Jr Update

I think after my moment of being overwhelmed last week I was able to pull myself together (or God helped settle my nerves) and start thinking about positive steps in moving forward.  I re-looked at the items in our house to see if anything could have triggered behavior and the yogurt I had been giving him every morning and every evening with his supplements are not in the diet.  I had assumed that it was okay because it is very natural and organic, but they contain natural salicylates.  (I’ve long suspected he has a salicylate-intolerance)

Also, when his teacher called she had said he drank some lemonade in science class that they had made and she was really sorry (knowing his diet was restricted).  I assured her that lemonade is actually normally okay so not to worry about it.  I didn’t really think much about it after that. Then a few days later, when Jr wanted to show me how they made the lemonade he informed me that it was PINK lemonade.  They had put drops of Red Food Coloring in it.  I KNOW that the food coloring is why he became more destructive.  It was only an hour or two after that that he wrote on the carpet.  Once we took out Artificial Food Coloring and Flavors last year his aggressive/destructive behaviors stopped.  So he consumes Red Dye and lo and behold!  Here it is back again.  I know that is not coincidence. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice about what they put in foods, but some of it can be pretty horrible.  Just please be aware of what you are really giving your kids! 

But besides ADHD, there have been fun things going on too. Here are a few pictures of Jr last weekend.  He caught a gecko in the backyard and was very VERY excited about it.  We were planning on keeping it and went to the pet store to get supplies.  That is where we discovered that lizards need heat lamps and stuff we weren’t prepared to get and realized we know nothing about taking care of a lizard.  We had pumped it up and he was so excited and so we bribed him with an Ant kit in exchange for letting the lizard go.  Sometimes you have to do what you have to do as a parent.

Here’s video of him showing it off:

He also built an awesome Marble Run contraption that weekend:

Look at that smile!  He was so proud!