another week...

We made it through another week! We had a small family party on Tuesday to celebrate Michael's birthday. Nothing spectacular, just a small cake and some presents. Nick thoroughly enjoyed smearing the cake and smushing it through his fingers. The only time he has actually EATEN cake was on his first birthday. We are happy to report that his interest in Ritz crackers and pop tarts has not dwindled--so that is at least some solid food that is getting into him. This weekend was a busy one. Yesterday I schlepped the boys all over town to get the cake, and other supplies like chips,sodas, and Michael spent his gift card from my dad. Nick handled it all with ease-not too many "Nick moments". I actually think he rather enjoyed the little party in his own way. He stayed in the room with all three boys, even if he was just on the sidelines; it was apparent he wanted to be near them. When it was time for cake, I sat Nick in his chair so that he could at least still be part of the action. The whole time the boys were eating Nick just sat and watched them. He was trying to figure this whole social scene out and he watched intently everything they did.

Today, we went out to the grocery store and Nick started something new. He shouted "Aya!!" along with a few other vocalizations rather loudly. He has never shouted before in public, so most of his vocal oddities went unnoticed. Not today. He was sharing with everyone his own "silly talk". He does follow us rather well and does not tend to run off; you would almost say he is extremely well behaved. You might think he was completely normal. Until he runs by you waving his hands in the air, or walks on his tip toes when the patterns on the sidewalk change. Autism colors every part of his development. In some ways it is devastating-in others it is a complete gift. Nick cannot stand the sound of the vacuum cleaner, but he will put his ear right next to the speaker on his keyboard and play the notes. He plays his keyboard every single day. He is a whiz at shapes. It is like he understands the geometric patterns and he is completely at ease. Music is another thing that is very predictable-each key plays a specific note. That does not change. The shapes have a beginning and an end-it is always the same. People change constantly-and this is what is upsetting. While he is a whiz at putting together geometric puzzles, daily tasks have to be taught. We are slowly working on getting him to dress himself. Through repetition, and lots of hand over hand help, he is learning to pull up his pants. Today, he was able to follow a command-"get me your pants". He turned, saw his pants on the bed, picked them up and gave them to me. I was ecstatic. We are hopeful. He IS learning, and he is showing us that he catches on to things very quickly.

Social skills and play-doh

That is what we worked on today. When I got home from work, I sat down with Nick and Michael and we had snack time. All three of us sat at the table, and I had two types of crackers in the middle. We did a lot of hand-over-hand with Nicholas getting him to point to what cracker he wanted and prompted him to speak. After our snack time, I walked him to the kitchen and helped him to put his plate in the sink. We sang our "clean up" song while we did this. While he was eating snack we brushed up on our social skills and not stimming with the plate. With the play-doh he gets sensory input and we mushed it, and smushed it with our hands. We worked a little on imitation skills with him copying me as I mashed it with my hands and fingers. It is hard sometimes to keep him from stimming in these situations(twirling the roller,spinning the plastic cutters,gesturing with his hand in front of his face). That still pretty much dominates our sessions right now, we just re-direct him. He had a mini-meltdown when it came time to clean up. Lots of hand-over-hand direction,picking him up off the floor,intercepting attempted head banging, but with lots of patience, he came around and put things away. It is not like a normal kid when you tell them where stuff goes and they put it up, with Nick I have to physically take his hand and him over to where the item belongs and say "Put it IN". We have had good days so far. I have also learned that Nick finds it difficult to sit still through an entire meal(he is constantly moving,twisting,vocalizing) and I have had to break up his meal time. He eventually eats most of it, I just have to let him burn off some energy in the middle of it...otherwise it gets too frustrating for both of us.

Pictures

His room is complete!!

I think it looks simply wonderful!! Nick seemed to like it as well this morning. We played with play doh for about 30 min and he had enough-was not focusing at all, so I decided to end it with him helping to clean up. I had to assist him most of the way, but we did it. I ordered some PECS, a PECS notebook, some small colored blocks, and an in-home ABA program. I can't wait to get it all, and get started. Here is his new "classroom".

Out of frustration.....

At loooonnnggg waiting lists, and the very limited services offered (a grand total of 3 places relatively close to us-1 was closed down, 1 had a one yr wait list, and the third I have not called yet) we have decided to convert the small bedroom into a classroom for Nick. Friday night, Mike put the bunkbeds back together and we moved both boys into the bigger room. Nick of course was adament about NOT sleeping in that room, so we let him sleep in his old room for another night. Everything has to be in stages for Nicholas. TOday, we moved his firetruck bed into the old playroom, eventually he will progress to sleeping on he bottom bunk. It is a little cramped with the three beds, but they still have space to play. After all that was done, we took a family trip to Target and dished out $400 on shelves, bins, coat rack, and a few more toys. I have found websites to order the PECS and the PECS notebooks(I tried to make some myself, but it just did not work) as well as some ABA books and other items. I might go to Barnes and Noble to see if they have any guides on how to go about this, or just order books online. We paid off our remaining credit bills (just about $1000 total) with the income tax and we still have about $1000 left from that. Michael is helping Daddy build all the shelves. He really likes the drill!! Gives them some "male bonding" time building things.

school pictures

Here is what Nick's school pictures look like this year. It costs $40 for all 6 sheets, so we might just spring for that deal. The week is going good for Nicholas so far.

Nicholas movie

No wonder autism gets such a bad rep?!!!!

This article is just simply infuriating!!
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/virginia-tech-shootings/2007/04/dormmate_cho_was_distant_seeme.html

Now it is all over the press that they *think* Cho was autistic and that is what led him to kill 32 people plus himself. People now think anyone who seems "distant","uncaring", etc. is autistic. I am sorry, but while I know auties are known to have tantrums, and their frustration can lead to some violent behavior, this in no way means that everyone who is violent is autistic. I am sorry, but there are more severe conditions that result in violence other than autism. Most of all, autism is NOT a mental illness!!! It is a NEUROLOGICAL disorder. What is even more frightening is that now, when we mention Nick has autism, people will only think of this psycho who was very disturbed mentally, and not see what a wonderful little boy Nick is. They will automatically think that Nick is just seething with anger, and that he should be kept away from the public because he is a danger to others. America needs to wisen up.

One amazing little boy!

We often wonder just how much is "getting through" to Nicholas since he rarely lets us know what is on his mind. This week we had some real surprises!

Mike was sitting on the couch watching tv when Nick came up to him and goes "Doing?" Mike was shocked and actually answered with "I am sitting on the couch. WHat are you doing?" Nick then went into the kitchen where he started playing with his Leap Frog Fridge Magnets where we got even more shocks! Nick was saying "Yeyow"(Yellow), and "Geen"(Green). Those were the colors of the letters he was playing with!!! He proceeded to put the little letter magnets in the toy and said some of them like "N", and "W" upon recognition. He also noticed that the "M" could be a "W" when turned upside down. I know this because he studied it, said "Doudle EEww" (Double u)and then turned the M the right way.

I believe his receptive language is also getting better as he seems to be understanding us when we explain things to him. It is just amazing to be a witness to these little daily miracles. He has been very cuddly lately, and has seemed to develop a slight sense of humor-he cracks up when he farts and we make a silly face.

Today when I met him at the bus after school, he looked at me, smiled, and said "Hi!" A few minutes later I asked for a hug, and he put his little head on my shoulder and wrapped his little arm around my neck. We hugged for about a minute or so, and then went back to playing. I cannot express how much these little miracles give me such joy. I am just tearing up with happiness right now!!

