Owen Update {Ketogenic Diet}

 Owen likes to play video games on our Wii. I've always been very careful about how much time our other kids have spent playing video games. With Owen having so much difficulty the last few years with simple things like walking without falling over (due to a combination of the medication and the seizures), we've let him play a lot more than probably all of the other kids combined. The Ketogenic Diet has made a huge improvement on Owen's cognitive and motor skills. Before we started the diet, he couldn't do puzzles, he couldn't thread beads, and while he enjoyed playing video games he couldn't actually do very much. He would have to ask for help because his hands would shake so much, he couldn't point the controller at the screen. Now that he has been on the diet for a few months all of those skills are coming back. Today he came up to me and said "My Keto diet helped me beat the bad guy!". That's right, not only has the diet helped Owen regain his skills, it has made enough of a difference that OWEN is aware of how much it's helping him. This is really big! Since Owen has started realizing how much better he is doing on the diet, he has been so much better about compliance. He reminds us to put gloves on him when he's doing something that could be a hazard on the diet. He's also really good about not using any soaps or lotions that aren't keto approved. Today we filled up at a gas station right next door to McDonald's (Owen's favorite restaurant that used to be his reward for hospital visits). Instead of whining and crying about going, Owen just said "I wish McDonald's was on my keto diet!", and then dropped the subject! I'm just so proud of him.

 Owen has also gained almost 4 pounds since starting the diet. I'm actually starting to get a little worried that he's gaining too fast. I just had to let out the buttonhole elastic on his jeans. He now wears a 4 slim without having to pull the buttonhole elastic as tight as possible. He was underweight before due to the tube weaning and other feeding issues so it's nice to see him at what is probably an appropriate weight. He seems so chubby though since all of my kids have been extremely skinny (Cameron is currently 5"5" and weighs less than 90lbs) once they started moving. I'm just hoping we don't have to cut his calories since he still thinks he's being starved to death.

 The one thing I'm not liking about Owen's development right now is that he's turning into quite a tattletale. I'm assuming it's an age thing not a keto or seizure thing. He makes sure to tell us every time a sibling is mean to him, usually it's  Brenna. "Brenna hit me. That's a bad thing not a good thing, right?" or "Daddy tried to use the wrong soap on me. That's bad isn't it?" I'm glad he's learning right and wrong  and I'm even happier that he's realizing what items are alright for him to use on his diet, but he tends to be a bit obsessive. That means that I'm still hearing daily about the time TWO MONTHS AGO that Daddy used the wrong soap on him.

 So, today the kids were jumping on the bed and, of course, Owen fell off and conked his head. Well, he was convinced that someone had pushed him off. I told him that I hadn't been keeping an eye on them (I was making lunch at the time), so I didn't know for sure if someone had pushed him on purpose or not.  Fast forward a few hours and I was at the fabric store with the four youngest after dropping Connor and Cameron off at work and lessons respectively. I had bonked Brenna's head on the door while getting everyone out of the car .She was fine, just wanted held for a minute, but that reminded Owen about his head injury earlier. So, the whole time we were in the store picking out buttons for Brenna's new sweater, he kept saying things like: " I hurt my head! ", " I got pushed on the floor!", and best of all, " You weren't keeping an eye on me!", "I got hurt because you didn't keep and eye on me". Just what you want everyone around you hear your kid say in public, right? We eventually made it out of the store without anyone calling Child Protective Services on us, but I don't think I'll be getting that Mother of the Year Award anytime soon!