Making Messes

I posted some pictures to FB of a few of the very many messes Philippe makes. Just a minuscule representation of what it's like to raise a kid with autism.

Some have asked a simple, curious question, essentially, 

"Do you discipline him? Does he understand?"

Here is my answer:

SO many people are unaware or uneducated about autism, but they're too uncomfortable or shy to know what to do/say, or even just ask questions. It's no one's fault really. I didn't know anything about autism before having Philippe, and we are all still just learning as we go.

I hope this answer helps, please let me know what other questions you have!

Short answer:
Yes, oh YES, we use our many versions of "discipline" with him (before, during, and after behaviors). And we are not exactly sure what, or how much, he understands.

Long answer:
Basically, Philippe doesn't do things just to be naughty, or misbehave on purpose most of the time. Even though he's 5, developmentally his "age" is about 12 months (he can walk, but doesn't talk yet, and he plays with baby toys and for the most part he behaves/acts like a baby between 9-18 months old).

So just think of a baby that can walk, but not talk yet - and picture them 4 1/2 feet tall. Image the messes they would make! That's Philippe.

We work with him COUNTLESS hours- "disciplining" him, showing him and teaching him the same things over and over again hundreds or most likely thousands of times.
From 8am to 4:30pm we have several professionals- therapists and a nurse, that take shifts working with him one-on-one every single day, either in our home or at school with him. And the school he goes to is a special one for "unique" kids that need extra attention and help learning.

Every day Philippe works on everything from his behavior (throwing things, biting, breaking things, throwing tantrums) to things like learning how to dress himself, feed himself without spilling or making messes, how to play with blocks, how to roll or throw or catch a ball, how to match colors, how to put away his toys when he's done playing, and SO many other things most kids learn naturally. We also work on him learning to talk. He will repeat a few very basic sounds, or say a basic sound when we ask him a specific questions, but he has zero independent or spontaneous sounds.

For example, if I ask him if he wants a drink, he might shake his head "yes" or "no" to indicate, or he might make the sound "wa" for water and shake his head "yes" to tell me he wants some water. But if he's just in his room or playing with toys on his own and he gets thirsty he won't just walk over and say "wa" to ask me for water. Just like a baby, he might just start crying or throw a tantrum- and then, just like a baby, I have to try to guess and figure out why he's upset. (Is he hungry? Is he thirsty? Is he tired? Is he too hot/cold? Does he want a certain toy? Is he just bored? Is he uncomfortable for some other reason? Does he want to go somewhere else? Does he need his diaper changed? Does his tummy hurt? Does he have a headache?).

Very recently he learned that when he is thirsty if he walks over to me and gives me a cup- I will get him a drink of water. He also learned to push me to the kitchen and either shove me into the pantry or the fridge. (He's not very gentle about it. And he's NOT patient either. When he wants it, he wants it NOW, regardless of where I am or what I'm doing).
When I open the pantry or fridge door I have to guess what he wants. I point or pick up each item one at a time and ask him "do you want this?" "Do you want chicken?" "Do you want carrots?" "Do you want a banana?" "Do you want blueberries?" "Do you want sweet potatoes?" "Do you want turkey?" And each item I ask about, he'll either stare at me blankly or shake his head "no", until I finally figure out what he wants and then he shakes his head "yes" or gets excited and claps his hands and starts to jump up and down. Once I know what he wants, he has to "ask" with his sign for "please" and then make a sound to ask for it- I'll make him say "ba", "ma", "vuh", "wuh", "duh", whatever sound he can make that's closest to the thing he wants. So if he wants a banana, he signs "please" and then I say "banana? Buh" and he repeats "buh" and shakes his head yes, then I give him what he wants- in this example, a banana.

When he makes messes- if it was an accident usually I just clean it up (because it's just easier and faster). If he threw something, or a stack of things (he will sweep his arm across the counter or table and knock/throw everything to the floor) then one by one he has to pick everything up. He doesn't pick up more than 1 thing at a time, so it takes a while, and a whole lot of patience. He knows he is not supposed to throw things because he is angry or frustrated, but he still does it, and then the consequence is he has to clean up the mess- every bit of it.

Philippe does this for hours. It looks like he's studying the table and chairs- the angles, the shadows, their weight and how they stack with each other. He's not making a mess to be mean or naughty on purpose, but it does destroy our furniture, and the walls, plus whatever toys or dishes he smashes in the process.  And we are always afraid he will accidentally hurt Belle, Dominique, or Davis (or dog), if they just happen to be next to him when he flips the table or a chair over. 

