Back From the Beach!

We just had a wonderful 5 days away at St. George Island in Florida with Matt's family. It was fun, relaxing, and oh so beautiful on this remote island off the panhandle of Florida. Zachary had a ball, as he always does in the ocean! With each trip this summer (and this was the 3rd - lucky kiddo!) he has become more and more brave with the waves and such. He cracks us up charging into them with absolutely NO fear at all! We're still working on the whole sit-still-and-play-in-the-sand thing. He has no interest. And when encouraged to do so, he will for only a few moments, then get distracted by the sand on his hands and go back to the ocean to get it off! But he had a great time and even was saying a few new phrases this weekend. Such as "riding the waves with Daddy" and then the cutest - he would look at me and said "I'll be right back mommy, I'll be right back" then take off to get his bathing suit. Also he's taken to saying "oh hi ____" to everyone instead of just "hi ____". I don't know where the "oh" part came from but it's cute. And we played with a water hose a lot, spraying him, etc - then Matt took it over and srayed off an area covered with ants. He walked over to me and said "Daddy making a mess". Too funny!

He was worn out by the end of the trip, but was a trooper none the less. I was a bit worried about his first day back at school (at 7:45 AM too!) but I swear he was talking more on our ride home and to do some errands than he has in 5 days. School is really great for him, and he really seems to love it. It shows in his speech and overall happiness. He got in the car and starting talking about a book that he read with two boys in his class, about how he had a "spoon" for breakfast (I guess this means that he ate WITH a spoon, hopefully not that he ate a spoon!), and then talking all about the toys he was playing with in the car. Spontaneous speech is just the best! And we hear more of it on days filled with structure (school and/or therapy) than on days without it.

And finally, he just looked at my socked feet and said "mommy sock broken" when he saw the hole in my toe :-) So I guess it's time to buy some new socks!!!

Stop Singing Mommy!!!

Yep, that's what he just said to me :-) And while I should probably feel offended I could care less that my son doesn't want to hear my beautiful voice (right!)! He can tell me to stop singing or stop walking or stop eating, or really whatever he wants any day!!! He said "stop singing mommy" unprompted and totally on his own. This is HUGE for him! What a joy to hear!!!

And that was after I just picked him up from his special ed class where I had a little progress report chat with the main teacher as she was putting him in the car. She said that he has really blossomed already this school year and that she has very high hopes for him. She whispered that he is their "star student" and while she would hate to have him not be with them as much because he's encouraging for the other kiddos that aren't as verbal - she thinks his needs from them will be minimal next year, and even said possibly come springtime. I asked her if he actually talks in her class and/or sings the songs (out loud, not just mouthing them) during their circle time and such, and she said a very definite yes, and that he talks in appropriate context and asks questions even. I'm not truly convinced that he's asking questions as he doesn't ask questions around me, but maybe it's that he's requesting things. All I know is that it is wonderful and truly amazing that he's come so far as to use the words/sentences that he has around other people, and to do it when it's not being demanded of him, as in Speech and ABA therapies. That has been our main issue this last year as his speech has developed - he would only use his words around us and not in school or playgroup, etc.

We've come so far. I can't even express how encouraged I am, and how so very proud of my little Zachy I am.

Sickness and Resistance Over

We've had an up and down last week or so. Zachary had an on-again-off-again fever and overall funk that he couldn't seem to shake. When asked "where the owie is" he would point his fingers down his mouth. He had strep (and Mommy was lucky enough to get it too!) back in April, so I feared that - but after a trip to the doc, he had no redness at all and no strep. So then is it his teeth? Or did he just have a sore throat the first day or so that I had asked him, but now he points down his mouth because that what he thinks the answer to my question is? Who knows. He's had very bad double ear infections before, numerous times, that we only found because he failed a hearing test or because we were already going to the doc anyway. That's the part that is the hardest in all of this - not knowing if there is something wrong. Children on the spectrum, and really all special needs kids in general, tend to have a very high tolerance for pain. So what would be driving a "typical" child nuts in terms of physical irritation or pain, is hardly shown by Zachary. So it's a guessing game, and many persistent questions of "show me the owie" and "is this owie" while pushing on his ears. Very heartbreaking to think that he could be in pain, but just dealing with it.