JINX!!!

Apparently I jinxed myself when I posted yesterday about Nick eating Ritz crackers! I gave him some today after he ate his lunch, and all he did was line them up on the table. They went nowhere near his mouth. Oh Well. We will keep at it.

Our big outing today was to get Michael's hair cut, and if possible, Nick's as well. I thought it was a hopeless cause the second we entered the salon. There were tons of people waiting in line, and more waiting in chairs. We had barely set foot in the building before Nick was stepping all over the other people to get to a light switch. He managed to step on one little girls foot, and I apologized profusely at her. Nick it seemed was on a rampage. I tried to get him diverted to another portion of the small room. Over on the other side he went right for an electrical outlet and ended up knocking over some of the haircare products(he is not graceful in movement by any means!). I ended up having to hold is hand very firmly with him slightly protesting. I was seriously thinking maybe this was not such a good idea, and was about ready to confine him to a stroller-only I did not think it would have helped matters much. The good Lord must have had some pity,because we were able to go right in. I was cautiously optimistic when I plopped Nick down in the chair to get his hair cut. Needless to say, he sat VERY still, and I was very impressed with his hairdresser. Nick did not make one single peep-I don't think he even moved the whole time. I was silently jumping for joy. This was a first. I made sure they did not have those vacuum attachments that torment him so much-he was a perfect little angel. Then it was time for Michael to get his hair done. Nick spent the time amused by the reflection of his hand in the metal parts of the chair, and voila, we were done! Score!!

Full of surprises!

I took a few days off from the computer. I just needed a bit of a break. I was spending almost every spare moment of my time researching/talking/chatting about autism and therapies. It can really start to run your life after a while. This week was full of surprises though.

Tuesday I met with our new case manager to discuss Nicholas. She asked a few generic questions(ones that we have been asked by everyone who evals him-you can imagine how many times that has been). As far as therapies goes, I was basically told to just look in the phone book and find some that would take our insurance. UGH! So I looked. I could not find anything for behavioral therapy. I have scoured over the internet to find people...I managed to find one Occupational therapist in our area and I plan on calling her on Monday. They have programs for autism-they are just located in places like Seattle,Bremerton, and Spokane has tons of them. Since gas has gone over $3 a gallon, we are not looking to be driving that far. This is where "autism" can take over your life. Finding any therapy that boasts some success.

One of Nick's obsessions that we could live without is opening/closing windows. He will find any way he can to get to one. He is also obsessed with the screen that is on the other side of the window. He was in the playroom on Wed evening playing with the window and screen, and he managed to rip the bottom of the screen out. I pulled into the driveway to find Nick halfway out the window. I yelled "Nick NO!" and he pulled himself up and into the house. He works his way past the locks, and the rubber stopper is no match when he really gets to going.

He ate a Ritz cracker today!!!! I know this is small potatoes to most, but Nick has been on a ban from eating anything solid since the beginning of the year. Not even his beloved goldfish crackers have touched his lips for a couple of months. Today, he ate a handful of Ritz crackers-oh the joy!!

Tonight was a special night for daddy as well. Nick crawled up onto the couch and sat next to daddy. Not only did he sit with him, but he kind of curled himself into daddy's side and watched some TV. Mike was so happy-Nick had also not done this for months, and Mike was more than happy to resume this activity again. He loves it when Nick gets "comfy" on the couch and just for a few minutes seems to be at total peace with himself. He is not twirling,spinning, or doing anything out of the ordinary...he is just a boy relaxing on the couch. Tonight at bathtime, he even managed to put two words together on his very own. They were "Michael No!". He even used them correctly when Michael was trying to put a toy fish where Nick already had one. Nick wanted that fish to be the "only" fish in that spot, so he said "Michael No!" Like I said, this week was full of surprises! I just hope they keep on coming!

Easter

Viewing the loot from a safe distance.


Slowly inching towards the spread!


Seeing the world from a different view.

Cheeky boy!

Playing with my brother

Autism University

Time for a little fun!! Dealing with autism definitely requires a sense of humor, and I usually find all of Nick's little obsessions and quirks very endearing. After all, his little oddities make him who he is essentially. Some of his quirks I could live without, but some of them I would miss terribly. Here is what his yearbook is like in "Autism University"

President of the twig and straw twirling club yrs 2 & 3

Captain of the Synchronized Spinning club yrs 1,2,&3

Team Captain of the "Happy Feet" dancing team yrs 2&3

elected as the Headbangers Ball King yr 3

President of "Just say NO to tablefood!" yrs 1-3

Team Captain of the OCD Light-switch club(can flick a mean switch in seconds!!)

Honorary Cafeteria chef-can make anything look,taste,and smell like Pink Dora Yogurt!

Record holder of most times repeating a single word: yr 3

Nick's new "hobby"

Happy Easter!!

Hiding!

Nick did fairly well today at the game! He even managed to clap and cheer for Michael after everyone else did! One mom claimed that was the first time she had heard Nick say Michael's name! I told Michael that his brother was cheering for him and he said "I know! I heard him!". AHHHH,a few seconds of normalcy. The rest of the time he was spinning himself,and hiding behind the barriers. Other times he would wave his hand in front of his face,laugh,and blurt out some verbal expression that no one understood. He was a very cuddly bugger today as well. He went up to nearly everyone and "hugged" their legs. He spent a few minutes examining the zipper on one parents jacket,amazed by its long tail hanging from the zipper head. I forget how many times we were asked if we saw Oprah on Thursday. Yes we did. I just wish she had other parents on there rather than the same people who had been on Larry King a couple weeks before. Seeing older kids who still stim like Nick does, just brings it home that Nick might not ever "fit in". It is hard when we go out-he does not vocalize like a normal three year old would. He has his little vocal stims-sometimes he repeats a word over and over again, like "Aya". Sometimes he shouts in jibberish. He ALWAYS takes his shoes off, and he has a new thing now where he places one hand on top of the other and screeches with delight. Mike is getting better at difusing his meltdowns. When Nick starts getting crazy, he offers up a sticker or two. This might be the reason I have found address stickers all over the house lately. Last night though, we were not fast enough, and before we knew it, Nick ran head first into a wall. Nothing like seeing your 3yr old bounce his own head off a wall. It is not something I care to see everyday. Normally, he would gently bang it, now it is all or nothing it seems. And yes, he has bruises now to prove it. I have our new case manager coming out on Tuesday to do another evaluation on him. Hopefully she can offer up some more programs for him. I have a few in mind of my own, such as the Auditory Integration Therapy that I have read about. But,we will see if she has anything she can get us into. I called UW last week, and got an e-mail back from them saying it could be months before Nick gets in. I can't wait months. Anyway, since Nick does not eat any candy(or any other table food for that matter) here is his Easter loot this year:

I am going to give the Fridge phonics a try. And I also bought him some flash cards with animals and textures on them.
Have a great Easter everyone!

Why is this such a hassle???

Why does getting help for my son have to be such a hassle??! I called our new case manager just now to ask if there is any program we can get Nicholas into while we are on a never-ending waiting list for UW. She asked me what level his self-help skills are at. I will tell you where they are at....NOWHERE!! His language is at best at a 12 month level. I just cannot fathom waiting anymore. I have been patient,and accomodating-it is not getting us anywhere fast. I must hound and hound if I want anything for him. She told me "Well,there is not many things out there for him" WHAT???!!! That cannot be!! If I must, I will call these people in charge of programs directly. He is covered through the state disabilities program, he is covered through the military-he is on at least 3 different programs for disabilities.
I got her to agree to a meeting at home with us next week. That is a start at least.

