Hell's Bells! We've got a winner!

After 2 years of getting a variety of diagnoses for Perrin - ranging from autism to bipolar disorder, we finally have what I think is the most accurate diagnosis for Perrin. We went to see a neuropsychiatrist on Friday who specializes in Tourette Syndrome; this is very difficult around here, as most neurologist seem to specialize in epilepsy. He spent well over an hour with Perrin, did extensive tests that involved some sort of brain helmet thing to test for ADHD, and Perrin's diagnosis is Tourette Syndrome with severe ADHD. He said he saw no reason to believe that any of his behaviors, which often mimic autism in young children, were anything other than the typical developmental progression of TS. In fact, Perrin seemed to have outgrown many of the behaviors that led to the ASD diagnosis originally. He said this was pretty typical. I even talked with John's mom to ask if John did any of the quirky things that Perrin does that led one psychiatrist to diagnose him with autism, and of course, he did all of them. It seems that most of Perrin's issues are from the ADHD; he tested as one of the most extreme cases he has seen. This is why Perrin is behind grade level in reading, can't sit still, and is often very moody. He even showed us in the brain where all of these disorders seem to overlap, all of it centering on the area of the brain affecting Tourette's. He was brilliant! I left feeling like we finally got it right. We're going to keep him on the risperdal because it has greatly improved both his tics and his mood regulation. We are thinking of adding an ADHD med, which he says shouldn't increase his tics now that he's on meds for them. I'm hopeful.
He's moving to a general ed class in a new school after spring break. I know it will cause anxiety, and that we may see some noncompliance and meltdowns during this time, and I've made that very clear to the team that will likely be working with him. Luckily they will be sending a teacher's aide that has worked with him one on one for the last 2 years, and she'll stay with him for 2 weeks to help him with the transition. I feel that with this new challenge, he will have a fighting chance of catching up and doing well. He's such a bright, amazing kid, and I think people are finally seeing his potential. Talking with this doctor, who agreed that Perrin was very smart, I am feeling more optimistic than I have in a long time.
Since we stopped having playdates during the school week, his mood has improved vastly. He's learned at least 15 new sight words in the last 2 weeks, and his reading has significantly improved as well. I can only imagine how quickly he'll be able to progress once we get him on a good ADHD medication.

Best of everything 2010

This was a pretty damn good year for music, and I snatched up as much of the goodies as I could since I'm insanely obsessed with at least 2 of the bands that had amazing albums this year. I wasn't able to see a lot of movies in the theater this year; however, I did manage to see a few that I absolutely loved, and they will be on this list as well. So on to the list.

In no particular order (until number 1) here is my shortlist of the best albums. You'll not see Eminem or Kanye on this list because, frankly, I'm sick to death of both of them.

iamamiwhoami
For a year, Jonna Lee as iamamiwhoami slowly released several videos on youtube that had sensuality, mythology, and some badass electronica. Her identity was kept secret for months, and with each new video her face was revealed as Swedish folk singer, Jonna Lee. The story of the videos told of the legend of the mandragora, and every song was even more amazing and heartwrenching than the last. In October, the band had an online concert in the woods that was pure imagination and beauty. The band chose a fan from facebook, flew him out to Sweden, and then "sacrificed" him to nature. It was brilliant. I've honestly listened to this album on a loop for hours at a time because it is truly that outstanding.


Broken Bells
Honestly, there are few bands cooler than the merging of the lead singer from one of my all-time favorite bands, The Shins, and the supremely talented Danger Mouse (from such great bands as Gnarls Barkley). This album is bouncy and fun and sometimes dark and creepy. My favorite is "The Ghost Inside" and the video is fabulous mostly because it features the most beautiful woman in the world, Christina Hendricks.


Interpol
I do love me some moody Interpol music. Their newest album isn't as amazing as it could have been, and some songs, such as "Lights," seems to build up to a climax that doesn't come. All in all, it's a good listen. And since I'm actually going to be seeing them live for the first time in February, they go on the list from sure excitement.


The Dead Weather "Sea of Cowards"
The pure cool factor from this group makes me drool from geekdom. Seriously, you combine Jack White's paley brilliance with Alison Mosshart's sultry badassness and you get a band that is so rad I get goosebumps. Sidenote: If you don't yet have "Midnight Boom" by the Kills, I highly recommend you download that baby at this very second. You will not regret it. Even my 6 year old shakes his ass to it. I can't embed the kickass video "Die by the Drop" so here's a link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0YI0UUazkU&feature=channel

The Twilight:Eclipse soundtrack
Right up front I'll say I've not read a single book or seen a single movie from this franchise, but I'll give that writer a bit of credit when I hear the soundtracks. I have zero interest in vampires that sparkle, but I'll listen to a sweet soundtrack any day. This one has quite a bit of great music on it, from the ethereal goddess herself Florence Welch to The Dead Weather. There's even a little Bat for Lashes thrown in for even more adorable goodness.


