Real Life vs. Rockwell Life

I am almost certain that Norman Rockwell DID NOT have children; or if he did, he most certainly did not take them out anywhere. Otherwise, his idyllic paintings would have been DRASTICALLY different than the peaceful,serene portraits he painted of them. We have all seen his paintings of children who seem to get along with each other, never make any messes, and whom have adults smiling at them. Ok, so we do often get the latter part of that,but thats where it ends! I have all these wonderful things I am going to do with my boys in my head all week at work, and then reality sets in. It is a major undertaking just getting everyone to the car. And once in the car, Nick takes off his shoes and socks immediately;not a problem when it is sunny and nice out;but is more than annoying when it is rainy and cold! We get to our destination and schlep everyone out of the car. That is when it starts. "Michael come here!" "Where's YOUR jacket??!" "WHO stinks???!!" Then we get in to the restaurant. All the silverware gets pushed to the opposite end of Nicholas,Mike and I are getting kicked in the legs by a two yr old flinging his feet, Michael announces he has to go potty, and Nick has managed to get his shoes off again...and we have not even ordered our food yet! By the time everyone orders, it seems like we have half the menu ON our table,which causes another problem...no space! Suddenly, what Nick is eating becomes PART of the table,himself, and the floor. The more we wipe him, the more we get on ourselves. By the time the meal is over, Mike and I have not had a real conversation, we are covered in pink yogurt, and Mike announces "I need a cigarette!". Shopping is another entity all together! Then there is shopping for a Halloween costume. I took the boys out to do this yesterday. I figured that it is still early enough to get a good costume, and that we would find one the first store we went to. I got everyone ready and we headed to TOYS R US to have "FUN" picking out a costume for Michael. I seem to remember that this large toy store having everything you need for kiddy fun! Not so. They only had ONE aisle of costumes, (and they were rather picked through already), and why must they put displays in the MIDDLE of the aisles so that it is next to impossible to get your cart down them???!! Michael found a pirate costume, but when I looked at the price I became disgusted! $40!!! $40 for a cheap costume in a plastic bag!! UGH!! I was so disgusted we left the store immediately. We ended up finding a Ninja costume at Target around $20. Not exactly cheap, but better than 40! I am also fed up with the lack of quality of these costumes. Part of it ripped as Michael took it out of the bag. UGH!! He can still wear it,but has been told that he must put it away to prevent it from ripping more. He was quite upset, and so was I. I had spent $20 on something that ripped within 5 minutes of getting it home.

A typical day in Nickland

Yesterday was Nick's OT and Speech day, so we were at the center from 9am to around 11:30am. First he went to his playgroup. Things started off very well, but in true Nick fashion, things can change drastically. He became quite upset during snack time. For one, with all the kids in the room, the snack area kind of echoed-and I think this was one thing that bothered him. He has become increasingly intolerant of loud noises. He has never liked the vacuum cleaner,but now it is also blenders,garbage disposals, he will even steer clear of the microwave. Two: There was a little girl sitting beside him who was just very active, and he was not comfortable at all with sitting next to her while she was jumping in and out of her seat. Three: He is afraid of the table top fan they had in the room. They had to cover it up with a towel just to stop his crying. Once he saw the fan, thats all he would look at. I actually had to hold him to get him somewhat calm. We have noticed that at home he has started covering his ears more when things get too loud. He is also banging his head more frequently. Yesterday morning, as we were leaving the house,something irritated him and he went outside and banged his head on the car. Anyway, after his playgroup, it was time for Speech and OT. Christy wanted to know what an OT does, so here it goes. Nicks OT is working on getting him to play with toys appropriately. This may seem like common sense to most of us, but Nick needs to be taught. For instance; instead of pushing a car on the floor,Nick will spin the wheels. We also work with him on things like climbing, jumping, and we will eventually work with him on his stims. Right now, when he is excited or on "overload" he flaps his hands, shakes his head, or stiffens himself like a board. This is acceptable for a toddler, but as he gets older it will only make him stand out more. So, we have to teach him other methods like twiddling thumbs or giving himself a hug. Another thing he will do is pace the floor over and over, and slap his hands on the wall. He will do this around 20 times or so before stopping. Today was ok until around 10am-when he apparently just had a meltdown. Mike has no idea of what triggered it, and even Tam was taken by it. He usually likes her session, so this was completely new to her. Such as a typical day with Nick; we never know what we will get.

Some nice fall pictures

For those of you who don't have the Fall season; here is a glimpse of what it looks like in western Washington right now!

This is the tree that is in our front yard.


Our view from our driveway

Looking down our street


As you can tell, it was overcast outside and the temperature hovered just below 60. We did not do much today. Just relaxed and cleaned the house up a bit. Michael went over to a friends house and played some video games. He also spent time cleaning up the playroom!! I did not even tell him to do that!! Nick is slowly getting over his cold. I cannot wait until he gets done with it--he gets even more picky with what he eats when he is sick. It is hit or miss (mostly MISS) getting him to eat anything that is not a pop-tart or cereal or yogurt. These are the three foods we are currently alternating now. If anyone has any other suggestions I would LOVE to hear it!! Otherwise, things are just as peachy as they can be.

Tough day for daddy

Actually, this whole week has been tough. The first sure sign of fall arrived in our house Tuesday. Nick came down with a cold, and is just miserable. Monday apparently was a bad day for Nick as well. There were only two other kids in his group that day, so his therapists decided to combine classrooms with another class. This was a disaster for Nick. He refused to cooperate,refused to eat snack, and raised such a stink that they decided to go back into his normal classroom. Well, the minute he got back into his normal room, he went right to his chair at the table and sat down. Days like this end up in a domino effect...once one thing is off, his whole universe is out of whack. Today was no better. It was raining out, so his playgroup played indoors instead of on the playground. Once again, as you can imagine, this did not go over well. Not to mention there were two new kids in the class and their parents...Nick went haywire. He screamed the entire time. Poor daddy called me at work to tell me of this latest disaster. Nick has become more and more rigid about his routines, and it can be tough. He has a new thing he does too. He throws himself to the floor when he gets frustrated/angry. When he is sick, he tends to regress a bit....very little speech,more self-stimming. Yesterday we actually went to soccer practice with Nick twirling a remote. He sat in the stroller spinning the remote in front of him constantly. He was perfectly happy until something set him off and he lost control. At that point, I could tell it was time to take him to the car. So, I picked him up and BAM! He head-butted me right in the face. I took him to the car, and put him in his carseat. He calmed down right away, so we sat in the car until practice was over. Needless to say, Mike is very happy that I will be home on Monday to take him to therapy, as he said he needs a break after this week.

Michael is doing good. We have three more games left of this season, and then I think I will put him back in swimming. He loves it, and has been asking to go back. He got a 100% on his last spelling test(naturally!!LOL!). He is doing good in school. They have picture day on the 12th of October,so you all will be getting some recent pics soon. He is still getting his shots everynight, and does not even fuss about those anymore. Well, I am going to go now. We got an early morning game tomorrow.

Finally!!!

About a week ago my computer took a BIG dump and Mike had to install a new operating system(thanks in part to our little sticker-boy peeling off the Windows sticker with the numbers on it). Well, the one he put on there was not working for me--I could not view my pictures,videos, or anything else; so he installed a new system today and IT WORKS!!!

Dana and Troy came over today and we had one last visit before they went back home. It was fun getting together with them, and the kids played like they had never been apart!! Michael and Nathan were wrestling on the floor, and all we could hear was laughter. I think even Ericka had a good time--even if she was surrounded by boys! All three of them were carrying on without missing a beat! Nick even bonded with Troy--who showed him the wonderful art of spinning the wheels on skates!! Nick was even glad to see him today--greeting him with an acknowledging glance! I think Troy earned G*d like status with Nick--he worships people who show him how to spin new things!!LOL!! Today, Nick even played "peek-a-boo" with Troy. We loved seeing them again..it was like old times.

After they left Michael and I had some fun decorating the windows with Halloween stickers. Michael wants to be a Pirate this year. A friend of mine is giving me a Micky Mouse costume for Nick. Hopefully, it will not rain like it did last year and they will actually get to wear their costumes!! Last year was a complete washout--Michael was going to be Darth Vader, and Nick was going to be Yoda. Mike had just come home from overseas and we were getting ready for our Disney trip. We spent last Halloween in the parking lot of Lowes with the boys asleep in the backseat. It was raining cats and dogs,and was cold out. We did not want to risk anyone getting sick while on vacation, and the boys were not too into trick or treating that night anyway. I hope this year it will at least be dry out.

Walk Now

Yesterday we did our walk for the Cure Autism Now foundation. It was a wonderful time! I got to see Dana and them again, and the kids had a good time hanging out in Husky Stadium until the walk began. It was nice to be in a place where Nick could just be himself and we did not have one single person stare at us! It was ok to crawl around in circles and feel the astro-turf between your toes and fingers--no one in the room thought that was odd, or even gave you a second glance. We felt right at home!! Nick and Nathan raised over $500 for autism research. Not bad at all!! Hope you all enjoy the pictures!!





Nick loved the feel of the astro-turf!




Nick and Me


The lights look so pretty through the balloons!



Dana is going to send me some of the photos she took with her camara. So, I will publish those when I get them. I will do a more lengthy report later, I just wanted to get these up so everyone could see.