A little upset and disappointed

I was watching the Larry King show last week and they had a show on autism. I thought it might be good to watch,so me and Mike watched it together. I came away feeling upset and kind of angry. They had celebrities on there whose kids were diagnosed with autism, and they were talking about how much therapy they were doing. I heard someone say something like their kid was getting 80 hours per week. THEY are getting 80 hours per week and here WE are, barely getting 10 hours through pre-school. I am getting frustrated with being on waiting lists. As we wait, time is ticking by. Precious time. The next day, I made some phone calls. I called Nick's Dr,our case manager,and UW. I also wrote an e-mail to our local Autism Society chapter. That was last Monday. The ONLY person I heard back from (two days later) was Nick's Dr. I asked him if he had recieved the referral from Nick's last appt with the nutritionist. No. You can bet I will be calling everyone again and again until I get an answer. It is frustrating. It is sad. I came away from the show thinking "What makes their kid MORE special than mine??" We are the lucky ones. Our therapies are covered through the military. MOST insurance companies do NOT cover ABA therapy, or things like RDI therapy, some wont even cover Speech or they treat kids with autism as being "speech delayed" only. Most parents go into dept just trying to help their kid. It is outrageous! A "regular" person cannot afford 80 hours of therapy-yet don't our kids deserve it as well?? 1 in 166 kids is diagnosed with ASD. Insurance companies need to get on the ball and cover programs for our kids! April is Autism Awareness month-so please get informed about this! We have had to learn everything for ourselves, and we are still trying to navigate through all this.

One more thing I need to do is get Nick tested for Fragile X. 2-6% of kids with autism also have Fragile X. I have gone back and forth with getting him tested-will it make a difference in his therapies? Probably not. But I need to know. Just to put my mind at peace. I am almost 100% sure he does not have it, but you just never know. I want to get the test so that I can say for sure. Wish us Luck!

If you go to http://www.autism-help.org and click on "Personal Stories" you will see parts of our blog!

Spring has sprung!!!

Enjoying better days!


Today was a day for chores. We started the morning with a few tears over yogurt. Nick saw the yogurt in the fridge and decided he wanted some. But, he could not get the words out. He got frustrated, but I continued to work with him to get him to say "yogurt". He started talking in jibberish,but I just told him "I don't understand jibberish...use your words". A few frustrating moments later he finally said "yogurt". I praised him and he of course got a container of his favorite pink Dora yogurt.

After that, I got him dressed and we practiced brushing his teeth with his new toothbrush. Michael also got a new toothbrush yesterday. Nick seemed to do a little better if I let him hold the toothbrush and he helps brush his teeth. He still hates it, but did not object too much(afterall, it is a "rule" that we brush). This afternoon, Mike and Michael did the yardwork. Boy is it easier now that Michael can help out with things!! Michael swept up the clippings and helped daddy with the pressure-wash. I am looking forward to summer time. Taking the kids to Wild Waves and to the zoo when the days are nice and warm! We had such a good time last summer. Michael is going to soccer camp again in August. This time he gets the option of going a full day-we will see. We might even make it over to Spokane this summer and see what we can do there!

More pictures on the picture blog!

Ready for his closeup!!

Nice to see him SMILE!

This is what I usually get from him...

We have had lots of good days with Nick this week! He has been his usual UN-usual self; and we are happy to see that. Not very many tantrums this week. In fact, we have had some what of a language explosion recently. Nick has learned through echoing-the use of the word "Goodnight". He will say this everynight after I say "Goodnight Nick"..he says "Goodnight". He has also answered a few questions recently. Nothing too extravagant; one word answers that have to be thought of heavily by him, but it is progress. I think pre-school has done wonders for him. I don't know what we will do when he is out for the summer. I am hoping his ABA and Speech through UW will have started by then. It is frustrating to play this waiting game. Don't have much to write tonight; I will write more tomorrow. Now, I think I will just go check on my babes and turn in for the night!

Requesting what he wants...A work in progress

This is what we have been working on with Nick during dinnertime:

We started out with just one word "more" and through the past few months we have now gone up to two-sometimes three words.

Under Seige

That is what best described yesterday with Nick. It was horrible. His tantrums are getting more frequent-and they last---for hours. He throws things, screams at the top of his lungs, and bangs his head on anything around. He banged it so hard yesterday that Mike was worried he would knock himself out. Mike was literally at breaking point. He has no idea of how to handle this. It breaks his heart to see his son hurt himself. It breaks my heart too. I have never felt as hopeless as I did yesterday. How do you parent a kid like this? We had a long talk yesterday about how to handle his meltdowns. Mike was mad that I put him in his room and shut the door-why? Because he just screamed even more and banged his head even harder. Mike did end up spanking him-a fact that neither of us are proud of. We talked yesterday about how we should deal with this-this is different than when Michael would throw a tantrum(remember those doozies??!)This has really put our marriage to the test, and I can see how couples would divorce over such issues. I know Mike loves Nick with all his heart, and it is just breaking over this. We had so many dreams for him, and now we dont even know if he will ever reach them. It seems like such a long shot from where we are at now.

We had our appt. with the nutritionist yesterday. Nick was his peachy little self-after having screamed the entire morning. He has managed to gain weight and height despite his many issues with food. He weighs 30lbs and is 38" tall. The nutritionist IS going to recommend he get therapy for eating!!! THANK YOU LORD!!! She said that we are doing a wonderful job with the babyfoods we are giving him,as well as the vitamins and pediasure. She said that technically he is "Too healthy" for their clinic,but she did see that we are just frustrated and in need of some outside help. It is just one more therapy for us to add to our list.

New video

Video I shot tonight of Nick.

He looks so....well, autistic

Some days Nick could almost pass as a "normal" toddler-so long as he does not speak-to the outside world. Then, there are days like this weekend. Friday I took him out to the Commissary and all he said throughout our whole journey was "Aya,aya,aya", complimented by him rubbing his hands across the cart the entire time. He even removed my hands from the cart so he could do this. After we checked out, I let him watch the bagger put the bags in the car. Only he was not interested in watching her in the slightest...he was pressing his face against the tail lights of the car. He did this with both lights-walking right in front of the bagger as if she was not even there. Well,according to Nick...she wasn't. He has also seemed to regress a little bit with regards to food. Did not think this was possible??? Well, he no longer eats even crackers. Instead,he takes a bite and screams. At the soccer field,he is "typical"...spinning himself, inspecting the turf, and crawling around on the ground. Just a few minutes ago he was licking the windowsill. If only we could see what is going on in his mind. Somedays he is amazing...playing little tunes on the keyboard, he is a perfect mimic. I could have sworn I heard him play a couple of lines from "Twinkle,Twinkle,Little Star" the other day. I cannot wait to see what the nutritionist says this week at our appt. I am hoping they recommend a therapy for him to help him eat...we are just at the end of our rope. He just does so many "odd" things, it is getting harder and harder to see his behavior as something any 3yr old would do.

The group Five for Fighting(their song is on this page) is raising money for autism,as well as many other charities. Just go to http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com and view their videos. That's all you have to do! Everytime a video is viewed, up to .49 goes to that charity. It is pretty awesome.

