Jump N Jive Time

Tucker has been doing well lately. Mom and I took him to see the neurologist a few weeks ago, and she raised the dose of Celexa for him. He has been very anxious and very frustrated lately, so he is now at an adult dose of Celexa.  She also prescribed Focalin, which is a stimulant for ADD/ADHD.  We have not started that yet, the dr. recommended that we try it once or twice outside of school to see how he reacts, then start giving it to him in the morning before school.

Because Tucker is so small, he is on a very low dose; Focalin is like Ritalin, but a lighter dose, with fewer side effects. The possible side effects are still increased anxiety, increased emotions, and sleep problems....all three things that Tucker already has and we don't want to make worse!  But anyways, we are going to try the medicine over spring break as he needs something to get him to pay attention.

Tucker's ABA therapist met him at school and did his school evaluation, she emailed me and said he is adorable! Why am I not surprised? Haha:)

Tucker's speech therapist hadn't seen him in about two months due to insurance and scheduling issues, well she came on Thursday and said he is more anxious than she's ever seen him.  And this is after we've upped the Celexa, and to us, we think he is better! So he is still very anxious about things, and clinging to Chris and Black Bear for dear life.  One big improvement is that he has gone back to his bed for sleeping at night. For a few weeks, he was too scared, like deathly afraid to be left alone.  Now he sleeps in his own bed. We told him if he slept in his own bed all week, he could have a trampoline.  (This is because Uncle David got him one, and he was bringing it this weekend anyway! So we just won't put it together until he sleeps alone.)  So he slept in his bed all week, and he will be getting the trampoline soon, but we may put it up at my parents' house.

A few weeks ago, we took Tucker to a birthday party at Jump N Jive. This is a local inflatables place, there are two sides, the Jump Side and the Jive Side. Both sides play party music and have disco lighting, both sides have an inflatable slide, inflatable obstacle course, and inflatable jumper.  For the birthday party, Tucker had to have either Chris or me with him at all times, and he had an absolute blast on everything. 

We had been considering having Tucker's 5th birthday party there next month, and after that party, we put a deposit down. So Jump N Jive has Open Play hours during holidays (usually they are only open for private parties), so I decided to take Tucker there yesterday on Good Friday. 

He woke up yesterday, saw me, and ran to the front window. I knew he was looking for Chris's truck, so I told him that I was home all day, and Chris was at work.  It is usually the opposite on Fridays, and Tucker was not very happy.  I had lots of housework to do, so he and I listened to music while I cleaned and did chores.  We danced to a lot of Jason Aldean songs as well, (his favorite), but throughout the day, he requested "Daddy" a lot! 

When I was almost ready to take him to Jump N Jive, I sat down to talk to him.

This is probably the most real conversation we've ever had:

Tucker:  "Daddy?"
Me:  "No, Tucker, Daddy is at work. Mommy and Tucker are going to have a very fun day without Daddy."
Tucker:  "Playground?"
Me: "No, it's too hot, but you and Mommy can go to jump on the jumpers, like the birthday party. Does that sound fun?"
Tucker grinned, grabbed my hand, then said: "Daddy?"
Me:  "No!  Just you and me!"

:)

Haha, we went and we had a blast. My friend Lacy brought her son Josh, and the kids loved running through both sides and jumping with all the kids.

Tucker did extrememly well with waiting his turn, being nice, and listening to my directions.  He also tried to make me come with him on everything, but I forced him to go alone. After a few tries, he was climbing up the slide like a pro, he is getting so big!  He has been so good lately, and I feel like there are more moments when he and I can almost "talk", and like most of what I say, he really understands and keeps in his mind.  Which is great, hopefully we stay on this track.

And hopefully we get to the bottom of the anxiety issues, I am hoping to give Tucker more confidence.