The more things change...

So the early bird wake-ups continue. In a lot of other areas, Sam has been great, though he has violently shaken his head NO every time I have asked him if he wants to do work today. I know, you don't ask a kid whether they want to do work. But I do, and he usually says yes. It makes the whole experience more pleasant. Our home visit yesterday went okay...we had a good talk with Sam's one-on-one teacher, and she gave me some good pointers for doing work with Sam at home. Apparently he can spell from memory, so if I show him a card with a three letter word written on it, and then take it away, he should be able to type it. Sam was completely uninterested in doing work, either with me or his teacher. He squealed, screamed and cried (but did it anyway). I usually wait a while after school before asking him to do work to give him a break, so I suspect he was just DONE with school and work.

The thing is, he's been a little, um, out of sorts? Lots of crying, screaming and protesting (not the most we've ever seen, but more than our new normal). And it comes out of nowhere, and I don't know why. I think that's it. As frustrated as I am with hearing the noise, I am more frustrated from racking my brain to understand the cause. That's the worst thing about a non-verbal six year old. Sam can make his basic wants and needs known (food, drink, bathroom, TV, car ride, movie, car ride for food), but not so much his feelings. That is, I clearly understand that he feels agitated, but he can't tell me why. It's been like this since we've been back from VT. I know that he's doing more in school, that he's tired from early wake-ups, and that his teeth hurt (both front teeth are loose), but since he can't talk with me (notice I didn't say communicate) it is hard to connect or soothe on that level. Which is normal in a baby or toddler, but not a smart, complicated 6 year old. And that makes me feel sad. Because I can't fix it. And it reminds me of my limits as his parent. I can read him pretty well, but I can't read his mind. I can only guess where he's coming from.

La

Neglect

Dear Friends, I am so sorry to have neglected you this past week. I would promise that it won't happen again, but I'm sure it will. Life gets in the way. At least it is sunny today! I may have to break my two week streak of not exercising (does hiking the sleds up the hill for the kids count?). I did go skate skiing a couple of times last week, but nothing consistent, since The One Who Kicks My Ass At The Gym is on vacation.

Plus, there were the hamentashen my Mom sent (Triangle shortbread cookies with a filling oin the middle for the Jewish holiday of Purim. THREE BOXES of I don't know, six or eight. Because one box wouldn't have been enough. You have to have different kinds-choices. Raspberry, apricot, chocolate dipped. My favorite are the gluten-free hamentashen. A box of four, individually wrapped. Now we have done a gluten-free diet with Sam in the past, and have considered doing it again at some point. But my Mom is the most thoughtful person on the planet. If there is the possibility that Sam is doing a gluten-free diet, she wants to make sure he still gets to eat some hamentashen. Not that the kids even have a clue that we have been demolishing the cookies on our own after they go to bed. Actually, I had three for breakfast. If you eat things first thing, before you start the day, it doesn't count. Scientific fact. Also, I have no willpower, so I either have to give them away/throw them away, or EAT THEM UNTIL THEY ARE GONE. Since these are too good to give away or throw in the garbage, I am forced to eat them ALL. With M's help on the chocolate ones. Fortunately, they are small. And I am not eating the Gluten-Free ones. I have standards, folks.

Kids are doing well. Actually, The Little Person has been extremely WHINY. I volunteered in his preschool class yesterday, and as he clung to me and whined they said,

"You know he's not normally like this, right?"

AND

"Please send the other [The Little Person] tomorrow."

Oy. That one is killing me. He doesn't do that when M volunteers, as I pointed out to him. We had a great conversation the other day about what makes us "frustrated." I shared that being tired and hungry makes me frustrated, and maybe we could try to get him a snack or a rest when he feels frustrated. Frustrated, low blood-sugar, hypoglycemic, whatever. He also shared that he is scared of jumping off the platform at swimming, which we knew, but it was still good to hear him voice his concern. And when I told him after school yesterday that it makes me happy to see him play with his friends at school, since I get to play with him all the time, and that it worries me when he gets so upset, he told me,

"I worry about you too Mom."