Michael is doing good. Yesterday he was the goalie during the whole game-he only let in two goals,and they tied the game at 2-2. Pictures are on myspace at www.myspace.com/autiekid (yes, I have a myspace! More or less for Michael)

Things I have learned since having children....

1. You CAN love the second child just as much as the first.

2. A small lizard can fit inside of a matchbox car--and live.

3. A small lizard inside a matchbox car cannot be taken out of car.

4. Lizards cannot swim

5. Toilets do not like to flush when you unroll a whole roll of toilet paper in them.

6. Toilets are a good place to store your sippy cup if you are two years old. You can also store the TV remotes and your older brothers toys here.

7. It is possible to get shoe polish off walls

8. Milk Bones ARE nutritious

9. If you take a mouthful of Gravy Train you will have brown "gravy" coming from your mouth

10. Gravy Train IS nutritous

11. Toddler will eat dog food with no problems, but will refuse to eat any food you make.

12. The REAL ER at 3am looks nothing like the TV ER

14. They really can glue your childs' forehead back together

15. They will not give you a tube of this skin glue,no matter how many times you beg

16. You probably DON'T want to know what that sound was!

Nick clapped!!!!!

This is an old photo of him clapping at around 15mos. It was the last photo I have of him doing this, and I know he has not clapped in at least a year. It was one of the skills that he lost before being diagnosed. Today, at Michaels' game he clapped and said "YEAH!" I was so shocked that I just stood there looking at him. He was watching the game,shouting "yeah" and "Michael!" After saying his "peace" he went back to his happy shoe-less self,but for that moment,he was cheering on his big brother with the other parents and siblings. He spent most of the game like this though:

No shoes,no socks and absolutely loving it! I did put them back on at one point(just so you all know) but within seconds they came off again and then I just thought what is the point?? He merely tolerates shoes/socks out of necessity. He has gotten better about keeping them on in public places,but we still have times where we see him plop down in an aisle and begin taking them off.

Pre-school is going well. (Hmmmm,wonder if they have the same shoe episodes that we have?) I cleaned off Michaels very first backpack(a Dr Seuss one that is red,blue,and yellow) that he used for daycare(it is a tiny one!) and wrote Nicholas Weger on the outside. His name is right next to Michaels' faded out one. Michael was glad to hand down his old backpack to his little brother and just smiled at Nick. Thursday was the first day that he took the bus. Mike said he cried while he was getting on in the morning-he told me he felt very bad about doing this and even shed a little tear himself as he put Nick on the bus. He got very worried when 11am came and there was no sign of the bus to drop Nick off at home. We made a frantic call to the school to find out what time we should expect Nick as it was now almost 11:30. I pictured him crying,and being terrified and not being able to say anything. I was on the phone with the transportation people and they were trying to find out where his bus was. I can only imagine what I sounded like to these people! They told me "She is on Birch St. now, you might want to go outside" We went outside,and sure enough,his bus was right down the street. She pulled up and opened her doors and there,in the front seat, was Nick. He was just sitting there enjoying himself,completely unaware of our plight! Friday went much better for all of us!

Michael is doing better in soccer. Since Mike also took on an older team of kids, he has been practicing with them as well. He has even scored on them and stole the ball from them a few times-and they are at least a foot taller than him! He told me he gets bored playing with his age group and likes to play with the big kids. Which should not come as a shock to me since he has been that way since he was like 3 years old. He has always liked hanging out with the bigger kids. The big kids run the full field(8 and younger run half the field)and Michael does a good job of keeping up with them. His skill has improved drastically from last year and I have to admit,he is one of the best on his team with regards to controlling the ball. His main problem is that he is not aggressive,and we are trying to work on that. In other news,he has another loose tooth!

Night Shift

I am adjusting to life as a vampire quicker than I thought I would. In fact, I think I really like this shift. I get off around 7 or 7:20 and have enough time to drive Nick to school. By the time I get home Mike is up and both boys are pretty much ready to go. This morning Michael was eating cereal at the counter,and the hunt was on for Nicks other shoe. Daddy had found one, and when I came in he was in the process of looking for #2. I found it in the playroom, and we got jackets on,sippy cup,a change of clothes, and we were off. I got a good word from Nicks teacher this morning. He feels safe enough to go to her when he gets uncomfortable. He holds her hand, and squeezes it when he feels the need to. Today he did not even cry when I left!!! At daycare I always had to leave him there screaming for me. I think he is going to do well in this school! It was good news to hear!!

I get home around 8:30 and then sleep until around 3pm. So, I am able to see the boys before they leave for school, and I tuck them in bed at night. As for work, we just all seem to work well together. Last night we were steadily busy until 5:30am. At that point, we were rather tired, and I just had the guys do a clean up, and get ready for day shift to come in. I am just hoping that we are allowed to continue with this shift schedule-it stinks when you get started on one shift,and then stop it after a few days. We are doing as much as we can do until we get too tired. Then it can become a question of safety, and we need to take a break for a while.

Mike and Michael are at soccer practice now. Mike has taken on coaching an additional team, and NO,I am not the Team Parent for both teams...I can barely keep up with our own team! Nicholas is here with me having fun playing with the blinds. Well, I am gonna get dinner finished and get the boys to bed. We are doing well this week.

Piano Man

We caught Nicholas playing this little piano tonight! He really likes this toy-it is one of the only toys that he plays with appropriately. Not totally surprising since he just loves music. Tonight while he was playing the piano, he did not mind daddy taking his hand and playing a little melody...usually he hates it when you try this and pulls his hand away. Daddy joined him and Nick looked right at him-not to the side,up,or down,but AT him. He would listen to the muffled notes through a blanket,take it off and then listen again. He put the piano to his ear and listened that way, then he would put it back down and copy with his voice what was played. He would also lay flat on the bed and play the keyes. He wanted to hear the music in every way that he could-and hear the way it sounded in different ways. He must have done this for at least 45min. I think one of our next gifts to him will be a little piano that he can sit at. He just seems to totally "get" music. He learns everything if you put it to song-he hums and sings these little diddies all the time. Who knows??


Here is a GREAT site to check out!!
http://www.autism-help.org/

Please check them out! It is a great site about living with autism!!

We had Michael's first game today. It was bad! They lost 7-0. We have quite a few first time players, so they need more practice. The team we played today was "stacked"-meaning they put all the best players on that one team. Knowing this,we don't feel so bad. Our kids are good,they just need more playing time together. The problem is that we normally only have about 5-6 of them show up for practices! I think that is upsetting to Mike as he knows they need more drills and more knowledge of positions,etc.,but he can only do so much when they fail to show up for practices. Here are some pics from the game today.

Big Changes on the way

Nicholas starts preschool on Monday! We had his IEP meeting on Tuesday, and he will be going to Evergreen Elementary School. He will go from 8am-10:30 am. They will teach him ways to communicate like signing and PECS, how to play with toys, and learn social things like taking turns. Two days a week, he will also get Speech therapy while at school. He seemed to like the classroom after he spent a few minutes adjusting. The school itself is very nice looking, and decorated in a Disney theme. We put it in his IEP that he will need transportation,but until we get a call from the school saying it is good to go for the bus,he will be driven to class. They said it could take two weeks for them to call us. I guess they have to get everything in order to be able to transport him. We are anxious to see what improvements this new chapter brings.

I am also starting a different shift on Monday. I will be working from 11pm-7am Sun-Thurs. I am not sure how this will affect my schedule as far as sleeping, but we will see. I will be home when the boys are getting ready for school, and here all day until after they go to bed, so maybe it will work out just fine.

