Cell Phones and Lakes Don't Mix

Sam and I have been needing new cell phones for a long time. Mine finally completely died and I had to switch to one that used to be my moms. They were the free ones and several years old. So we finally got new cell phones last weekend. I was so excited. I didn’t like the free one so I picked on that was $40 after the rebate. It was red and really pretty. And then this weekend we went up north and Sam was fishing on the dock while I was taking a nap. He had my cell phone in his pocket so he knew what time it was (he’d forgotten to charge his). And then it fell out of his pocket and into the lake. I made him try to find it with the net and we dredged the bottom for it but never found it. So I had a really nice new cell phone for one week. And of course I didn’t purchase the insurance plan. The insurance plan is really expensive however, so I am going to try finding one on craigslist. It’s going to take a while for Sam to live this down. It’s kind of funny though.

School programs for a 2 year old

I went to look at an ABA program today. They are expanding and have several openings available. I really liked the place. The therapists were really nice and really good at what they do. It was nice to see ABA in practice. I’ve learned about it but it’s much different to see it in action. I don’t think that it is what I want to do though. One issue is that it is in Hopkins right now and when they move to their new location it will be in Plymouth. That’s a rather long drive. And since we both work full time we would have to use a transportation service that would be covered by insurance. I’m not sure I trust someone driving my child that far every day. It would make me nervous. I also think that Thomas does better with more active learning, a more physical environment.

So I made up my mind that I was going to start pushing for him to get into the school preschool program. I knew it was going to be a fight since they were getting in trouble for starting kids prior to age 3. But he is ready for school and I think he would thrive there. I’ve actually been making calls all week already but nobody has returned any messages. So then I got a call from Bridget, and she said that she knew we really wanted to get Thomas into the program and approached the new autism program director that just started and they said OK. So we have a meeting in two weeks to do an evaluation and then he’ll start within 45 days of the eval. I’m really excited. I just know that it was meant to be.

Update

I haven’t updated in a while. Thomas is doing really well. He doesn’t have too many new words (bye bye, one, go, down, stop), but he is doing great with his eye contact and interaction. I keep getting reports that he’s doing great at following directions too. And the times that he doesn’t, it’s not that he doesn’t understand, but because he’s being naughty, just like a normal two year old. He’s been having a few more tantrums too, probably not to the level of a normal two year old, but I still think that’s a good sign. Previously, he could be so easily distracted or redirected and it’s good that he’s being more persistant when he doesn’t get what he wants.

We had a wonderful time in Colorado. It was so nice to spend time with family that we haven’t seen in so long. He had a great time with Great-Grandpa. He would sit next to him in the chair and they would read together. It was usually a whole string of “uh-oh”s. We spent a couple days in the mountains. It was nice to get away and it was so peaceful. There is a horrible beetle killing all the trees. I would estimate that about 2/3 of the trees in the area were dead and the other 1/3rd all eaten up too, but hadn’t turned brown yet. It was rather sad. We went on a couple nice hikes. Sam had Thomas in the backpack for the first, which was a bit rockier. The second one Thomas walked for a while, with his doggie backpack harness. We ended up taking turns with him on our shoulders for the last half, but it was a short walk so that was just fine. There was a really nice overpass where we had someone take our picture. Not the greatest, but Thomas was having a hard time sitting still for that. We really did have a nice time. Grandma and Grandpa are having a harder time getting around, but I guess that is to be expected. Aunt Linda was having a really hard time with her legs too. She just seemed miserable a lot of the time. She’s always so positive, but I could tell she was in constant pain. I wish that we lived closer. She would be wonderful to work with Thomas if we weren’t so far away. I love all the stories of her classes and students. She generally taught the troubled students from 1-5th grades for many years. This year is her first year of actual retirement. She technically retired two or three years ago, but still worked part time. I think it was just getting too hard to move around. I hope they figure out why her legs hurt so much so that they can fix it. She’s too young to be moving like that.

My sister, Lily, has been having issues with her legs. It started almost three months ago and her legs just shake and twitch. She’s 32 and walking with a walker. It got much better suddenly for a week and then suddenly much worse. They have done a ton of tests and haven’t figured out anything. She seems to be handling it well, but that pretty much takes all of her independence away. She even needed help going up the one stair from the living room to the dining room. It seems like something like MS, which I guess they have not entirely ruled out. It seems at least something related. I hope they figure it out soon. Why does it seem like doctors can never figure it out?

