A Little Bit of Everything Going On...

My posts are always for Sam since this blog is about his journey. I will update on him today, but I want to devote this blog to Sam's twin sister Gabby.

Gabby has had an extremely rough week this week. She went to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center Monday morning for a scheduled Adenoid and Tonsil removal surgery. When Gabby came out of surgery and was in post-op, her oxygen levels were low and a chest x-ray was done. Her chest x-ray showed pneumonia in her right lung. The doctors think that she may have been starting a cold before having the surgery (Adam and I believe she was perfectly fine) or that mucus or blood got into her lung during the surgery. So, Gabby had her first night stay in the hospital in ICU where she could be closely monitored. She was only given oxygen just one time during the night. After a long day in ICU, she was then moved to the 7th floor, which is where the little people are that have IV's. She was a stubborn little girl not wanting to eat or drink. We did manage to get her to eat a Popsicle and take some sips of cold water and juice and that was her ticket home. We came home last night, and a rough night it was. She's been pretty nauseous. She was sick within a half hour of being home, twice overnight. She is drinking fluids and is sleeping quite nicely now. A nice bath is planned for today and I'm hoping that she will perk up. I'm not sure if she will be able to go out Trick R' Treating for Halloween tomorrow night, but Sam has offered up his goods to her. What a nice brother! Please say a prayer for Gabby that she starts to feel better quickly. If you could see her, your heart would break.

Sam has been incredibly good these days. He was so well behaved at the hospital when he would come to visit Gabby. He liked putting himself in the closet in her room and enjoyed a nice pizza meal with his Dad down in the cafeteria. Sam's review at school last Friday went very well. It's amazing how different he is at school. He listens and does exactly what he is told without any mouth! I am definitely setting up a video camera in our house so they can see how Sweet Sam isn't always so sweet. He's been playing us for a long time. For the past week, he seems like he is very "happy go lucky". With all that's been going on around here, his behavior has been awesome and he has managed the changes very well. He spent time at his Auntie Lisa and Uncle Francis' house Monday night and his Auntie Lisa picked him up from school yesterday and brought him to her house again. He did fantastic!

My next post will be about Halloween. Sam is going to be a Fireman and Gabby is supposed to be Fairytopia Barbie.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Growing So Fast and Becoming So Handsome...

We've been extremely busy here these days at the Sheidy house. I'm sorry I've been behind on my posts. Between working 4 days a week, traveling the kids back and forth to Hartford to school everyday and Adam working day and night lately, I just haven't had the time to sit and write about what's going on in Sam's life these days. We are honestly exhausted. And...with all this...Adam and I found time to be on the fundraising committee for Jocelyn's Run. Jocelyn is the school nurse at Sam's school who will be running the NYC Marathon on Nov. 2nd. Her purpose for running is to raise autism awareness and to raise money for Sam's school. Jocelyn set a goal of raising $10,000. So, some of us parents and staff members of the school came together to help her out and we held a Silent Auction and Children's Art Sale at Real Art Ways in Hartford last Saturday night. What a huge success since $10,000 was raised that night alone!!! Jocelyn has not only met her goal, but has blown it away by raising almost $24,000!!!!! AMAZING!!! It was a great night and a lot of fun. A big thank you to Sam's Auntie Lisa and Uncle Fran, Uncle Jay and Michelle and Grandma Sue for coming to this event with us. We hope you enjoyed the night as much as we did. And also a big thank you to Sam's cousin Missy and Henry for watching the kids for us. We very much appreciate it. It was great finding Sam in his own bed when we came home, which we haven't seen in a couple of years. I should have taken a picture because it didn't last long!

Sam hasn't been having any accidents in his big boy underwear at all at school. He's staying dry and peeing on the potty all day long! I can't wait to get him going at home. I am so proud of him! His speech also continues to improve daily. His meltdowns at stores however, are very difficult to control with tantrums lasting at least 45 minutes at times after I take him out of the store. I've encountered many stares from people and fight to keep from blasting them. But, I've been controlling myself and biting my tongue and walking out of stores much faster than usual. I wish with all my heart that these times for Sam will get better and people will stop staring because it makes it a lot harder for us parents.

As you will see in the new photos, our little man is getting so big. He finally got a big boy haircut that I just love! I took him to Scissor Kids in Glastonbury and asked his stylist to give him a real style. So, it's now a little spiked in the front and I even get to put pomade in it to spike it up!! He reminds us of the little boy Julienne in the movie "Big Daddy". He's so cute!!!

Sam has a review coming up next Friday at school and I will update on his progress next weekend.

If scroll down and look to the right of this blog, you will see some new photos of us mothers of the children at Sam's school. I am truly blessed to have these wonderful mothers to lean on and for me to be leaned on. The picture that has four of us in it are my closest friends...We are the "Tattoo Mama's of Coltsville". For those of you that didn't know this already, we went to Body Graphics in South Windsor and we each got the Autism Speaks puzzle piece logo tattooed on us. Mine is on my ankle and although it hurt like crazy, I don't regret it one bit!

Dentist Visit...

I took Sam in for a dental check-up today. Although he wanted nothing to do with laying on the exam chair, he did extremely well sitting on my lap during his exam. He's doing a great job with brushing his own teeth and earned an awesome Winnie The Pooh toothbrush. I am often amazed at the simplicity of Sam's life and how much little things mean so much to him. Because he did so well at the dentist and Gabby did great at her pre-op appointment (she's having her tonsils & adnoids removed on Oct. 27th...ugh!!), I let them each pick out a toy from the toy aisle at Walgreens since there were things I needed to get there. As usual, Gabby has to find the most expensive things, but settled on a nice little art set that included some water colors and nice princess pictures. Sam on the other hand, had originally chosen a battery operated train, which I really didn't mind getting considering it only cost $9.99. When we reached the registers to pay, he noticed some postcards on a rack and there was one of the city of Hartford. He dropped the train and had to have the postcard since that is where his school is! That's all the child wanted was this simple .49 cent postcard. How much richer would we all be if we were all that simple? Kind of makes you think... I love you Sam! P.S. Great job peeing on the potty at home last night!

Peeing on the Potty...

Yes, your reading this right! The toilet training process has begun at school for Sam and I am so happy to announce that he is indeed...peeing on the potty at school! Notice the stickers on his shirt. Each time he goes at school, he is given a sticker. He has come home loaded up with stickers this week. Although I haven't been given permission yet to start the potty training process at home, he is staying dry all day long and is very proud of himself. He is put on the potty every hour and every hour he is relieving himself! Yay Sam!!!!!!! Way to go buddy!!!! Now, I am looking forward to getting past the peeing part and moving on to the Sammy Specials. That will be a major party to host for him!