A Quick update

So far; Nick has not had any more episodes like Saturday. We think now that it was a night terror. Normal kids have these and are able to transition smoothly out of them. Nick was not able to make that transition quite so good. Of course, without him being able to tell us what is wrong, this is mainly speculation--but it is possible.

Our week has been good. Busy as always though. I came home for lunch yesterday and the first thing out of Mike's mouth was "Look what he did!?" Nick had arranged his goldfish crackers in piles of two all around the living room. Closest to me, there layed a single remaining fish...he was the "odd man out". This morning Nick got to see the garbage truck go by. Mike took him outside to see it, but Nick was not too fond of the noise...he kept repeating "Go Away, go away, go away!" This is what he chants now when something is unsettling, or he simply has had enough. He has told even us to "go away" at times.

We have our walk for autism coming up this Saturday in Seattle. I dont know how Nick will tolerate the change in his routine, but it will be fun to get out and see our friends Troy and Dana again!! Michael is eager to see Nathan and Ericka. He will not be going to the walk due to an early morning soccer game. I am sad that I will miss this game. It is against one of the hardest teams around, and I would love to see how our team does. Michael is excited about that.

I got a statement today from TriCare concerning Nick's OT. Nothing major, just stating what they paid for it. ONE hour long session of OT per WEEK costs $60! That is just for ONE therapy; he also has three others! At $60 per session, that is $200 per week, plus what we spend in gas. Thank the Lord for the military. It may not be the best insurance around, but it sure does help. Without it, I would hate to see our medical bills for both the boys.

A weekend in the ER

Nick threw us one heck of a curve ball this weekend. Friday night I took Michael to the movies with Kristine and Nathaniel, and we were looking forward to a fun,but busy weekend. Friday night I put the boys to bed at 9pm, and everything was fine. Around 3am I was woken up by Nicholas screaming. I went into his room and tried to calm him down, but he just kept on screaming at the top of his lungs. I picked him up and he literally clung to me with his fists clenched tight. He would not let me out of his sight, so we ended up laying on the couch--where I just held him. Every few minutes he would erupt in screaming again and would stiffen his whole body, he would also bite his blanket. After hours of him screaming off and on in what appeared to be obvious pain, I took him to the ER. All I could say was that "Something is wrong with him...he is screaming!" They took his vitals, and we were sent to a room. His outbursts continued, and every nurse that was there at the time stopped by to see how he was doing,what the dr's had said, etc. He was the inconsolable child. They performed many tests on Nick...from cleaning his ears, to feeling his tummy, his testicles, taking a urine sample, two ultrasounds, two sets of X-rays, blood tests, everything. They all kept coming back negative. They were about to release us, and then the dr wanted me to sit Nick up in the bed to give him some juice. It started all over again. Nick had been content after some IV fluids, and laying down, but when I sat him up, he started crying again. Thats when they started checking his testicles to see if that was the problem. Nope. Poor Nicholas kept mumbling "Rain Rain GO AWAY!" every time they messed with him, he also kept crying "Bye Bye Bubby; Bye Bye" and shaking his head back and forth. At one point, they had another dr come in and try to get Nick to point to which body part hurt...yeah, like that was going to help. This was after they were informed he had autism. They released us, and told me to come back for a follow up this morning. Nick was all smiles when we went out to the car, and I was convinced there was nothing truly wrong with him at that point as he was acting just fine(well,for Nicholas anyway). He was his normal self when we got home, and was excited to see his brother again! Last night, was uneventful and peaceful! I passed out before 9pm.

This morning, I took Nick to his "follow-up". Well, we just walk in the door of that place and he is crying again. We got to a room, and I placed him on the bed again-and he began shaking his head back and forth. I told him "We see the Dr then go Bye-Bye""NO owies today". What I thought would be just a quick appt. was anything but. They ordered a CT scan, and MORE x-rays. Nick was not too pleased, and neither was I. They were very concerned about this whole head thing(after we told them he does this all the time), and that he did not like sitting on the bed--he preferred to lay down. Again, they came up with nothing wrong--so why cant we just GO HOME??!! After his CT scan, the dr came back and told me that it looked "pretty normal,but I would like to do a spinal tap". Well, that was the last straw. I said "No, I think he has been through enough, he is acting fine now (as he was moving all about in the chair, and happily playing with a sticker). He asked if I had any concerns with him at the time and I said "No". He then gave us our discharge paperwork, and we left with Nick saying "Bye Bye Bubby!"

I have learned that no matter what we go to the Dr for, to tell them Nick has autism right off the bat. I feel so bad for making him endure all those tests only to find out this could have been just an "autism thing". Something (noise,light,movement) could have triggered his outburst at 3am-maybe a limb had fallen asleep and the sensation scared him, and once that started it was a domino effect. His screaming brought about a sudden change to his routine and then he was in a strange place-which made everything worse. We may never find out what triggered this outburst, but I am sure it won't be his last. I have learned a lot this weekend. I learned that autism can sure throw you a curve ball.

The Fair

I got to spend some one on one time with Michael this weekend. I take the opportunity when I can get it...with so much of our efforts focused on Nick, I don't want Michael to feel left out. He had been given a free admission ticket from school,so I paid for myself, and we spent Saturday afternoon at the Puyallup fair. I doted on him. I bought $60 worth of ride tickets, and we had planned to use them in no time. But, even with how much he has grown using his shots, he was still too short to ride 80% of the rides. My heart sank as we kept passing rides by. I know it is for his own safety,but dang it!! We ended up riding the "kiddie" rides..or at least the ones that went semi fast. Michael got spoiled at Disney; as he was able to go on Space Mountain, the Tower of Terror, and most of the coasters there. Here, he is still stuck on the baby rides. What would his life be like had we not done the shots?? I don't know. Honestly, he would not be much taller than Nicholas is now. Michael is a pituitary dwarf. I digress. Despite these little set backs, we had fun. We rode all the rides we could, and I must say our favorite was the Scrambler. Michael drove the go-carts, and he even got one of those ink tatoos on his arm. We had a good day! We were supposed to meet up with our babysitter, Kristine and the little boy she is mentoring,but we never found them. I think we are going to get the boys together next weekend and take them to see a movie.

Nick is continuing to make huge progress. Last night while I was in the kitchen, he came to me and started jabbering. He was actually looking AT me while he was doing all this. That is huge for kids like Nick--eye contact is not their strong point, but he was "talking" TO me. After he was done, he pointed to my mouth as if to say "Ok, now it's YOUR turn!". Oh, and if you find a box of crackers sitting out in the middle of the floor, chances are he wants some and this is how he tells us. Now, he will be in a completely different room, but that's just his way. I am signing off for now. Michael needs to be "reminded" to behave in class. I thank Nana for this approach...he is writing sentences!!

Just an update

This week we had Nick's first speech and occupational therapy sessions. It was actually just one session, as both therapists were working together to get an idea of our little guy. The day started out rough for Nick from the very beginning. First of all, he was thrown completely off kilter when someone at the gas station said "hi" to him. He was off his routine and that did not go over well. I met Mike at the center at 9am to see his first session of the day with Courtney. Nick did very well with feeding himself yogurt. He was doing so well at using his right hand and keeping the spoon right side up(he still flipped it over upside down when he started). Then, all of a sudden he switched hands and started using his left hand. We were perplexed. Why would he switch?? A few minutes later; we found out. He had eaten all the yogurt on the right side of the bowl--so it made sense to him to switch hands and eat the yogurt on the left side of the bowl with his left hand. After his behavioral session with Courtney, we went straight to the speech and OT. Nick saw Tam in the hallway, and began saying "GO,GO,GO". He assumed she would follow him into the room as always, but this day was different. He clammed right up when he realized Tam was not in the room; and was a little irritable. To him; this room was to be only used by Tam and no one else. So, we decided to REALLY rock his world and change rooms---yeah, that went over REAL well!! At this point, he was stimming like crazy and was clearly dissheveled. They waited for him to calm down and offered him some fave toys to help. They got him to play with Play-doh(although, he never actually touched the stuff, he did use a toy to pound in it). One of the highlights was when Nick found himself in the mirror-he perked right up and screamed "BOBBY!!!" Just so you know, BUBBY is my little nickname for him, so he refers to himself this way. Our last piece to this therapy puzzle is the in-home therapies. I called our case manager this week, and she is working on this final piece of the puzzle. We have been at this since that appointment with Nicks pediatrician back in January. We have learned so much since then, and I often reflect on how much our lives have changed in the last year. I believe all of this has changed us for the better. I know what I want Nick to recieve. I know I want therapists and teachers who will push him beyond his limitations. I want Nick to be in a pre-school that specializes in autistic kids--not one that has much more severely disabled kids than Nick. I dont want him to get stuck in a school that just teaches him to dress himself,feed himself,etc. I want him to learn academics-I want him to attend regular school. Even if he needs an aid, I dont care. That is our goal-and we will do whatever it takes to get him there. I do not consider him a "lost" cause. There is a little boy in there that is just the sweetest soul; and I will make sure that everyone knows that. Yes, our son has autism--and he is just perfect.

It's just so funny when we talk to other parents. To most of them, our lives seem so alien. They are simply impressed with all the "abnormal" things we have to do. This summer was the first time I felt more qualified to give Michael his vaccines than the nurses. "Just give me the needle" I thought to myself. I have lost count of how many injections I have given him-and this kid, who would need two people to hold him down for mere Tylenol, takes these injections without much fan fare. We get excited over every inch Michael grows, and every pound he puts on. We make a celebration out of all the small accomplishments Nick does. We are in constant awe of our sons.

