Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Weekly Round up W/O Sep 19th

Saturday


Is a marvelous day - DH chops food and I cook busily in the morning. This is the time when we also get a lot of chatting done with the background sounds of the knives, the questions of how-do-you-want-this-cut and my answers of slices-so-thin-that-they-are-invisible,  the sizzle of olive oil  and all the smells of the herbs and spices.
If the alternative cost of time was not so high I would really enjoy cooking - but I always have so much else to do!
Its my birthday and I get flowers and the sweetest( OMG so sweet )  cards from DH and R( eventually R's card is too sweet and he  does not want to give his card to me as the card sings)  and also from my friends and flowers and so many wishes
I love all the fuss very much!

In the afternoon we go to the Spanish festival - R meets a therapist who had worked with him till 6 months ago and she starts to cry when he says  Hi! and then when we are leaving waves Bye  and also says it !
He is talking now she says breathlessly. While he is only saying a few words that are perfectly understandable -  its true.

In the evening   we celebrate my birthdayparty with hats and a sign and a cake( which is actually a cupcake that R has chosen - a truly terrible thing - full of artificial color and fuss  -still its dear to me and I am glad that DH went with R's choice !

Ris thrilled with the hats ( though he wont wear one himself)  and the sign that DH has hung on the window that says Happy Birthday with ELMO all over it .( These are all remnants from his 2nd birthday party - we now only celebrate his birthday with all the things HE wants to do rather than what a typical birthday party.  As a result he and we - have a lot more fun!. This principle  has proved to be the theme of our life- to do what works for us  )

 I dont think R quite gets birthdays but we will practice on DH's next month and then on his own in November

Sunday

The euphoria of all the love fest from the birthday is behind me and I am unacccountably grumpy - the weather is dreary and R is sooooo stimmy.
A proper sensory diet is critical to all of our wellbeing

We go to the Mall and of course R makes a beeline for the Apple store. He is terribly stimmy there. Fortunately all the kids are very ill mannered- shouting, screaming and running around like angry dervishes,  and R does not stand out at all. ( When I look around at the moms I am comforted by everybody's  sheepish harried look that mirrors my own )
Amidst all the converstations going around us  - I overhear a mum asking about the Iphone App for Autistic children - ( how do our brains pick up the relevant things like names in an airport ?- is a marvel) .

I evasdrop but the Apple guy has no clue.

I feel such a bond with moms of Auties and I want to hug this mum and tell this mum about all the PECS etc that we have and ask her if her son can read, brainstorm on ways how "we" can help him  etc etc.

There is a thin line between people who have restraining orders against them and those that dont. Luckily good sense prevails and I choose to stay this side of that thin line

Monday

I cannot come back from work early and I am VERY VERY grumpy and badtempered as I do not have ANY time with R.
 its all eaten up in the logistics of the evening's activities

I scowl and sulk my way through the evening feeling VERY PUT UPON and martyred

Ironically we had an event at work when we had to tell the other person the main thing they liked about each other.- the thing that everyone likes most about me - its almost unanimous is my "positive outlook" "ray of sunshininess" "sense of humor" .

If they could only see me now

in the night when r is in his bath - as I leave the room to take a shower myself - R quickly says  "twikuh twikuh"and blinks his hands in the universal way children across the world gesture to twinkle twinkle little star. I am so touched that now when he wants me to stay he does not simply cry - Instead, he tries to Floortime with me

I have insomania in the night and finally toss and turn my way to sleep at 3 - turning the pillow round and round for the cooler-other-side- going over my onerous to-do list in my head!

Tuesday

DH is off to play golf !

Surprisingly( and charmingly )  the weather forecast is all wrong and the sun is out ! How great is that !!!

I make GF Pizza for R, Tomato Basil soup ( all ingredients from DH's garden )!

We play outside and R simply does not want to come in - Lucy calls to ask about how to save email attacments - and I am so sleepy it takes me a long time to understand what she is asking - finally we laugh and I give up and I ask DH to stop by on his way home

Due to no sleep last night - I fall asleep at 9 and have a hard time waking up at 6 which is a pity as I slept with wet hair and it looks like I have a hedgehog on my head in the morning and have to spend aeons straightening it in the am

R is  always so thrilled when I put him to bed . he keeps wriggling happily - jumping from one  side of me to another

He is also ( like me ) a compliment junkie !

When I wake him in the morning I always tell him how beautiful and wonderful he is - and he starts his day preening with pride .  I notice as I am getting ready in the morning and he is watching TV and eating breakfast - when we talk about him he presses the Pause button and listens carefully!

Wednesday

The rain holds off and its a marvelous evening - eminently ordinary but still marvelous.

DH and I see the Season premier of House - House is finally redeeming himself and I am so thrilled.

 R and I take a long walk with him in the stroller . We try to play out the scene of the Wonder Pets rescuing the panda and it does not work too well but we still have fun

Suddenly in the bathtub he realises he does not have the number 2 and runs around urgently- wet and slippery- but alas the 2 is elusive - even though he hunts in the car diligently as he remembers that  had carried the 2 with himself when DH and he went to get flowers for my birthday.

R now likes me to say the numbers backwards 100 to 1 when I swing him
This happens once before and he had started to cry when I said 1..2...3..and then I guessed and reversed the order
today I decide I will teach him to show by gesture to say ( instead of guessing)

1. sign for 100
2. say the word  "to"
3. sign for 1

he gets it immediately and is very triumphant - I suppose there is the added reassurance  of now knowing how to ask for something and therefore knowing he can ask for it again

what they say about teaching  a man to fish is right

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the name of the iphone app that you were talking about is Proloquo2Go. It basically is an app that makes your iphone an augmentative communication device - pretty cool! We have it for our daughter and I must admit we haven't programmed it as much as we should (she prefers to use it to play Bob Marley!). Feel free to email me if you have any questions - efouts - at - mindspring - dot - com. Love your blog and your cute little guy!

Lyndsey said...

I just love reading about your week. And I completely adore your son. I think it's official:C will just have to stop growing. ;)

robin said...

I LOL at several parts of today's blog! I love your humor too! ( I watched House too...glad he made it out!)I was doing the pillow thing last night as I tried to go to sleep.

Stephanie said...

a few months ago we were at the mall when a woman crossed 'that thin line' you mention, and gave me the number of her psychologist and her behavioural therapist. kyle was stunned and offended but i was SO happy to find a kindred spirit and i appreciated her attempt at helping so much.

Anonymous said...

Hi, K! I've missed you. =) I enjoyed "catching up" on your week. I'm off to follow some of the links in your sidebar...

danette said...

I love these little glimpses into your week, and I have to agree with your co-workers about your sense of humor (the occasional grumpy evening notwithstanding, we all have those!) :).

LOL about not "crossing the line" I can relate to that ;). Sometimes I have to resist the urge to wave at people on the road when I see an autism awareness magnet on their car, hehe, reminding myself they will have NO CLUE why I'm waving.

The birthday celebration sounds great, your family is so sweet :).

Anonymous said...

Yes, very funny about the restraining order and the thin line! I, too, love reading your weekly round up. It's humorous and wise. I always leave with something to think about. And I think your R is simply amazing.

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