The Elder got his school pictures back yesterday and I must say they are absolutely adorable. It was worth the extra $6 we paid for the touch-up on his forehead. He has a slight scar there (not seen in the picture) and The Hub calls it his "Harry Potter" scar. Now we are working a scar on The Younger's nose. The Fantasy of Trees photographers didn't offer a touch up option.
I also got a picture of him on the bus. I had been meaning to do that for sometime for the scrapbook but kept forgetting but yesterday I grabbed my camera when I saw the bus pull up and was able to get these cutie shots. He was in a quasi-awake state when I boarded the bus. And though it doesn't look like it, he was still quasi-asleep in the close-up picture by his bus number (he's infatuated with his bus number).
My motivation to work is still low but I have been managing to get things accomplished that "absolutely have to be done." The "have to be done" tasks have been postponed to the very last minute (or delegated) and the "nice to do" tasks don't have a chance in hades of getting done anytime soon. The Executive Function is lacking severely these days. I've decided to take The Big Bro's advice and going to cut to half a pill a day to see how that works. I've been taking one whole one every other day and that seems to have helped in the sleepy/snacky department. Of course time for all the fun stuff, like online Christmas Shopping, Pictures for the scrapbook and eating cookies and brownies with The Kiddos, have taken high priority. The Super Doc would be proud. The bank account not so much....
Tomorrow is another trip from The Elder's teacher. I think I should prepare for her visit but really don't know what to expect. Even though this is her second in-home visitation. I didn't know what to expect then either. Has anyone had in-home visitations and might have some advice for me? I'd really like to get the most out of all of our services. Don't assume I know anything. =o) She does strike me as the kind of teacher that truly understands him and wants the best for him. I'm eating that up now, as I know I'm not guaranteed that in the future just based on everyone's experiences I've read about AND local stories too. But I don't want to be naive and not ask for something that I should (and deserve to) ask for.
I feel like he has made a lot of progress. His speaking skills have greatly increased and he plays quite a bit with his brother. Just about a half hour ago we were pretending to go through a typical day...."Time for bed (pretended to sleep); morning time; time to eat breakfast (pretended to eat); time to get ready for school...etc" and even though it was a very Aspergian topic to be pretending, it was pretending. But I thought it was impressive when The Younger went to get "ice cream" from the "refrigerator" and came back to give it to The Elder who "spit" it out and said, "That's Yucky! I want white-flavored ice cream." That's some pretty good pretending right there, though I can't personally pretend that white-flavored ice cream could be all that great.
Yesterday morning he actually went to go brush his teeth by himself *shock* - He went running down the hall after we put his socks on and I thought that he went to find his shoes, but I went to chase after him to redirect him to the bathroom and he was already in there with (God knows how much) toothpaste and toothbrush in hand and scrubbing away. This morning it wasn't as easy of a task, but once I got him in there he was fine. I wonder if my new "mellow" attitude has anything to do with this? I certainly have been able to muster up a lot more patience in the past week. Ho Hum. I'm wavering on whether or not this is a good thing....
On a different note, I was actually admiring The Younger as he was taking care of a baby doll (he waved to the UPS man with it in hand and you could see the guy snickering) and truly relaxing in the fact that he has natural empathy (he was shushing me because she was sleeping). You can tell it is his own intuition and probably has been a Great Teacher to the Elder for lessons in neurotypicalism.
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5 Responses to "Say Cheese"
First of all, that potty story (that you linked) is hysterical. SB is crazy about bandaids (probably for the same reason he's addicted to tape) and especially crazy about the car ones. In fact, he had a small fit when he saw the Nascar ones in that cool container a few days after I had just bought him the Hot Wheels kind and mean mommy that I am I refused to buy another box.
Reading this post makes me realize I need to go back and check out your archives so I get the whole picture. I'll be back to comment on the rest of this post.
Sounds like you had a great time pretending - isn't it lovely when they do things that surprise you!
PS - Hope the visit with the teacher goes well.
xx
I think it's wonderful that your younger son can be a role model for his older brother. Speaking of dolls, as soon as we find out the sex of this baby (tomorrow!)I'm going to buy the appropriate gendered doll for SB to "practice" with.
Good luck with the teacher visit today! I remember having these at the beginning of the year when SB was in the country's special ed. preschool program. I always felt like they were a waste of time because the teacher was accompanied by all of the therapists. Having 4 or 5 strangers come into his home was always very disorienting to SB. In your case (only one visitor, not the beginning of the year, second visit) it sounds much more useful. I'd let her see things as close to "normal" (your normal) as possible. I wouldn't try to "stage" the visit, if that makes sense. Let her see how he really acts at home, what he likes to do, how he communicates in the place he feels most comfortable. Let us know how it goes!
BTW, I'm still working my way through your archives. I think it's great that you've documented your whole journey. I'm sure it will be/has been very helpful for other families.
Tulipmom,
I'm honored that you are taking the time to peruse the archives. I've done that with you and Elissa being that you both have AS boys.
We got that exact doll for The Elder for that reason but he hated it. Hopefully your guy won't fling it across the room like ours did.
If I don't "stage" it, does that mean I don't have to clean the bathroom? Nah, I better. The big (or should I say runny) D hit The Elder all day yesterday.
I seem to spend a lot of time chasing after the boys to redirect them too.
This all sounds so positive, I'm really glad to hear that everyone's moving in the right direction, but yet so many of the lovely quirks remain in tact, like the enthusiasm for numbers [I think that will always be one of my favourites.]
Best wishes
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