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Oh, MY! It's been too long since the last post.
Our holidays were great. We all enjoyed time with family and now we are looking forward to spring just around the corner.

Just recently, we did decide to add some very limited, full fat dairy back into Cade's diet. He's loving the addition of some cheese with his meals. So far we haven't noticed any negative side effects. Digestion, mood, and behavior seem to be holding steady.

I thought that we would use the majority of this post to share some of our favorite recipes. We're a busy family and we use the crock pot A LOT, but we also have some others that we really like. Enjoy!

"Spaghetti" and Meatballs:

Meatballs:
3 lbs of ground beef
2 eggs
4 tbsp of ketchup (Heinz and Hunt's both have a type with no corn syrup)
2 tsp garlic
1 tsp ground onion
Mix ingredients together. Roll meatballs and place in crock pot. Over each layer of meatballs, pour a layer of all-natural spaghetti sauce. Cook on high for 4-5 hours.

"Spaghetti"
1 large spaghetti squash.
Cut in half long ways.
Place face down on a cookie sheet
Poke slits in the top skin
Bake approx 1 hour until skin in golden brown and is soft to the touch
Spoon out the "spaghetti" to serve with the meatballs


Pork chops:

In crock pot, place:
5-6 medium to large potatoes
1 bag of baby carrots
6-8 pork chops
Place partially cooked bacon on each pork chop
cover with sliced onions
cook on high 5-6 hours
**You can make the same recipe with chicken as well



Cookies

Ingredients:
*2 cups ground almonds (use food processor to grind) OR just buy almond flour
*1 1/4 cups raw honey or sub with light agave
*1/4 cup dried fruit of your choice
* 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Heat the light agave / raw honey and pour onto ground almonds
3. Add dried fruit and cinnamon
4. Mix together
5. Spoon on to cookie sheet
6. Use a small piece of parchment paper to flatten cookies
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes but WATCH CAREFULLY as they burn quickly. Look for the bottom to turn golden brown.

We've also found some recipes for pancakes/waffles and pizza. I'll have to post those some other time :)

That's it for now. Cade's school conferences are this Thursday, so maybe I'll have a chance to post an update on how that's going once we talk more with his teachers.

Becky

Decision

Wow! We've been busy! I'm sure everyone feels that way this time of year. It's been a good busy, though.

Our church recently had its Christmas program. Cade was in it more than he has been in past years. While they're in pre-school class, they are sheep and sing "Away in a Manger". This year, Cade (being a "big kid" now) was Inn Keeper #2 and a Shepherd. He actually had some lines. He did a great job and was not thrown off by the crowd. In fact, he not only knew his own lines, but also almost everyone else's. At home, we were treated with Cade and his sisters reenacting the whole story for us with Cade as the narrerator, angels, Joseph, the Inn Keepers, and the shepherds. He graciously let his sisters be Mary and also some shepherds. :) We're excited that all three of them seemed to really be learning the Christmas story.

In our last post, I talked about our dilemma regarding continuing Cade's medication. I thought I'd share what we've decided to do.

We are going to leave him on his medication for now. We had his teacher complete a behavior profile so that we have a base line. In May, we'll slowly take him off of his medication and then have his teacher complete the same behavior profile. This way, we get objective information from his teacher who knows him and how he is in the classroom. If it turns out that he has a rough time without the medication, it will be at the end of the school year so it shouldn't throw off his progress significantly. We will also have the summer to continue evaluating how he's doing, and to get him back on the medication if need be.

We've been so appreciative of Cade's doctor and his teachers who have been willing to collaborate with us to find the timing that would be best.

Well, we're off for some more holiday fun tonight :) Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season!!

Merry Christmas,

Becky

To medicate or not to medicate?

We really want to be honest with this blog about the challenges we face with Cade as well as the positive things. Right now, we are really struggling with whether or not to try taking Cade off his medication. He's on a very low dose of Tenex to help with hyperactivity. He started it in the spring and we did notice a difference. His teachers also noticed an increased ability to sit still, follow directions, and less impulsiveness. These benefits have carried over into this school year, but to a significantly greater extent due to the diet.

