BIrthday Boy!!

Maverick is turning FIVE today! I just can't even believe it has been 5 years.

I'll tell ya, this boy has been a roller coaster ride from day one. The first few months of his life were hard on everyone. He cried so much and was impossible to console. I had nightmares of him being kidnapped and the kidnappers always brought him home. As he got older, the screaming and crying stopped but he got dangerous. He walked at 8 months and at 11 months or so he was found "hiding" on the top bunk of the bunk bed (yep, he climbed the ladder). We had to move him from his crib on his first birthday because got stuck and hung himself upside by his thighs trying to climb in it. He scaled our book shelves shortly after his first birthday...I caught him just before he jumped.

He is intense. When he is happy, there is no one happier. When he is mad, well stand back. When he is afraid or sad or any emotion, he is intensely so. For several years, we struggled with more little things, his socks on the wrong feet (seriously, I still don't know how to tell the difference), hair on his fingers, freaking out about tags in clothes, etc. It was a constant effort to keep him happy. The other emotions were so much more exhausting!

Then, after an appointment with the pediatrician where I got a referral to a specialist to figure out how to help Maverick mellow out., I reached out for help online. The referral was going to take 6-9 months and I was already exhausted! And I got help from a homeschool friend who I've never met in person. She suggested the Feingold diet. We got the kit and followed it religiously. People thought we were nuts! But Maverick started improving. And aiden get aa little less goofy and I stopped getting headaches all the time). And then I canceled the appointment with the specialist. All I wanted was him to be happy and settled, I don't need a "diagnosis" or "label." He is sensitive to additives in food. In the last 1 1/2 years, we have narrowed his trouble foods to dyes. "Colors with a number" is what I say....such as red #40. We avoid these like the plague. I would give him a Big Gulp of coke before I gave him gatorade. We still avoid a lot of other things at home but as long as I can guess something is mostly dye free when we are out and about, we don't freak out about it. It has changed our lives.

Now, what is Maverick like? He is a wonderful boy! Still a little high strung (but so is his mother) but I can bring him back to earth when he is getting close to losing control. He is doing well in his schooling. He makes friends easily and is pleasant. He still exhausts me and is full of mischief but he is likable now. (he hasn't always been likable)!

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MAVERICK!!! You are growing into a wonderful big boy and we love you!