We had a pretty fun week.  Both Nix and I understood that we had no school so that wasn't an issue.  Mom had a bunch of Thanksgiving related crafts for us to do so by Thursday we were really in the spirit.

Earlier in the week mom took us to the park to go on a leaf hunt at the park.  We found leaves in every shape an color and we used them to make pine cone turkeys!  We collected lots of leaves for feathers, yellow leaves that looked a lot like turkey feet, and bright red leaves for waddles.  They turned out awesome and we had a blast gathering them.  We also went to the new library for the first time and got our own library cards!  We even signed them ourselves!  It was so awesome!  It ended in a nuclear meltdown from Nix which tarnished it a bit but I still was super proud of my library card and the cool books I picked!

I've had a horrible cough for almost two weeks now so mom's going to get me an appointment with the doctor this week.  Late Thanksgiving night when mom was moving Nixi to her big girl bed mom and dad realized that she had a fever.  103.5!  She got a frozen yogurt tube and a fever reducer and by morning her fever was all but gone.  She's still got some residual sniffles but it looks like she's getting much better quickly.

Actual Thanksgiving was cool.  Mom had a list of activities for us to do like make an apple pie, go on a neighborhood leaf hunt, color place mats, make holiday hats, and watch a movie.  I was super in to it...I made an Indian hat and it was the best!  Dad made a pilgrim hat and I lent my girl pilgrim hat from school to mom.  By the time the hats were being made Nixi officially checked out of the holiday spirit.  She kept pleading to go somewhere and when mom said no she begged to start the movie.  She's been doing stuff like that a lot this week and mom thought it might be a sign that she's having an increase in symptoms.  See, when Nixi is distracted her hallucinations, like all who experience hallucinations, are easier to ignore and less distressing.  Mom asked Nixi later if leaving the house or watching a movie makes things "less scary" and she said it did.  So, when she asked to start the movie mom put on Brave and she sat through the whole thing.  She was better after that and that made me happy.  I hate seeing her upset all the time.

We're excited to get back to school this week.  Nixi and mom head up to UC Davis on Thursday night for Nix's Friday appointment.  I think its going to be weird for Nix to be a strange hotel and I know its going to be weird for me to wake up without her and mom.  Dad will take me to school and after school on Friday I'm going to take dad to the library!  I'm excited about that and hopefully mom and Nix will be back later that night.  Nix's appointment isn't until 3pm and Davis is about 3 hrs 40 min away, so mom will see how it goes.  Nix probably isn't going to want to hop on the road right after a 1.5-2hr appointment, but who knows.  Mom booked their hotel room for two days just in case.  I sure hope they get back fast but I'm glad they're going.  Mom told me and Nixi that her and Nix would be going a long ways away to see a doctor to help Nixi feel less scared.  She likes the sound of that and I do, too.  So, hope all goes as it should and Nixi gets help with the things that scare her.

We decorated the outside of our house with Christmas lights and decorations and we put up our tree this weekend.  The place is looking properly cheery!  We also got a Wii!!!!  Mom's one big Black Friday score and we LOVE it!  I'm awesome at shooting games and both Nix and I are great at the dancing games.  Sooo fun!

So that's our week.  Hope you all had a fantastic turkey day.  Make sure to check back in next week to see how Davis went and how we got on with back to school!

xoxo
Safi

Wii love to dance!


Here's the Thanksgiving program that Youtube had trouble with last week...better late than never!

Exciting week for the Seifert crew.  My permanent teacher came back from maternity leave, Nana came for a visit, I had my preschool Thanksgiving Feast, and Safi performed in her kindergarten Thanksgiving program.

The transition from my long term sub, Teacher Jenica, back to Teacher Stephanie went pretty good.  I was anxious but I kept it together and was glad that the aid Teacher Neaomi was still there.  Nana and mom came to my class on Thursday and hung out with me during our Thanksgiving Feast and it was so cool.  I ate three slices of turkey!  It was really fun to show Nana all of the cool things on our playground and she even dug in the sandbox with me to get pretend water.  We had a really fun time and I think I'll do just fine with Teacher Stephanie once I get used to her.

Safi had an AMAZING performance.  She remembered every line and every routine and I clapped my little guts out for her...until I realized that it was more than one song and wanted to leave.  Mom and dad were so proud to see her up there smiling and waving to us all.  It was a really great moment.  When it was all over and Safi was leaving the cafeteria she yelled, "bye Nixi!"  Made me feel really special.  She's not just my big sister, she's kind of my everything.