So, the questions we are struggling with are:
- Is the diet enough to negate the need for medication?
- Is this the right time to try? His teachers at school are concerned that, if it turns out he really does still need the medication, going off of it right now might jeopardize the fantastic progress he's made this year.
- If now isn't the right time to try, when is the right time? We have thought about trying this over Christmas break, but the downside to that is that Cade's schedule will be very disrupted over break and if he has a hard time, we won't know if it's because he's not taking the medication or because his schedule is off. The other possibility is waiting for summer vacation when we can get into that routine and then make the change.

This is one of those times, which I'm sure every parent has, when we wish there was some way to know what the "right" answer is. Isn't there a book somewhere with all the information we could ever need about raising kids? Ug!

I find myself being reminded that our faith really isn't in medication, or even this diet. Our faith is in a God who loves Cade even more than we do, and if we ask Him, He'll guide us. We may not get to hear a voice from heaven saying "Here's the plan...", but He is faithful to work things out for the good of those who love Him. When I find myself getting anxious about what the "right" thing to do is, I need to remember to turn to the One who really does have all the answers and trust in His wisdom and goodness.

We'll keep you updated on what we decide to do.

Sitting in the unknown,
Becky

Conferences

Last night we had parent-teacher conferences for Cade. I have to say I was cautiously optimistic, but was also trying to prepare myself for the possibility that Cade could really be struggling in several areas - after all, he is in a regular classroom for the first time this year.

What I first heard from the teacher was this: "Oh, my sweet Cade! You have to tell me more about this diet of yours because I've never seen anything like this!". Well, that certainly was an encouraging start to things!

The summary is: He's doing awesome!

The details are:
Attention to task - He's sitting at the table and completing his work just as well (or better) than the other kids in his class. He remembers to raise his hand. His teacher sometimes needs to direct his attention to her and make sure he's looking at her, but once she has his attention, he can follow directions well.

Social Skills - Cade is making friends and interacting well with his peers. Just recently a friend was sitting very close to Cade at the table. The teacher asked Cade's friend to move over some and give Cade some personal space. The friend's response was, "But I love him!".

Sensory Issues - Cade's teacher reported she's seen hardly any sensory issues in the classroom. No hand flapping or tip toe walking at all. Just in the last couple of days as the weather has changed and has been wet and cold, he's been a bit more sensitive and needing personal space a bit more. When friends crowd him, his response has been minimal, but enough to let the teacher know he needs some help getting some space. Once she helps his friends back up a little, he's fine and can carry on with whatever it is they're doing.

Academics - Cade is doing great academically. He's understanding all the concepts well and completing his work. One day the class was talking about bikes. His teacher had showed the class the words "My bike" at one point in the day. Later, the class was drawing pictures of their bikes. Across the top of the paper, Cade had very clearly written "My bike" from memory and without assistance. He then drew a pretty convincing picture of a bike. Recently the kids were all tested for pre-reading skills. This is a timed test looking at letter and sound recognition (called the Dibble for you teacher-types out there). When the test was administered orally for auditory comprehension and response, Cade didn't do so well. This is pretty typical - he still takes a couple of extra seconds to process information auditorally. Since it's a timed test, he wasn't given a couple extra seconds and didn't do as well. The teacher assured me that when she's worked with Cade on the same test, but given him that little bit of extra time, he gets just about everything right. When the same test was administered visually, Cade scored the second highest in the whole class. No doubt, visual is still (and may always be) his strong suit.

Mom and Dad - It was such a treat to hear how well Cade is doing. At times, we've wondered if our own observations were too optimistic and if this diet really is working for him. It felt great to have some observation and concrete measures from a professional that validated what we've been seeing at home. I felt almost giddy as I walked away from the conference. It was an even better report than I'd expected. We are so encouraged, and I think that maybe our "cautiously optimistic" is slowing becoming just "optimistic" about Cade's future successes.

We are so proud of him and all the progress he's made. Way to go, Cade!!!

Looking ahead,
Becky

Camping, School, and so much more!

It's been a busy month! I'm going to try to hit the high points....

Camping - Cade had a blast! He tried some new things, like going tubing down a small river and swimming in the waves of Lake Michigan. The most notable experience for Cade, in regards to our purposes here, was at night around the camp fire. One of our family "traditions" is to go on a "lion hunt" at night around the camp fire. This involved a story teller taking everyone through obstacles (with motions) while looking for a pretend lion. This year, the kids wanted to do their own versions of the lion hunt, which then turned into telling "spooky stories". Cade fully participated in the "lion hunts", which was a first for him. He then also participated in making up both his own lion hunt and spooky story. His stories were relatively well-sequenced and if he got stuck, we would simply ask a question that seemed to fit his story, and he answered the question to get back on track with his story. All of this felt almost amazing to us. It was such a big step in terms of independent thinking and social participation.