Let's be friends...

How many of you are friends with your parents? How about with your kids?

For the past 5 years, I've been completely wrapped up in raising a little champion with special needs. Spending relentless hours a day teaching him basic skills that come naturally to 'Nero-typical' kids. He's always in "survival mode", and anything beyond that is basically out of the question, if not impossible. He's always exhausted. I'm always exhausted. 

Along the way, 2 1/2 years ago I had another beautiful angel. Though my husband and I always had fears lingering in the back of our minds, by 18 months of age we knew she did not have special needs. 

As she continues to develop into an autonomous little person, she demonstrates more and more every day that she needs me to parent her like that of any "typical" kid. But over the past year I've realized I don't know how to do that. So for the past 6 months or so I've been on a new journey: trying to figure out how to be a parent of a child without special needs, starting from scratch all over again. 

My quest led me to the book If I Have to Tell You One More Time... The Revolutionary Program That Gets Kids To Listen Without Nagging, Reminding, Or Yelling by Amy Mccreedy. It reiterated a suggestion my friend gave me 2 years ago: spend 10-15 minutes of one-on-one time with each individual child every day. The book takes it a few steps further, calling it "Mind, Body, and Soul Time" (I call it "special time" with my kids). She says to spend the time distraction-free in a child-like ego state focusing your entire mind, body, and soul into playing with your kid, doing whatever they want to do for 10-15 minutes. 

I've found this time each day with Belle is super easy and really fun! She just tells me what she wants to do, and we do it. 😊 It flows naturally. We color, play with blocks and 'build the tallest tower in the world', jump on the mini trampoline, or just run around the living room chasing each other and giggling. 

I've found that my special time with Philippe has been much more challenging. Truth be told, some days I don't even want to do it. Why endure 10 minutes of torture for both of us? Most days we don't even make it to 10 minutes because the time ends abruptly with a tantrum where he's either biting me, head-butting me, kicking, screaming, or crying. In her book, Amy discusses how the time should be led by the child- it's pointless if the parent spends the time teaching, parenting, or directing (meaning during the designated special time, any therapy with Philippe is out). I try to let him dictate how we spend our special time. One day for 15 minutes we opened, closed, opened again, and closed again, 3 suitcases nestled inside each other like Russian dolls. Another day we stacked, unstacked, and re-stacked the trays from my vegetable steamer. Another day we sat on the floor and pushed the same button on a toy over and over and over again. If I try to change the activity or even adjust it a little bit Philippe gets irate, resulting in a tantrum and terminating our special time. Some days I just sit quietly in the corner of his room and watch him do... whatever he's doing at the time, just sitting there in silence spending time with him. My 21st century preoccupied, technology-driven, perpetually-distracted brain usually gets board after 3 minutes and I move on to cleaning something or scrolling through Facebook on my phone, instead of spending time with my son. 

Today was different. Today was a miracle. Today was FUN! Philippe and I were sitting on the kitchen floor, just staring blankly at each other. I said a few unimportant words just to fill up space in the empty air. Philippe grabbed my knee and pushed it. He grabbed my other knee and pushed it too, studying the way my legs bent and moved. I became his puppet. He kept grabbing my knees, moving each leg from side to side, bending and straightening my legs. I was perfectly obedient for a few minutes, moving just how he wanted me to. Then, just to test his reaction, I bent my leg instead of moving to the side when he pushed it. Instead of getting furious, he smiled. I was his obedient puppet for another minute, then I straightened my leg instead of moving it to the side like he wanted me to. This time he laughed! Could it be... we were actually playing?! This continued for another few minutes. I think we actually made it past 10 minutes! These few precious moments will forever be a special memory to me. I feel like I actually connected with my son. We both laughed. We both smiled. For a few minutes we were friends. 

Family Pictures & Autism : What I Want To Remember

A good friend texted me this:

"Can you email me a picture of your family picture with Belle crying? My brother has a daughter with autism and she is always crazy for family pictures. I want to show his wife an example of how a family picture can still be adorable, maybe even better, when you work with it."

So I emailed her this:

We took over 200 family pictures and out of all of them, this one is by far everyone's favorite. The photographer was waiting and waiting- trying to get all my kids' attention, to get them to look at her and smile. I told her "just take the pictures. If you wait until they're all facing you smiling, we won't get a single shot." Thankfully, she listened to me and just started snapping photos, and we ended up with this awesomeness:

It is a PERFECT depiction of each of us 😄

After 2 photo sessions- each 1.5 hours long, my little boy is not smiling in a single picture (and we even gave him fruit snacks, which is a major treat for him!). Most of them he's not even looking at the camera, and if he is, he was making a silly or funny face, or had his fingers in his mouth.

