OshKosh B'monkey

We got some very thoughtful gifts these past couple days!  My husband and I are very touched.

On Sunday, my in-laws came over and they had some awesome Valentine's Day gifts for Caleb.  First of all, they gave Caleb the complete collection of Nancy Tillman's books, which are all very beautiful, very sweet, and very welcome in our house.  And anyone who knows us knows that we love books!  She also brought Caleb a doll and a backpack to see if it would further his interest in working with figures.  Last but not least, she bought Caleb these OshKosh B'gosh overalls that were "just like Grandpa use to wear, working the fields."  When Caleb tried them on, my husband agreed that Caleb looked just like Grandpa, except, you know, 2 years old.

Then today in the mail we get another unexpected gift, this time from my husband's sister.  She was recently in Japan, and there she found this towel and thought of us.  I have to say, this towel is so perfect, I started to tear up a bit.  The gift was very touching; even the strawberries are perfect because Caleb has a love affair with freeze dried strawberries.

It is really nice to have a family that is so thoughtful and sweet.  And yes, I don't need gifts to know that I am loved, but sometimes they act as visual reminders when the words are too far away.

Snickeryoudle.

I have read that after a few good days on the gfcf diet, a child will become nice and whiny.  Well, it is good to know that my child is finally hitting milestones right on time!  Yup, on Friday, Caleb became the whiny whinerson that whined. 

I decided to take Caleb grocery shopping for some more gluten-free/casein-free foods, since at that time his diet was pretty limited. We first went to Meijer and I was pleased to see that they have a whole little section of gluten-free items, many of which are made for people who also do not want dairy in their food.  However, Caleb was soooo noisy; I was terribly distracted while reading labels. 

His cries and moans were constant, and I was desperately trying to keep him complacent with a steady stream of gluten-free pretzels.  I frantically switched between shoving pretzels in my toddler's mouth and looking at the ingredients in these strange, new foods by companies I had never seen before.  Eventually I just grabbed what I thought was a good range of products and headed to checkout. 

When I got home, I realized that I had bought 4 bags of pretzels (they were 40% off!) and 6 boxes of cookies. 

Seriously. 

wtf.


Btw, the Trader Joe's allergen-free snickerdoodle soft-baked cookies are totally yummy.
But everything we got by Enjoy Life tastes weird....
like someone accidentally dropped a bar of soap in the mix or something...

Caleb eating an actual apple!

Penguins are now my second favorite animal

Today was another good day.

Our friends Audrey and Damien came over to play, which is always fun.  Caleb interacted better with Damien by being more inclusive in play, doing a lot of hugs, and not being possessive of toys.  Caleb still engaged in some inappropriate play, namely hugging Damien head first so that it looks like a headbutt, and trying to sit on Damien's back when Damien was on all fours.

Overall I am sincerely impressed with the improvement of Caleb's behavior, and it is hard not to attribute it to the change of diet.

Another interesting note is that while Caleb isn't drinking more fluids, he is peeing more.  It seems that gluten allergies can cause dehydration.  I wasn't expecting Caleb's extra flow, and earlier today he totally overflowed his diaper and soaked his pants.  Oops...

This afternoon he ate more bits of apple.  So cool.
He napped for 3 freaking hours and I then had to wake him up so he would go to bed at a reasonable hour.  Amazeballs.

THEN.
Caleb was playing on his Kindle Fire - it was some app where a cartoon animal appears and then it has the written name of the animal, it says the name of the animal, and the animal makes a sound.

The Kindle said, "Penguin."
Caleb then opened his mouth and quietly but purposefully said, "Pen-gi-en."

Kid. You. Not.

I nearly fell over.  I sat there slack-jawed and all stupid-like and then called for my husband.  I explained it to him, and he exclaimed, "NO WAY!"

And then we didn't know what to do with ourselves because this awesome little moment came and went and we wanted to make it last as long as possible.  So, we just were still, waiting for something else to happen, but nothing did. 

So, I called my mom and relived the moment again.

Truth is, there will be more moments like this one.  I have faith that there will be.  Some people have faith in God or Jesus or Angels.  I have faith in Caleb.  After all, he is my favorite monkey.

gfcf is drama free

Tuesday while I was at MHNI, my husband took my son across the street to Whole Foods and picked up a bunch of gluten-free/casein-free foods for Caleb.  Some were hits (the pretzels, cereal bars), and some were misses (freeze-dried chickpeas, crackers that had whey in them).  But overall, we got enough stuff to start Caleb on his new gfcf diet.