We’ve also been hoping to give Thomas a new brother or sister. I didn’t ovulate at all with the first month of Clomid, so we are onto the second month. This month the side effects were horrible, so hopefully that means it really did something. I hope this happens quick because I’m not sure that I can handle many more months of those side effects.

My new niece Halley is the cutest thing ever. She’s finally starting to be more aware. She’s just so little. Even though she’s a month old, she still smaller than Thomas was when he was born. But he was a really big baby. I hope the next one is much smaller. The metformin I am on now is supposed to greatly reduce my risk of gestational diabetes, so hopefully size will not be the issue it was last time. Thomas did not really notice the baby or anything. I’m not sure he ever slowed down enough to even notice I was holding a baby.

We found out that we can get Thomas into an ABA school this fall, but I’m not sure that’s what I want to do. It was when we first got the diagnosis, but I’m not sure that’s the best approach for him. I am going to start fighting the school district again to get him into the autism preschool. He’s ready for it. I just think the overall approach will be better for him than the ABA approach. And if we did the ABA it would pretty much replace the services he’s getting right now, which he is doing so well with. I don’t want to do that. I would like to defiantly get him more OT, but I think I will probably just keep it the same if we can’t start the preschool. I don’t know. There are so many things to choose from and so many waiting lists and trying to figure out the right combination is really hard. I’m sure he’ll be fine though.

Doing good!

The last time I posted I was really having a hard day. I don’t feel so helpless very often, but I think it’s best to be upfront with my emotions and feelings. It makes it easier to move beyond that. He has made so much progress since he started therapy and I know that he is going to do well in life. And most importantly he is happy. Last Friday he was at Grandma’s house and was reading a book and suddenly he knows all the animal sounds and said Duck! I have heard “woo woo” for a dog before and I think I remember hearing “moo” way back when, but this was far beyond and it was just really impressive. It just goes to show you he knows more than he lets on. I think that the new speech therapy is making a huge impact. I found out the next day that she’s been working on animal sounds since last week. I think I am going to try to continue that. I was thinking about flashcards or something for body parts and animals and maybe colors and shapes. I’ll have to think about it.

We are working on giving Thomas a little brother or sister. We’ve actually been trying since he was about 8 months old. I just started on Clomid this month since the doctor thinks I am not ovulating correctly. Hopefully this will do the trick. I’m getting a bunch of tests done this week to see how my hormone levels are and also to see if I have insulin resistance. I have a good chance of that with family history of diabetes and having gestational diabetes with my first pregnancy. The doc suspects that I have PCOS, so it will be interesting to see if that is the case. At least there is stuff that they can do about it. I am crossing my fingers that the Clomid will work and that this is our month. Scott and Amy just had their baby a week ago today. I still have not met little Hailey, but I can’t wait. She looks just like Scott in the pictures and she has these huge pinchable cheeks. I just can’t wait to meet her.

We are going on vacation in less than a month now. I’m really excited. I can’t wait to see everyone again. I also can’t wait to see the mountains and do some hiking. It will be interesting with Thomas, but it’ll be fun. There are a bunch of things for young kids to do in the area too, like pony rides and bumper boats and mini golf. We’ll find something that he’ll like I’m sure.

School Play Group :(

Thomas and daddy go to a play group for autistic toddlers/preschoolers once a week (only every other week during the summer). It’s offered through the school district and is part of his IEP required therapy. I’ve never been able to go to these sessions because I worked so far away, but since I transferred offices a couple weeks ago, I was able to go to my first one last night. It was like a huge slap in the face. They had a larger group than normal yesterday so maybe it was the fact that there was more going on around him. I have always thought that Thomas was on the mild side of the autism spectrum. But comparing him to the other kids yesterday, I don’t think he can be considered mild anymore. He’s made a lot of progress in the last six months. His therapists and the daycare teachers have all been making a point of telling me that, but he isn’t in the same league as the other kids. They followed directions (with a lot of prompting and modeling) and enjoyed the activities. I still don’t feel like Thomas even hears the directions being given, much less understand directions. Modeling is doesn’t really work because he doesn’t stay still long enough to see what you are doing. Every time I tried to get him to join the activities he started crying. And not just a fussing cry, an all out “I’m sad” cry with tears streaming down his cheeks. Maybe he was just having an off day. I just want him to succeed. But he’s so far behind the other kids. And yes, I know you are not supposed to compare to other children, lets get serious, we all do it. I guess I have known that he is behind other kids. I don’t know why, but I felt better that he was doing better than a lot of the other kids on the spectrum. That sounds horrible. I’m just scared for him. I just want him to be happy. I want him to have all the opportunities he can have in life. And maybe I’m not pushing him hard enough. Maybe I need to get more therapy going. I only have him on the waiting list at one place. Maybe I should still be looking at more places. I’m not as patient as I should be. I take the easy way a lot and give in to what he wants. When he doesn’t eat what I make him, I’m afraid of him going hungry so I give in and give him something I know he will like. I probably shouldn’t do that.