Why ask for opinions????

When you don't want to hear them?? I am perplexed by this. About a year ago, I went to a bulletin board after doing some research on the internet regarding Nicholas. I laid it all out, what he was doing,what he was not, and asked for people's opinions--not just any person,but parents of kids with autism. They told me what in a sense I already knew. Based from their experience and what I posted,it sounded like Nick in fact had autism. They told me what I should do next, and offered support. I have even met with some of these ladies face to face. I went there,asking their opinions on my son, and was ready to face the cold, hard, truth.

Fast forward to a year later, and a similiar post from a mother shows up again. She is asking about her daughter,asking what we think. Her daughter has many delays, but she says that she meets the milestones "eventually". She sounded a lot like Nicholas. We offered our opinions, and said that it does sound like an autism spectrum disorder. A couple of people also told her that it sounded like she was in denial about her daughter--which in truth, it did. The mother ended up being very upset and got mad that our opinions suggested autism. My question is WHY did they even ask in the first place?? Obviously they were concerned,but mention something of a disorder,and they go crazy. I guess I just dont get it. By the time I went to that board, I had already had a sneaking suspicion that we were dealing with either ASD or some sort of sensory disorder. Maybe I was just never in that "denial" phase. I am glad I was not-because it would have delayed Nicholas getting the help he needs so much. Maybe we had learned from Michael's whole ordeal, that not knowing what is wrong is just more worrisome, and more stressful. I would rather know what is wrong,so that we can learn how to help our kids. Maybe I am just "wired" that way!

One of those days...

We are having a rough start here this morning. The boys were awake at 7am which is not all that unusual. Nick was fine through breakfast,eating like a champ. He actually ate one pop-tart. After that though, things have gone downhill. Nick is currently in his room having a meltdown. I dont even know what started all of this,but he is screaming. He is just in one of his funky moods where nothing goes right. All is quiet now, until the next time!

At our last appointment, the Dr. put in a referral to a nutritionist for help on his eating issues. Well, Mike got a call yesterday and they are full until next month. I also called the Clover Park school system yesterday to tell them we had not recieved a call from Evergreen Elementary to meet with Nick's teachers so we can discuss goals for him. As my luck would have it, that person was out of the office for the weekend and I had to leave a message. I just wish people would actually call when they are supposed to!

As for us, we are managing. Somedays Nick's autism is very noticeable-he just has those behaviors that are "classic", and those are some of the hard days with him. He has taken to licking himself when either frustrated or to calm himself-I cannot really tell just yet when or why he does this. It is just one of those things that has suddenly come about within the last couple of weeks. He has started to bite himself as well. Michael also bit himself quite a bit on his arms or hands. He would actually leave teeth imprints on himself! I think it is just one of those days where everything Nick does seems "pathological" versus normal three yr old behavior. Sometimes I have to take a moment and put aside his diagnosis and see his behavior as a typical three yr old. Those lines can be very grey at times, and you really wonder how much of his behavior is due to autism and how much is "normal" on any given day.

Michael is doing great at soccer! His skills along with his physical growth are really coming together. He is closing the height gap by leaps and bounds, and can now at least blend in with some 7yr olds on his team. His footwork with the ball is ahead of his peers I would say. He can weave himself past the bigger kids and one of his greatest things is his speed. He can really cover some ground very quickly when he wants to. He is doing well in school too. Aside from his antics this week, which I dont think he will do again anytime soon...he is moving right along.

Nothing much planned for today. I need to take Michael and get him some new cleats. He outgrew his ones from last season. He also needs bigger shin guards. Yesterday at practice he got kicked just below his old guards and it kind of put him out for a few minutes. He was a good sport about it though. He sat down for a few minutes, then "walked it off" and got right back on the field.

I am the Team Mom again this season. I learned quite a bit from last season and have my contacts now, so hopefully it will be less stressful! One can only hope right??

Happy Birthday Nicholas!!!

As you can now see, I have figured out how to do slideshows! The newest slides are from today. We had Nicks birthday party today, and from what I can tell he had a pretty good time. Only one of our friends ended up coming,but it was just enough really for Nick. Corey from across the street ended up coming over, so there was one more kid for Michael to play with.

Yesterday we were quite busy with shopping. We went to Wal-mart and bought all the party necessities. Treat bags,prizes,tablecloth,candle,ribbon, and also his presents. We got him a Spiderman that sings and dances, and a little rocking horse that makes noises too. After Wal-mart,we were off to Safeway to get the cake. We also picked up some chips and dip, and some sodas. Today was a mad house with setting up, and cleaning up the house before everyone showed up. I was not sure how Nick would act because he was pretty mad this morning-screaming,arching his back,head banging..etc. He has started that in earnest now. He falls to the floor,stiffens like a board, and just screams at the top of his lungs! Then, if he is still not satisfied, he finds a wall and BAM!

Tomorrow is his last day at the Birth to three center. It is kind of bittersweet..it is the ending of the first chapter and now we are beginning another one. But,Nick has outgrown the center in a way. He needs more. He will start pre-school later this month, and hopefully in a couple of months we will get a call from UW saying they can start ABA and speech. I am really looking forward to seeing what pre-school does for him. We are hoping it gets him talking more, and learning to deal with other people.

Another Evaluation report....

A couple of weeks ago we had another evaluation done on Nicholas to determine his eligibility for special ed. services. The evaluation itself was pretty short,only lasting about an hour,as compared to his other eval at the peds office which was 3 hours. It is not surprising to us that Nick has significant delays in communication, cognitive, and social development; so I am not in the least bit shocked...but part of me still is. To see everything written down on paper is just emotional sometimes. I am usually just pretty numb when going over the results; it takes time to sink in that this is life for us, and more importantly for HIM. I guess it just reminds me that even though Nick has made huge progress in the last year, we still have a long road ahead of us. His total language score was the age equivalent to a 10 month old. In auditory comprehension he scored at a 7 month level. His expressive language was a bit better because he uses a lot of echolalia-and that was at a 14 month old level. I just feel so lost sometimes. The world of special ed. seems so daunting-we have to develop an education plan for him with goals of what we would like him to accomplish. Simple things such as being able to function in classroom activities,playing with toys appropriately, requesting food items, and cleaning up. I know he will accomplish this and so much more,but it just seems overwhelming.

They are sending copies of this report to Evergreen Preschool, and we are supposed to get a call from his team of teachers next week. We will set up yet another meeting to develop his IEP. He will attend half-day preschool, and I suppose the other half we will have to coordinate with home therapies. He is now on the waiting list to receive ABA and speech therapies in our home from the University of Wa. We have another evaluation on the 8th of Feb. with Dr. Flake at Developmental Ped. I am going to see if we can get Nick in with a feeding specialist to do something about all his issues with eating. It never ends!

Weekend News....

This weekend I was officially another year older. Friday I had the day off of work, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I took Nick to therapy, and Michael to school. We came home from therapy around 11:30 am and basically just relaxed until it was time to pick up Michael. I picked him up from school, and then him and I headed to our new Wal-mart to spend my gift card. I went and bought picture frames(yes, that IS what I wanted) so that I could hang up all the pictures we had of the kids. I still need to get a couple more to hang up the ones of Taylor and Michael and some other family pictures,but I got a good start.

Saturday we just hung around the house and did mountains of laundry. I am not sure if some of you have seen the chore chart we made for Michael,but here it is:

The chart is a lifesaver for me!! I no longer have to "nag" him to do chores, I just ask "Have you done your chores today?" and Michael looks at the chart and does them!! Four loads of laundry goes by really quick with extra hands to help folding and putting away!! How did I ever live without my chart???