The reality is, OUR life is messy. It's chaotic. It's silly. It's real! That's what I want to remember.

Guess which one of the kids in this picture has autism?

Last year we took our kids to Foto Fly at Thanksgiving Point. They have 10 minute increments you sign up for, and they guarantee in 10 minutes you'll get at least 1 good picture. I thought "yeah right. This is going to be a disaster!"

One of the adults (in our case, my husband) dresses up like Santa Claus from the beard down. Nothing covers your face- so your kids see you and are comfortable because it's you, and not some stranger. I think it even makes the pictures look more *magical* because you don't see Santa's face in it.
The cookies were supposed to be a prop, but my daughter (who does not have autism) was stuffing her face in every. single. picture. 

But I still think they turned out pretty cute!

I dread taking pictures! It gives me stress and anxiety and depression! Every time I think "this is going to be horrible!"
But a couple of years ago I had a distinct image in my mind. I picture my son as an adult, without autism, able to speak and think clearly, asking me "Mom, how come we don't have any pictures of me growing up?"
I imagine feeling VERY guilty and embarrassed, admitting to him "sweetheart, it was too stressful. Because you wouldn't look at the camera and smile, and we were so worried you would throw a tantrum, or cry the whole time, so we never took any pictures."
My son didn't ask for autism. We didn't ask for it in our family either (we are NOT those people that pray for trials to learn and grow and become stronger. Trust me!)
But should I punish my kid because he has autism? Should I shut him out from the world and lock him away from society and never take any pictures of him, or of our complete  family, because of it? No way.

Now when we get pictures taken I think "we just have to get through this. Yes, it will probably be torture for everyone. But we'll grin and bear it, and hopefully get at least 1 good photo... And Photoshop is amazing!"

Helpful suggestions: fruit snacks, bubbles, toys with noise-makers or blinking lights to get kids' attention at the camera, whatever works for your family. Plus there's always straight up bribery (hey, I'm not above saying "when we're done with this we'll buy you a new toy!" That gets some smiles), and a really talented photographer (that's skilled in editing- again, gotta love photoshop!), it also helps if they're experienced in working with kids (experience with special needs is a bonus!).

Shameless plug- if you live in Utah, my husband is a graphic designer (aka photoshop whiz!) that does photography too. Check out cute pictures of our friends and their kiddos at ImageDesignByMarcel. to see if you like his style:

https://m.facebook.com/imagedesignbymarcel?v=timeline&timecutoff=1250719055&sectionLoadingID=m_timeline_loading_div_1262332799_1230796800_8_&timeend=1262332799&timestart=1230796800&tm=AQCgK_e1l_PTp8Fn 

From the bottom of my heart, I really hope at least something I said helps you. More than most people, I get what you're going through, and it's not fun. But even the less-than-fun moments can be magical and beautiful, and sometimes they end up being the ones you want to remember the most. Good luck!

- Candice Cochegrus

Lots of new things for Philippe!

For the first couple years of Philippe's life we used to say "Every day without a seizure is a good day" when he was having 1-3 seizures per week. Then we got to the point we could switch the word "day" with "week" when he was averaging about 1 per week. A few times over the past year we've been able to say "month"!

Today is one of those days we can say "MONTH"! Philippe's last seizure was on Christmas morning (December 25). Since then, it has been a great seizure-free month!

We got to go to Mexico to spend 2 weeks with Marcel's family for Christmas and New Years. There were a lot of emotions, as this past year has been one of the toughest for the Cochegrus family, but the most prevalent emotions were JOY and gratitude.

When we got home, my mom and dad got to come visit for 10 days! I LOVE my parents! They are the most supportive people I know, always loving all their kids no matter what choices we make and where life takes us. I know I can always count on my parents to be there for us. The thing that has impressed me and touched my heart the most the past few years is what caring, sweet, and patient grandparents they are! It amazes me every time we're with them! From the time last summer when they drove from Virginia to the hospital in Cleveland to spend just a couple days with us while Philippe stayed in the Epilepsy unit for over a week. Every time Philippe pulled my dad's glasses off his face he always responded with something kind or even said something silly or made a funny face. This past visit my dad went to Staples and asked if he could take Philippe with him. I had total trust and faith in my dad that he could handle Philippe while shopping, which is something I can't even say for myself half the time (which is why I never take Philippe shopping!). When they got back my dad said "he did great! He sat in the cart, and he only grabbed one thing! Then we walked around the parking lot with our arms out while we looked up at the sky and were slowly spinning around. It was wonderful! He loved it".

