Saturday, February 28, 2009

Busy Days....

We have had some busy days here at our house. Last week was mostly a blur. Nick had his usual ABA therapy on Tuesday afternoon, and then that evening we were meeting with a potential home therapist. Nick seemed to like her. He was playing his usual game of chase and being a little bugger. He managed to throw one of our phones in the toilet as well. Still not quite sure if it works or not. Don't fear, we still have another phone. He also managed to pull off one of those decorative type kitchen drawers. You know, the ones that look like drawers, but don't move. Yeah, he pulled it off. Not sure how the heck he did it as it was fairly tough to put back on. One of those things where he does not know his own strength. Anyway, the home therapist will start on Tuesday barring any complications. We also had Nick's IEP meeting on Wednesday. I went in and observed him in his classroom on Tuesday afternoon before we went to ABA. I really got to talk with his teachers and was able to find out how he is doing. The main area of concern was his increase in meltdowns. I suggested that they try and give him stickers or some tape for him to feel with his fingers. He likes the sticky feel to it, and that calms him down a lot at home too-although we rarely have to resort to that because he will go to his room and escape the chaos. But in school, he can't do that-so it led to some pretty decent meltdowns. Just as we were talking about stickers, Nick was starting to get revved up at the door. One of his teachers asked "Nick, do you want a sticker?" He turned right around, regained some composure on his way to the teacher, and said quietly "I want sticker". They were completely shocked! It worked like a charm. I was able to walk him away from the door, and get him to sit at the table with the other kids-with no meltdown. After that, they were completely on board with the sticker thing. His IEP meeting was the next day, and it went fairly well. The school is really trying to suit him and his needs. I asked if he would have an aide for kindergarten next year and they said that would be determined at a later date. We should also find out if he can qualify for year-round school at the end of the school year. That would be wonderful if he does. Other than that, things have calmed down a little this weekend. So far. That could change though!

Monday, February 23, 2009

My Little Man is Growing Up......

Yes, I know it is inevitable and that these things happen; but with Nick every milestone is cause for celebration. This morning, he got on the bus by himself. I walked him as far as the edge of the carport-he did the rest by himself. Last year he was still having trouble going up those big steps; not now. He held onto the rail, and put one foot in front of the other, it took him only seconds to climb all the way up. He glanced back to me only as he was at the top and being escorted to his seat. He gets such a thrill when he does something himself. He gets so proud of himself. The other day he took his own shirt off and both of us were just beaming with pride. In his own time. I just have to remember that. He is making progress. Such good progress that even Mike said that he has so much hope for Nick. Much more than he did before. Of course we always had hope for him; but it was hard to keep that hope when Nick just seemed so disconnected. It was hard when he could not understand simple direction; to know just how much was able to get in. Now we know that everything is getting in. He may not be able to tell us with speaking so much, but his eyes say it all. When he looks at us with that big ole smile, he is saying more than words could describe. It's amazing really. For someone that does not talk can say so much with a simple look. He spent the whole morning drawing on his aquadoodle today. Not just lines, but patterns. He drew big circles, small circles, squiggly lines, and straight lines. We have not erased his latest wall art, because he likes to go around and trace them with his finger. It seems to be soothing to him. Yes, at first I was rather dismayed by his latest doodling. In a funny way it kind of grew on me the longer we left it up. I looked around our bedroom the other night and noticed his art had progressed from just lines, to letters. We have a big fancy "D" on the wall between the closets. Other places we can see M's, I's, and C's. What was even better was that nothing was left un-touched. Nick had colored a line or two on every piece of furniture that was there. He likes to view what he has created. He is actually the only one of my kids who has liked to color with such a vengeance. Mere coloring on paper does not satisfy this need that he has. Wonder if Michaelangelo's mom ever experienced this?!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Being "Nooooonie"

That was Nick's choice of word to shout out at the soccer field today. We asked each other "What does 'Noonie' mean?" We were perplexed. He would do his happy dance and shout "Noooonie! Nooonie!" We want to understand our little man, and sometimes that means getting down and 'stimmy' with him. Last night before bed we spent about an hour mimicking Nick. I don't know who had more fun....us, or him. Nick laughed hysterically when I would jump and flap and say what he had said. He would then spurt out another 'word' and jump-then I would follow suit. I can imagine how silly we all looked; but we had a great time. Daddy got in on it too, and then the fun really started. Nick and Mike ran around the living room slapping different objects. Each time Mike would say the name of it loud and clear like "TABLE!" and Nick would jump up and down, then run to something else. We have found that Nick DOES like to be social-just that his way is different. When Michael has a friend over, Nick is usually hanging around them in some fashion. He will play in the bedroom beside them-doing his own thing, but still being 'with' them. Today at the end of the soccer game, he was part of the "bridge" that all the parents do. He ran under them (although he stopped midway to just savor the moment with a boisterous belly laugh-and held up the line of kids running through) and enjoyed every bit of it. He does watch what they do, and in his own time, even imitates them. You just have to understand that his ways are just different. He enjoys the same things that most kids do. All he just wants is to be accepted for who and what he is.

Birthday Pics....


Cake #2. The cake that I spent the wee hours decorating!

Behold The Power of the Wand!


Singing Happy Birthday! Nevermind the "stoned" look on his face..LOL.