5 yr olds, Castor beans, and seizures--Oh my....

As most of you know, the ABC trio turned 5 on September 28th. My supposed to be Christmas babies had to have a fall birthday......
Brock and the girls each had a classroom party on Monday. Brock brought Twinkie cake to share with his friends and the girls took brownies and ice cream cups. Poor B-man just wasn't feeling the best, so I brought him home.
Later that day, when the girls got off the bus, I was asking each about their day at school. This conversation always revolves around food...."what did you have for snack?", "how was your lunch?" On Monday, I cracked up so hard when I heard Cora's response....."MOM, I DID NOT LIKE THE CASTOR BEANS FOR LUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She was so animated with her statement. Obviously, the school did not serve Castor beans as they are poisonous. I deduced she must be referring to lima beans! So after a good laugh, the girls got a quick little lesson on what a Castor Bean really was. (It was the 5' tall plants I had growing, that were now knocked down by the wind!) Not to be outdone by Cora, Avery had her own little funny phrase that required some interpretation..... Monday night during supper, Avery kept asking where her lobster was. "honey, you asked to have cheeseburgers and french fries. When do we ever have lobster?" Avery: "MOM, the lobster that grandma and grandpa got for my birthday!!!!"
Ah Ha, my mom and dad got the girls LEAPSTER 2 handheld games! Poor Avery. No LEAPSTER until after you eat! ;) ha.

Castor bean plant---not served at B-PC cafeteria.

Avery about was blown away while checking out a Castor bean leaf and seed pod.
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Moving on to the B-day......

ABC turn 5! (This was also "RED" day for the girls) Avery has been told to tickle B's chin to get a smile---she may be inflicting harm here and Brock is not liking it!!

I had to crop B from the pic below... Caught him being overly excited and it looks like he is telling you he is 5.

Ava and Cora blowing out the candles.....Trying not to let Brock burn anything.... :)

The girls' teacher has implemented 'color days' as they review each of the colors. Red Day was Monday...This was Orange Day and I was irritated the only pic I took was blurry.

Yellow Day was hard as they didn't have yellow in their wardrobe. I downloaded free SpongeBob iron on transfers, ironed them to white tees, and we were set for Wednesday......

No problems finding green for Thursday, but his pic was taken while Brock was having another one of his seizures. I was less than pleasant requesting the girls to line up for a photo. Brock hadn't been up to par ever since Monday, but I couldn't pinpoint why he was sick. Monday he woke acting strange and I set the Diastat on the counter. Sure enough he vomited up his b'fast and started having a seizure shortly after...... It was a mild one, similar to the last one just a few wks ago. Our neurologist tells me it is not uncommon for kiddos to have an increase in seizure activity around the age of 5. After sharing this with some other mom's of special needs kids, a few support this theory and recalled more seizures when their kids were around 5 yrs old. I hope this doesn't mean Brock will be having these episodes so frequently. It really takes a lot out of each of us! (me more than him perhaps).

Anyway, the recommendation is to switch from our liquid Depakene/Valproic Acid to Depakote sprinkles. It is my understanding the sprinkles will metabolize differently and provide more of a steady level of medication in Brock's system. Previous blood tests were showing a decrease in levels, even with an increase in med dose! I guess I need to listen to the docs and realize it is a success if we can control the seizure at home, BUT, getting rid of the nasty things all together would be ideal. I pray for the families out there with children having multiple seizures a day. Brock's are more than I can handle it seems!

Finally Friday---Blue day. Stay tuned, Monday brings another week of colors, beginning with purple.

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Also, Saturday should be interesting. I have rented the gym in our local Christian Community Center and the kids invited their ENTIRE classes for their B-day party. I know, what was I thinking?? Who knows what it will be like because I think RSVP is a dying art. Out of 17 in Avery's and Cora's class, only 6 have confirmed.....no one from Brock's 5. I will try to get lots of pics. It's only from 2-4pm, so surely we can survive a couple hrs with wild 3-5 yr olds!!! :)