Not so amazing is the relationship Michael and Nicholas share. It was Nicholas who cried when Michael went off to school the first day. Their bond has no boundaries. I have walked in their bedroom countless times to see them sleeping together. They will crawl into each others bed at night and sleep next to one another. Nicholas gets visably upset if Michael cries. Nick will imitate what Michael does, and Michael loves to play "ring around the rosie" or chase with Nicholas. He kisses Nick all the time. Theirs is the unspeakable bond of brotherhood.

Just an update

Sorry it has been so long since my last update! We have been busy with soccer and school. School is going good for Michael so far. We have had an incident so far where his thermos leaked in his lunchbox. It was caught early in the morning before he even left for school and his lunch was spared. However, he decided that once he got to school, his lunch would not do and he bought school lunch on "credit". UGH! We were not happy when we heard this news, and we told him that if I give him a lunch he is to eat it and not buy school lunch.

Friday night I had a couple of my friends over for a Mary Kay party. We all got facials, and did our make-up and had some "girl talk". Nick decided he would flash everyone his family jewels and took off his diaper two times! I ended that by putting some sweat pants on him. Although, he unsnapped his onesie this morning and took his diaper off and peed on the floor. He was nearly undressed by the time I found him this morning. This is a new development, and I must admit, not one that I am fond of. Maybe he is ready for potty training?? We will have to find the sign for "potty"-as his vocabulary useage is still pretty much non-existant. Luckily, all the ladies that were over thought it was funny.

Saturday was Michael's first soccer game of the season. His team won 3-1!! He came very close to scoring a goal twice. He still gets his shots everynight, and so far has not had any side effects.

I put a new video on the links section of the blog. This is pretty much the extent of Nick's talking right now. He echoes certain words. Yesterday we played a little game to teach him to respond to his name. We employed big brother to help for this one. Michael first demonstrated so Nick would know what to expect. Michael went out of sight into the hallway, and I had Nick on my lap. I then called out "Michael" and Michael came to me. Then, it was Nick's turn. Michael held his hand and took him to the hallway. I then called "Nicholas" and Michael brought him to me. We did this for about 20 min and Nick was having a blast with this "game". The last time Nick actually walked to the hallway by himself and I called out "Nicholas"...and low and behold, he came running to me; laughing and giggling the whole way!

Gotta go for now. Lunch is to be served!

Ready for school

Tomorrow is the big day! I am so ready for school to start. Michael is excited as well. I think he was getting bored these last few weeks...he kept asking when does school start?? We went to the school today after soccer practice to see what room he will be in, and who his teacher is. We found out his teacher is Mr. Harmon--which I was happy with and we have heard nothing but good things about him. Even Mike was happy. He is in room 11, which is right across from the basketball courts. He knows almost everyone in his class, and in that respect, I am glad that we have been here so long that he is actually growing up with most of these kids.

Nick started back with his therapy today, and Tam was enthusiastic about his "readiness to work". He walks right into the room and plops his little bum right into the chair! Next Monday they will be doing a lengthy speech evaluation on him(from the last time I talked 3 weeks ago, I got the impression they will be checking out the muscles in his mouth to see how developed they are) and they have asked that I be there as well as Mike. That means I will be asking for another day off from work--which they probably will not like, but this is not going away anytime soon, and I want to know what they will be doing with my son. That evaluation will determine if he needs more than the 1 hour or so per week of speech that his Dr has already prescribed. They want Nick to be ready for pre-school when he turns three. He will still get therapy, he will just be a part of the school system then. We got to talking to some of the parents on the soccer team today and it turns out that one of the fathers works with school aged kids on the Army base here. He was wondering how we got Nick diagnosed so early, as he said most kids cannot be truly diagnosed until they are in school. We explained that Nick is rigid about routines, how he twirls and spins things constantly, he flaps his hands, does not speak..etc. We spent a good 15 min talking about autism. When alone, Nick looks like any other two yr old (a bit eccentric though), around kids his own age though he is about a year or so behind socially, get him in a restroom and he goes berserk, he has meltdowns when we have to take him places suddenly and without warning. We explained this was part of the reason that we really only bring Nick out of the carseat after practice is over and the majority of people have left. He does not do well with chaos! Anyway, we got the chance to educate people a little bit about our guy. We also do the same with Michael. People think he is 5-6 yrs old, and then Mike will say "No, he is 7, and he takes hormone shots every night to grow", and then it usually falls into "And this is Nick, he is autistic...he goes to therapy everyday". Funny, a few months ago he could not even say "Autistic" and now he is holding conversations about it! Our children are quite unique,but life is always interesting around here, and we keep a sense of humor about it. I mean, it is hard NOT to laugh when your kid is rubbing his head on the pretty yellow line, or dancing with his arms in the air because the wind is blowing, or is trying to jump but only gets one foot in the air at a time. I am also proud to say that Michael is now an old pro at taking shots. I tell him he is the bravest kid I know, and I am so proud of him. We had a good day today--we will see what tomorrow brings.

Here are some pics of Nick and his new fave toy:



We got a spinny top from Burger King....it's a BIG HIT!

The End of Summer

It is officially the last weekend of summer. We have done all of our school shopping, and are ready for the onslought of next week. We have enjoyed these past three weeks when we had not a single thing going on. Reality sets in full mode on Wednesday--Michael starts back to school(2nd grade...I cannot believe how time has flown!) and Nick starts therapy again on Tuesday.

Today I took the boys to the Tacoma Mall where I went and got both of them haircuts. I don't take them to the BX when I am alone because Nick freaks out even going NEAR the barber shop. I also tried to remember if any place has an oscillating fan-he hates those as well. I fully expected him to scream the entire time. The lady asked me if it would be the clippers that bugged him--I just said "No, it could be the lights, the sounds, the feel of the place". Luckily, they were not very busy, had only one oscillating fan(which we were not near), and the lights were ok. I also came prepared-with a trusty spinny toy. All in all, it went very well and I actually ENJOYED both of them!!

I took some "before and after" pics of their DO's:



Michael....Before




Michael....After




Nick....Before



Nick....After(Yes, I will be sending Jennifer this outfit too; I just wanted him to wear it ONE more time)

We had Friday off for a "Family Day" and Michael and I went to see "How to Eat Fried Worms"--Yes, it IS an actual movie, and Yes, it can be disgusting. I have learned that the more disgusting something is, the more Michael wants to see it. A ride is only cool if it makes you want to puke; kiddy rides are now pretty "lame" and he wants to go on the fast rides. He truly is counting the days until he is 48" tall-then it's open season for him! I just cringe at the thought of my "baby" going on all those scary rides where there is not a seat belt tight enough in my opinion. Don't mind me; I am just a neurotic mother!

I am adding some more pics to the picture album page. Hope you enjoy them!

The Golden Dragons

That is the name of Michael's soccer team this season. In fact,soccer is one of the reasons we have been MIA for a few days. Last week, we had some issues with the fact that there were only two coaches for the 7-8yr old teams. That meant we had about 16-17 kids per team--way too many. So, Mike decided to be a coach. Last Thursday was our first practice, and we only had three kids show up...it was not looking very promising. So,after the first practice we decided Mike did not look very much like a coach with no real equipment and we went out to the Sports Authority last Sunday to get him some cleats,shin guards,clip board, and we outfitted everyone except Nicholas with new shoes. Michael was in desperate need of new shoes--he outgrew his old sneakers,and has moved up to a 13. We spent a small fortune,but we had fun-and now Mike looks official.

All this week we have had kids join up at the last minute, and we have gone from having 10 kids(just enough for a team without subs), to now having 12. Mike has found that he loves coaching, and so far is being pretty good at whipping them into shape(running laps,sprints,and races, and scrimmages). They are pretty pooped by the end of practice. We have recieved good feedback from the parents so far, and they like his style of coaching. I have volunteered as a Team Parent, and have my own duties such as making up snack lists, getting trophies, and helping the coaches remember names(LOL!). Their colors are gold and black, and today they named their team "The GOlden Dragons".

Nick has FINALLY ended his pop-tart eating binge and has moved on to more "normal" fare. We figured out why he would not eat with the dining room light on recently--one of the lights went out a while back and apparently it bugged him so much he refused to eat when we turned it on. I am not kidding, when we turned it on he covered his face and would not move a muscle. Today,Mike fixed the light,turned it on, and Nick looked at it and was eating again!! Who knew??!! He resumes therapy again next week after a three week break, and boy does he need it. He seemed to take a few steps slightly backward, and we need him to move forward. His sleeping has gotten better the past few days (thank the Lord...I was about out of my mind),although we still have nights where it is 10pm before he sleeps, it has not been AS many. Mike and him have a new nap routine now, and I think that has helped. Mike lays down with him in our room and strokes his forehead while Nick is watching the ceiling fan spin. That puts him to sleep in no time. We found some old home videos of Nick when he was just a tiny thing--and he acted so normal. We were staring at the videos searching for the slightest hint that we missed--Mike just kept repeating "I don't see it--I don't see the Autism; he looked at us,interacted, and was smiley...I just don't see it". Somewhere between one and two he just did not progress. We look at him now, and it is such a change between the two. Even before he was diagnosed, we had an inkling that something was different about him. I think one of the real defining moments came last Christmas when he was 22 mos old. He had ZERO interest in the packages under the tree...did not even notice they were there. I just kept thinking "He SHOULD be getting into these...but he is not?!" Something else had also crept up on us--he did not respond to his name; heck; I could sit right behind him, snap my fingers,clap, and do all kinds of things, and he would not even look-or even turn his head. He had also lost the only word he ever said until this point...he had started saying "ma-ma",but by 2yrs old,he had stopped saying anything all together. He had simply failed to progress. It just kind of hurts a bit to see him being such a normal little baby, and thinking about how he might be now if things had taken a different path. But then again, I have fallen in love with all his little quirks, and in a weird way it is his autism that makes him who he is.

