My Bryce

The last year with my sweet Bryce has been quite the roller coaster.  He was so excited to start 3rd grade in the fall!  He's actually started growing a little bit this past year and he's been actively tracking it on the back of his door.  He finally found something he LOVES to do and something he's really talented at...ART.  He went to art camp during the summer and loved it.  He turned 8 which means he is a cub scout and he was beyond excited to go to day camp and start getting awards.  He started taking piano lessons with Zack and is loving it.

Well, soon after school started, we noticed Bryce becoming very withdrawn, wouldn't socialize, couldn't focus, would mumble so we couldn't even understand him, he stopped making eye contact and started making lots of noises. He also had some pretty severe anxiety about certain things like bees, spiders, and dogs where he would just completely fall apart and not be able to function. His teacher was concerned because he was quickly falling behind in school and the noises he was making were becoming disruptive.  Helping him do homework was such a challenge because he wouldn't even look at you or listen or stay focused for more than 30 seconds which is hard when they are really starting to do harder things in math and read longer books for book reports, etc.

I was pretty worried about my sweet little guy. He has such a tender heart but just was appearing to become so fragile. I didn't want him to get behind and have low esteem which would lead him into the wrong crowd of kids and carry though his school years.  So I took him to the pediatrician.  While he was sitting there with me he was completely oblivious that the doctor and I were even talking.  I addressed my concerns about ADHD and anxiety and also the noises he was making.  While we were talking, and as not to draw attention to Bryce, the doctor slid me a note that said, "These noises are vocal tics."  We have since learned a lot about vocal tics!  We determined to try him on some meds for the ADHD.  This would begin our  roller coaster.  I won't go into all the details but we have been dealing with trial and error with these meds for months.  He has been mopey, emotional, sleepy, wide awake, prone to outbursts, and about any other emotion you can think of, he experienced.  Through it all, he was a trooper though and his school work picked up and he was doing much better.  Eventually we took him to a pediatric specialist where we have learned a lot.  He was officially diagnosed with ADHD as well as Transient Tic Disorder.  Anxiety is something that we will just have to learn to deal with.  We finally have him on a medication that seems to be better than most and we are now just dealing with dosages for his little body.  

We are grateful and blessed to have a VERY understanding 3rd grade teacher, very sweet classmates who have not teased him and have been very patient with his tics, and an INCREDIBLY patient Bryce who has endured these challenges of the last few months the best a little kid could. Yes, he was frustrated, and he knew we were frustrated too, but he is one strong little guy.  

He seems to do better when he is more active.  We have to really push this though since his tendency is just to sit and play legos or draw.  We finally talked him in to playing basketball this winter.  It's been a challenge because he is so teeny that he can't even shoot the ball all the way up to the basket (they raise the hoop to 10 feet in 3rd grade).  So Robb really worked on defense with him and getting him to steal the ball.  Sometimes he would just sit there with hands in his pockets the whole game and would have no clue what was going on.  We would bribe him with quarters if he would just guard someone, get a steal, or take a shot.  For example...

...and I'm sure you can just hear me screaming "Bryce get your hands up! Don't just stand there!"

By the end of the season, he was calling for the ball and trying to steal the ball no matter who it went to.  We were proud of the progress he made over the season.

Here is his little team.  It has been fun cheering for these kids.

I could just eat this cute kid up!  

Having adopted children and not knowing much about their biological medical history, it makes diagnosing and understanding some of these things a little more difficult. We also don't know why these challenges all of a sudden surfaced or if they are at all adoption related. But, I am so grateful to my Brycie.  He teaches me a lot about patience and endurance and trying to stay positive.  He is handling these trials Heavenly Father has given him with so much courage and I am so proud of him!