School - Cade has started kindergarten and is really loving it. We usually are able to ask some "who, what, where, when, why, how" questions, and get pretty good information about his day. Often, he is volunteering information about his day because he's actually enjoying telling us about it. The papers that he's bringing home are also showing progress. He is completely coloring pictures, using multiple colors, and staying in the lines. He's following directions to complete his "assignments", like "circle the pictures of the words that start with the letter R". Both his fine motor skills and time on task are definitely improving. Of course, Cade's favorite class is gym - which he has twice a week. We always hear fun stories about the games he gets to play there.

Church - Cade has moved up at church to the elementary class. Since we go to a small church, the kids in his class are K-5th grade. We weren't sure how he'd do with such a wide age range, but he's been doing great. He's able to tell me about the "big idea" each week, and usually can relate the important parts of his story. He's getting into singing the songs from Seed Family Worship. The other night he helped me tuck in his sisters at bedtime. He insisted the he sing "Take Heart" to them in place of the usual bedtime song. It was cute and heart warming :)

Swimming - Cade started swimming lessons last Tuesday. He did very well in going into an entirely new environment and adapting quickly. He listened to his teacher, waited his turn to jump into the water each time, and tried some more new things. He even jumped off the diving board! And while all of this was so wonderful, it was even better to hear him talk about it later and how proud he was of himself for trying new things even though, he said, "I was just a little bit scared." It's exciting to see him step up to new challenges and move forward, even while being a little scared.

So, that's where we're at. We are thinking that in the next few weeks to a month, we may be adding full fat dairy back into Cade's diet. We'll keep updated with whether or not we do, and how it all goes!

Proud mom,
Becky

Some Objectivity

Today Cade had an initial meeting with his Kindergarten teacher. I stayed in the room for a few minutes and then Cade and his teacher had some time to themselves to get to know each other a little. At the end of the meeting, I talked to the teacher briefly about the paleo diet and some of the accommodations we'll need to make for snack time, birthdays, and holiday parties. I explained the reason we're doing the diet is because we'd read about a high rate of stomach irritation and other food-based symptoms in kids with Autism. Her response was "So, he actually does have Autism? It must be very mild because I would never have guessed based our interactions just now". Granted, it was only about 15 minutes, but she asked lots of questions and Cade had appropriate answers. He attended to their conversation well and followed directions. I was so proud of him and it's good to hear someone else give us feedback that points to Cade's progress.

Camping, Part 1

Earlier this week, Cade went camping with his grandma, aunt, and cousins. He's done this before and had a good time, and this time we noticed a few steps forward.

A couple days before leaving, he was going to bed and being very clingy to me. I asked him what was wrong (not a question he can always answer well). Cade said that he was scared about camping because it would get dark and because he'd miss me. We were able to talk about having a light on at night so it wouldn't be too dark, about talking to his grandma if he was scared, and that he could call us and come home if he was really scared. This calmed him down and he started getting excited to go. I was impressed by his ability to tell me how he was feeling and why, as well as engage with me in some problem solving.

While camping, he had a great time with his cousins. He tried new things (swimming under water in a lake and going down a 20 ft. water slide) and shared his beloved ipad with his cousins very well. He got nervous one night, but grandma stayed with him until he fell asleep and he was fine. The next night, he came out of the camper and said "It's 8:00. Time for me to eat my nuts, watch a video, and relax." Communicating his routine and being able to follow it helped his anxiety a lot that night. When he came home he said, "Mom, I just ate my nuts and watched a video, and I wasn't scared!".

When he came home, we asked lots of questions, and he answered them mostly with answers that were pertinent to the question asked. We heard all about swimming in the lake, playing with his cousins, and toasting marshmallows. Oh, and of course all about the giant water slide ("I went down six times!!")

We'll all be camping together over Labor Day, so it will be nice to see first hand how he does and be in a new environment where we can evaluate progress.

Going into the wilderness,

Becky