Look Who's in a Big Boy Bed!

We didn't intend to start putting Quinn in a Big Boy Bed just yet. But last night, he was crying at bedtime, so I took him out of the crib and figured I'd read him an extra story. I was very surprised when he walked over to his tiny toddler couch-futon, opened it up, and laid down! So for nap this afternoon and for bedtime tonight, we just put him in it. He seems very happy! This particular Big Boy Bed will have to be temporary. There's no way to wash it as it's just a piece of novelty furniture (looks kinda like this, with starfish, not Thomas), and it's too tiny for one of us to lie down with Quinn if he needs some extra cuddling when he's sad or sick. So this week, we'll be getting him a full-size futon to put on the floor. It seems like Quinn's just growing by leaps and bounds lately. He's really not a baby anymore. Well, except for that binky. But who knows, maybe he will surprise us and just toss it in the garbage tomorrow.

Excuse me while I brag about my kid some more

Quinn has had an amazing couple of weeks. Potty training continues - he's been doing #1 all week in the potty at home and at school, and just this morning, he did a "real" #2 at home! He still needs his pull-ups, and doesn't consistently ask to use the potty when he needs to, but we are delighted at his interest and willingness to use the potty at least sometimes.

He's also talking A LOT. Saying "watch" because he like's Zac's new watch and "banana" even though he won't eat one. I'd say he has about 25 words now, most of which he does not say consistently, but he is really coming along.

So very excited to see all of his progress. We're off to the toy store to get the little guy a special treat.

Potty talk

I'm almost too tired to blog this, so I'll keep it short. Besides, this isn't something you'd want too much detail about. Quinn did a tiny (as in, you'd need a magnifying glass) #2 in the potty today. We weren't thinking he was really ready, but he was showing interest, which was fine by us. So it was a complete surprise. But it was definitely intentional, as evidenced by Quinn's giant smile of pride at his accomplishment, even before I offered praise and a chocolate chip. I am SO proud of my little guy.

Maybe it was good we were lazy about lazy eye

So we went to the doctor yesterday to discuss Quinn's sleep problems, and it turns out that the eye drops Quinn was prescribed for lazy eye (which we had begun using with greater frequency over the past 10 days in an effort to be better about treating the lazy eye), are a CNS stimulant for sensitive individuals. People with neurological conditions have greater sensitivity to the stimulant effects. Wow. We will most likely still adjust the sleep medication (on the doctor's orders, we increased clonidine last night and had a great night's sleep), but we are very happy to discover that simply NOT using those drops may improve sleep. This is great, but disturbing news. I think from now on, when anyone other than the MIND Institute or our pediatrician prescribes something, we will run it by our pediatrician first. Too many professionals seem to be unaware of the complexity of treating a kid with FXS. As for the lazy eye treatment, we may have to trick or bribe Quinn into wearing an eye patch. Arrr!

Quinn's new haircut

Obtained at the cost of much screaming and fussing, but we like the results.

Less sleep, more words

The last few nights, Quinn's sleep has been awful: multiple wake-ups between midnight and five am, loud screaming and crying. It's been very hard. His clonidine and melatonin regime, which was working quite well for a few months, seems to have become ineffective. We're calling the doctor toady. Perhaps we need to increase the dosages. We've read some pretty discouraging statistics on Fragile X Syndrome and sleep disorders. They go together at a very high rate.

On the brighter side of things, Quinn is talking a lot! He can say "watch" (as in wristwatch), both spontaneously and on demand. He also said "box" several times this morning while grabbing a cardboard box that was on the kitchen table. We also cut his hair last night and it looks much better.

Onward we go.