No more cheese sandwiches for you

And the diet has started...

We decided to go cold turkey, Roni said it was best. Because we had collected and Fedexed some urine and three days' worth of stool samples to the USA to check for the things that regular doctors don't we couldn't start straight away - otherwise we'd be misrepresenting the typical contents of your pee and poop. But now we are up and running.

It's clear that you sort of have to cook a lot with this diet, manufacturers tend to take shortcuts and use the cheapest ingredients (like soy!) in everything. But I think it is like Kosher, or being a vegetarian, you get used to it being a pain in the neck and stop thinking about it. We also decided that we would try and get things close to what you are used to, cornflakes with rice milk for breakfast, rice pasta and tomato sauce...but for the first week or so, we will let you eat what you like - if that means 200 bananas, I don't think you'll die of malnutrition.

So far you've eaten:

Morning drink: Banana and Date Smoothie (a banana, some dates, some water, a blender - better than milk any day, I was very jealous)

Breakfast: Small bowl of Adama Cornflakes with Natura Rice Milk, freshly squeezed orange juice

Snack: Apple and Prigat Diet Grape Juice

Lunch: Well, you refused the Rice & Quinoa Fusilli with homemade tomato sauce. You put it in your mouth, spat it out, and repeated the feat 4 times before asking for pitta with cheese. Oh dear. It was going so well. So you had an apple.

Snack: Banana

Dinner: Lentil & Peanut Layer, which you completely ignored. You got a Perach rice cracker with peanut butter as a reward for leaving it. Which you ate. And you think that I would be disheartened, well, you ate a rice cracker - the first one ever. That is on top of the rice milk this morning. Then by all accounts you had another half with Halva & Honey Spread. And you had half a dozen strawberries.

So after speaking to your mum last night, she was a little stunned too. No miracles or anything, but just more eye contact and patience than we are used to, more co-operation and more response and interaction. Instead of stamping your feet or whining, you asked for what you wanted. And she said that you were very very clingy. Not in a bad way, but in a 'won't let me even make a coffee way'. When I tried to make you lunch you just wanted me to cuddle you. You came up maybe 20 times for a hug. And we could get out of the lift without any protest. 4 times, no insistence that we visit yet another floor. When we went out, you went straight to where the car is, and when we came back, we visited the floors you wanted, got to 14 and I said the next one is 4. And you just came. Quite a shock.

I also think that when I went out and you cried, I shouldn't have said "See you later", because you took it literally. And you waited up for me, you wouldn't sleep and you asked for me. So when I got in from the basketball you went to sleep in 10 minutes after you mummy tried for an hour.

Your 3rd favourite person in the world, your Occupational Therapist Dania, said your eye contact had improved today in our 7.30am session, and you were very responsive. You gave kisses and cuddles when she was being playfully obstructive during Floortime, you gave her five when she wouldn't give you something, you asked for things, you didn't stamp. And for prolonged moments you actually played with her as well as us. I also suspect you know you're in therapy. You know it is 'the doctors', I call it 'the doctors' and though Dania said to me she wasn't a 'doctor', for you she is. And you know doctors make people better. And today, you did something that made me think you knew Dania's job was to see how you progress and help you along the way. It was like you decided to wheel out all your new tricks that we have been working hard on. During the 45 minutes OT you gave her five, you said 'yes' in Hebrew (I'd only heard it in English), you developed this new phrasing 'Ball not' or 'Daddy not', which means 'there is no X here'. The thing that made me think most about it is that you did the nod of the head (from the waist up!) like you were showing off. You're a very very smart kid. She also said she was impressed that you can imitate. I said you see something once and you have it sussed, but apparently kids with communication problems don't usually know how to copy. And though I was a little confused at Dr Pozner's pre-report summary when it said you had 'typical intonation' - autistic children tend to be monotone and I never thought you were, Dania said at one point when you called for my help 'did you hear the intonation. And then when we were in the car, you waved and said 'bye bye Dania, lihitraot (See you later)'. Sweetheart!

Let's see how tomorrow goes.