Shnuggles

Ah, the sweetness of sleeping kiddos. Carver and I have a tradition of "Shnuggles" in the morning. He wakes up around 6:30, which is too early for the little sister he share a room with. So we're thankful he almost always comes to find me instead of flipping on the light in there. I should get up at 6 or 6:30 on my own, but I'm not a morning person and we don't get to bed before 11 so I'm desperately tired when he comes in. I hear his little footsteps across the floor, climbing onto the cedar chest at the foot of my bed and then I feel him climb up beside me. Othertimes I see his face peeking at me from the side of the bed.

He climbs in beside me and wiggles a lot, trying to comfort himself by playing with my hair or stroking my arm. He kicks a little, too, or pushes off my legs - probably seeking propioceptive input. I try to tickle his back, rub his arms or give him tight squeezes and hold his hands. But honestly, I'm mostly wishing like crazy I was still asleep. Some days are more like 5:40 and then I try not to feel just down-right frustrated. He'll stay in bed with me for up to an hour on those days, not as long when it's later.

When he's done, he sits up and tells me "wake-up" or pulls the blanket off me. Lately he likes to tickle my feet. Usually I think this whole routine is a bit frustrating, but I realized yesterday how LUCKY I am that he gives me that time I need to wake up slowly. I love talking about breakfast with him, too. He'll start with "scones? chocolate chip scones?" Nope, Carver. It's not Friday yet. "pancakes?" "mini-wheats?" It's so fun to hear him wonder what we're having that day.

I love that I get to shnuggle with my little man, even for all the kicks and hair twirling in the early morning hours. Because I know that someday (probably soon) he'll outgrow it.

Sensory Processing Disorder

You can read about SPD in detail online here and here. But those are general explanations. For some, this means hyper sensitivity to their surroundings, but Carver has LOW registration. Here's what that means for our little boy:

Carver has difficulty processing and organizing what he's getting from his senses, but not just the 5 we all think of. These are the 3 senses that most relate to Carver.

Tactile is somewhat straight forward – relating to the sense of touch. Recommendations include vibrating toothbrushes, deep pressure activities, using puffs and loofahs in the bath, shaving cream, lotion, squeezing playdough, playing in the sandbox, with containers of dry beans/rice/pasta. This system has 3 majors kinds of difficulties – “tactile defensive” or oversensitivity, “tactile seeking” which crave touch input, and “poor tactile discrimination” which have difficulty with hand skills/fine motor. Carver fits into the 2nd two categories, which must be a possibility, as well.

The proprioceptive system is the input from sensations related to movement of the muscles and joints. It tells the body where the limbs are in relationship to each other without seeing them. So his movements are clumsy, stairs are difficult because he can’t see his hands, he doesn’t pull down on the back of his pants to take them off, he probably likes mouthing toys because he’s looking for more input than the rest of his body is supplying. Treatments include big physical activities, pushing and pulling heavy objects, hanging from a bar, jumping off things, climbing on parents and furniture, tug-a-war, blindfolding activities, etc…

The vestibular system is similar, but more about where we are in space – gravity and our surroundings. I see this in Carver in how he gets nervous up on the playground equipment, his clumsiness, poor bilateral motor skills (coordination between right and left sides of the body), high level of activity making it difficult to concentrate on a present task, poor auditory processing skills. Activities for treatment include swimming, gymnastics games, jumping, trampolines, swings, blanket “burritos,” rocking, rolling up and down a hill, bike riding on slopes and flats.

So there you go! We just love him to pieces, we have good days and bad days, but we are hopeful that we're headed in the right direction.