Life and Times of The Johnston family: July Recap

Ok so I'm in serious catch up mode here so these posts may seem more like simple journal entries....but at it's core that's what this blog really is for a us a family record. I'm starting way back the week of July 8-14. That Monday was Devin's second day in big boy underwear, you see he did so good going potty on our trip in Idaho that when we got back Saturday we bought him fun big boy underwear and by Tuesday he was potty trained....seriously it was that easy! He had a couple accidents(and HATED the feeling) and then told us when he needed to go from then on. I attribute it to his OCD, he really doesn't like being messy so he figured out fast that the potty was the only place to go, and he's a very smart boy so that definitely helped too! That Tuesday Devin had developmental therapy, and Wednesday he went for his re-evaluation with a child psychologist, Dr Dickenson at the Ogden center for children with special needs. She was quite intrigued with out Devin. She quickly and confidently diagnosed him with OCD and SPD(sensory processing disorder) then said his SSD(social sensory disorder) was a little more tricky. You see at the end of May the health department redefined Autism, and at the same time created a few new names for SSD's. In the end she re-diagnosed him with a severe form of Asperger's Sydrome, but is going to research up on a new SSD and test him for it in the fall. Thursday Devin had Play Project(therapy), our ward doesn't hold scouts in July but that night my mom and I went to out Book Club, I LOVE having that in my life! It forces me to make time to do something I love(read)and I read books I might not otherwise have read, and it's a great social "out"! That Friday I packed us all up, and when Tony got home we drove up to Bear Lake for the Johnston Camp which was lots of fun! Elizabeth LOVED being with her cousins all weekend, and Devin did SOOOOO much better this year! He actually felt like part of the family! I was very impressed and proud of my big boy! Saturday we took the kids to the lake, Elizabeth had a lot of fun and Devin made it further into the water than I though he would and did pretty good! Elizabeth could have stayed and played at day! Tony's brother Matt rented boats, and that afternoon Tony took Elizabeth on it...Matt asked her if she wanted to go on the tube being pulled behind the boat, and Tony was kinda hoping she'd be too scared cause he didn't really want to go on, but this is Elizabeth we're talking about....of course she wanted to go on it! Tony took solace in the fact that they most likely wouldn't go in the water and get soaked. So Tony and Elizabeth are on the tube being pulled behind the boat, having a good old time, then a ripple comes up and Tony goes off one way and Elizabeth goes off the other....traumatizing right?! NOPE! Tony swam over to Elizabeth who was just floatin' and chillin, got them both back onto the boat and this is what Elizabeth had to say about it. "THAT WAS AWESOME!!! Yup, that's my girl! She was so excited to tell me she got float with her life jacket just like she learned in swimming lessons! (worth every penny, swimming lessons are!) Needless to say she really enjoyed the boat ride!

Devin giving Carson's scooter a try...he did pretty good!

Devin rockin' daddy's shades

Sitting around the campfire

Looking at clouds and playing

Helping daddy make juice for breakfast

Fun swimming in the lake

Elizabeth drew this heart all by herself!

Some more fun

The next week was a typical week....feeding therapy on Monday, dance/tumbling on Tuesday, OT on Wednesday. Friday Tony took off work as July 19 was the due date of our last miscarriage, and as we did before we spent the day having fun as a family. It helps us appreciate what we are so blessed with as opposed to sitting around depressingly thinking about what we don't. We decided to finally take the kids to Lagoon(Elizabeth was beyond excited!) we got there right as it opened and Elizabeth immediately wanted to ride a coaster so she and I went on Puff and she LOVED it!! We didn't get a pass for Devin as we weren't sure he'd tolerate any of the rides, so to test the waters we got some tickets for him and his first ride was a rocket that just went around in a circle, and though I don't think he actually smiled once, he said he liked it, so we took them to another little ride and Devin seemed into it so Tony went back and got him a pass. We did have to give him Dramamine(motion sickness meds)and he wasn't so sure about all the rides but overall he did have a fun time! Elizabeth had an absolute BLAST!!! She loved everything! Devin's favorite was their new Red Rock jeep ride that just went in an oval but had a slight whip around the corners....he giggled everytime we went around a corner, it was so cute! Elizabeth's favorite was a coaster...I think it was called Bora Bora, or something like that. It was a big coaster and she went on it at least 4 times! Tony even got her to put her hands in the air! We got lunch at the Arby's and cooled off(as it was an over 100 degree day!) Rode more rides and called it a day around 5 pm. It was a very fun day with the beautiful kids we've been blessed with and I didn't have a single sad thought or feeling the whole day, so mission accomplished!

That Saturday we went to lunch with my parent's and Eric and Jen to celebrate her birthday. Monday the 22nd Elizabeth had an evaluation with a child psychologist at The Children's Center in Salt Lake. It was apparent to him right off the bat that Elizabeth was bright, so he asked if I'd mind if he did a sort of IQ test with her. I told him that would be fine, and he was amazed by our gorgeous girl. I lost count of how many times a whispered "WOW" came out of his mouth. His evaluation showed that she was on the high end of being highly gifted, very near the realm of profoundly gifted. And that he said was the main part of our issues with her. She literally is often too smart for her own good. Basically her unbalanced and immature emotional state compensates for her higher intellectual state. Dr. Goldsmith said it's really common actually, and gave me some pointers and tips, and a book to read and implement, then he's going to see her again the end of September, to work with her a bit. He's the first doctor who was actually fully supportive and encouraging of my homeschooling her. He told me what I already knew, that there was no way I could wait til next year and then put her in a kindergarten or even first grade class. That it wouldn't be fair to Elizabeth or her poor teacher. It was a big confidence boost for me, he even complimented that I must be doing a great job teaching her, for her to know so much. :) Tuesday Devin had Feeding Therapy in the morning, then in the afternoon we went back with my mom to Bountiful for the big parade, which Elizabeth loved and Devin pretty much ignored with headphones on(parades obviously aren't his thing). Wednesday was the 24th which Tony had off work, I'm not sure what we did that day...I think we just took it easy and got some things done around the house, oh yes that's right Tony painted the front room! In the afternoon we went to The. Taste of the Town, which was. really good. Then called it a day. Thursday Devin had behavior therapy in the morning and OT in the afternoon. That weekend I believe we worked on the front room some more. Tuesday was Feeding therapy and when I went to take Elizabeth to dance/tumbling there was a sign on the door reminding us of the summer break...so Elizabeth and I went to the library instead! And that was the month of July!!