BUT... he's back to his crazy ol' self as of yesterday!!! And it is good to have him back! At the carpool pick-up from school yesterday - he didn't want to get in my car. I'll say that again, he didn't want to get IN my car!!! While a normal parent would be hurt by this, I was thrilled as for 3 weeks he didn't want to go to school or get OUT of my car!!! So this is huge! He's not resisting anymore!

Not much else to report. We went to Sesame Street Live this past weekend, and he had a blast. Now we're back on the Bert & Ernie kick stronger than ever, but he's also added Oscar the Grouch into the mix. I had a big storage bin out yesterday for putting away some of his clothes that don't fit anymore, and it happened to be a pale green color. He immediately got in it and held the lid over his head screaming "don't let the sunshine spoil your mood" over and over - a song that Oscar sings in a movie that he loves. Loved the spontaneous imagination! Not something that's normal and natural for him. Now we've got to work on him getting a happier pretend role model :-)

A Day in the Life - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

It has been a roller coaster of a past few weeks - which we now know is very par for the Autism course. The are bad times, challenging times, and times that are so wonderful as well! It's a constant emotional struggle to keep the good in mind through the not so good. Here's a sample:

1 - Getting haircuts with Zach is quite the challenge. They have a toy Ernie doll that he loves. He gets to play with it during his hair cut, but then obviously needs to leave it behind. And he hates this. He flails, screams, you name it all the way to the car, fights me getting in, and cries half the way home. He just doesn't understand the concept of not being able to take things home with him that aren't his. And he should at 3 and a half. Is a fresh hair cut worth that? And now it's even worse in that he's realized that he's not going to be taking it home with him, so he's anxious and unhappy from the start now, instead of only at the end as in times past.
2 - Yelling/disciplining Zach is the pits. He needs to know that he's done something wrong and that there are consequences for his actions - but the look of sheer fear and confusion and almost a look of "why?" is so painful. We're just not sure that he even understands what he did wrong and therefore just thinks we are being mean to him. Awful.
3 - His memory is just amazing. Things I'd forgotten about from months earlier. Knowing exactly what toys he played with at people's houses he'd only been to once. Remembering how many fans are in people's houses. Identifying people he met once and forever ago. Etc, etc, etc - I could go on. The kids brain is strong, there's no doubt about that!
4 - Music is a great tool for Zach. It calms him down. It redirects him. It excites him. And I think he even learns from it. I'll make a prediction right now that music will very much be a part of his adult life. He wants a "horn" right now - yeah, like a sax or trumpet. And you know what - he may get one for Christmas it's that much of a passion. Good stuff.
5 - I have to prepare in advance every time we are leaving the house. I have to trick him into getting his shoes on if he knows we are going somewhere he doesn't want to go, or make him use the bathroom first before leaving. I have to sneak toys away that I know he will want to bring in the car and therefore won't want to give up without crying when we get to where we are going. Thus he brings them in and they are now a distraction from the expensive therapy. And on and on. Sneaking and tricking are part of my daily life.
6 - Sometimes the littlest things can completely ruin an hour. Literally an hour. And you NEVER see them coming. For example, after dinner the other night he wanted a piece of cheese. I took the wrapper off the cheese, and as is often the case with cheese slices, a little corner of it ripped. And you would have thought it was a body part that ripped. He lost it. And it took about an hour to come back from that dark side.
7 - And to end on a positive note instead of focusing on the negative... his speech has been amazing lately. A little thing such as in the bath last night, he took his dolphin and held it on the edge of the tub and said "1, 2, 3 - Jump Dolphin" - that was amazing for him. No one prompted him to say it. It wasn't an exact phrase that he was taught, as is often the case. It was his own words. His own imaginary play. Greatness.

So the days are filled with all kinds of things every day for us. And the hard part is that we never know what kind of a day it will be. Fortunately this week (with the exception of the cheese slice incident) has been a good one! So we roll with it.