a bunch of stuff

February 17, 2011 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)132 Comments

I've been reading blogs for 6 years now and I thoroughly enjoy it. I'm especially drawn to creative blogs as I love the mix of real life and crafting that makes each of my favourite blogs personal and unique. I've never though felt the need to leave any unkind or callous comments anywhere – it seems un-necessary because if you come across a post you don't agree with you can simply click out and visit somewhere else, after all reading a blog or leaving a comment isn't compulsory is it?

I wonder then what compels someone to reach out with bitterness and leave a spiteful comment like the one left for me last week? I think I'd have felt rather ashamed at having written something like that in the attempt to shovel a little meanness into someone else's day. My personal view is that such comments always reflect far more badly on the commenter than the person that they're aimed at.

Anyway, let's not dwell on the crappy side of blogging.

Here I've been feeling foxy, although I still haven't managed to knit a whole one – I seem stuck on heads but the bodies will no doubt follow along. I'm feeling impulsive in my knitting at the moment and I think it's something to do with having that lovely new yarn to try out – it's hard to leave it just sitting there waiting to be used!

On the Toby front much is unchanged but I'm filling in lots of charts about sleep patterns, ABC behaviour charts to record and analyse his frequent meltdowns and lists of what worked to calm him at a particular time. This will all help in an upcoming meeting with the educational psychologist and it makes me feel better too because I feel like I'm doing something positive to help him.

I'm signing off for a week or so as next week is half term break. Hopefully when I come back spring will have sprung and I'll find you all feeling happy and frisky! Have a good week all!

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_{*An 'ABC' chart can be used to record behavioural concerns. 'A' stands for antecedents, ie what occurs immediately before a behavioural outburst and can include any triggers, signs of distress or environmental information. The 'B' refers to the behaviour itself and is a description of what actually happened during the outburst or what the behaviour 'looked' like. The 'C' refers to the consequences of the behaviour, or what happened immediately after the behaviour. It can also include information regarding other people's responses to the behaviour and the eventual outcome for the individual. In addition, it’s a good idea to keep track of where and when the behaviour occurred to assist in identifying any patterns.}

woolly wonderfulness

February 10, 2011 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)75 Comments

Thanks again to everyone who has left me such kind messages over the last few weeks. I was hoping to write a fabulously glowing post about the wonders of melatonin but unfortunately the reality hasn't quite matched up to our expectation. Things are however slightly improved as the melatonin is having a positive effect at bedtime – Toby has been settling to sleep much more calmly and at a more reasonable time (between 9.30 – 10.30pm most nights). The effect is short lived though as he's still waking every night around 5 hours after going to sleep. Most nights he's been awake for around 2 hours before settling back to sleep but this morning he decided to start the day at 3.36am so he'll hopefully be a tired little bunny later (as opposed to a grumpy one!).

I've stayed in my jammies again today and have curled up with my needles and some rather scrumptious new wool…

Pure merino yarn, kettle and hand-dyed in toast, violin, cinnabar, beige and rich chocolate (wouldn't it be great to have a job dreaming up yarn names? I don't think I'd have settled for beige though, I'd have preferred cookie dough or shortbread).

It's good that knitting is not especially taxing as I think it's about all I can manage after such an early start. It's lucky too that I've made so many bunnies over the years as if I do doze off shortly I could probably carry on knitting them in my sleep!

autism · general stuff

onwards and upwards

February 3, 2011 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)56 Comments

All of the meetings to try and get some help for Toby have now taken place and we have some new strategies to implement – things that give increased structure and predictability to Toby's day which will hopefully lessen some of his anxiety. Our appointed social worker is lovely and very easy to talk to and she will continue to see us over the next few months and monitor our situation before deciding whether respite is appropriate or not. Toby's teacher and speech therapist are continuing to provide daily feedback and ideas and the paediatrician recognised that Toby needs some help to manage life at the moment and has prescribed melatonin to hopefully help him settle and get a good night's sleep. This is potentially the most impactful development for us right now as we're all exhausted from almost a month of only a few hours of sleep a night punctuated by extremely stressful episodes of tantruming from poor Toby. The prospect of a full 8 hours is pure bliss right now and I'm looking forward to getting the prescription through (hopefully in the next day or two).

So life here is looking more hopeful again and things are starting to feel manageable once more. Even my little hyacinth bulb is echoing the mood of optimism and is now in full bloom.

In terms of feeling postitive and optimistic, a little retail therapy never goes amiss does it? I'm normally drawn to shoes of a reddish nature but it was love at first sight with these spring green ones and I'm liking the thought that they're walking me back to happier times.

Thanks so much for all of the kind messages and sorry to everyone who is still waiting on a reply from me. I'm slowly working to catch up a little and things will hopefully speed up further once sleep has worked it's way back into our schedule!