ChezPerky

I’ve spent a lot of time lately talking about the J-man’s medication and his therapy and all of the things that are going on AROUND the J-man, but I don’t want you to think that’s all there is to the little critter, because boy is he AWESOME.

He is so unbelievably fun, especially now that we’ve been able to get some of his energy and impulsivity under control.  On Shabbos (Saturday) he got to play with his friend, M, who has a bunch of Legos Bionicles and hasn’t stopped talking about them since.  Even his beloved dinosaurs have fallen by the wayside in favor of Bionicles.  Oh please, can’t he please have one, or two, or ten trillion of them, please, please, please?  He wants every single one of them, just like the ones that M has.  RIGHT NOW.  His poor grandmothers both spent the day with him yesterday and heard about  nothing but Bionicles all day long.  In an act of desperation last night when I couldn’t even get him to take his medication in ice cream (the poor kid is sick of ice cream – can you imagine a kid sick of ice cream?), I promised him that if he took his medicine last night and this morning that we would get him his first Bionicle.  And if he continues to take it for the rest of the week, when he’ll be finished with his antibiotic, by golly he can have another one.  I am not above bribery.  (In my defense, most of the books on ADHD and our developmental pediatrician agree that kids with ADHD require more tangible/material bribery than typical kids – so I have SOME justification… and hey, it WORKED)  So this morning, after taking his morning medicine, J and Seth went and bought a new Bionicle and J hasn’t let it out of his sight since.  I think he might even sleep with it. I hope not, since that might mean little lego pieces in his bed for me to find tomorrow when he comes down in tears that his Bionicle needs to be fixed, but I’m not sure I can get him to part with it! 

Tonight for dinner he ate a dinosaur-shaped chicken patty.  It was shaped like a T-Rex (always a hit).  J came to the table, started to bite into it, let out a long, loud yelp with a look of utter horror on his face and exclaimed, "I need ketchup!!!"  There I had been, terrified that it was too hot and he’d burnt his little mouth, but no – he just was having a ketchup emergency! 

He adores the babies and plays with them whenever they’ll let him. Yesterday morning he spent almost 20 minutes pretending to be a snake and making them giggle wildly at his antics.  He had so much fun entertaining them and has such a good time when they give him such positive feedback.  But if they start to fuss, he quickly comes and gets me:  "Eema, I think Sam needs to nurse or maybe he needs a nap, or maybe he needs a diaper or maybe he just needs you, but he’s CRANKY, come quickly!"

He loves to be a helper, and especially loves the positive feedback that comes with it:  "Was I a good helper, Eema?"    He always wants to know how he can help and what he can do next.  He’s a giving, loving soul who loves to have something to do.

I don’t think I’ve ever met a child more excited to have his birthday approaching.  He knows he is turning five and has spent the entire summer saying that he will meet certain milestones (e.g. not using a sippy cup, which actually he’s given up anyway)  "when I turn five."  If there’s something he doesn’t want to do, but knows he should be doing, he’ll say, "How about after I turn five, Eema?"  He’s been telling me for a couple weeks now that we need to clean out his room and throw out all the old toys that he’s outgrown to "make room for all the new toys" he’ll be getting for his birthday (wishful thinking much?).  He gives me a running list of things he wants for his birthday (a batman costume, the batmobile, the bat motorcycle, pokemon cards, now new bionicles, new dinosaurs, dinosaur books, etc.).  He gets frustrated when he can’t remember his list of things he wants for his birthday (most of the time) and the list changes often (though Bionicles now appear to be on the list to stay… sigh).

We have a very carefully laid out morning and evening routine for him and he’s very good at following both.  He’s consistent and does remind me when we’ve accidentally fallen off schedule.  "No, Eema, playtime comes BEFORE putting on shoes!"

I can’t get over what a big boy he is now.  I look back on pictures of him from back when he first came into our lives nearly four years ago and I’m absolutely astounded at the difference.  He is so independent, full of life, and ready to give himself to the world around him.    I don’t know that we ever imagined that life would be quite THIS adventurous with this little boy.  So although we definitely have our challenges with the J-man, we also know that every child comes with their own unique challenges.  We learn from J every day and he has truly taught us so much about how we can deal with every day challenges in unique ways.  He is awesome, and everyone who meets him seems to think so, too.