TGIF!

I Love Fridays! They are usually the best days at the shop. Today Michael had his school physical. He is 3'7" tall, and 42lbs. He had to get two shots;HEP A and Chicken pox booster. The shots did not phase him a bit--I guess it is one of the drawbacks to taking shots every day. He was an old pro! Other than that, not much going on here. We are heading into the last couple weeks of summer--I am already seeing leaves drop from some of the trees. I love the fall. Now, we get to start planning for Halloween, and all the festivities and sugar.

Nick is doing good. He was easier to get to sleep tonight. HOORAY!! Dont know what our plans are for the weekend yet,but Mike has hinted that he wants to do something. Boys are doing well and enjoying the last few days of summer vacation.

Busy little bees

We have been a bunch of busy little bees this week! Nick has been better about practices since the last post. He is handling them better,and boy it makes our lives easier. The soccer season has gotten off to a rough start. First of all, there were only two 7-8yr old teams, so both the teams had like 17 kids. Way too many!! After some deliberation(and some bribing),Mike has decided to coach a team. He got the roster today,and low and behold,he is coaching MICHAEL. UGH! I did not want Michael to switch teams--not because Mike cannot coach; he can. But for the simple reason that Michael would not do what Mike asks,thinking he can get special treatment. Well,today was the first practice for the new team, and you guessed it,Michael did not want to do some of the drills-just to see if daddy would let him get away with it. He ended up getting a little attitude adjustment from you know who. We will see how the next practice goes, and if his little attitude does not improve, he will switch teams. I made him very aware of this, and I also told him he could not play at all if he does not do what his coach says. Swimming will have to come later, as the practices are on his swim days. We can always start them back up after the season is over.

Nick is still having issues with sleeping. He did not go to sleep last night until 10pm again. It is common for kids with autism I hear to have sleep problems, and a lot end up needing medication. We hope that Nick is not one of them,but chances are he will eventually be given some sort of medication to help him sleep. Maybe it is just a phase,I really dont know right now. All I do know is it drives us crazy.

Sometimes Autism just sucks

This is just one of those evenings where I just need to write. Sometimes Autism just plain sucks. Soccer practice was just such an event. Nicholas was happy for about 10 min-until the parents of about 15 kids showed up,and all the commotion that brings. Even outdoors it is too much for him. He spent the entire hour and 5 minutes of practice screaming. I tried everything-his cup,some snacks,his spinny toy,letting him out of the stroller,letting him BACK in the stroller,holding him,bouncing him,finally I had had enough and the last straw was strapping him in his carseat and just shutting the doors. There is only so much screaming a person can take. It continued when we got home-he wanted nothing to do with dinner,or anybody else. He just continued to scream. I honestly felt like an outcast today among all the other moms on the field. There they were, able to talk among themselves,their children sat quietly and colored with each other,they were all so "normal". Here I had strapped my child down in his carseat because he could not contain himself. None of the other moms would even come near us. Their kids were all playing with one another so peacefully,mine could not stand anyone coming near him. Another thing is SLEEP. This is something Nick finds hard to do recently. He has always been such a good sleeper,but recently he is horrible. He gets up frequently, and it takes him hours to go to sleep. He was up last night at 10pm spinning his shoes;in the dark. The thought of drugging him has crossed my mind I must say. He does not nap during the day,so I know he is tired. He cannot ignore his obsessions and just sleep. I love him to death,but days like these are very hard.

Leave your expectations at the door please!

Nicholas said "Mommy" today. I went in his room today at lunch, and said "Hi Bubby!". A minute later he shrieked "MommiEEE!"

Michael did great at soccer practice today. I would have to say that game is his true love. He has come so far with his growth shots. Everytime I see him out there on the field, I think to myself "This would not be possible without his shots". He simply would have been too small. He is pretty much even with the other kids as far as skills go(even a little ahead of some taller ones). Size wise, there are two other kids who are pretty much his height(maybe an inch taller). My kids amaze and inspire me. My life is brilliant.

Top Ten Terrific Traits of Autistic People

I found this online and thought I would share.


Top 10 Terrific Traits of Autistic People
From Lisa Jo Rudy,

If you're sick of hearing about all the "deficits" challenging people on the autism spectrum, join the club! But for every down side to autism, there seems to be a positive -- an unusual trait that rarely appears among the "typical" community, but shines out among autistic folk. These plusses are well worth celebrating.

1) Autistic People Rarely Lie
We all claim to value the truth, but almost all of us tell little white lies. All, that is, except people on the autism spectrum. To them, truth is truth -- and a good word from a person on the spectrum is the real deal.

2) People on the Autism Spectrum Live in the Moment
How often do typical people fail to notice what's in front of their eyes because they're distracted by social cues or random chitchat? People on the autism spectrum truely attend to the sensory input that surrounds them. Many have achieved the ideal of mindfulness.

3) People with Autism Rarely Judge Others
Who's fatter? Richer? Smarter? For people on the autism spectrum, these distinctions hold much less importance than for typical folks. In fact, people on the spectrum often see through such surface appearances to discover the real person.

4) Autistic People are Passionate
Of course, not all autistic people are alike. But many are truly passionate about the things, ideas and people in their lives. How many "typical" people can say the same?

5) People with Autism Are Not Tied to Social Expectations
If you've ever bought a car, played a game or joined a club to fit in, you know how hard it is to be true to yourself. But for people with autism, social expectations can be honestly irrelevant. What matters is true liking, interest and passion -- not keeping up with the Joneses.

6) People with Autism Have Terrific Memories
How often do typical people forget directions, or fail to take note of colors, names, and other details? People on the autism spectrum are often much more tuned in to details. They may have a much better memory than their typical peers for all kind of critical details.

7) Autistic People Are Less Materialistic
Of course, this is not universally true -- but in general, people with autism are far less concerned with outward appearance than their typical peers. As a result, they worry less about brand names, hairstyles and other expensive but unimportant externals than most people do.

8) Autistic People Play Fewer Head Games
Who was that woman, and why were you looking at her? I know I TOLD you I didn't mind if you went out, but why did you believe me? Most autistic people don't play games like these -- and they assume that you won't either. It's a refreshing and wonderful change from the Peyton Place emotional roller coaster that mars too many typical relationships!

9) Autistic People Have Fewer Hidden Agendas
Most of the time, if a person on the autism spectrum tells you what he wants -- he is telling you what he wants. No need to beat around the bush, second guess, and hope you're reading between the lines!

10) People with Autism Open New Doors for Neurotypicals
For some of us neurotypicals, having an autistic person in our lives has had a profound positive impact on our perceptions, beliefs and expectations. For me, at least, being the mom of a son on the autism spectrum has released me from a lifetime of "should" -- and offered me a new world of "is."

Important product disclaimer information about this About site.
Updated: August 15, 2006
Lisa Jo Rudy is a veteran science writer and author of dozens of articles and educational materials for organizations including the National Geographic Society and the National Science Foundation. As the mother of a boy with autism, she is also an active member of the autism community.




We had a typical day yesterday. Our big chore for the day was to get all the school supplies. So, we woke up around 10am(more on our nightmarish night later), Michael ate some cereal,Nicholas had his ever favorite strawberry Pop-tart for breakfast, and I had cereal. Mike got up shortly after and I informed him of our plan for the day. He said he wanted to come with us, and as I picked my jaw up off the floor, he got ready to go. Finally, around noon I had everyone dressed and primped up and we were out the door. Nick was giddy with excitement as he got to fully experience the bumpy,yellow,concrete safety ramp as we walked to the entrance. Hands flailed,he did his little "Happy Dance" and shouted "Bobbiiieeee!!!" He could not resist bending down to touch the bumps. We entered the store, and Nick was having a great time going between the carpeted jewelry section,to the smooth tile floor. We thought all would be hunky-dory, and then we got to the school section. We went to the main school display in the back of the store, and the screaming began! We tried in vain to calm him,but nothing worked...he was absolutely terrified. I followed his terrified look to the display ads. They were mounted on cardboard bins and were turning in circles. There were about 4 of these displays, and poor Nicholas was absolutely petrified. He was shrieking with fear. I began a desperate search for anything he could twirl....pencil,marker,ANYTHING. Damn it if they were not all in packages!! My efforts failing and Nick shrieking louder and louder, I did the only thing I could do; I got the heck out of there and quickly went into one of the aisles! With our school shopping accomplished,(plus some extra stuff),we made our way to the checkout where Michael screamed "I GOTTA go PEE!!" Mike agreed to take both boys to the restroom, and you can guess where this is going! Mike came out and his first words were "Did you hear that??" I said "No, hear what??" "Nick screaming the entire time we were in there!" We had both forgotten that Nick hates public restrooms--and he kindly reminded us. After our Target fiasco, we went to the grocery store, and then to get my tire fixed on my car. It was a very productive day.