And the #1 album is, of course, Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs." This album is flawlessness at its best. Growing up in the suburbs myself and having chosen to raise my child in the burbs, a lot of this album seeps into my memories of riding my bike with my cousins to the convenient store for little pocket pies. Of having absolutely nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon but waste time in the department store or go to the movies on a Friday night. It's sometimes sweet and sometimes sour, and it's all glorious. There's the hint of escape or maybe just the understanding of what you give up to get the safety and security of the cul de sac days.


On to movies.
Can there be a "best of" list without the brilliance of "Inception?" I think not. I was actually able to see this one in the theater, and I was blown away by its inovation and intricate storyline. It didn't insult our intelligence with nothing more than impressive special effects; this was a movie with substance. It had a great plot - hey, who doesn't dig dreams - superb acting (can Ellen Page please be in more movies?), and let's face it, eye candy for the ladies. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, AND Leo? My eyes were most pleased.
Next up was Black Swan. I was mostly excited for this film because I love Swan Lake, and I loved the idea of a movie devoted to a ballerina struggling with creating the personas of both the white and black swan. The ballet in itself is breathtaking, and Natalie Portman needs an Oscar post-haste for being flawless. I completely believed that she was this sweet, innocent ballerina driven mad with obsession over being perfect. It gave great insight into the dedication and pain that goes into being a dancer, and yes, there is an incredibly hot girl-on-girl sex scene that even made me blush.
And the last film I'll mention here is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This movie was just plain nerdy fun. Comic books, video games, ridiculously over the top fight scenes - it was just pure nerdgasm. Michael Cera, who is now quite famous for playing the geeky underdog who somehow manages to usually get the girl, plays Scott Pilgrim, a guy who must battle his new girlfriend's 7 exes in order to win her heart. It's a great story of the baggage that we carry from one relationship to the next, and how each new person has to deal with all the shit that comes with the complicated mess that was left by the last. Plus, it's just hilarious and fun.

In personal life stuff, the very best thing that happened this year was Perrin's amazing progression in both social skills and his ability to function in school. All thanks to this incredible little pill called Risperdal. Seriously, it has saved our lives. My child learned exactly nothing in kindergarten because his moods were completely out of control, he had zero attention span, and he was constantly in a state of fight or flight. Over the summer, he learned his letters, and he has been progressively learning to read. Through the outstanding work of some incredible women in his life - these ladies will be getting their own post - my son is now spending almost half his day in a general education class and making friends. He's happy, healthy, and loving life. And so am I.

Yo Yo, Roller Coaster. Pick your metaphor

Getting an accurate diagnosis for children with neurological disorders has got to be the most unbelievably frustrating and seemingly random process. In the last year, we've been told Perrin is absolutely on the autism spectrum, unequivocally couldn't possibly be on the spectrum, is a textbook case of early onset bipolar disorder, and might just have autism-related mood disorders. So...in all of that chaos, how is a parent to even begin to know who is right? I have filled out questionaires, checked off boxes of behaviors, and Perrin has been through countless evaluations over the course of the last 2 years. At the end of it, we are still at the mercy of opinions. There's no scientific test, no blood work to be analyzed. It's just a list of characteristics that are then interpreted by a neurologist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist. And when they don't all agree, where the hell does that leave you? I've mostly listened to other moms and watched how Perrin interacts with other children on the autism spectrum, and for the most part, he's just like them. And in many ways, so very different. Because mixed in with all the sensory sensitivities, rigidity to routine, and mood swings is a 6 yr old boy with his own quirky personality. And he might line up his toys in a certain way because he has autism, or because he has OCD, or just because he likes them that way. It's simply impossible to know. I get told quite frequently that the label shouldn't matter to me; that he's still the awesome kid that he's always been. I do agree that regardless of the diagnosis, he's just Perrin. The kid who loves putting stickers on those paint swatches from Home Depot, who loves ketchup quite possibly more than any other human being on the planet, who has memorized pretty much every line from every show or movie he's ever seen, who collects every scrap of paper he touches, and who can melt anyone's heart with his smile. We go back for further testing with a neuropsychiatrist next month, and hopefully with that will come more answers. What I know now is that he's content and stable. He's learning at school, and he's making friends. He's truly enjoying his life right now, and honestly, what more could a parent want for their child?

Fun with mosaics

I'm on a knitting hiatus while I experiment with other forms of artistic expression. First up, mosaics. I was inspired years ago at my sister's wedding by these beautiful mosaics that the owner of her wedding site created all over the place. They were massive and breathtaking, with butterflies and flowers. It looked insanely fun to do, so I thought I'd give it a try. I had some tiles left over from some stepping stones made for a friend a few years back, so I busted them out and got to work.
Step one was really creating the design. I had these little cork shelves lying in my closet, so I used that as the base. Once I got the image exactly as I wanted, I used a mosaic glue to stick em on. This process took forever, but with a little help from Doctor Who, it didn't seem so tedious. End product of step one.


