Saturday, July 14, 2007

A Day at the Mall

Seeing is Believing!! Here is the PROOF that Nick is back to eating french fries!!


And yes, I was the overzealous mom taking pictures of her kids eating french fries. You would too if every piece of table food was a struggle for your little guy. I am so proud of Nick for this seemingly small victory. We would serve up french fries everyday if it would not harden our arteries!

Today we again went to the play area in the mall. Nick learned to climb through the little tunnel, and ALMOST went down the little slide by himself. The steps are a little small and steep, so he ended up backing down at the last minute. Michael was right behind him to make sure he did not fall-what a lovely big brother. We did have a couple of instances where Nick hit another kid-and I was quick to tell him NO! and we went up to the little boy and apologized. I showed Nick that we be "nice" to other kids by taking his hand and patting the boy GENTLY on the arm. After a few minutes of letting Nick play on the seat with me, I took him over to one of the other climbing things(it was a little pig) and he practiced climbing on that for a little bit.

Monday we have a trip to the zoo planned, and the rest of the week will be devoted to checking into SSI, and scouting around for a private therapist. Thursday we have our first appt. with UW. Wish us luck!!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Silly Talk...Silly Dance....Silly BOY!



Nick engages in these things almost on a daily basis; and you know what?? I LOVE it! Sure Nick says non-sense words that nobody understands; but when he is saying them he is usually HAPPY! Yesterday Nick and Michael went on a banter of "eeeeellloww" back and forth. Nick has quite a few words that we just don't understand. He says them clearly(and loudly I might add). Some of them are: "Aya", "Dee-nee-nee","eeellow", and a humming sound. The humming is almost like he is imitating a machine of some sort. It is very precise, and is usually accompanied by some sort of action from Nick; i.e. moving his arm up and down. We have been trying to think of what this might be, and the only thing we could think of is the sound of the garbage truck that comes every week.

Even though they are more than likely just some vocal stimming that kids with ASD will do, it is still a way to connect with him and it can be fun at times to hear his little diddies throughout the house.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

One Small Step at a Time



We are doing our own form of Physical Therapy here at home now. Since Nick is out of school, he does not get that stimulation he needs for his muscles to get stronger. So, now, I have it written down on our calendar(which is like our Bible) that every weekend we will go to the park, and I also want him to get used to being around a group of kids; so we also are taking him to the Tacoma Mall play area. I was kind of skeptical of the play area at first because the last time we were there all he wanted to do was run away! But, I thought it was worth a shot. I am so glad we went! He loved it! He liked the little slide they had and the play house they put up. The play area was completely redone since the last time we went, so it was a totally new experience. Nick loved all the different shoes as well--he went up to one lady, bent down, and touched her shiny black shoes. Then he saw some sandals that caught his eye-so he picked one up and started to twirl it. I calmly went over to him and re-directed him to the slide. He enjoyed his time in the play area. Michael helped him out too by showing him how to slide and how to go under the tunnel.

After about an hour or so, we left and had lunch in the food court. I put one french fry on Nick's stroller, and then watched as he slowly inspected every inch of it. He touched it, twirled it, smelled it, put it to his lips, and licked it. After a few minutes, the UNTHINKABLE happened.....HE ATE IT!!! He has not eaten a french fry in about 6 mos, and you would have thought I won the lottery with how much praise I gave him!! He not only ate that fry, but he finished off the rest of them as well--even the ones that had corners and dark spots!! My amazing little guy--he tries so hard! Things don't come easy for him, and the sounds from all the people were sometimes too much as he covered his ears quite a bit, but he managed to overcome it and eat french fries with us!! I am over the moon!