Growing Boy

Griffin is now in an 18-20 size shorts and XL shirt, he wears a size 5 shoe but I think that he needs a new pair (he is not cooperating in that area right now). He weighs about 111 lbs. and is about 5 ft. tall. It seems that all he does is eat during the day, that he eats when he gets bored, that he eats automatically when there is nothing else to do with his hands, he just walks to the kitchen and opens up the fridge or cabinets and starts looking in. It is a constant battle. I try to distract him and discourage him and it has triggered tantrums but I do not give in. These are some of the ones that has led to him going after knives eventually.....that's how adamant he is about over-eating. FYI, he goes to a nutritionist on August 7 so she will have some helpful advice as to how to help Griffin with this problem as well as his issues as far as not eating a variety of foods. The pediatrician told me that he needs to slow down the rate in which he is gaining weight since he is 15 lbs overweight for his age, that for Griffin he does not need to lose weight merely slow his gaining rate. It is not as though we don't have healthy foods in the house but he has only resorted to tasting them with his tongue. Now, that is a big deal!

I asked his psychologist about Griffin's obsession with food and he said that he would get back to me on it. I try to keep Griffin outside the apartment as much as possible but it makes me tired because of my Fibromyalgia, it eventually hurts my feet (because I am still recovering from my surgery and I still need surgery on my left foot), and I have to keep in mind that it is very hot because our air conditioning doesn't work in our car therefore it makes us both miserable especially if it is beyond early morning.

Yesterday, Griffin wanted to go to the fountain downtown to play in the water and despite the fact that it was over 90 degrees outside I agreed and I took Abby which probably wasn't a good idea because the car was so hot while traveling. The temperature gauge in the car read 101 degrees probably because we were in traffic and there was no breeze, it was sweltering! It didn't seem to bother Griffin at all.

We made it downtown after driving about 20 minutes, I found the perfect parking space right in front of the fountain and I put enough change in for an hour and a half. I was ready to stay awhile and relax. There was a park bench in the shade right by the fountain where I could clearly see Griffin playing so I settled in with Abby reading my book, it actually felt pretty cool in the shade. It took Griffin awhile to get wet but he got used to the cold water as he walked around the dancing fountain while wearing his goggles (he cannot be near water without wearing his goggles), but after about 15 minutes he came up to me and told me that he was bored.


Oh well, I thought to myself. That is autism for ya! Gotta love 'em!  We sat on the bench and watched the birds for a few minutes then he was ready to go. I love my son and the things that I do for him are out of love. It does not matter that we drove in the heat just for 15 minutes in the fountain as long as he had fun.