We had already replaced his regular milk with soy milk, which was easy enough since I drink soy milk.  I know that some people also do soy free, but that shit is crazysauce.  Basically, then you are reduced to eating no processed foods at all, which is fine for adults, but for an autistic kid who only wants pretzels, my child would starve.  Seriously.

Already on Tuesday we noticed a difference.  While shopping, we fed him snacks he had on hand that were already gfcf.  My husband had to keep him occupied while I was at my appointment, but it seemed easier for Caleb to be patient and happy for longer.  I was even able to stop at Beaumont for a blood test and then at Walgreens to drop off some scripts before heading home.  All in all, we had been on the road from 8am until 12:30pm, and my son was still in a good mood.  Insane.

Later that day, he seemed in a good place, so I thought I would do a little therapy homework with him.  I started with the hardest first: the puzzle.  I could never get him to sit still in my lap and work a puzzle with me.  Well, that day, he did it.  We then did the stacking rings, and he never got frustrated or angry; he concentrated and had fun, and when he was done he didn't kick or throw things, he simply walked away.  He went into the other room, so I thought I would push my luck once more - I called for him to come to me.  I called out twice and waited, and then I heard his voice getting louder; for the first time in 2 months, he came right to me when I called for him.  I hugged Caleb and praised him, and decided that I should stop testing him, because it really couldn't get any better than that.

Today he woke up early from a nightmare, around 5 am.  After some sweet daddy cuddles he went back to bed, and then was back up at 7, and back to his sweet happy self.  There were no real changes to his behavior, but he was just calmer than usual - Less freak outs and tantrums.  Then he pooped (and sorry this is gross, but it is important) and he had a normal, soft poo.  Usually he is constipated so he only poops every 2-3 days, and when he does he can hurt himself.  This was different - it was normal.  Amazing.

Then, during my morning snack, I had an apple.  Caleb climbed onto the table and touched my apple.  I offered him a piece, and to my shock, he ate it!  I offered other small pieces, but he didn't want them.  Instead, he grabbed my big piece of apple (about 1/3 of an apple) and started licking it.  He put it in his mouth, and over the course of 5 minutes, ate the whole thing.  He hadn't eaten an apple since the summer, and he usually can't stand to touch anything wet like that.  Albert and I were amazed.

At dinner, he ate fries (baked, not fried), which again, he has refused to eat for months.  In addition to his improved eating habits, today he has not had any violent episodes, no major breakdowns, no real drama of any kind.  I mean sure, he uses his intonation to communicate need, so he may sound more in distress at times, but his physical state does not convey that distress.  His body has been looser, allowing me to manipulate his hands when I show him the proper sign language.

So, this all sounds too good to be true.
I am very much waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But, if it doesn't, then it is really good for now but I also worry about Caleb as he grows up.
Poor Caleb won't be able to eat a good chocolate bar and I won't be able to fix his fever with matzah ball soup.  He can never eat fast food with his buddies.

But, for now, at least he has gluten-free pretzels.

GFCF?

Caleb's occupational therapist has reminded me several times to look at a particular instance of Caleb's behavior and see what precipitated the event, what happened during the event, and what happened after the event.  Perhaps then I can start to pick up trends, seeing if there is a common theme as to what is happening before, during, or after Caleb acts out.

When looking back at Caleb's behavior over the past week, I have noticed that Caleb's outbursts have followed his meals or snacks.  Even a quick munch on some pretzels would coincide with Caleb acting aggressively or moody.

I have read about autistic children having success on a gluten-free/dairy-free diet.  It seems that autistic children have a more sensitive system than nuerotypical children.  Gluten and dairy can not only disrupt their digestive processes, but it can also affect their cognitive functions, behavior, social skills, and speech.

The gfcf (also called gdf) diet has not been empirically proven, but there is sufficient anecdotal evidence to suggest that this is a method worth trying.  If we are willing to spend money (lots of money, honestly) on therapy, and work on speech therapy and OT at home, why wouldn't we do everything in our disposal to make Caleb better.  Especially if the change we are to make is relatively easy.

These days there are so many gluten-free options, I am hopeful that we are able to find many suitable replacements for Caleb's favorite foods.  As for his bottles of milk, we are going to substitute soy milk.  Some parents also give their children magnesium and vitamin B6; we will be talking to our pediatrician before we make any such changes to Caleb's intake.  For now, Caleb will continue taking Poly-Vi-Sol and I would like to find a replacement source for DHA.

Here is hoping that gluten-free food doesn't taste like sawdust. 
Oh, and that it doesn't cost us an arm and a leg...

More Photos!