Double Oy. Sam has been great, other than getting up with the birds. He and I have been doing computer work, and it's fun to see his progress already, even after a few weeks. He occasionally squeals when I push him to hard or change the routine (overachiever mom, if he's doing well, why not do MORE?), but he seems to tolerate my indiscretions. VERY loving and cuddly. Seems to need the love actually. He tried to turn everything off and go to bed before seven the other night, but we were firm. It does crack me up when he just decides it's time to call it a night and starts the bedtime routine on his own. But, FORTY-FIVE MINUTES EARLY...I don't think so. So we employ tactics such as making it The Little Person's job to keep him awake (which he loves), forcing him to watch television with us, and encouraging him to swing (there's a swing in the doorway to his room).

For the past week he's been making us read The Magic Dreidels. Every night. The thing is, he picks it and then rushes impatiently through the pages, not even letting us finish reading. Not that that is always a bad thing. Sometimes it makes it go faster...

Today Sam has a home visit. It will be our last one for the next six weeks while he does a series of speech therapy sessions at Children's Hospital (his teacher will be participating, as will his parents). Hopefully this will help us all to use the technology we have available to help him communicate and do his best work.

We are re-motivated to finish up some house projects, like the basement and pantry, which entails a trip to the unfinished wood store in town. Till tomorrow (or soon after?)...

We have a winner.

3:30AM. Enough said.

Four Kids and Counting

Tonight's guests have brought the total up to four kids and five adults. I can bet on who'll be up the eatliest.

Great day. Went out to lunch. Kids tolerated the Brewery very well. Babysitter Extraordinaire and M took the kids snowmobiling and sledding. I went for a ski and a poke into town. Lovely Neighbors arrived tonight, so we have a full house. Two more days of fun before we go home. Maxing and Relaxing.
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Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go...

Sam did a fantastic amount of work today. Three sessions of typing twelve words. After the second one, he took a break to swing, and I was chatting in the kitchen with Grammy. Apparently, I had neglected to put away the snack box, because Grammy saw Sammy snacking from the box! He definitely made a dent in the supply, which I will have to re-stock for his teacher (she lent us her box over the vacation), but he was more than willing to do another set of work after a SLIGHT reprimand. Silly Mommy-smart kid!

Yesterday was a fantastic eating day. Lunch at Simon Pearce (Butternut Squash Bisque with mixed greens and a Sparkling Pomegranate cocktail, and The Woodstock Inn for dinner with M (thanks Grammy for the date night!). Plus, I kicked ASS in Rummy Kube. I think I won four games in a row. I found a great basket for firewood at Simon Pearce made of reclaimed wood and my MIL found an extra large wooden bowl (think long rather than circle-round) for us here at the farmhouse. It's going to look great on our kitchen table. Sam has been tucking Puppy in under the covers on me and asking me to hold Puppy while he swings. It's really very sweet, even if the little bugger is a little stinky. Waiting for Babysitter Extraordinaire to arrive. Kids seem like they need to go outside or maybe leave the property today. M and I will probably switch off our various types of skiing, and there will likely be more sledding and/or snowmobiling.

The only negative is that Sam continues to wake at ungodly hours despite our best efforts to avoid naps and early bedtimes (ie: Sam passing out on the couch before 7PM). It makes the one who gets up with him grumpy or non-functional without a nap or LOTS of coffee. He GOES to sleep easily, and mostly stays asleep, so it's mainly the early hour that is killing us. Sammy Noodles is requesting the computer, so I guess it's time to start the day...

Sunny Day With New Snow

So yesterday it snowed about 5 inches and it looks MUCH prettier. Today is sunny, and we are expecting MORE SNOW! Since the track for skating (skate skiing) isn't groomed yet, my MIL and I are taking a field trip to the mecca of Simon Pearce, home of really nice glass (blown on site) and pottery. Also, one of my very favorite restaurants. I had originally planned to take Babysitter Extraordinaire there to scout out a wedding gift (by seeing what things she liked), but since she's not coming for long enough we'll go back together another time.