As I was saying earlier,Friday night was not our best. Nick stayed up until 1am. No matter how tired he was,he could not help himself but to turn lights off and on,and peel stickers. I am not kidding when I say I have woken up at 4am and found him doing this in their bedroom. Michael has moved to the couch on some nights because it wakes him up. As a last resort(short of drugging him with Tylenol),I taped the switch in their room down. Almost immediately he went to bed and fell asleep. It was like he could not ignore the urge to flick the switch or peel any sticker that remains in their room. We had a better night last night. He only stayed up until 10pm-and that was with NO nap. We will see how it goes today. Michael starts soccer tomorrow. We found out his practices will be on Mondays and Wed. from 5pm-6:15. I am glad that it is not on Tues. and Thurs. because he has swimming on those days. Life is about to get even more insane around here! Stay tuned!

prayers needed....

Please say a little prayer for our friend Nathan. I was talking to Dana last night on the computer and it seems that Nathan had what they think was a seizure the other night. He used to have small seizures when he was a baby/toddler, but he had not had any for a while now. They are going to do some tests on him to determine what is going on and we are praying that everything goes well for them. Nathan is such a sweet little boy and we hate that this is happening to him. He has made huge progress, and then this happens. It's just not fair!

Monday I started back at work. Nothing much to tell there, except that I miss being home with my guys. I could truly be a housewife and be perfectly happy. My boys are my life, and seeing them become little men brings me such joy. Tuesday I had my PT test and I passed once again (Hooray!!). I was not too happy with my waist size,but everything else went ok. I did my run in 15:10(not too too happy with that either,but it will do), did 30 sit-ups and 40 push-ups. Not too shabby. I am still going to keep up with my Slimfast shakes, and going to the gym, so it should not be a problem for me to pass future tests. Tuesday I also noticed my left front tire has a nail stuck in it, and needs patching--so that is on my "To-DO" list for this weekend. The boys have all had colds this week, so I am once again up to my ears in snotty noses. Nick's seems to be the worst...his is like a faucet...so much crap comes out of his nose that when he sleeps he literally gets it all over him, his clothes, and his sheets. Michael had swimming today and he is doing so well!! He goes under water with no problems now, and is getting more comfortable in the water. Today they had the kids go all the way down a pole in the pool and come all the way back up. They did this for a little while, and then they went and jumped off the diving board. Michael absolutely LOVES swimming, so we plan on keeping it up for now.Michael starts school on the 6th of September! He will be in the second grade!!! I am going to stop by the school tomorrow and get a list of supplies that he will need and then go school shopping this weekend.

If you are looking for interesting TV, there was a show on this week called "Musical Savants" or something like that. It was on the Discovery Health Channel, and from what Dana said it is very good. I am hoping to catch it on this weekend.

A kid named Andrew, and a Kiddie Cookbook

I had the pleasure of meeting another wonderful kid with Autism today! Shannon and I have been e-mailing each other recently and decided to meet face-to-face today. She has Andrew, who is 13. Andrew is simply adoreable, and he was wonderful with Michael and Nicholas. I asked Michael on the way home if he had fun and he said "YES". Shannon, thank you so much for stopping to meet with us--it was great talking with you and your mom! After spending lunch at McD's, Nicholas was simply exhausted; so he is passed out right now in his bed! It is so nice to be able to see how well Andrew is doing, and that just fuels us even more. I cannot WAIT to see Dana,Troy,Nathan, and Ericka at our WALK in Sept!! It is always wonderful to get together with them and catch up on events that have gone on--of course I read their blog every week,but its more fun in person!! They have become family to us.

This morning I got the Kinder Krunchies Too! cookbook that I ordered from Discovery toys (http://www.discoverytoys.com). It has TONS of kid friendly recipes. We have already tried one of them and it was a success! It was a milk shake (naturally!) and here it goes:

POUR 3/4 Cup Milk into a deep bowl
ADD 1 scoop of ice-cream
BEAT
Pour into glasses.

Michael LOVED it, and said it tasted real good!

Thats all that is going on out our way! Have a good week!!

Thank you!

Nick and his friend Denver playing with bubbles.
I just wanted to post and say a special thank you to Nana for donating! Any amount is greatly appreciated!!

Pieces of the puzzle

I took Nick to his last day of therapy today. They have a three week break before the end of summer, and he starts up again in Sept. We got to meet with his OT,Liz,and she worked with Nick a little bit. Nick was wary of this "stranger" and did not like her interrupting such fun activities such as spinning wheels on a truck! Here is the list of therapies that Nick is recieving at Birth to Three:

2 hours of Speech
2 hours of OT
4.5 hours of Play group
3 hours of Special Instruction
___________________
Total: 11.5 hours per week at the center

We are also working on getting him 2 hours of Private Speech, and 2 hours of Private OT a week.

We did not do too much today. I was very sad that this was my last time of taking Nick to class for a while. The kids are all so very sweet, and one of them called me "ma-ma"! I found it funny that my own kid does not call me "ma-ma" and here I had another kid calling me that! After we got done with class, I drove back home for a while and then had to get Michael a new Sharps container for his needles. I took the filled one back to the hospital(where I was told I could dump it in our own trash). I was also informed that I could use a Coke container from now on and just throw it out with the regular trash. I am all about making my life a little easier! Once I got home, I did the usual of starting dinner,and seeing what Nick was up to. He grabbed a puzzle from his drawer,so I sat on the floor with him and helped him do it. Only he does not need much help. At least not with the shape puzzle. He can put that one together in no time flat. He LOVES shapes. He LOVES puzzles. I mean, he LOVES them! At the center they had to cover up all the puzzles because thats all he wanted to do. I got some pictures today of him doing his puzzle.







He knows where all the pieces go, and I even asked him "Where's the oval?" and then he picked it up and put it in the right spot!! I went through all the shapes with him and when I said "Circle" Nick repeated "Dircle". He never looked at me, just at the puzzle. He gets into his repetitive actions though after about two pieces-and then you have to hold down the other pieces to prevent him from taking them in and out constantly. You have to keep him focused. When he gets focused though,watch out, he can do things fairly quickly. His new fave toys are anything that is squishy in his hands. He loves the feel of them, and that extra sensory input just seems to awaken him. He is more verbal, and will babble tons while holding these items, and he just seems to be more "here" overall. Nick is like a 30lb puzzle, you have to find the right pieces to make it complete.

A little bit of everything!

Nick working with Tam













This post might just be a little crazy and all over the place, so bear with me. The photo to the left is from today's session. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Nick works with Tam in a one-on-one social/play skills session. She concentrates on getting Nick to make eye-contact, to imitate, and to play with toys properly. The group session he has also works on these skills, but they work on them in a group setting with 4-5 other toddlers so Nick gets used to having to share and take turns. When he first started with Tam (back in March!) just getting him to sit in a chair was a big step. Now, he goes in the room and readily sits in the chair! He also would get very upset when she took a toy away that he wanted and tried to get him to "work" to get it back. Now, she has him matching items like bowls, and imitating her before he gets rewarded with his fave toy. He has also made huge progress with giving the toy back to her when she requests. He does this now with no fuss at all!! The smallest steps he makes are duly noted...like using utensils correctly(instead of twirling) or even smelling a raisin(last week he just threw it on the floor,this week he at least brought it to his face)...these are all big steps forward for him. Today I also met with his Speech therapist to discuss our goals for him as far as that goes. He still does not gesture to show us what he wants or bring anything to us--so that is one goal we set. We also talked about his eating. He only eats foods with certain textures(mashed, or soft like noodles, or crackers). She will help us to get him to develop his muscles in his mouth more,and that could maybe lead to trying more foods. Since he is doing so well with the hour long sessions,they want to increase it by 30 minutes on Tues and Thurs. We are wanting to get his Speech and OT to be in conjuction with his other sessions so we dont have to travel so much. It could mean half of his days are spent in therapy,but I think it would be best this way. With all this going on with Nick, it is easy for Michael to get "lost" in the shuffle. Yesterday him and I just took a day to spend together. We went to see a couple of movies, and just had some nice "mommy and me" time. It was nice to get to re-connect with him, as I dont want him to feel like he is forgotten or unloved. He is a huge part of this family and he was our first born, so he will always be special.

Milestones

I am excited to say that we have reached a couple of milestones today!! Michael came to me while I was preparing dinner in the kitchen and said that one of his teeth hurt(it hurt like it was loose) he said. So I had him open his mouth, and sure enough, we have our first loose tooth! It is not exactly hanging by a thread yet, but it is slightly loose. Needless to say we are all very excited! We were not sure when Michael was going to start loosing his teeth, his Dr said it could be a while at the last check up. So we are pleased that this is a milestone that is getting closer and closer. Out of all of his friends, he is the only one who has not lost a tooth yet. He asked me "What do we do with a lost tooth mommy?" and I explained that we put it under our pillow at night and the toothfairy will give you money for it...provided said toothfairy is not broke. Another equally exciting milestone belonged to Nicholas today. I was sitting on the kitchen floor playing with him and he put his hands on my cheeks and said "Ga-Ga". We are not sure if he was trying to say "Ma-Ma" yet, but I dont care....he is trying to say SOMETHING, and he looked me square in the eye when he said it. I am elated that he is making such wonderful attempts to speak. He is also trying to copy what we say at least once a day now. Today he came up to me and said "Go". I asked him "Go where?", and he repeated "Go ere?" We also got the call that we have been waiting for this afternoon...all the paperwork was completed and Nicholas is ready to start Speech and OT therapy!! They want to sit in on two of our sessions this week so that they can get a feel for what we have already been doing with him. Tam has started using the PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) with Nicholas and he seems to be getting it. She is going to give us the materials and the knowledge to do the same with him at home. I have already been taught on how to do this during our last session, but Mike will need to learn. We probably wont get those until a couple of weeks from now. Just thought I would inform everyone on the good news!!!! I am so happy my baby is talking!!!