I just thought he was doing so well and last night I just literally felt like I had been slapped. I don’t know how best to coach him to do what the group is doing. Every time I tried, I made things worse. But I can’t just let him do his own thing and let him play on the side by himself while the other kids are participating in an activity. I just feel helpless right now. I just need to regroup I guess.

He doesn't have a lot of the sensory issues that the other kids seem to have and in small groups he is like a different kid. I hope it was just a bad day. I hate autism.

Independence Day Bug Bites

I fogot to mention this before. Thomas got a really bad bug bite on his cheek on the 4th. I didn't really notice it till the next day. It looked like a blister the size of a pencil eraser. It wasn't really a problem till later that night when Thomas was scratching at it and broke the blister. He kind of scared me Sunday morning. The right side of his face was so swollen! His eye was almost swollen shut and his face almost looked a bit purple and you could really see the veins going out from the bug bite. I brought him to the doctor and she said it was not really a big deal but gave him a prescription antibiotic ointment to put on it. The swelling lasted through Monday, but it's pretty much gone now. The bug bite is now starting to heal so it looks much better and it seems to be bothering him a lot less too. Poor kid. He's always reacted really stongly to bug bites. I hope this is something he outgrows.

Fourth of July

We had a fun 4th of July. We went to a family-oriented picnic for several hours in the afternoon. It was a lot of fun! Our cousin Joy is in a band and they played for a while. I knew that she was in this band, but I guess I always assumed it was a rock band or something, but it is more like a dixie band. It was fun. They had all kinds of things going on. There were volleyball tournaments, horseshoe tournaments, pony-rides, contests for the kids, and more. Thomas kept wanting to run. So I would let him go and then follow him around. There was a lot of room to run, but I had to keep watching to make sure he was staying out of the way of the different games. When we got to the horseshoes, he had such a good time. It was so funny. I don't know what it was about the horseshoes, but he was clapping each time and screamed/laughed for the good ones. The people around us kept laughing because he was having such a wonderful time. We didn't do the pony rides, because he is still too small I think. I would love to go back next year so he could do that. They were even free pony rides. Sam wanted to go too, but the horses were a bit too small for him.

Fireworks later were really nice. We arrived way to early so we were all getting super ansy by the time they got started. We sat along a nice paved trail by the river. Tons of people showed up. Lots of kids running around. I wish some of those parents would not have let their little ones go right down to the river. It was kind of steep embankment and several parents let their 3-4 yo's go right down to the river. That made Thomas really want to go too, but it seemed dangerous IMO. Maybe I'm just an over protective mom.

In other news, Thomas is now saying/signing "me". And he's sometimes spontaneously waving goodbye again. One day maybe a week ago he started that again. It's nice to see. We are also getting ready for our vacation to CO. I'm super excited since I have not been there since my last year in high school. My grandparents and all my relatives on my mom's side have not even met Thomas so I'm glad they will be able to meet him. We're also going to spend a couple days in the mountains. I can't wait to do some hiking. I'm not sure how that will work with Thomas, but we've got the backpack carrier. I need to make some extra padding for the shoulders. I'm sure it will work just fine. We aren't planning on taking any of the difficult trails. I'm just really excited. This is also Sam and my first vacation together. We never even went on a honeymoon since I got pregnant with Thomas right away. We were going to go to Italy six months after the wedding. Now we are tentatively planning on Italy for our 5 year anniversary.

Anyway, we're doing well I think. I am worried about Thomas's road safety. He doesn't look before running into the road and he's intent on "escaping" and running down the street. I don't know what to do to teach that since he is only 2 1/2 and he doesn't understand a lot. I think I'll try to find a video maybe. I'm sure that Sesame Street has one.