On another note, The Little Person makes up stories A LOT. They often start out," When I was a little baby..." or " My Grandpa used to..." or "When I was a little baby my Grandpa used to dress me up in a troll costume (true story from today)." Sometimes they are cute and we indulge the fantastic imagination, and sometimes I get concerned about whether he knows truth from fiction. Sometimes he talks about our dogs from Alaska, Loosy and Kramer, coming to visit on a specific day. Even though Kramer is in a canister in the pantry and Loosy got adopted *what I choose to believe* by a nice family in Juneau. Also, he calls my Dad, "Poppa," or "Pop," so one would assume he meant M's Dad when he refers to Grandpa. Except M's Dad passed away a year and a half ago. One time he talked about "his baby" coming to sleep in his room (this is after he asked for a baby sister on our Thanksgiving trip to CA), and when I asked if he wanted a baby doll for Christmukkah, he said,

"No, but that would be a nice toy for my baby."

Who was going to sleep in a crib, in his room. Anyway, I think he knows he's making things up, but I'm not sure where to draw the line and check in with him about the truth of the stories. When we discuss notaliveanymore Grandpa (or his Great-Grandfather, my Grandpa, who has also [passed), then he goes around telling everyone about his Grandpa.

"He died," he says.

As Ms. C at his school says,

"After the seventh time, I'm like, we get it, he's dead!"

I know it's common for kids this age to be fascinated by death and talk a lot about it, but I'm not sure he even knows what it means. He told me once that his Grandpa was dead but he was going top the hospital and the doctor would fix him. That lead to an interesting conversation.....,

Sam has been doing GREAT work on the new laptop. For the last two days we have gone through typing a series of twenty-four words. After each twelve, he gets a five minute break to swing. I have the words written on an index card, and he types them, presses the space bar and VOILA the computer says the word and (when it wants to) shows a picture of the word. We have taken pictures of most of the family members (still need to do Grammy while we are with her) and Puppy (beloved stuffed friend) and the software comes with a number of words with picture representations. I keep having to add new words to our list, and at first I say the letters and at the beginning was helping him find them on the keyboard, but now if it's a word he's seen before (and often when he hasn't), he can hold the card, point to each letter, find it, and push the letter , then space bar at the end. After each word he gets a token for his board (twelve total) and to pick a snack from the box (which has about twelve option, but everything is broken into tiny pieces so he's not eating a ton). He knows how it all works and can manage almost all of it by himself. My plan is to do a little bit everyday, increasing vocabulary, moving towards sentences, and the amount he can do by himself.
It's really satisfying for both of us, I think. Yesterday he chose not to take a break and keep doing work! I can't wait until the other software I ordered comes. We've also done a session with The Little Person, actually M did, because I found it too frustrating (pushing the same button really hard or multiple times-general not listening). I think it's good for both of them, and plan to look into educational software specifically for The Little Person.

The doorway swing we brought to VT ROCKS, and is really making a difference in Sam's behavior. He had a great time sledding and snowmobiling yesterday, and when he and I were alone outside he was totally manageable and even somewhat independent (carried his own sled). Plus, the sled holds up to 175 pounds, so every once in a while I swing by and SWING!

Walden Meets Helen Keller

We are in VT. And it's great. Even when it's not. It's still hard here: the kids are still a daily challenge and I am not magically calm and relaxed. Except that I am. My stress is different here. It seems more manageable and more hopeful too. I can dream about what our life would be like if we lived here, and I took care of Sam full-time, and the kids ran around in the the woods and fields all day and took baths in the big tub, and chased each other all over the house. This place keeps me in touch with who I thought I would be: living in a beautiful place, a natural setting, where we have land and can garden and have a couple of chickens and some bees ( okay, the bee think is just me-M is ready for chickens, I think), eat locally and ski and swim in the ponds and rivers, with a big dog that has the run of the property and knows all of the neighbors.

I see Sam here, and I see the possibilities for all of us. And then he sticks his boot through a chunk of ice into so much mud it gets stuck and his foot comes out with just a sock on. And then The Little Person drives me crazy so that I am talking to him like the little brat I fear he's becoming. And then Sam is so tired that he goes upstairs to sleep at seven, and gets up at three. And there isn't enough snow for skate skiing even though there's no global warming. And then my MIL takes The Little Person to the Science Museum, and M goes skiing (downhill) and Sam I are home alone. And I dream about showering (or at least getting dresses) and going for a walk and eating lunch and doing work with him on the new laptop and taking a nap. And he hugs me and snuggles and has me kiss and snuggle his stinky (stuffed) puppy. And even when it is bad it is good. Or okay enough. Because the peace of my surroundings (both inside and out) penetrates my core. And I don't care if I don't ski or work out or go into town to shop or go out to dinner. I get to breathe and take walks and play in the snow with my family and play Rummy Kube and drink wine and eat chocolate in front of the fire while watching the Olympics and go upstairs and lose myself in a book and fall asleep and start again.