Will he live to see 8??!!!

Michael has been a real pain today! It all started last night when we found him hiding in our bedroom watching tv at 10pm!! Then, he ALWAYS gets up at the crack of dawn no matter what time he went to bed, and was just downright incorrigible this afternoon. He was good this morning when we were at a picnic, but since coming home we have had to yell at him a number of times to "get down""stop that""give that back to Nick!". He hit dh in the head today when he jumped up on the sofa (how many times have I told him NOT to do that???!!), and tonight just took the cake..I told him dinner was ready and he just said "ok, in a minute". Well, minutes ticked by and soon it was time for bed. He had not said a thing about eating until he put his PJ's on and all of a sudden he said "But I am hungry...I did not eat"...heh heh heh...well, "TOO BAD!!" Neither of them took a nap, so by 7pm my patience had been well worn through, so it was BEDTIME!! Nick is going through a phase where he ONLY eats about 5 foods; and has been living on Pop-tarts and Pediasure. UGH!

Summer time picnic

Picturesque Mt. Rainier on a beautiful August day


Today was Mike's annual Guard Picnic. It was held out at American Lake on Ft. Lewis. They had all kinds of stuff for the kids to do out there. One of the guys brought his boat and had some spare life preservers, so Mike and Michael took a ride on it. I stayed with Nicholas at the playground. He was having fun going down the slides. They also had a jump castle-which we went in. Myself,Michael and Nicholas all went in there. Nick does not have the greatest motor coordination,so I went in there to make sure he did not get hurt. He loved watching the other kids jump. We got there around 11am and stayed there until 1:30. By 1:30 Nick had just had it with the socializing. He was starting to get upset quite a bit,so we headed home. I took some pics of the boys while we were there. We took the boys down by the lake and Michael loved it as always,but Nick was terrified of the waves,or the sounds they made-cant figure out which one it is just yet. He screamed while he was in the water,but he also screamed while he was out of the water-he loves the water;just not the noise.

Friday night I held a small party for Discovery Toys. A couple months ago I bought Nick's giant peg board from one of the parties I went to,so this time I decided to host one. This time I bought Nick one of those sensory balls that squeek, and I got a kiddie cookbook for Michael. This week, I need to get both Michael and Nicholas enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP). Through this program I will not be able to move to any base that does not have the facilities for my boys to get the care they need. It basically limits my assignments to just a few big bases. Also, this program will make it possible for Nick to be enrolled in the ECHO program-which will enable him to start recieving ABA therapy through the University of Washingtons Autism program. Don't forget that we are also doing the WALK NOW for autism research at the end of Sept. If you would like to donate just click on Nick's WALK NOW link to the right of this blog. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I cannot tell you how much Nick has progressed with therapy. He is making more eye contact, learning how to play with toys, and so much more. Without these programs there is no telling where he would be. Before therapy, he was not pointing,not signing, and we had no clue on how to get him "out" of his own world. His therapists are literally angels. We have learned so much from them and incorporate what we learn at home. Nick has made huge progress. He now says a few words like "hi,baby, and goalie" regularly. I cannot say how important these programs are for kids like Nick. There is also a bill that has just been passed, and it is about to go to the Senate. It is for funding of autism programs. You can read about it here:
http://www.combatautism.org

Last day of soccer camp :( :(

Michael has thoroughly enjoyed soccer camp this week, and I am sad to see it come to an end. I love watching him play...he loves it sooo much. But, we only have a couple more weeks until the start of next season, so it will not be too long. Nicholas seems to like going to the games as well. He has said "Goalie" several times! He LOVES to stand in the goal and catch the ball and then throw it. We joked about him being in the World Cup in twenty years and how we think his interview would go...

Reporter: So, Nicholas Weger, what was your favorite moment of todays game?

Nick: "Goalie!!"

Reporter: What do those hand signals mean?

Nick: Goalie!!

Anyway, Michael played for England, and yes, they won their Jr. World Cup. England was a tough team. 90% of their team consisted of kids we had coached for the last two years, and the British coach could tell which kids were coached by Mike and Santos. Everytime one of them got a breakaway I could hear "There's another goal for England" out of the stands. Michael scored 2 goals. The last one he scored was the only one scored against Brazil and he tied the game 1-1. Today, he did not score any, but he got an assist, so that was just as good. Well, I am going to head back out to the soccer fields where Michael is watching his friend Nick's team. Will update more later!

It's offical...I am a Taxi!!!

With the boys' activities going on this week, that's exactly what it feels like. I drop Michael off at soccer, and then I head immediately over to Federal Way for Nicks therapy, after that I head back to the soccer field for the last hour or so of games, then we finally get home around noon. Michael is enjoying soccer camp and we are pleased to say that England is in first place so far!! Michael also had his first swim lesson tonight. I took pictures but they came out too dark to really see anything. He did well. The only complaint I could see was that when they were blowing bubbles in the water, he got some water in his nose.We got out of class around 7pm and headed to BK to grab some dinner. I think I am going to lodge a complaint with Burger King. They changed the shape of their nuggets to the little crowns, and now I have a two year old who refuses to eat them! Dont they realize these were the only meat product he ate??!! And now, they go and change on him!! Now, he looks at them strangely chucks them to the floor in disgust! I think I will write a strongly worded letter to the head honchos on behalf of all the kids on the ASD spectrum!! LOL!


In Your Face Autism!

busy day!!

What a busy day we have had today! I am pooped;but I have loved every single minute of it. This morning started bright and early at 7am. We had to be at the soccer field by 9am, so we had to get everyone up, fed, and dressed all before 8am. Nick was fine throughout breakfast, but once that was over all hell seemed to break loose with him. It was another schedule change for him, so instead of getting frustrated with him,I just let him cry it out. There really is no comforting him, he has to adjust himself. Michael was excited last night when he went to bed, but took a little prodding to get up this morning. I took a couple of pictures this morning. One is of Michael in his British soccer camp uniform, and the other is of Nick picking a sticker off the closet. We were out the door by 8:20, and Michael was at the field by 8:40. I dropped him off with a little bag full of bottled water and some snacks and gave him a hug and kiss goodbye. Two of his friends were there already along with his coaches, so he was not by himself. I was then off onto I-5 to take Nick to therapy. He was calmed down by that point and was just a sweet, quiet little fellow for the 20 min. drive. We arrived at 9am and were greeted by his therapists. The first part of the day was spent on the little playground where Nick went down the slides, and played in a little car. He really likes the plastic tunnel they have. He likes to walk through it and scream as loud as he can to hear his voice echo! After that, we headed inside to the classroom for snack time. Nick made the sign for "more" about four times on his own! He also will only eat the yellow goldfish! The colored ones look too strange for him. We also think he tried to say "thirsty", because one of the little kids there said "thirsty" and then I heard Nick say something like "Isty". He was rewarded with some juice in a sippy cup. After snack he did some puzzles. This was Nicks favorite part...he LOVES puzzles! He was pretty fast completing the ones at the center. At the end of the hour, all the kids gathered in a circle and they sang songs with sign language. Nick also seemed to like this part because of all the movement by the teachers made him smile. We got back to the soccer field around 11am and watched the last hour of camp. Come to find out Michael IS going to participate in the little World Cup, and he is playing for England!! He had a great time playing with his friends and seemed to really like his coach. He even got a new shirt and soccer ball! I am posting some pictures on the picture site for you all to see. We had a great time today!

Ok, so I lied...one more post

I have found a way to add music to our blog!! YAY! If you click on the little grey bar to the right, it will play the song "Superman...it's not easy" by Five For Fighting. I thought it would be a nice addition. I might as well tell you what went on today since I am here. I cleaned the house up to get ready for our guest who is arriving tomorrow. We have to meet them at the visitor center at 6pm. I made a space in the closet in the playroom for their clothes, and got some of the toys out of that room and put them in with the boys. (it was interesting getting them to sleep tonight with all the toys in there...but we did it). Michael spent a few hours over at his friend Cory's house, and Nick and I hung out and attempted to do some puzzles. Then I realized that Michael just may need some new soccer shoes after two months, so we tried on the old pair, and sure enough, his foot grew a whole size! He is now in a 12! And those have just a tiny bit of room...so he will get about a week or two before we have to buy new ones! Mike had to work today and he did not get home until after 8pm. Nick was passed out by then, but Michael was still up, so I let him see daddy for a bit and show him his new cleats. A pretty un-eventful day.

As promised....

Here is some of the report from Nick's evaluation for those who are interested.

REVIEW OF DSM-IV CRITERIA FOR AUTISM (PARENT REPORT):
1. Qualitative deficits in reciprocal social interactions
1a. Difficulty using non-verbal behaviors to regulate social interactions: Mother reports that Nicholas does not look at parents or other people when talking or engaging in activities. When Nicholas wants something, he will not use gestures or words to indicate his desires;rather he will cry and parents have to guess what is wrong. Parents report that Nicholas does not demonstrate a range of facial expression. He does not shake his head to indicate yes or no, nor does he smile when another person smiles at him.

