I sold my son to the Circus

No, not really. Although sometimes, I wish I could! Unfortunately, the circus isn't taking any new people, though.

AJ has been acting even worse than ever. Once school ended, he just wasn't happy. He's been miserable, mean, and actually physically hurting people on purpose. Specifically, he was targeting Gianna because she's smaller than him. He would pinch her when he didn't think anyone was looking, smack her, etc. Just the other day, I caught him pushing her off the chair. It's gotten out of hand. I brought in the big guns for his most recent appointment with his therapist. I scheduled it so that my husband could join me. I needed the support.

While our concerns weren't ENTIRELY addressed to our expectations, it did go better than if I had gone alone. AJ's medication was increased, so we are giving that a whirl. He is now on 40mg Ritalin LA and 2mg Risperidone in the AM, and 20mg Ritalin LA, 2mg Risperidone, and .25mg Clonidine between 1 and 3:30 PM.

It took a week before we could try this combination out. Only because our son is the only one in his area on Ritalin, apparently, and NO pharmacy had them in stock. They had to order them. So, we went a full week with NO medication at all. That was fun ... not. He was mean, hurtful, rude, impatient, violent, and so on. His words were hurtful, and he made me really wish I could sell him to a circus. Or even just give him away!

We have since tried the new dosage, and I'm still not seeing a huge difference. He's still argumentative, mean, violent, and just can't. sit. still.

However, we may have found something to help him. We've noticed that he's the only one in the house without an electronic device of his own, and he seems to have a hard time with that. He's constantly stealing Gianna's Kindle, or just snatching it out of her hands. Anthony and I have talked about this briefly before, and the agreement was that AJ had to prove to us that he could treat a tablet properly- no throwing toys, slamming them into the wall, floor, etc. Personally, I don't think his behavior warranted a tablet. He did not show that he could be responsible, as he has broken a few more toys this past week. But at this point, I'm desperate for some peace and quiet from him, some sense of normalcy, even though our life is anything BUT normal!

This poor little guy was seen Friday afternoon because of his eye. Turns out, he has a sty.

Fortunately for him, my laptop quit working. What that meant was, I needed a new laptop ASAP. I headed to our local rent-to-own store, and rented a computer. Long story short, I found a better deal with a laptop + tablet combo, so I took the original rental back. Since everyone else has their own electronic device, AJ will be using the tablet. He spent a whole half hour wrapped up on it. He put it down when I asked him to, and was actually polite when speaking to me and his sisters. He's like a different child. I'm not sure if his acting out was because of jealousy, or if the tablet is just a brain-suck and this is just a zombie of a child, too wrapped up in the tablet to notice his surroundings. This is only the first day he's actually had it, so I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Being without a computer was hard- I am VERY behind in some reviews that I needed to get. I find myself being committed to many reviews, when that is not the original purpose of this blog. I will be taking a massive step back to get this blog back on the track I originally had for it. I intend to post more about my children, namely my son, and how our lives are constantly on the go. And who knows? Maybe I'll stop seeking out a zoo to sell my kid to.

Family fun! *pic heavy!*

About 3 weeks ago, I was incredibly sick. I had the stomach bug so bad, and was reduced to nothing but tears and zapped of all energy. My house was a wreck, my kids hadn't had an actual cooked meal, and I hadn't been able to stand up for more than a few minutes without falling over due to being incredibly weak and dizzy. I am sure I was severely dehydrated, which certainly didn't help me any.

After I recovered, I decided that we needed to get out on the first nice day. I needed some fresh air, and the kids didn't want to be cooped up inside on an almost 80° day. So, Saturday morning I decided that we were going to go to the Zoo. Because I was angry with my husband, I was not inviting him to attend our outing. Gianna had other plans. She walked up the stairs and asked daddy to come "Daddy! Come to the zoo with us?" He also wasn't feeling well, so I figured he wouldn't be up to the trip. The Zoo isn't far from us at all, but with the kids, it can become an all day thing. He decided to come. So much for that.

We arrived at about 12:50, went through the gates, and started our visit. Sheep, goats, ring tailed lemurs, and this cute little guy. The red panda. My new favorite animal. He's so cute!!!

By the time we passed the cougar, the birds (bald eagles, vultures, owls, etc), and the arctic fox, my husband was really starting to feel worn down and sick. We stopped at the snack shack and got some drinks and pretzels. At that point, he decided he was going to head back to the car and wait for us there. It was 1:30. He didn't think we'd be that long. The Zoo isn't large by any means, but it certainly isn't small. There were still quite a bit of animals left to see, and some of them are rather entertaining.

We went up to the Large Cats of Asia building, which houses a leopard and two gorgeous tiger sisters. The leopard kept walking back and forth in front of the windows, before deciding that she was tired and just wanted to lay in the sun. 

After that, we visited a spectacled bear and then made our way up to my favorite exhibits- the otters and the penguins. The penguins apparently only go in the water once in a great while, so we were incredibly lucky to watch them jump in and swim around. We went into the building so that we could see them underwater. Gianna was so excited to watch them swim! They played with her, through the glass, for at least 10 minutes.

 On one of our bathroom breaks, the kids decided to play with the statue outside.

After that, we checked out the wolf exhibit. We didn't see any while we were inside the building, but I decided to prop my phone up and set the timer so I could get a picture of the kids and I together. I wish it wasn't so dark, but I really like it other than that.

While we were leaving, we spotted the wolves outside of the large area. There were 4 of them, but only one was actually out in the open enough for me to get a picture of him.

After this, we made our way back to the beginning so that the kids could spend some time feeding the goats and sheep again. They really enjoy that part the most. There were 3 new babies, and they were just the cutest little things hopping around! Gianna loved watching the one play. The mother to the twin babies was incredibly loud. Every time AJ would look at her, she'd "BAAAAA" as loud as she could. Guess it was feeding time and she was making sure the zookeepers knew she was there and waiting!

Before we left, we hit up the ZOOvenir shop to pick up some souvenirs for the kiddos. AJ picked some plastic zoo animals, Sofia bought a ring, and Gianna wanted this tiger named Tirney. I put it on her back and used a rubber band around his hands and feet to keep it in place. She loved it!

And, the perfect ending to the perfect day? ICE CREAM from Coldstone!

My new favorite picture of Gianna:

They had a blast. We spent a total of 3.5 hours at the zoo. The kids had a blast, I had a blast. My husband sat in the car that whole time. I'm sure he was hoping that he didn't come, or that we would hurry up. Oh well. We had fun, and that's all that matters. My kids enjoyed themselves and the attention they received. It was one of the best times I've had in a while and I can't wait until the weather warms up some more so that we can do more things like this. I'm hoping to hit up the Syracuse Zoo and the mall as well. I know the kids would enjoy that just as much, if not more, than this zoo.