Disney on Ice and The Sword

Thursday night M and I did a partner yoga class, which was a lot of fun. The instructor(s) did a good job of making it interesting and not intimidating. And it wasn't easy! The class was a good mix of experienced and not so experienced yoga practitioners. Matt and I have both done yoga on and off for the past 12-13 years. When we first lived in Alaska, we took a class on Sunday mornings with Emily. It was my first exposure to yoga in that kind of environment. It was a large class, and held at a gym, but the instructor was more on the alternative side. She had just had a baby and was in fantastic shape. It seemed so hard to me at first. I don't think I'm naturally very flexible. We would go to class and then go have breakfast. It was a nice ritual, and fun to do together. It was the kind of class where some folks had been practicing with her for years.

Then, when we had the gym, our friend Arianne taught an Ashtanga yoga class in a space we had upstairs. I think that is the most consistent I have ever been with my practice. I took her class at least twice a week, and in addition practiced with Arianne or another friend, Ben a couple of times a week. When that ended (Arianne moved) I continued with a couple of instructor friends at a local yoga studio. I took Rhonda's class before and after I became pregnant the first time. Rhonda and the other students were great at getting me comfy for shavasana. While I was pregnant I met Jenny, who's son ended up being born 6 weeks after Sam. We continued with Rhonda's class after the kids were born (whenever we could make it). Sometimes we would go for walks or coffee after class just for a break from the kids. Then Jenny started teaching (she was a long time practitioner), or maybe she had taught for a while and I just "discovered" her. At first, both hers and Rhonda's styles were so different then the aerobic ashtanga, but I soon adapted and became attached to their wonderful teaching and soothing voices. I have yet to take a class her like the ones I was fortunate to attend in Alaska, but I have found some ways to get my yoga fix. I have started going to a yoga strength class at the gym on Saturdays which I enjoy, and the studio where the partner yoga class was held is a place I enjoy going too. It's just a little too far for me to go regularly, and since I have a membership at the gym it's a little hard to justify the classes on a regular basis. But for now, I'm happy, and I even occasionally do yoga at home with the help of the Wii, or just to stretch out. Most of the other classes I've tried here are hot yoga, and I just can't deal with the heat.

Soooooo....Disney on Ice. Sam and I went with Babysitter Extraordinaire (BE), who thankfully includes navigating around Boston as one of her special skills, so the driving was stress free, once I got to her house (I may have gotten onto the Mass Pike by accident on the way there). Sam was super excited by all the STUFF when we got there, the halls of The Garden were filled with Disney crap that spun around and lit up. He was happy but antsy in the beginning, and a little distracted. So BE got up and got him popcorn and a light-up spinny thing and he seemed better. He got a little antsy again during the intermission and took a while and some french fries with ketchup (and water, poor thing was thirsty from all the salt!) to calm down. But then he really enjoyed the rest of the second half, especially the finale. He stood up and danced and the whole time and then clapped after each number. It was pretty cute and it filled my heart to see him be so happy. The seats (we got special seats for folks with disabilities) were great. Easy in, easy out. It was a good ending to a fun treat for all of us. Poor little guy crashed on the way home after we dropped BE off.

Now I need to give a shout out to my friend BE, because I couldn't have done it without her (and kept my sanity and actually enjoyed myself). She made things so easy and knows us well, as well as GETTING Sam and the autism thing. Plus, she's my adopted girlfriend and I love her. That's why I pay her to be my friend! Hope she is enjoying her much deserved fancy dinner out with her sweetie.