My parents left on Sunday. On Sunday we also started the Brain Highways program with Philippe. I don't want to speak too soon and "jinx" anything, but the past week has been AMAZING! Philippe has done more new things in the past 4 days than the entire past year combined!! Ever since Philippe had his first seizure at 5 months old we've been doing lots of different therapies, programs, and diets with Philippe. I've never seen any of the others show so much progress so quickly! Maybe it is just a "coincidence" that he started doing several new things just 4 days after starting Brain Highways, but it's the only change we've made lately. In his other therapies he's been working on things for several months with little to no progress, but when he woke up on Wednesday morning it was like someone flipped a switch in his brain and things were just clicking! You can see in his eyes he looks more "there", like he's more focused and can understand what you're doing and saying, and he's responding to what you want him to do like it's no big deal. He has been making 2 new sounds (he was only making 4 sounds before!), he started trying to jump and gets excited about it (we've been asking him to jump for a few months in therapy now, but he always just stood there with no response at all), and Wednesday morning he picked up 1 grape then reached and grabbed the other grape that was near it on the floor too! He has never, ever reached and grabbed more than 1 thing at the same time like that before! It has been incredible and so much fun!

Yesterday he did REALLY well at horse therapy! The past few weeks were tough for me because he would just there on the horse not responding, not signing "go" or "stop" or showing any interest in whatever activity they were doing. But yesterday he did awesome! He was signing and making sounds right away when they asked him! And for the first time ever he was actually looking over and paying attention to the other boy that rides at the same time as him!

Today has been fun too! Philippe started a swimming class just for kids with autism. He was totally content just sitting in the water hanging out. But when they were supposed to be splashing and kicking, Philippe was doing it too! He was laughing and squealing and having so much fun! He even looked over to Marcel and me a few times and was smiling really big! He usually doesn't look very far past what's right in front of him, and we were about 25 feet away! I was loving just sitting there on the side watching him have so much fun and just being with other kids :)

I can tell there are lots of great things to come for Philippe! I'm sure he will still have tough moments with tantrums, biting, kicking and screaming. And I'm sure I'll still have tough moments where I lose my patience, or break down and cry for who knows how long. But I know that every day from here on out is going to be AWESOME!!!

A day of THANKS

On a day like today, it's hard to not be surrounded by everyone we love. It's not that we didn't get invited anywhere, surprisingly we did. I say "surprisingly" because after so many times of turning down invitations, we would understand if they stopped altogether.  The truth is, we realized a few years ago we have to be realistic, which means that we spend nearly every holiday at home alone with our little family.
I'm thankful that when both of our kids were throwing tantrums all morning (beginning somewhere around 2 or 3am when Philippe first woke up), we just rolled with the punches, like we do nearly every day. When the food was ready, half of which we bought from the store and half we made at home, we just sat down to eat without looking at the clock to adhere to a schedule or sitting around salivating while we waited for late-comers to arrive. We didn't completely stuff our faces because we bought all the food ourself and it will simply sit in our fridge until it's gone, providing no pressure to eat until we feel ill. Throughout the meal while Belle was refusing to eat nearly everything except turkey and jello salad, it didn't matter. And when she was fussy and wanted a nap, I put her down in her own bed where she promptly giggled then curled up to her favorite blanket.
The part I felt most grateful for today was at the end of the meal when Philippe dumped his glass and got it all over his head, the floor, and the table, and Marcel and I just laughed. We didn't have to feel ashamed or embarrassed, or offer a lengthy explanation of why our son "is the way he is" or "doesn't understand". When we finished eating, we put the food away and cleaned up together almost silently, husband and wife working side by side toward a goal to put our house back in order- or as close as it can be with our 2 sweet, unpredictable, wonderfully chaotic children.

To all our relatives, friends, neighbors, and loved ones near and far, we are truly grateful for you! We are thankful for your love, your support, and especially your concern and understanding. We love you all! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

CELEBRATE!

Philippe has been seizure-free for 1 months! (He used to have 1-3 a week.) How fitting to celebrate this special occasion today. July 24th is the holiday in Utah we celebrate Pioneer Day. In 1847 after 17 months of travel Brigham Young lead 148 pioneers into the Salt Lake City Valley. After their long journey, even though the traveling had finished, their work of establishing an entire functioning community in the middle of a desert had just begun! And so it is with us. 