Now, if we could only get him to listen to me when I say "be home at _____"! Last night I got around to making a cake and I let Michael help for most of it. He was grounded for the last part for not listening, and told to go to bed early. He did not like that at all. In fact,both of them went to bed early because they were just being "pills".

Today was more relaxing than yesterday since most of the chores were already done as was the bulk of the laundry. I spent more this weekend than ever on food though. $186.00!!! The grocery bill just keeps creeping upwards as these boys grow upwards. Michael is in a size 1 shoe already, and Nick is not too far behind him. I also bought Nicholas a sticker board for his stickers. Since that is a big motivator for him I am going to start teaching him the alphabet with stickers. We have already done a couple of letters,and even items such as "apple" or "car" with the stickers. I am hoping it will work well for him!

Nick at his sticker board.


Both boys recieved haircuts last week!

He LOVES Michaels' swim goggles!!! :)

Another year older

I am another year older today. Wow. Big Whoop. I am not even counting anymore,it is getting too depressing and actually I would rather not even think about it. In my mind, I am still 20 years old and that is all that counts. I wont even get into what age my body actually is. I am forever trying to take that back since Things 1 and 2 happened. Things in that area have not progressed much.

Today was a good day. No, it was a GREAT day. I had the day off from work,and I was able to just do the mom thing. I took Michael to school at 8am,then came back home to get Nick ready for therapy. We arrived there about 5-10 minutes early and I started chatting with another mom who is new since I was last there. Her son,Tristan, is another "autie" and we hit it off right off the bat. I loved watching Tristan doing his own little "happy dance". His body movements are so similair to Nicks it just made me fall in love with the kid. I have grown very fond of these little flapper guys,and sometimes I think the world needs more of them.
We got to talking and comparing notes, and I asked her a few questions. Tristan as it turns out, is also a very picky eater and she told me that she has to put his food in a blender--which of course is similiar to our situation. She also has to put Tristan on a child leash due to the fact that he is a runner. She was saying she gets LOTS of stares from people, and I told her that we get them too. Especially at the grocery store. One lady made the comment "Isn't he too old for baby food?!" I dont go into detail with WHY we are buying babyfood for a 3yr old,all I say is "he has food issues". People have no idea of a certain parents situation,so why cant they just leave the comments and stares to themselves? I dont go around asking strangers in the store "why do you let your child eat that?". It is none of my business, so I stay out of it. I dont stare at your kid having a tantrum or make comments on your parenting skills, so dont do that to me!

It amazes me that in a couple of weeks my baby will be three years old. These are the days that I feel just a little sad for Nick. He does not get the immense joy of opening presents, or even understand the whys of getting them. I assume that he does like what we choose for him,based upon the amount of time he plays with the toy once it is out of the box; but it is hard to know what he TRULY likes. He has the same expression if given a Buzz Lightyear or a Spiderman. He has not the faintest idea of who these characters even are; much less have a favorite. He would be happy with a tv remote or a lightswitch. I think he would have a marvelous time if we just let him flick the switches all day long. But, regardless, he will always get a birthday party. I simply cannot choose to ignore it just because he could not care less. I would feel like the worst mother in the world. We are planning his party for Feb 11th, and am even thinking of getting a pinata....he just loves them so!

Retail therapy

Sam has come to Lakewood!!



Ok, so we finally all get out of the house around 3pm and took a family trip to our brand new Wal-Mart,only to find out it does not open until Monday!! We were feeling quite stupid and a little embarassed as we thought we were the only people to show up, but then there were others who drove up and were all set to go in the store, when I said "They don't open until Monday!" Apparently,the general public did not get this message. Michael was visibly upset and even started crying-he wanted so bad to spend his newly given allowance that he had worked all week for! Not ones to just go home-we opted to go to Target and give them some of our money. We went into the store and decided to not get a cart and plop Nicholas in;giving him zero chance to practice taking direction from us. To my amazement,Nicholas followed our commands like a good little soldier-trying to play with toys still in boxes,and basically just enjoying himself. He looked just like any other toddler in a toy store-running up to toys within his reach and exploring the lights and sounds that they made. Michael got some good practice at managing money,and staying within his budget. He learned the hard lesson that things can be expensive and you cannot always get everything you see. He learned to look at prices, and make the decision of whether to save money or buy something else. I was amazed that Nick was very tolerant and patient while Michael browsed up and down each aisle for about an hour. That is why I referred to this as "retail therapy"-both of them will need to learn this as a life skill. Nick was practicing how to act in public,follow directions,and move through a crowd of people without going into hysterics. Michael finally decided on a bag of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups,and we headed to the check-out. Michael was anxious as how to know how much money his item cost without having to speak to the cashier. We told him it would show up on the register,and not to worry,he would know. When it came time to hand over the money,he got a little nervous and I had to tell him what to put on the counter. I also told him to hold his hand out for his change,and he did that although I dont think he even looked at the cashier the whole time! We will need to practice up on these little social skills in the future-he has a habit of completely clamming up around even people he knows. Nick on the other hand had a great time following lines,and feeling the floor tiles. Ahhh,my odd little children!

Update!

Wow, I had not realized it had been so long since I last posted! Our lives are FINALLY getting back to normal after the last week. Michael went back to school just this Thursday after being out for a week due to snow and ice. Nick was also out of therapy until Thursday for the same reason. Now, we are finally getting back into a normal routine. But, that will also change abruptly when Nick starts preschool next month! I am a little anxious to see how that goes. We had his evaluation with the school system yesterday. We met with a school psychologist,speech therapist,occupational therapist, and a few others that I simply cannot remember at the moment. They will determine how much help he will need in school and we have another meeting with them on Feb 2nd to discuss their findings. The OT already said that his motor skills are on the far end of "normal",so he does not see Nick needing as much help in that area. Tam,our therapist at the center he is at now,provided a wonderful report on him which I will share with you all.





REINFORCERS: (*=highly preferred)
Toys: *Anything that SPINS!(Does she know Nick or what??!LOL!),toys that light up,squishy balls(he used to hate those),bubbles,ball toys.
Activities: *SWINGING!,play-dough,art/magna doodle,singing songs
Social: *yelling "hip-hip hooray" with the motions,* playing peek-a-boo,singing songs and leaving out words for him to fill in,making his feet stomp fast,wiggling his arms,deep squeezes down arms(he has recently started squeezing everyone's arm-HARD!,fingers and legs
Food: *fish crackers, *cookies

CURRENT PROGRAMS:

EYE CONTACT:
OBJECTIVE: to use eye contact in play by alternating his gaze between his ply partner and the materials he's using.
PROGRESS: Nicholas will now consistently use eye contact to make requests when preferred items/activities are withheld;however,he continues to work on alternating his gaze during activities due to his inability to draw himself away from the toy. I typically have to get VERY low on the ground to get access to his eye-gaze,then cover the toy until he looks up,then I allow him access to the toy again.

Imitating with Objects:
OBJECTIVE: to copy the actions of others when told "copy me" or "do this" in order to gain the skill of learning through observation of others
PROGRESS: Nicholas has mastered one "set" of imitation (block in cup,figurine jumping,stack blocks). The current set includes actions with a doll(feed bottle,brush teeth,brush hair,hug)which he continues to work on. This less "discrete" set seems to be more of a challenge,although he is making some steady progress.