As for the rest of the day, after getting up at 4 with Sam, and then getting out of bed and letting him out at 5, I was exhausted and low-blood sugar hungry. So I chowed and took a nap, thanks to M. Earplugs are a beautiful thing. Now, I am finishing my coffee, getting ready to move onto wine, and to have a fabulous Valentine's pre-dinner (we'll be away and with family tomorrow) with M. He has started cooking and I am pretty turned on by the smell of garlic already. Here's to hoping that my parents actually get on their flight tomorrow (rescheduled from a cancelled flight on Thursday), and that cousins J and M enjoy their rendezvous in Hawaii now that J finally made it out of Guam (cousin M is in the Navy and they are stationed their right now). Reminds me of trying to get out of small towns in Alaska!

P.S. I forgot about THE SWORD. While Sam was having his special day, fantastic Grandparents took The Little Person toy shopping and out to lunch. And he came home with A SWORD! Enough said. NO Wrestle Mania yet, okay Mom and Dad?

Denial is a river in Egypt

I ordered Sam a comforter cover for two reasons. One, I thought it would brighten his room and add a little fun. Two, he has been sleeping on top of the current quilt with a chenille throw blanket instead of on the sheets. The duvet is cute and has trains on it which match the sheets and pillowcases. I put it on over the down comforter in hopes that it would he him to sleep UNDER the covers. After some initial confusion from Sam last night (he tried to sleep on top of the down comforter with new duvet, using the aforementioned quilt as a cover), that misson was accomplished.

Then, as I went o bed last night, I had a fantasy. The new set up would help him sleep longer! That's been the problem the whole time! Unfortunately, as I found out at 4am and several times before that when Sam got up to pee, hope springs eternal even when faced with constant evidence to the contrary.
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If You Call My House, You Should Know This

Sam has been answering our home phone. At first, he was just picking it up when it rang, and putting it to his ear without pressing talk. Now he picks it up (often after the first ring), and being non-verbal, holds it to his ear and says nothing. If you know this is happening and you talk to him, you may get a "hi," or some chatter, rather than heavy breathing. It took us a while to figure out he was doing this. The phone would ring once, and then stop, kind of like a wrong number. Then the other day, M heard the phone ring and stop and realized Sam had picked it up. M got on and said hello and it was Grandma. She confessed she'd been "talking" to Sam for several minutes. Now, one of generally realizes eventually, so if the caller is someone we know (or one of us), they just hang out, or chat with Sam until a grown-up realizes and picks up the phone.

Another thing Sam has been doing is covering his ears. Sort of like when the noise in a room or on TV is too loud for someone. Not uncommon for "artistics," but not something Sam has ever done. He has never seemed to be bothered by loud noise. Even now, when he puts his hands over his ears it is either not particularly loud, or he giggles when he does it, indicating that maybe he is doing it for some other reason. The only thing we can think of is that he has seen kids at school do it, and he is imitating them.

Genius?

So I was up early with Sam and he came up from the basement with a piece of paper which had a picture of spaghetti on it (clearly asking me to make some. I was impressed and thought GENIUS, right? Even wrote about it in his home/school log.

Turns out M printed it for hm the other day as a restaurant menu option when L was doing respite the other day. Well burst my bubble!
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Bad Parents

So we are bad parents who leave our child with a babysitter when he is sick. Even worse, throwing up! Actually, she told us to go, and we waited until he seemed unlikely to continue hurling, and we were just going over to my parents to go in their hot tub while they were at a Super Bowl party (after going to a local Indian restaurant because we figured it was faster/easier than getting take-out and having to clean it up at my parents house). This is actually the second time this has happened in recent weeks. Babysitter Extraordinaire was unfortunately here the last time too. It was weird.

We were all three adults sitting in the living room when M said noticed Sam acting weird in the bathroom at the end of the hall. Not having a view of the bathroom from my seat, and not grasping the nastiness about to unfold, I instead focused on my husbands unclear comment. Weird how? What EXACTLY is he doing? Apparently hurling on the bathroom floor. For no reason that we could determine. It was over almost as fast as it happened, and then we focused on clean-up and comforting the child. Who was, understandably, upset. Whiney, crying and laying on his bed. Clammy, but not warm really. Then he was laying with me on the chair-and-a-half int he living room for a while and then while we debated what to do (Babysitter Extraordinaire was already here, playing in the basement with The Little Person to get him out of our hair after THE INCIDENT. She had offered to help M with clean-up because she knows I do throw-up, and was already pouring water for him when I went to grab a cup. She told us it was okay to leave her even if the kid had thrown up. And he looked fine really. Still, I was ready to bag it all and get take-out here when M made the executive decision that it was fine, we were going and we would only be at my parents' house (who live a few blocks away). So we did. I did. And it was fine.

