Bituah Leumi were nice...can you believe it?

You woke in quite muted form. Mummy woke you around 6.45am because we needed to go to Dania. She said that you didn't sit still when you we having your nappy changed, and she used the word 'kicked' but I didn't have any problem so I am not sure. You were clearly very tired, and when I tried to take your dummy in the car you screeched and threw your shake on the floor. This is something I have noticed a lot
of since the end of the first week of the diet, this screeching. It almost has nothing to do with your mood.

It was fairly apparent that you were not in the best of spirits for Dania, and somehow we ended up in Room 12, which was not good. You didn't seem to want to play at all. You wouldn't give up your dummy despite our best efforts at turning it into a game. Even the physical games you seems unable to connect with us very well. You did talk, and you did say "want to give nee" but unlike previous weeks where you and Dania were having a blast, this time I felt we were stopping you playing what you wanted, or rather how you wanted (ie alone). It is maybe just relative. Most of the time there was back and forth interaction, but only at the end when you allowed me to take your dummy did I think you were actually not trying to sleep. We even played a sleep game which you seemed to take for real. Dania said she would be happy developing a program with another therapist as well so Mummy can sort out something with the woman who's working near her office.

Oddly, you didn't want to get out of the car when we got back, and told me something like "back home not" - I think you want to go and see the fire (which hopefully has died out!), number 26, 25 etc. You are almost always counting in the car now, and there has been a big increase in the counting. Your TV channel obsession is much bigger too. To the point where we can barely watch TV at times. Certainly our TV anyway.

I also feel you are starting to line your toys up more. Instead of appropriate play increasing, it is like since therapy, biomedical and diet intervention, you have actually played less and less appropriately. Maybe. Maybe I'm tired and no judge of these things. I think sometimes I go looking for a miracle and and disappointed to find a slight improvement.

An odd thing happened as you watched TV: a whirring motor (maybe a motorbike) went past outside and you said "lots and lots of noise". The noise - if it was that one, was coming from the same direction as the TV.

I couldn't get you to eat your breakfast when we came in, Nanny had moved the sofa to clean the window, and Shlomovitch was trying to fix the dishwasher. It was perhaps too difficult for you to concentrate, tool boxes, noise and balagan. After I got things back to normal in the lounge, you sat down and ate pretty well, though I do wish you would sit rather than walk around.

I was in two minds whether to take you out or let you sleep. I'm so terrified of Mummy I figured I'd try and keep you awake. We went to the car (the lift is still easy by the way), and the went to the park. It wasn't quite as successful with the sticks as last week, but you did say "want to splash, Ben". This is a big breakthrough, and I think that pronouns aren't far now. You did another couple of sentences like it too (Go down the stairs, Ben was one). We had a bit of fun, you had a lolly, and you took your shoes off and we ran around getting sandy (following on from the wet and muddy after you did indeed splash. I have to say, though you have been a little bit subdued, and at other times just less happy in the last week, if I asked you not to go into the water a month ago, you would have just run in. That is what happened every time, and in Caesaria for example.

I was aware that last night you went to sleep late, despite your best effort and thought maybe I had given you a second dose of Nu Thera late. So I gave you some in a cup of orange juice around 2pm. We're up to half a capsule in the morning, a quarter in with lunch. It's supposed to be with food, so it is in a shake which is fruit and water, and then this one you had as you ate (or picked at food that you were shovelling in last week).

We rushed to pick Mummy up, and ducked into town for a meeting with Bituah Leumi. Rather than being the evil grilling that we expected, the Dr (and it was a doctor) was very helpful. He said that we should try and get a document from Ifat saying that you were checked out a year ago and she had seen clear indications in order for them to approve a payment that is backdated. Very odd. Ifat agreed to write it.

Yael and Dania both rang today. Yael rang to say that we shouldn't all be in her sessions, the room is too small and it doesn't work so only either me or Mummy can take you in. I have to say, this is not working for me. I think her judgments are right in the most part, but that is the academic side of things. The identification and matching of boxes. That is not the real job in hand, the real job is to create a connection. To think that you give her more than two acknowledgements in 3 sessions because you have two parents there. You absolutely don't have a problem with speaking two languages at once, no more than I do, no more than your mum does. And you do not get overwhelmed by two parents being in the same room. I just need Yael to give you therapy with confidence and stop over-analyzing things. Three weeks, two radical changes (Mummy is supposed to speak Hebrew, only one parent should come) does not show confidence, understanding or patience. It also disregards our ideas and input. I have shown resistance to this. I think I will talk to Yael, it can't be we get everything turned upside down all the time. I think Communications Therapy is much more important for us, I can do lots of good Occupational Therapy, I'm good at that. And for it not to work is sad. I've spoken to Mummy and I've told her I want to get extra sessions with another therapist and hopefully there will be a better connection, and hopefully a programme can be built on that. Maybe things will improve with Yael, she definitely knows her stuff. We'll see.

Dania said she was worried that if we introduced another therapist into the situation it might be too much for you. Again, I can't say I disagree. She suggested that maybe you should have someone like a student work with you too. I'm a bit confused as to what she was most concerned about. I know it was coming from a good place though and I'm going to see what she meant. I just think with one and a quarter professional hours per week, you will not progress at the speed I think you can. Maybe, in line with Yael's comments, we should do 3 hours CT and 3 hours OT extra per week in the place near Mummy's office. We can do another hour and a quarter in the Clinic Tikshoret and maybe include another couple of things like hydrotherapy. I want a proper program in place by the end of the month.

After Bituah Leumi, we went to the market to buy some fruit and eggs. Low salicylates, pears and banana smoothie is my thoughts on the matter. And you collapsed in the buggy at around 3.45pm. And that was it for the day. Something was clearly not right. You were very irritable in the meeting, and irritable all day. I emailed Roni for her thoughts, but I am quite worried. Mummy said it was maybe the Nu Thera, but I can't see it. I'm blogging this, and the behaviour dipped maybe 6 days ago, the day I went with you to get Nanny. I'm thinking, I'm thinking...


Little Steps: You said "want to splash, Ben", as opposed to just "want to splash". You emphasised the Ben, as if it was a step on the way to saying "Ben wants to splash". You did it a couple of times.
Poop: None
Sleep: Woken at 6:45am, collapsed for the night in the buggy in the market at 3:45pm.

Today's Food
Breakfast: Cornflakes and Rice Milk (started at 9.15am then returned to at 10.15am), Banana & Date Smoothie (8am) with 1/4 tsp Calcium, 550mg Buffered Vitamin C and 1/2 capsule Nu Thera
Snack: Strauss Apricot Flavoured Ice Lolly. And some of mine
Lunch: Fried egg, lentil patty (refused), Rice (picked at and majority left)
Snack: Half a big pack of corn puffs
Dinner: Asleep....