Nana took us out to dinner at the Olive Garden and it was super fun.  I asked to sit next to Nana and we just had a blast.  As mom and dad had feared, the stress/excitement of the week's happenings along with Nana's visit did cause an increase in some of my scary symptoms.  I had a few rough nights of hallucinating and it was really scary.  So, now dad lays with me until I fall asleep and mom gives me 2 melatonin/chamomile tablets, benadryl, and gripe water.  I'm struggling to sleep through the night, often waking at about 2am and not being able to fall asleep.  I just stare at scary things and wait for daylight and mom and dad and sister to wake up.  Its really no way to live so November 30th can't come soon enough.  I'm hanging in there...we all are.

Safi struggled on the heels of the excitement of the week, having massive meltdowns on Saturday and Sunday.  Hopefully we can regroup and get it back together because this week is Thanksgiving break!

Overall, it was a really great week.  This week will be a little rough because no matter how much structure mom provides,k it wont be our normal school week routine.  Mom's got lots of activities and crafts planned for us to do and hopefully we'll get to spend some time with Emily, Logan, Zoey, and Josh....perhaps we'll hit up the Shooks, too....Julie?

So, enjoy the video of Safi's school program and have a very gobble-iscious Turkey Day!!

Gobble, Gobble!
Nixi

Safi's program...she's in the back row...look from the right starting with the Indians, then pilgrim boys and she is the second pilgrim girls after the boys.  Safi is wearing bright pink jammies and her white pilgrim hat...because it was pajama dress up day.  (You may have to copy and paste the below address as it doesn't seem like Youtube is embedding.)
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/796hyaSrVhk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ok, so I'm going to start with the best part of the week....my firehouse field trip with my class and dad.

It was so awesome!  I got to spray the fire hose and I did a great job of asking for my head phones when things like sirens and the fire struck engine got too loud.  Dad was super proud of me and he had a great time seeing me hanging out with my friends.  No pictures this time because dad's phone has no camera and mom wanted him to enjoy the trip instead of lugging around a big digital camera.  So, we had an amazing time and I was really excited to get to share my special day with my dad.

Nixi had school pictures and mom dolled her up proper.  She loved her cool dress and purple bow but was a little confused about the whole picture day agenda.  By the time she was up for her turn she was pretty much over it but they got a cute shot.  When it came time for the class picture there was a little boy from the late day class that kept pushing Nix and it was all she needed to go over the edge.  She got really upset, crying and not wanting her teacher to stand next to her.  Mom was trying to calm her down so she could be in the group shot and a mom of another kid in class was laughing at the situation.  Mom told her that she didn't think it was funny that Nixi was upset and asked her to please stop laughing at her.  She did, and mom was able to get Nix together enough to take the picture.  It was really awkward.  You would think that a mom of another special needs kid would understand that its not funny when a child is struggling.  She seemed to think Nixi's adamant rejection of the teacher was funny, likely because Nixi was very verbal about it and her verbal ability is advanced and sounds like a little adult.  Nonetheless, not funny to Nixi, especially because she was aware that she was being laughed at.  So, her and mom were hot to get out of there as soon as the picture was taken.  The rest of the day was a bit dicey but, man, did my kid sister look cute!

On Thursday mom and dad took us to Olive Garden for dinner.  I was expecting lots of flowers and was a little disappointed when the "Garden" was empty, but we had a blast and felt very fancy at a dinner table with wine glasses!  We did a great job and it was a really fun night!

Mom and dad went to my parent teacher conference and Mrs. Paggi said I'm doing great!  I'm proficient in almost all areas that I should be, I just need a little more refinement in the fine motor skills department.  Other than that, I'm rocking this kindergarten thing!  Mom and dad were extremely proud.

Mom went to Nixi's parent teacher conference and she's doing great, too!  She's pretty much where she should be and she's "a joy to work with."  This week her permanent teacher, Teacher Stephanie, comes back from maternity leave.  So, the teacher that Nixi started school with, Teacher Jenica, will be gone.  Luckily, Nixi's made a really good connection with the aid who will still be there.  Mom and dad are hoping the stress of the change along with the upcoming holidays and routine changes don't mess her up too bad.  What we do know is that stress makes Nixi's symptoms worse.  Right now her psychotic symptoms are mostly residual.  She still hallucinates but at a much lesser frequency and intensity and her paranoia about people comes and goes.  She started getting concerned and a little paranoid about her Teacher Jenica last week so this transition might actually be a great thing.  We've been trying our best to keep her stress down and we think the lessening of her symptoms shows we're doing a good job!

Mom called UC Davis and got Nix scheduled for her evaluation November 30th.  Mom and her will drive up the night before and stay in a hotel.  Nix and I have never stayed in a hotel so should be exciting!  I'll be staying home with dad...again, should be exciting!  