Functional Play:
OBJECTIVE: to pick a toy,play with it appropriately for up to 3-5 minutes, and put it away independently
PROGRESS: Nicholas has greatly expanded his play skills since he began services. He initially would only pick up objects in an attempt to figure out how to make them spin. Now he is much more appropriate. He loves ball toys, is great with cause and effect toys,does a nice job with shape sorters and puzzles, and enjoys play dough and art quite a bit. He is becoming much more successful with pegs, beginning to put train tracks together independently, and is beginning to gain independence with pop-beads,gears,blocks,and more. He still needs support to stay on task in play and when cleaning up,but he has made very clear progress.

Picture Exchange Communication System:
OBJECTIVE: to exchange pictures with a communicative partner in order to express needs and wants.
PROGRESS: Nicholas is in Phase 1, exchanging with one picture on a page and doing very well. However, as his verbal imitation has improved,we have been focusing a bit more on using words.

Matching:
OBJECTIVE: to match based on a variety of criteria when asked to "match it" or "find the same"
NOTE: Nicholas has learned to match nesting objects and identical objects that do not match. He is now working on matching pictures which seems to be more challenging for him than objects. We are in the process of trying a new strategy (combining nesting objects and pictures on the table at the same time).

Verbal Imitation:
OBJECTIVE: to imitate mouth movements/vocalizations when asked to "copy me" or "do this"
NOTE: Nicholas is spontaneously imitating words with much greater frequency as time goes on,however,he is not yet imitating on request. Thus,we continue to work on consistent oral motor imitation(raspberry sound,clicking tongue,popping lips,blowing) when asked in an attempt to get more consistent responding,while still encouraging word imitation and praising it energetically. He began with filling in the blanks with "1,2,3..."go!",then filling in the blanks of songs,and is now imitating a wide variety of words throughout our time together and according to parent report. He will benefit greatly from continued work on this goal with a shift to language used spontaneously to request preferred items.

Following Receptive Directions:
OBJECTIVE: to follow a direction when asked
NOTE: Nicholas responds well to "put in", "high 5", and "give to me". This was his first "set" and when his attention is gained he responds very well. However, if he is distracted by a light, sound, or other interesting thing in the environment, it takes some redirection to get him engaged and responding again(usually some motor/sensory activity). He is fantastic at following the direction "1,2,3 give it to me"...he will stop anything and hand the toy over, which is very impressive. He continues to work on "stand up","come here",and "clean up/put away",but has made nice progress so far.

Receptive Identification of Objects:
Objective: to identify an object among 3 when asked "show me____","give me____","point to____" etc.
NOTE: this is a fairly new program for Nicholas,however,it appears to be challenging for him. The primary challenge is to get and maintain Nicholas' attention,which shifts quickly based on subtle interests in the environment. If he is clearly attending he does well and shows progress. We are in the process of moving back to only one object on the table, then we will do two objects, and then back up to discriminating from 3 objects on the table.

PROGRAMS ON HOLD:
Signing to request: Nicholas learned to sign "more" fairly quickly,but had great difficulty learning/using other additional signs,we had also observed that Nicholas is a very visual child. This is why we moved to PECS and of course we were always emphasizing verbal communication.

MASTERED PROGRAMS:
Attending at the table:
NOTE: When Nicholas began,he was scared to be in a new place and in a room with a new person to the point he could not function beyond his fear. He would back into Dad's lap and only with careful shaping did we get him to a point where he was comfortable with new people and places,then we worked on sitting in a chair,which he now does very well. In fact, he prefers table time more than anything,so we are spending quite a bit of time on the floor when appropriate to encourage flexibility(as in routines).

Calm Transitions:
As mentioned above,when he began Nicholas was very sensitive to new environments,toys,people,etc.. Once he bacame calm,he quickly became upset again if he had to move from one toy to the next,let alone from sitting to standing. Now, however,he explores and moves from one activity to the next with verbal directions just like a pro! He has made tremendous progress.

Tolerating New People:
Nicholas was vey upset by new people in his proximity when he began,but he now enjoys his time with his therapists,teacher,and peers quite a bit! Once he was comfortable in a one-on-one setting,he began playgroup and adjusted very nicely to being in a room full of peers,teachers,and parents. Again, he has come very far from where he began.

Strengths:
Nicholas is a smart little boy who pays close attention to detail. He now sits for adult led activities very well and his play skills have been coming along very nicely. He is also becoming much more socially tuned in to others,which has been a joy to be a part of. Nicholas has a delightful and highly contagious laugh and brightens up the room when he is excited. He also benefits from having parents who are very dedicated to learning strategies to carry over with Nicholas at home,and they are also wonderful at sharing information about strategies that they have found to promote Nicholas' growth.

Challenges and Recommended Supports:
Because Nicholas is very sensitive to his environment,it can be difficult at times to get and maintain his attention. One minute he will be very engaged and enthusiastic and the next he is looking off into space making some subtle observation that the rest of us can not always pick up on. When this happens I typically do motor activities to re-engage him(wiggle his arms,stomp his feet quickly on the ground,squeeze down his arms/legs) or I sing a song and leave off the endings of words. I will also sometimes re-engage him by doing a maintenance task(something I know he can do well) to establish behavioral momentum.

It has been a delightful experience to work with Nicholas and his family. He has made great progress since he began Bith-to-three and we are all very proud of him. I am excited to hear of his continued progress in the future.

Well, that is the entire report. Our plans for the day include a trip to our new WAL-MART! Yes, we are very thrilled!! It is about 10 minutes from our house and I just love having another shopping choice!

Hello from the frozen wasteland!!

That's sure what it felt like here the past couple of days! Tuesday night we had a round of snow,just a couple of inches,but they closed down schools nonetheless-so Michael got another snow day. By Wednesday evening that snow had melted,but we had more to come Wednesday night. Thursday I awoke to a blanket of snow on the ground once again, and Michael got to sleep in an extra two hours before going to school. By Thursday evening,the snow had stopped,but then the winds began to pick up. Temperatures fell to 15(no, I am not factoring in the winds-that was the REAL temp!)and the snow that had semi-melted,turned to ice. Today it got to freezing,so the ice is not going anywhere. Michael got his third snow day today,and we got out of work a little early. Nothing else new to report. Since the schools were closed today, we could not have Nicholas's IEP meeting that was scheduled for 11am. It has to be rescheduled for a later date. We are still giving Nick the Cod Liver Oil,and to be honest, I have noticed his speech is picking up! Today he climbed on the step-stool and began saying "Get down!" and "Nick NO!" He has also came up to daddy,led him by the hand to the fridge,and then said "Cup" or "Eat". He is not having any adverse reactions to the oil, so I figure it cannot hurt him. I give him 1/2 tsp. and I mix it with his cup of PediaSure. Sounds gross,but he seems to like it. I promised Michael I would take him to a movie this weekend so he can have some MOMMY time to himself. I already did the grocery shopping today,so I have THREE WHOLE DAYS to spend with my boys! I took some pictures of Nick tonight at dinner time. I thought this was hilarious when I saw what Nick had done with his goldfish!

He LINED them up! A typical "autie" trait...but funny anyways!




Hey,it happens to be FUN lining up my crackers, so what of it??!!