Now that we know and understand WHY Philippe has had seizures, along with his many other health issues, and HOW to heal him, we have reached the end of our journey searching for answers. Yet, at this point, when we look to our immediate future, some days the work ahead of us seems impossible. The length of time required on the GAPS diet to completely heal the body and reverse all the damage caused by gut dysbiosis is usually 2 years. I have a feeling it may take even a little longer for our son, but it will be worth it! Just as Salt Lake is now a major city in the US and even the world, I know Philippe's future will be filled with greatness, wonder, joy, life, and health!

The BEST part about it all is the feeling of FREEDOM, and in a sense POWER, we now have. We are no longer slaves to Philippe's seizures, medications, tantrums, or inability. I used to feel so helpless and terrified every time Philippe fell asleep because I knew every time he woke up there was always the agonizing possibility I would have to endure watching my son's little body seize uncontrolled for 18-20 minutes. I would have to give him a "rescue medication" then sit by his side or hold his stiff shaking body in my arms, and pray, and cry, and sing or talk softly to try to give him a little peace and comfort, even though I knew during a seizure he mostly likely wouldn't be able to hear me at all. 

The anguish, doubt, fear, hopelessness, and all the unknowns we felt for Philippe's life and his future have been replaced with hope, dedication, and excitement! He WILL be healthy! He WILL learn, grow, talk, and keep progressing every day!

Today in therapy he was really focusing and paying attention. He's getting good and figuring out how to learn. I know the wheels in his brain are turning and he's understanding more and more and getting better and healthier every day!

Philippe the GREAT!

WOW!! Today has been an amazing day!

This post has been a long time coming (months!), but I've held off for a few reasons. Now, finally, I feel 100% ok to share everything with the world, which is a BIG deal. Of course I wish I really did have time to share everything, but I don't, and not everyone wants to hear the whole hard truth. So if you have questions let me know. I have become so PASSIONATE about health, food, and healing! Yes, I did say "healing"!! Because now with 100% confidence, after searching, medication, doctors, and diets I KNOW you can HEAL or in other words CURE epilepsy, autism, food allergies, skin conditions, digestive problems (diarrhea/constipation) and so many other diseases and "conditions" we have in our fast-paced world today.  Don't worry, I'm not trying to sell anything, and no one is paying me to write this. I'm just so ecstatic that I have to share our story! Hopefully it can help at least 1 person or 1 family on their journey to health. We are not completely there yet, but we are sure on our way!!!

"Nobody changes until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change."

Last year at this time we were nearly hopeless and didn't know what to do. Philippe had been having seizures for 2 1/2 years, he was in the less-than-1 (because apparently there is no "zero") percentile in nearly all areas of development. He seemed very absent and dazed, like he was never really "with us". He didn't sleep well, he threw tantrums several times daily, and even though he was allergic to eggs, nuts, and soy, he was completely OBSESSED with food: it dictated his entire life! It was almost like he was a drunk or an addict! He had diarrhea as well as terrible eczema and a-topic dermatitis his entire life (basically he had extremely sensitive skin and always had rashes, red and white splotchy itchy patches all over his body). 

We went to the Cleveland Clinic to get their suggestion on what to do. They officially diagnosed Philippe with Autism, which threw another thing on our already-overflowing plate. It wasn't until a few months later in October 2012 that they called to tell us their suggestion and said, I quote "Philippe's best chance at life would be to do surgery to remove 1/3 of his brain". Then after that they would keep him on daily medication and keep monitoring his EEG's for a minimum of 6 years. In the mean time if the surgery didn't change his seizures at all, or at least significantly, they would then do a follow-up surgery to remove the rest of that half of his brain. Then at that point if his seizures hadn't changed at all, there would be nothing else they could do, except try different medications until hopefully something helped. The upside is there was a chance Philippe's seizures might decrease or even stop altogether. The downside is there was a 100% guarantee he would literally have less of his brain! Which means half of his body would be weak, along with a whole slew of other issues for the rest of his life. 

We did NOT take this decision lightly!!! After a lot of talking, struggling, and praying at first we decided just to wait and do nothing until after the holidays. 