The only blip was that my stomach seems to be angry at me and while I wasn't kissing the porcelain god, I wasn't one hundred percent. But I rallied anyway, choosing a mild dish instead of my old standby, and even tried a glass of wine which I couldn't finish (slightly unusual). The hot tub was great, even if I only lasted a few minutes. With the fans on high. Then we went to our separate corners, me to the leather couch with the reclining seats to sift through my mom's pile of magazines, newspapers and books, and M to check the score on the game. Which I don't think he cared a ton about overall, but once he was watching (just like me with the reading), he got into it. Then I noticed it was almost 9PM, so we went home to relieve B.E. (Babysitter Extraordinaire) and watch Big Love! Edited to add, no additional puking. Just to let you know.

Mommy and Sam Sitting in A Tree

I'm in that place where I haven't posted in a few days and the longer I wait, the more things come up that seem more important than blogging. M being sick, me being sick, snuggling and playing with the kids, and watching the Temple Grandin movie on HBO last night. So I am forcing myself to share, instead of focusing on HGTV and cuddling with Sam, who's the only other person home. He has moved from a blanket on the couch with Puppy and iCarly to trains to HGTV with Mommy.

The sickness...M started out with a head cold, which I woke up with yesterday. Not too bad. But then, while he was food shopping in the afternoon, I started to feel ill. In my stomach. After I started cooking dinner (chicken, black bean and sweet potato enchiladas), the ill feeling increased and M suggested (strongly) that I go lie down (in the bedroom rather than laying across the ottoman moaning). So I did, uncomfortable in any position, trying to avoid the hurling feeling, unable to read (the worst kind of sickness), listening to music to pass the time. Eventually, I fell asleep, until about 10:30, when M came in and told me how great the Temple Grandin movies was. Then I couldn't sleep, between the congested person in my bed's snoring and moving around, so I went back to the couch and found that the movie was on again at 11:45! Followed by Without a Trace and CSI (on different channels). Then went back to bed at 3AM, to be awakened by Sam at 5. However, I am such a trooper that I still managed to go to breakfast with Poppa and The Little Person. And I'm so glad that I did. We went to a new place that was close by and totally worth it. Fresh, seasonal ingredients and from-scratch pastries. GOOD coffee (and espresso), nice atmosphere, and a cushioned seat for The Little Person. Our waitress was...well cute and in high school and clearly preoccupied by her cuteness. Fortunately, the other waitstaff was great at picking up cues, and the owner was very attentive. I had crepes with seasonal berries that was fantastic. And an Americano. It was like being back on the West Coast.

Still feeling kind of blah, but stable. The Little Person spend some time at Grandma's while Sam 's had respite with L, so M and I went for a walk at The Sheep Pasture and then came home for lunch. L said it wasn't one of Sam's better days, but that she'd seen worse. Now the gangs all here, and Babysitter Extraordinaire is coming in three hours. I think we may just go over to Mom and Dad's and go in the hot tub/order Indian food/watch TV. We aren't really motivated to do anything, but don't want to miss an opportunity to get away from the kids.

On Friday, I picked up Sam for his home visit with Mrs. H. He actually did great work, so much that I think it may be time to make the home visits longer. It was the first time I saw him trace letters without someone physically guiding his hand. We have a clinic meeting with his teachers on Monday, and should get to see the new Dynavox (voice output device in action ). Exciting! Also, I got some feedback on what I need to put together so that Sam can do work for us at home. Extra time at future visits will give us more time to discuss work Sam can do independently after school. Hopefully, software will arrive this week, and I got the bulletin board, so I need to work on printing out First/Then and Activity Schedule materials. Along with that is laminating and snacks/edibles for rewards.

