclopes!” It just cracks me up that kids think to do things like that. Brooks said he was Wolverine and kept pretending to make his claw things shoot out of his hands. I haven’t made up my mind yet as to who I want to be. :)

In other news... We had been having issues with Reese’s behavior at school. Nothing major, but it was constant. He could not be still nor could he keep his mouth closed. None of what he was doing would be considered being “bad”, just disruptive. Here is an example. When he would come in to class in the morning, he would find out what they were supposed to be working on, or see something new and different in the class room, and then he would have to announce it loudly to each new kid that comes in the room. He also had problems staying in his seat and being still. His P.E. teacher even said he was trying to teach the class!
We took Reese to Dr. T. in December, and after a long visit with him, we have decided to try medication for awhile. One factor that led to this was Dr. T. learning that Brent struggled with many of these same issues when he was little. This is a sign of it being hereditary. We also went over a list of things that can cause over stimulation in children and we don’t do any of those things anyway. This led to us knowing there was nothing we could change to help him.
I love Dr. T. He started by saying, if this was 200 years ago, Reese would be working on a farm and none of this would be an issue, but since society has changed, we must try to work into society. He discourages the “diagnosing” of a child with ADHD because he feels like by doing that we would be labeling him as if something is wrong with him, when there is really nothing wrong. He said, “This is just Reese.”
Reese has been taking medicine for a little over a week now and I have noticed only subtle changes, which is what we were going for. Mom pointed out before church Sunday morning that while Reese was talking to his best friend Cooper, he was just sitting there, where as used to, Reese would have been bouncing while talking to Cooper. The best way I can describe it is that on a scale of one to ten of hyperactivity, Brooks is always at about a 4, (pretty laid back), Reese was always at a 9 or 10, and now he is at about a 7. I do not want him to be a 4 or 5, because then that just wouldn’t be Reese.
His daily conduct grade has improved as well. There is a little tweaking that we need to do with his medication, but all in all, I am very pleased.

I began my New Years Day by going to Primed with a possible staph infection that would not clear up. After having it cut open and “fixed up” (to keep this PG) I am still on the mend.

Brooks is doing fairly well this year. I love his teacher’s organization and I hope it is rubbing off on him. I also finally realized that if I bribe him with a small surprise, he will read. What ever it takes! He will begin baseball season soon and he is super excited because Brent will be coaching him this year. Brent finally took the step and committed to coaching this year. He has an awesome friend that is going to help him, so we are looking forward to a fun season, no matter what the outcome. Reese will also play this year for the first time too. He is EXCITED! I bought him some cleats the other day and when I got him to try them on, he didn’t want to take them off.

Looking forward to an eventful next couple of months. Let's pray I can keep my sanity!