Well in December after MANY hospital visits (at least weekly, and a few times we were there nearly every day!) I complained on Facebook that my kids were getting sick ALL the time! A dear friend of mine asked if we had considered giving him Cod Liver Oil. Of course my reaction was "Ummm...  give him what??" But as I continued to ask her questions and look into it, I found out she was talking about The Gaps Protocol, which consists of Diet, regular detoxifying (or "cleansing" if you prefer), and chemical/toxin-free living. As a bonus, the founder Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is a Neurologist who was a Neurosurgeon for years (she has physically seen and operated on the human brain people!) but now she actually suggests NOT using surgery or medication as a means to control (they dont cure!) Epilepsy and Autism because when she become a mother her son had severe autism. So she went back to school and got another post-graduate degree in Human Nutrition and used the diet to cure her son (who is completely typically developing today! No sign he ever had health problems!!)

I became obsessed, and immersed myself every day into figuring this out... I read This Post, http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2010/02/the-gaps-diet-what-it-is-and-why-you-might-consider-doing-it.html and not to sound dramatic, but it changed my life! 

It lead me to many more blogs, articles, and books about "Real Food". We started the diet, and for 13 days Philippe didn't have a single seizure! (His average was 1-3 per week, so zero in 13 days was excellent!)... Until we "cheated" on Christmas, and Philippe had a seizure when he woke up the next morning. But I wasn't defeated yet. We resumed the diet, and again no seizures... Until we "cheated" again on New Years Eve, and again the next morning Philippe had a seizure when he woke up. From Jan 1-12 we were in Orlando on a special vacation so Philippe could meet Mickey Mouse, his favorite thing in the whole world! We didn't do the diet on vacation, and Philippe had 3 seizures in 12 days. We resumed the diet the day we got home, and Philippe had no seizures for 3 weeks, until we again "cheated" one day, and again he had a seizure the next morning... Are you sensing a pattern here?? Maybe every single time it was a 'coincidence'... Or maybe there's actually something to it?

"INSANITY is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different outcome"

So over the past 7 months I've been trying to figure out the diet, and change our lifestyle to a more healthy toxin-free way of living. It has NOT been easy. I haven't done everything right because I either didn't fully know or understand the diet and lifestyle, or because I was having a frustrated/stressful moment of defeat where it was easier to opt for a less-healthy yet more convenient option at the time. 

I finally feel like I know what and how to do the GAPS protocol! I know how to make bone broth and meat stock, homemade yogurt, fermented veggies, and so on. So starting July 1 I decided to start over from stage 1 (only whole organic chicken and homemade broth all day every day), and boy the changes in Philippe have been dramatic and FANTASTIC!!! And we are not the only ones noticing!

We were just at a checkup for Philippe today and it could not have gone any better! Our pediatrician has been seeing Philippe for just under 2 years now. He's fully aware of his situation and his progress, or what used to be a lack there of. I am not joking or exaggerating when I say it was the norm for us to go see him at least weekly! But the past few months oh how that has changed! 

We hadn't been for a few months (I think since April maybe?) until today. During the exam our doctor said "Hey his skin is completely clear! He doesn't have eczema. That's amazing!" I told him he doesn't have diarrhea anymore, and he said "That's awesome!" I also told him "And he can eat eggs just fine now too, he's not allergic at all anymore" to which he replied "Are you serious?!! That's amazing!! Remind me the name of what you're doing again?!" I told him it's the GAPS diet. I also told him Philippe can say 1 word now: "yeah"! He said "I just realized he hasn't thrown a single tantrum the whole time you've been here. He even let me examine him and didn't scream, cry, freak out, or try to bite at all. He didn't love it, but he tolerated it. He totally let me look in his ears and eyes. This is SO amazing. He's not even on any medication now. I can't believe it." But my favorite comment was at the very end he said "Candice, I really can't even believe this. I've seen a LOT of kids, and any other kid it literally takes 10 years to see this kind of progress. I am Floored! And beyond impressed! Just keep doing what you're doing. And let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

As a bonus here is a small video from therapy today. Today was the very FIRST day Joe set the egg or the bus on the table and asked him to give them to him. Philippe totally figured it out right away!! AND he also figured out the difference between the egg and the bus, and which one to hand to him! If you don't know Philippe very well I cannot begin to explain to you in words how AMAZING and COMPLETELY FANTASTIC this is!!!!! It is a miracle! 

I LOVE my son SO much! I'm so grateful to be him mom! I also can't even begin to express my gratitude to Rachel for introducing me to our new life-changing diet and real pathway to health and healing! It is the BEST feeling in the world to watch Philippe change and learn right before my eyes! Our future is now looking so bright, filled with promise and hope.