1b. Failure to develope age-appropriate peer relationships: Nicholas does not have any particular friends, the only other boy he will play with is his brother. Nicholas does not show interest in other children his age, and when other children are around, instead of interacting with them he will simply watch.

1c. Lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with others: Nicholas does not include his mother or father in his activities; he does not show his parents items that interest him, nor does he point to or share things just for enjoyment. Mother reports that he tolerates praise,but is not interested in recieving praise.

1d. Lack of social or emotional reciprocity: Nicholas does not typically respond to or interact with other people. Nicholas does not know when others are upset or happy, and he does not try to comfort others when they are upset. He has a strong preference for solitary activities. Nicholas will use his mother's or father's body as a tool to get or do something he wants.

2. Impairments in communication:
2a. Lack of, or delay in, spoken language and failure to compensate through gesture: Nicholas does not use words to communicate, and this lack of spoken language is not compensated for by gesture. This was observed and substantiated during the clinic assessment.

I am going to omit 2b and 2c because they both deal with speech, and Nick does not have speech.

2d. Lack of varied spontaneous make believe or social imitative play: Nicholas does not spontaneously copy what she or others do. The only exception to this is that he occasionally will fall down right after his brother falls down. He will sometimes play peek-a-boo. Nicholas does not act out scenarios with toys, nor does he pretend a toy is something else (e.g., a block is a car).

3. Restricted,repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior:
3a: Encompassing preoccupations or circumscribed pattern of interest: Nicholas is interested in some things to an unusual intensity. He is intensely interested in lights,textures, and music to the point that it interferes with engaging in other activities.

3b: Talks about routines, and we all know Nicholas LOVES his routines. Wont bore you guys with that!

3c: Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms: Nicholas has several odd mannerisms such as flapping his hands,making fists, spinning, and running on the perimeter of the room. Nicholas will also walk on his tip toes.

3d: Preoccupation with parts of objects or nonfunctional elements of materials. Nicholas becomes interested in the wheels of cars and prefers to play with them than the entire car. He also likes the sensory quality of objects, such as the noise or light an object may make. He also has an attachment to branches and rods (he likes to twirl them)

Summary: Nicholas meets the criteria for autism.

Now, the ADOS report:

ADOS Module 1: Nicholas was observed for 45 minutes during while he interacted with the examiner in a testing room. His mother and father were in the room with him and other team members observed through a one-way mirror.

Language and Communication: No discernable words or word approximations were heard during the ADOS. When vowel sounds were uttered it wasn't directed towards parents or the examiner. During all activities of the ADOS no attempts were made to request toys or continue an activity. When he became excited he would clench his fists together.

Reciprocal Social Interactions: Nicholas demonstrated poor eye-contact. He remained aloof with a blunt affect when the examiner tried to praise him. The facial expressions were flat and non expressive. They were not coordinated with eye contact towards others.

Imaginative play: Nicholas entered the room and initially was whimpering onhis dads lap. After a few minutes his dad slowly placed him standing and then engaged him in a telephone with lights and sounds. When his mom was asked to join him, Nicholas did not show any interest in her playing with him. During free play he was placed on a chair and remained there for the rest of the ADOS. When he was given toys he would spin them around in his hands. No imaginitve play was observed.

Prior to playing with the items during the ADOS he would often smell them or put them in his mouth. When Nicholas became excited he would clench both hands and tighten his upper extremity muscles for 5-10 seconds.

Other behaviors: Nicholas tended to be underactive and once placed in a chair he stayed there throughout the exam. He also appeared afraid of the remote control car and when it was directed to come towards him he began to cry.

Summary: Since Nicholas's developmental age is below 18 mos, the ADOS scoring algorithym is not valid for interpreting his diagnosis. However, the observed behavior throughout the ADOS allows the examiners to make the clinical judgements of whether the behavior would meet the criteria for autism. It is the team's conclusion that despite Nicholas' delayed developmental age the behaviors during the ADOS place him conclusively above the cut-off for an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Diagnosis: Autism and Global Developmental Delay.

There you have it. This is what will make it possible for him to recieve the full-monty of therapies. Speech,OT,ABA,Play groups, Special instruction, and when he is three-developmental pre-school 5 days a week.

Well, it took me forever to get this post done, so I think I will end it for today and go to bed! THe boys had a great day today...and Nick slept in until 9!

It is Official.....

Nick has Autism. I went to his developmental pediatrician's office today for the "official" report. I got a copy of it and will post it later as it is pretty lengthy. I won't post the whole thing, but excerpts of it. Nick was diagnosed with moderate autism with a global delay. Dr. Flake(yes, that is his real name) commented that normally they do not diagnose kids so young with autism(more or less PDD-NOS or the like), but Nick was more than 2 Standard Deviations below average on just about everything. Dr. Flake recommended Nick get private Speech and Occupational Therapy 2x a week, along with all the other therapies he recieves at the Birth to three center. He wants to load him up with alot of therapies now and then see where we are at in 6 mos. After Nick turns three, he will be part of the school system. Then he will go to a developmental pre-school 5 days a week.
We have a busy week ahead of us. Michael starts soccer camp on Monday, and swimming lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Plus, Nick has therapy everyday, and we are hosting one of Michael's soccer coaches from the U.K. during the week of camp. I will try to get as many pics as I can of the boys doing their "things" and post them next week.

Finally some EXCITING news!!!

That is TOTALLY UN-related to autism!!! A few months ago when we signed Michael up for the soccer camp, we also signed up to be a host family for one of the coaches. It has been months since I heard anything from the sports company (www.challengersports.com) regarding hosting, but today I opened up my e-mail to find that we have been selected as one of the host families!! These coaches are coming all the way from the UK and will be here for one week. They are scheduled to arrive Sunday(I will inform you more as I get info). Michael is VERY excited to have a coach stay with us especially from another country...he thinks that is just neat.

Smelling the roses

One of my favorite pictures of the boys!

















That is the only word to describe today! It was hot. 94 to be exact. I am almost wishing for the 50's and rain to return; but I know those days will be here before too much longer and then I will long for the warmer weather. We stayed indoors today and just relaxed after our day yesterday. Nick was in a better mood, and we only left the house to go for a romp in the neighbor's plastic pool! I might get one of those next weekend, Nick and Michael really liked it. I am also in a better mood today. Mike is usually able to cheer me up when I get down, and yesterday was no exception. He is now able to speak of autism in a more free manner, and it is not so "horrible" anymore. A few months ago he would not even say the word "autism", but now he will explain to people when Nick acts in a funky way (like screaming like a banshee because of a rotating fan) that he is autistic. He will mention in a movie or tv show if a character seemed a little "odd" that they could be autistic like Nick. In fact, one of his all time favorite shows is MONK....a show about a police detective who has major sensory issues on top of an uncanny ability to notice the smallest details. We have laughed ourselves silly over this show. We somehow find ourselves able to relate to these sorts of characters and see the humor in it. Nick teaches us in many ways, he does communicate...we just have to pay attention. He is not able to verbalize that he missed daddy this weekend, but he SHOWED that he did by following daddy around when he got home and "Hugging" him while he was on the couch. Mike was so touched that he called me over to see...Nick had placed his little head on his dad's chest and was just beaming. Mike was beaming as well. Nick had never "hugged" him before. A few minutes later Nick wanted to be tickled by daddy so Nick took his hand and placed it near him while he would curl up on the floor. Daddy tickled, Nick repeated. Yes, it is primitive, but it is communication at its most basic level, we just have to open our eyes. In some ways, Nick has taught us to take life slower...to stop and notice the patterns on the floor, the feel of wet grass on your barefeet(he walks funny with his legs near straight up in the air with each step), to "smell the roses". There is a scene in the movie "Little Man Tate" where Fred is riding a horse (again, Fred is a character with autistic traits) and he looks up and you see the world through his eyes. What he sees is a wonderful light show with the sunlight in the trees. That is how Nicholas will look at the sky...with the same face and expression as Fred. Just for one day I would love to get inside his head and *see* things differently.

One of those days.....

Today has been a hard day. I had to take both boys to work with me this morning and help prepare our shop for an upcoming inspection. Can you say "ONE More WEEK until I go on LEAVE!!" I am so frustrated with work right now I could just scream. Anyway, we were told yesterday to show up at 8am today. Mike has his Guard weekend this weekend, so I ended up taking both boys with me. Michael got up with no problem. He was very excited to get to work with Mommy. He got dressed, and ate some cereal for breakfast, and was ready in a flash. Nick, started out fine and good, but as the minutes ticked by and his daily routine gone to the wayside, he lost it. He refused to eat breakfast, and cried the entire time until we left. Once we got to my shop, it was no better. He cried for about the first 30min, then laid in the play-pen shaking his head for about another half hour or so. Kristine offered him a pencil to twirl, but that only lasted for about 5 min before he went back to wailing. After about an hour, he was ok, and I let him walk around the shop. There was another toddler there who would come up to Nick, but Nick either pushed him away, or maneuvered himself right past him. Nick spent the time staring out the windows, opening and closing doors, and peeling stickers off the cabinets. Michael actually helped us quite a bit by helping stencil a dolly(with full protective gear on.....it was funny!) and vacuuming out the drawers in one of our tool kits. He was a bit disappointed that we were not working on parachutes...he really wanted to help with those.