I have to mention the Temple Grandin movie. Even at 11:45PM-1:40AM, it was fantastic. Claire Danes (who you almost wouldn't recognize if you didn't know it was her), plays Temple in during the 60's and 70's. Temple Grandin is a woman who specializes in engineering cattle chutes and humane design of slaughter houses. She has a masters and PhD, and teaches at Colorado State, as well as travelling all over the world to consult and do presentations. She is also autistic (or artistic as our friend Karen says. I love the artistics, she says!) and didn't speak till she was 4. Doctors told her parents to institutionalize her. One of her books (yes, she's also authored at least three books, in addition to numerous articles on animal husbandry) is called Thinking in Pictures, and the movie (produced by HBO) does a great job explaining what this means. She's brilliant, and socially inept, bluntly straightforward and extremely literal. And she knows what it feels like to be different. Less, not different, is how her mother puts it. I love that. She designed a contraption she called The Squeeze Machine, as a therapeutic tool in her college dorm room. It is a mechanical "hug," and emulates the feeling a cow gets when it's in the thing where it's head hangs out and the sides come up. She noticed how it calmed the cattle down and thought (rightfully so) that it might calm her down as well. Her roommate flipped out, so she designed a psych experiment recording how different people felt inside The Squeeze Machine. Genius. I can't wait to ask her if she still has it when we hear her speak in person at a conference next month. Anyway, if you can, definitely see it. You'll laugh, you'll cry, it's better than Cats.

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New Computer New Post

Welcome to the new laptop. We got her last night and she's very pretty. All kinds of shiny buttons that do things I don't mean to when I touch them. So I attached a mouse, which has helped. That is how Sam will be using it anyway. Bad tummy this morning, so working out is well, out. I am still in the process of acquiring software for Sam for the new laptop. I have ordered a typing program that when you type the word (cat, for example) and press ENTER, a picture of a cat appears. And the laptop has a camera, so we could take a picture of Sam so his picture would pop up when he types his name. I also ordered a special timer to give him a visual and audible representation of time. I got the software so he can have a timer on the laptop when he is doing work. I have a call in to Children's Hospital, to purchase two types of software that they produce. I'll do a more detailed explanation of them when we get them. I am really excited to get everything set up for Sam. His teacher is coming for a home visit tomorrow, and I'm hoping she can help me with some of the If/Then boards and activity schedules. I still need to get a bulletin board, edibles for rewards and a clear box with sections to keep them in. And a good hiding spot!

The meeting for Sam went well. It was difficult for me and took some negotiating, but in the end things worked out the way we want them in a way that is best for Sam. M did a great job backing me up and explaining our position at the meeting. It helped a lot to have a fantastic partner.

Sam continues to get up early, which is killing us. I can only home that working on other ways to help him do work, be organized and communicate will have a trickle down effect on the rest of his behavior. As always, I am dying to know what's going on in there!

Getting Ready

It has been a busy few days here. Tomorrow is our big meeting regarding Sam's Individual Educational Plan (IEP). I am anxious about the meeting, but I feel confident about our position and my ability to explain it. Hopefully it will go smoothly. We decided to get Sam a Mac Book (laptop), and we'll probably go get it tomorrow night. The new laptop will be for work only. Not sure yet whether he will take it to school or not, but at home he will work and communicate with a combination of the iPod and laptop. We already scoped it out at the Apple store, so it should be pretty easy. I have already purchased software for it. One out of the three that I want. The last two will require a phone call and receipt of the discount voucher from the Dr./SLP (speech and language pathologist) we took Sam to last week. I also ordered Sam a new hammock swing that fits in the doorway with a pull-up/support bar. That we can put it in his room, but we can also take it with us. Lastly, I got a timer clock to help Sam keep track of time and activities when he is doing work at home. I haven't figured out how I am going to get/make a Velcro board for First/Then cards to help him know the order of what we are going to do. I want to figure out an activity schedule for the afternoon , a group of short activities that he can accomplish by himself, as well as some work that will be rewarded by edibles and free computer/TV time. So that's my plan for my role as Sam's newest therapist. I really want him to work on typing to help facilitate communication.

The other big project is reorganizing the toys in the playroom and redoing the shelves. So Mom and I went to the Container Store today and I got a whole bunch of mesh wire baskets in various sizes and we filled every one of them. Of course, the basement is now a disaster, as we can't put the baskets back on the shelves until everything is done. And house projects tend to go slow here due to the small people who run our household. But, we have begun. And we got rid of several boxes of old toys that nobody plays with anymore. Now we just have to actually get rid of them...