We had some great park days with Logan, Zoey, and Josh and we had a Sunday play date with Arlo, Flyn, and Greer at their house.  All were a blast and we're just really lucky to have such fun friends!  Also, as you can tell from the pictures, we bought a ton of new dress up stuff in the Halloween clearance aisle...SCORE!

This week Nana comes to visit and to attend Nixi's Thanksgiving Feast at her school and my Thanksgiving program at my school.  I can't wait to get up there and sing my little guts out!  We've been practicing every day at school and I'm ready!!  Should be a great time!

A special thanks to Dan for buying mom a computer.  The tablet and keyboard thing wasn't cutting it, so we are so grateful for a new computer to write the blog with.  Saves much time and frustration....THANK YOU!

Here's a link to some information in Bipolar Disorder in children.  Again, we aren't sure what's going on with Nix other than that she has symptoms of psychosis so we're reading up on all of the options.

http://www.thebalancedmind.org/learn/library/about-pediatric-bipolar-disorder?page=all

So, have a great week and be ready next week for some great pics and video of Nixi's Turkey Day feast and my school program!

xoxo.

Safi

For the most part, Halloween was terrific.  I got to go to my preschool's special carnival and that was really fun.  It was a little confusing because there were some kids and teachers with really amazing full costumes that covered their faces and everything.  I wasn't scared, I just thought I was in the presence of Spiderman and Wolverine!  I was talking to them and trying to show them things and I was a bit starstruck.  When the teacher took off Wolverine's mask and I saw that it was my friend, I was amazed.  When Spiderman revealed his true self to be Teacher Tia I was flabbergasted!  Such clever costumes!  Batman was also there and he made me a balloon pirate sword.  I ate a snow cone, played in the Spider House (our playground converted), and I won the cupcake walk.  It was really fun.

The rest of the day was dicey for me but I pulled it together in time to go trick or treating with Logan, Zoey, an Josh and it was absolutely the best!!  The Super Seiferts all wore our capes and we just had the best time ringing doorbells, laughing with friends, and gathering treats!  When we got home we had the best time ever handing out candy to trick or treaters.  I was extremely liberal with the candy and the kids loved me!  Before bed we picked our 10 favorite pieces of candy to keep then left the rest out for the Candy Witch!  The next morning our candy was gone and we got witch bucks to spend at Big Lots, a stuffed black kitty, and a PEZ dispenser!  It was so cool!

I had a really rough time going to bed that night.  All of the excitement of the day caught up to me and I was hallucinating big time.  It was terrifying and Safi got upset, crying to mom "Help Nixi, she's scared."  Bittersweet end to a great day...both of us kids crying and the adults not far behind us.  It is quite common for hallucinations to be worse at night when there's less outside stimulation and distractions.  Mom bought me  a projector thing made for babies.  It has soothing sounds and projects one of three different scenes on a wall or whatever.  Its something for me to focus on because for 3 night this week I would just scream and mom would come in and find me staring at the side of a black file cabinet sweating profusely and terrified.  The projector, most of the lights in the room on, and the door open with the hall light plus a dose of Benadryl has made it a little better.  Its hard on everyone.  Its scary for Safi, mom and dad need a break, and I haven't been getting one so they don't either.  Rough stuff.  So that was Halloween.

Mom got ahold of the people at UC Davis and they said they'll see me mid November of early December.  UCLA wasn't taking patients out of their system and the referral that Children's gave mom said they wouldn't see me because I'm too young.  Mom was horrified.  She asked them what she was supposed to do because I'm obviously not too young to be going through this and they said, "Yeah, but she's too young."  Really?!  At least Davis is willing to try to help me.  So, mom and I will be making a trip up there sometime soon, hopefully.

On a positive note, I've had two pretty good days with minimal hallucinations and delusions.    Hoping it stays like this so I can enjoy school picture day and so Safi can have a more mellow week.  She has a firehouse field trip coming up and she's asked dad to go with her so that should be fun.  Mom and dad are trying to keep the stress down, because that's the number one precursor to a worsening of symptoms an it seems like its working pretty good so far.  This is just all really confusing an new to us all so I can't wait to get up to Davis to get this all figured out.

Anyhow, I'm pooped so I'm going to try to get some sleep.  For some reason mom is having a hard time pasting links to web pages that she wanted to include so do an internet search for "autism and schizophrenia" to see the information she's been reading.

Again, we have no idea what's going on with me other than that I'm experiencing symptoms of a psychotic disorder but its interesting to look at the connections between autism and schizophrenia and its implications.

Peace
Nixi