We came home, and I put Nick down for a nap. He woke up and is still out of sorts. He has wandered around the house crying and I have tried everything. I just wish he could tell me whats wrong. I saw a "normal" 1 1/2 yr old today, and it just made me sad. This little boy was interacting with people around him; even though he could not talk, he interacted. Nick was not interested in the slightest. He was completely oblivious to anyone around him. He completely lost it again when we went to vacuum before we left. He was literally petrified by it and ran to the nearest person who picked him up. He did not run to me, he did not seek me out for comfort..he was calmed down by a complete stranger(I knew him, but the kids do not). Try to think if any two year old you know would let a complete stranger hold them?? That is all for today, Mike just called and is on his way home. I might take little Michael out to a movie for being such a big boy today. Have a great weekend!

Michael

Michael went yesterday to another growth check with his doctor. All is extremely well!! He is 43.5" (he has grown 4" since we started 6mos ago!!) and is around 43lbs! He has not had any side effects from the shots (other than GROWING), and we hope to keep it that way. His Dr. was very pleased and did not change anything. He also said that we might be able to stop the shots when Michael enters puberty (as opposed to when he stops growing all together). So, he might be looking at only 8 years on the shots vs. 12 or more. It was a fantastic appointment. We are so excited to see him moving UP the growth chart instead of DOWN. He is very excited as well! He kept telling me all the stuff he is going to do once he gets to 48"--ride all the scary rides, go on ALL the water slides,etc. He was very happy to say the least.

We had to put the Jeep in the shop yesterday. Mike still could not get it to start, and we thought it could be the alternator. We took it to Firestone yesterday when I got home, and they did some testing on it. It turned out that the battery was bad. So, we bought a new battery and it is doing good for now! Nick missed two days of therapy so we kind of feel bad about that, but $h*t happens.

Mike is leaving this weekend for his annual tour with the Guard. I am on my own for two weeks. I have found daycare for both boys the first week, and for the second week I am on leave.

Nicholas is doing great! I have been getting hugs from him everyday and I absolutely love it. He will come up and give me a push when he wants my attention. Last night we had a tickle fest--I got to tickle and "wrestle" with both my little guys, and daddy got in on it too. There is nothing better than hearing their laughter and seeing them smile!

New Updates

I have changed the settings a little bit and added some links which are to the right. One of the links is to our WALK NOW page. In September, we are doing the walk for autism research in Seattle with our long time friends from eastern Wa. We have known them since Michael and Nathan were 18mos old and they have become our best friends over the years. Michael and Nathan were born on the same day and we met by chance when I locked myself out of the car at the commissary! We have been good friends ever since. Please do what you can to help raise money and support our wonderful boys in their journey. There will be more links added in the future as I find out more sites. Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!!

I love Fridays! Today at work we went to a retirement ceremony. My old supervisor (not the un-liked one, but the one before him) retired after 21 years of service. It is amazing. You think that all these men are just macho type guys who never show emotions, but every single one of them I have seen retire has choked up. You go through your career working with some wonderful people who end up being a part of your family. I find myself choking up about retirement sometimes--in the 15 years I have been in, I have met some truly wonderful people, and some inspiring people. There really is nothing quite like being in the military. After that we went back to the shop and did a little work until it was time for PT. We went and played football-yes, even the four girls played--and really, it was fun. Normally we do calisthenics and running, but today was a "sports day". Mike brought the boys to visit me this afternoon and told me about their day. Nick had apparently said two words at therapy, but noone can remember what they were. One of the kids there said something and pushed Nick. Nick, thinking it was a game, laughed, said what the kid said, and pushed him back. Mike went to get his hair cut at a barber shop that had a rotating fan. Nick absolutely freaked out! We dont know if it was the noise or the fan that upset him, but he was in total freak mode.

Michael is doing good. He has a doctor appt. Monday to check his growth again. They might also increase his doseage if it looks that he has "outgrown" his current dose of 6 "clicks". He has been eating like a horse lately, so we shall see! I know for a fact that he is now over 40lbs.

Well, it looks to be a quiet night around here. Nick went into his room and put himself to bed again. He does that when he is tired--he will go into his room and crawl up in his bed and go to sleep. I had to fight Michael tooth and nail to go to bed when he was 2! Now, he still does not like it, but he goes. Tomorrow I am doing some volunteer work for the community, so I have to be up early. We are helping to paint an elderly persons house with the "Paint Tacoma Beautiful" project. Have a great weekend!!

Echolalia??

Today as Mike and the boys were leaving Nick's class, the teachers told Nick Bye-bye and waved. Well, when they got into the car to come home, Nick said "Bye-Bye" and waved! He does this sometimes. We will say things like "baby" and Nick will repeat it. This does not happen very often, which is why we still consider him "non-verbal". He does not use words or gestures to get what he wants. He will make the sign for "more" when I prompt him, but he has yet to initiate any "conversation" on his own. He HAS started to babble more since beginning the group therapy so that is a positive sign. I took more video of him today eating at the table, and waving his hands in front of his face. I will send that soon. Nothing much interesting going on here this week. I am tired right now so I will keep this short. We are all doing good!

What makes Nick different?

That question was posed to me today. What is it that makes Nicholas autistic vs. a normal two-year old? All I can say is that it is not narrowed down to just ONE thing that puts him in a different category. It is MANY things that when combined, make him stand out. Yes, a "normal" 2 yr old MIGHT walk in circles once or twice, they might even spin some toys every now and then or get fixated on something. With Nick, all of these are done to the extreme. He walks in circles around the house daily, he gets so pre-occupied with spinning that nothing else matters. The only person he is concerned about is Nick. Other senses can be heightened-he cannot stand public restrooms-everything there echoes. He also cannot tolerate the barber shop-the clippers drive him out of his mind. He has never brought us any toys or books that he is interested in, verbally he is an infant. ALL of these are signs of autism when the pieces of the puzzle are put together.

On the other hand, his intense fixation has lead to many surprises. Yesterday he put his pegs in upside down(he had the board turned over) and decided to spin the board with them on it. He has also figured out how to get bowls to spin by dropping them a certain height from the table. He can find every light switch in a house in a matter of minutes. He is a very concrete thinker. An example of this is when I was playing with a trashbag and handed it to him to play with(supervised-of course). He took it and carried it to the trashcan and put it in. He could not think of a trashbag as a toy. It is a trash bag, and it is meant to go in the trash. This of course has also led to some funny things. For instance, yesterday I was folding laundry and it got quiet in the house. Everyone knows that is when things could get ugly when dealing with kids. I went to check on Nick. Nick had put himself to bed. He was tired, so he went in his room, climbed on his bed, and went to sleep. What TWO year old would do that???

Nick started his group therapy today, and so far it is good I suppose. He got mad when he was not allowed to spin anything. Michael says he likes the other teacher "better" because she has a swing in the room(used to "wake" Nicks senses up). Michael is still "bored" every day. He spends the days watching tv, calling his friends, or playing video games. Ahhhh, summer.

Sticker boy

Nick has an obsession with stickers. Everytime he sees them he MUST peel them off. Over time he has managed to peel off all the stickers that Michael put on his bed around three years ago, all the stickers that were on the playroom door, and is now working on the stickers that are on Michael's dresser. Today he managed to peel off the big sticker on the a/c in one big pull. He has also done this with the stickers on his own bed. He likes the feel of the stickers on his hands. I have come home many times to find he has them stuck everywhere on him. On his clothes, on his arms, hair, etc. It is quite fascinating how he will sit there and keep plucking away until the stickers come off...he will do this activity for 30 min or more. Today he has been quite vocal as well. He speaks in his own little funny language, and ocassionally it will sound like an actual word. Today he was going around saying "UH!" followed by running to me with his arms wide open as if in a hug. We have been doing this for several weeks now where I would sit on the floor with my arms outstretched and he would run into them. I would then say "H-U-G Nicholas!!" and squeeze him. So, today when he started saying "UH!" in this manner I think he was trying to say "HUG". I have some comfort in the thought that he IS trying to communicate on his own terms, and that hope is not lost. Maybe he will say A word by Christmas. And no, Michael does not mind his brother pulling all the stickers off his bed :)

A very "stimmy" day today

Nicholas has been "stimming" much of the day. It started this morning with him spinning his peg board, then progressed to him walking in circles around the living room for a good 4 minutes! I captured the whole thing on our digital camera, but the video is 100MB and is too big to send anywhere. Even Mike said it was a great video and he usually has very few comments on videos I shoot! Anyway, it went into Nick walking on/off his peg board, and you just see him doing things over and over again. If anyone knows of a way to get this file to them over the internet, I would be glad to send it. I have since charged up our video camera and will shoot more with that. I feel that the video will give you a sense of how he truly is better than the pictures. You cant tell how fast he gets things to spin through the pictures! Then we went to the grocery store-Nick got excited over all the lights and that is when he started stimming with his hands-mostly flapping them up and down. I have relented into buying him baby food again. He refuses to eat so many table foods and I did not want him to become deficient in any vitamins. He will only eat soft foods or bread. We have figured out that Apple juice gives him the runs, and now so does the white grape juice. Water and Milk are pretty much it. Well, I better go for now. The boys are still up (thanks to late naps) and I am sure Nick is hungry.