A few days later, I attempted the hard part. Grouting. Since this was my first try, I thought it'd be easier and more convenient to use a pre-mixed grout that came in this tube. You just sort of squeeze it out over the work and push it between the tiles. Huge mistake. The grout was very thick, and it was like squeezing cement out of a tube of toothpaste. When I finished (this whole process took nearly 45 minutes b/c of the thickness), I tried to smooth it out as nicely as I could. However, due to the thickness of the grout, this ended up basically covering the entirety of the tiles with the thick goop. According to the directions, I was supposed to wait 30 minutes and then wipe off the tiles. Well, the grout had dried so much at that point, that I had to scrape it off the tiles. This process took over an hour, leaving gouges in the grout in between the tiles that were difficult to smooth. The end result is that the grout is not level with the tiles nor is it smooth. It's rather crumbly and uneven.


It's not terrible for a first try, but definitely not the result I was hoping for. Next time I will mix the grout myself and actually use the proper grout spreading tool to get the pretty mosaic I'm aiming for.

Your songs remind me of swimming

Summer is here, but it's being very persnickety. It seems for every gorgeous sunshiney day, we get 3 crap rainy days. I've been keeping the boy quite busy at the water park, and he started his summer session at school on Monday, freeing me up a few hours a day. What I've been doing with those days is just about exactly nothing. I've been in a weird funk. Not really blue. Not really tired. Just meh. I'm sort of stuck in this creative rut where I want to make or do something, but I'm floundering when it comes to starting something. I'm not particularly in the mood to knit. What I've been kind of wanting to try is creating mosaics. I saw this gorgeous book at Michaels the other day that showed how to do it, and I felt a slight flutter of inspiration. So, I'm probably going to start glueing tiles to everything, and I feel this may be a new obsession to replace knitting...well, just for the summer. I'll be clicking needles together again in the fall, and I may even have some things up in the shop if I get my ass in gear. My problem is there's so much to do in this life.I want to write, to sing, to dance, to paint, to knit, to read, and do it all NOW! I'm always filled with this urgency, this little knot in my belly that begs me to get up and go.
But alas, that's that. My mom, stepdad, and two of my stepsisters were here last week from Texas. I got to play Chicago tour guide, and I was actually pleased with my ability to not only navigate around downtown with 8 people (my aunt and uncle went with) including Perrin, but to keep from getting too anxious, thus making Perrin anxious. The result was that they dug Chicago, but spent way too much time on public transit for anyone's liking.
We hit up the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Lincoln Park Zoo, and my mom got to have a Chicago style hot dog, which was her only real goal. They got a real kick out of the Chicago accents, my darling son's included. It was a great time, and I wished it could go on forever.

If you want to destroy my sweater, pull this thread as I walk away

So here's the sweater I started for Kate in February. It's a design based on a photograph of a sweater she liked at a department store. I wrote out the charts for the cable and the lace and did a helluva lotta math to get this thing right. It took the better part of 2 months to complete, but she looks cute as hell, right?
Yarn - Woolease in oxford gray - a little less than 4 full skeins
The pattern itself is based on the shape of "Bobble Blue" in Interweave Knits Spring 2006. Highly modified based on her measurements and the cable and lace patterns.
All in all, I'm very pleased with the results. This was literally the most work I've put into a sweater, and it paid off. I think she likes it :)

Florence and the Machine at House of Blues

Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine has, without a doubt, the most haunting, powerful, beautiful voice I've ever heard in my entire life. Not only is she an amazing singer, but her lyrics are so enchanting, sometimes painful that it's hard not to cry when you hear her songs. "Cosmic Love" has got to be the most beautiful song ever written in my lifetime, and she has quickly become my new favorite artist. Sorry Tori; you've been usurped.

The entire experience of this concert was amazing in every way. My darling friend Kate (my new concert buddy) and I trekked into Chicago to the House of Blues last night for the show, and we were blown away. The band started with my absolute favorite song on the album "Lungs" called "Howl" which makes me think of werewolves and Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Just awesome. The set list included pretty much every song on the album, since she only has the one album out right now. During "Drumming Song" the entire floor was literally shaking as the audience jumped up and down with the beating of the drum. Florence commented in her adorable little British voice about how awesome it was that we were making the stage shake. She took the time to talk with the audience, which I'm noticing fewer and fewer performers doing during concerts, and it's always something I loved about Tori when I saw her in Austin. It was all very cute and silly, asking us to jump up and down and raise our hands during "Rabbit Heart" and sing along, but it was much fun. Kate and I had a fabulous time, and I'm excitedly anticipating Florence's new album. If you haven't heard her, I highly recommend that you immediately buy her album. You will not regret it.

Here's the set list

1.Howl
2.Kiss With a Fist
3.Hurricane Drunk
4.My Boy Builds Coffins
5.Between Two Lungs
6.Hardest Of Hearts
7.Drumming Song
8.Cosmic Love
9.Blinding
10.I'm Not Calling You A Liar
11.Dog Days Are Over
Encore:
12.You've Got The Love
13.Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)