Transitions

It has been quite a week of upheaval, and it is only TUESDAY! I am back at work, Michael is back in school, and Nick is back in therapy. WHEW! I think I liked it better when I did not have to work! Nick's little life has been turned inside out and he is letting us know how he feels about the whole situation. He is on somewhat of a hunger strike. His therapists want us to try and get him to feed himself more often with a spoon-right now,that involves alot of screaming. Dont even think about getting him to feed himself anything other than yogurt-he refuses. Right now, he is barely eating at all. He wont take a nap during the day(Mike has tried without success) so by the time I get home,he is at breaking point. I think it is a combination of transitioning, and the terrible twos. He is trying to have some control over his life,and the only ways are naps and food. It is very frustrating-but that goes with any two year old. He is using more words! Today he came up to me and said "Up please". He is also saying more words in therapy...like today he said "Happy" and kept saying "Cup". He has also started to get on the computer! As you can see from the pictures above!

As for me, I am just trying to keep up with everything! Between work, studying for TSgt., and things at home, my life can get hectic very quick. I finally got all the laundry done, and even most of it is put away! We have a meeting with the school board on Friday to discuss what will happen with Nick next month. I have sent off the registration for him to get into the autism program at UW(University of WA). On my first day back at work I was given a whole bag full of presents for the boys. Apparently, someone in my squadron put their names on the "Angel Tree" in the BX, and they recieved about 6 more presents each! Part of me is very grateful that someone thought of us, but then I think there are other kids who could have used the toys more than them!

This weekend I need to buy a new calendar-we are at a loss without that thing! We are also implementing a chore chart. I simply cannot do everything around here, and Michael is old enough to help(he is also now BIG enough). I also might take Michael to a movie or something. I need to reconnect with him again so that he does not feel left out. We are constantly doing things with Nick and paying him attention, that Michael gets kind of lost in the shuffle sometimes. I dont like that it happens, but it just does. He is a great kid and deserves to have some one-on-one time. Here is a picture of him in Florida:

The wonders of Supplements

If you would have asked me a year ago if I would have considered introducing some supplements to Nick's diet I would have said No. Not the typical vitamin supplements you give to a kid who simply does not eat well, but supplements to supposedly help break down some walls from his autism. I am not looking for a miracle "cure", I know that he will always have autism-I believe it is something he was born with. When I think back to his babyhood,there was some instances that stood out. For example,he did not sit on his own until he started crawling. At one year old, you could ask Michael "Where's daddy?" and he would look for him. I remember asking Nick several times after he turned one, only to be met with a blank stare. I am only hoping for more connections to be made. We are aching to hear Nick's little voice. Sure, he says a few words here and there,and will sing songs..all we ask for is the possibility of a little more. I have read about Cod Liver Oil http://www.autismcoach.com/Cod_Liver_Oil.htm
and many of the other moms have tried it as well on their kids and have said they had improvement in speech. I ventured out into the rain,and bought an 8oz bottle of the Nordic Naturals Cod Liver Oil (Orange flavored) to try on Nick. Mike did not even protest to this-he is eager to see any improvements Nick can make,and I know he would go to the end of the earth if it meant his son would talk. I gave him a tiny bit after his dinner,and we shall see what happens. I am not going to go all out into chelation to remove heavy metals, or anything too wild like that. That is just not where I am at right now. I just want to hear my sons voice.

We are HOME!!!!

Finally!!! For those who did not hear about our little journey back to Washington,let me fill you in on what happened!

We left Deltona on Wednesday (1 week ago today) and headed up to Walterboro,S.C. to visit with Mike's sister and brother. We had a great time,and we went out to eat at Ryan's with Tina and all the girls.(Tina,her daughters Brittany, Kaylee,and Martika,and Martika's little girl,Amaya. Tina also brought along her boyfriend Mario.)We got to visit with Bobby and his family,and Michael finally got to meet the only two boy cousins he has...Bobby Jr. and Ryan. We stayed the night at Tina's,and left Thursday morning. That day,we drove to Tennessee before turning in for the night. We got up Friday and drove to Amarillo,Texas. In Amarillo,the crap litterally hit the fan. That whole region was stuck in a ice/snow storm,and I-40 Westbound was closed. Since we could not go any further,we tried to find a hotel room. No luck--every hotel we went to was full. They were predicting another storm to hit that night,and we were running out of options fast. We headed South on I-25,and came across a very small town called Tulia. By this time it was 4am,and we had been on the road for 20 hours. Fortunately,there was a hotel in this small town,and we pulled over. Since I-40 was closed for about 24hours, we decided to stay for two nights. Over the radio we had heard that all roads going west bound were closed. We got up Sunday morning,turned on the news and heard that I-40 was open now. We packed up the car and headed West to New Mexico. All was going fine as we crossed the boarder to New Mexico. We got about 30 miles from the boarder,and they closed I-40 again. We went back to Texas,and tried to head North to Colorado,but we were stopped again. All roads headed that way were closed. So,back in Texas we are,and getting more frustrated with each passing moment. We drove down to I-10 and crossed our fingers. As we approached the southern New Mexico boarder we grew anxious and held our breath. Well,all I can say is that we should have done it a LOT sooner! We had no problems,and spent New Years driving through Roswell! We did not see E.T.,but we did not care....we were glad to be out of Texas and to be moving forward in our journey! We pulled in last night around 7pm and spent most of the day today unpacking. We found out that our power had gone out for a couple of days while we were gone, so most of Michael's medicine went bad. I called Dr. McClellan today and he said that all I had to do was take the unused portion back to the pharmacy and they will be able to exchange them. He also said that all of Michael's labs came back just fine. We enjoyed our visit with everyone,I hope you all had a wonderful New Year and Christmas. I know we did!

Florida!!

We have been here for one week so far, and it has been great! The boys are having a good time visiting with Nana and Grandpa, and Nana and Grandpa are having a great time with them. Last Sunday we went to Daytona and saw my aunt Nancy and cousin Jennifer. We also saw her little boy, Braden. Braden is about 3 months old and is just the cutest little thing!! I am sure he was not so cute when he was screaming all the time though :) I am glad the medicine is working for him Jen! We also took the kids to the beach last Sunday so they could see the ocean. There is hardly any beach left after all the hurricanes. They have erroded the beaches pretty bad, and the water now comes up to the seawall during high tide. Not the beach that I remember of my childhood at all.

This week we drug Nick around to almost every single Wal-mart,K-mart,Toys R Us, and Target in central Florida. We have had a great time shopping for them!! In the evenings I have also been going with my mom to help her clean her office at work. She cleans it after everyone leaves so that she can get some extra $$$. The weather here has been wonderful. It has been near 80 almost every day. Well, I better go for now, my sister in law is coming over today for a visit.

Getting ready....

To go to Nana's house that is! We did some last minute preparations today such as shopping. I think I got enough pop-tarts,lemon aid, and all sorts of other munchies to sustain us every day at least until dinner time. We have Michael's Dr appt. tomorrow morning and then we should be leaving in the afternoon. We will keep you all in the loop as to where we are located every night. Cant wait to see everyone! Here are some pictures from this weekend. Mike's unit had their Christmas party on Sunday, and the boys got their picture taken with Santa. Michael had a great time in the jump castle, and Nick LOVED the pinata.


More pictures on the photo page.

Let it Snow....Let it Snow!

This was the view out the front door this morning! We had a light dusting of snow Friday,but it melted by noon. But,starting yesterday evening, it snowed most of the night, and temps today barely reached 27f. Michael had his first "snow day" of the school year today,and from what the weatherman is saying, he could have another one on Thursday. We are supposed to get more snow tomorrow night. They say around 2-6". We will see!