Saturday, April 3, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Tuesday March 30th
So he is just adorable. Not that anyone reading this had any doubts. When I got home tonight he playing with his Encore Live Elmo. He kept grabbing his nose and saying nose and laughing when Elmo would talk funny and honk his nose. Then he told me it was Elmo's nose. Which was just great. We read the Five monkeys jumping on the bed and Daddy taught me some of the things that he does that Nathan really likes. He was in better spirits tonight and seemed more engaged. Yesterday I was worried when I got home because he was not as animated and I figured out after the fact he had a fever of about a 100. I was sick on Friday night with a fever myself and now just having an annoying cough and lump in my throat. We did some reading and then decided to take advantage of the nice air. He was excited to walk the yard and when he got into his cottage he saw the clock on the wall and said clock! Very cool. He learned that from the spot book. There is a grandfather clock that the snake is inside and he knew it was a clock from the face on the wall. It was great. I am so impressed with everything he is learning. They boys came up to work to see me today and he got a little upset when I would not let him go into the new manager's office to play. I didn't think about all the hours he spent in there when it was my office and that upset him. But we went into the next office and he interacted with the girl that was in it and shared with her and that was awesome since he had not seen her before and she was different. He did better when there was not an audience watching him and he left without having any issues. He and Dad went to the book store to get more Spot books and Nathan had a tantrum over wanting to play with the Sesame Street stuff that was there.
Tonight during his bath time he did not repeat turtle from the night before but he did line them up and count them. He did one two but I was not able to get him to do it again and then when he did count them it was with the same word but not one that I knew what it meant. Normally we have no issue getting out of the bath but tonight he had gotten very attached to the squirters and displayed some of his behavior but did get out of the bath tub without escalation. I reminded him the next step was brush and he was fine. Teeth was a repeat of the same issues, but he fussed more until I engaged him again in new activity which was getting dressed. I told him it was time for his book and he went to the bedroom and got on the bed without any issues. We read several of the new Spot books I was able to get him today and he worked on a few new thoughts in his head. I think a few new words will come from them. When I told him bed he headed into his bedroom and got into the twin bed not his crib. He just crawled right into and got under the covers. I left him in there thinking maybe he was ready to try the twin but after a few minutes I heard him trying the door so into his crib. He did have a little meltdown but his babbling after the meltdown was more words than babbling so that is an improvement.
Tonight during his bath time he did not repeat turtle from the night before but he did line them up and count them. He did one two but I was not able to get him to do it again and then when he did count them it was with the same word but not one that I knew what it meant. Normally we have no issue getting out of the bath but tonight he had gotten very attached to the squirters and displayed some of his behavior but did get out of the bath tub without escalation. I reminded him the next step was brush and he was fine. Teeth was a repeat of the same issues, but he fussed more until I engaged him again in new activity which was getting dressed. I told him it was time for his book and he went to the bedroom and got on the bed without any issues. We read several of the new Spot books I was able to get him today and he worked on a few new thoughts in his head. I think a few new words will come from them. When I told him bed he headed into his bedroom and got into the twin bed not his crib. He just crawled right into and got under the covers. I left him in there thinking maybe he was ready to try the twin but after a few minutes I heard him trying the door so into his crib. He did have a little meltdown but his babbling after the meltdown was more words than babbling so that is an improvement.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday March 29th
So so since I am at work the husband is in charge of Nate's education during the day. He just ran through what he did with me. Lots of reading, the Spot book. Played with blocks, Little People, and remote controlled cars. He did get him to clean up after himself and my house testified to that. He did not repeat monkey today. New word- Carpet. Mike has trained him to lay down on the mat when he has a doody.
Got home at 5:30 and we read the Spot book. No monkey again. No SSSS on snakes. He just didn't seem as in to it so when we let the dog out and he seemed interested in going outside I told him if he got his shoes. Within seconds not only did he have his shoes but he had gotten mine. Out we went. He played in the yard and he only slightly repeated the sand fiasco from day before. He played well and kept going back to the back of the yard to talk to the cow in the neighbors yard. I tried to convince him it was a dog. He wanted out in the front yard so we walked around there and when we went into the back for the last time he caught his neck on a limb that was growing over from the neighbors yard. It is a pretty good sized scratch. Inside we went for applesauce and more bagel with cheese. He was upset about his neck so I sat with him while we read. He was hot and had a fever so we took Tylenol. After several more books, we got out bath and he said turtle when he pulled one from his toy basket. Very cool. No improvement on numbers no matter how many times I sang 1,2 buckle my shoes. teeth went great. I let him play with the bubbles while I brushed. Book was good. We read 5 monkeys on the bed which he was good with and he seems exhausted so off to bed. No fight. Not even a mutter.
Got home at 5:30 and we read the Spot book. No monkey again. No SSSS on snakes. He just didn't seem as in to it so when we let the dog out and he seemed interested in going outside I told him if he got his shoes. Within seconds not only did he have his shoes but he had gotten mine. Out we went. He played in the yard and he only slightly repeated the sand fiasco from day before. He played well and kept going back to the back of the yard to talk to the cow in the neighbors yard. I tried to convince him it was a dog. He wanted out in the front yard so we walked around there and when we went into the back for the last time he caught his neck on a limb that was growing over from the neighbors yard. It is a pretty good sized scratch. Inside we went for applesauce and more bagel with cheese. He was upset about his neck so I sat with him while we read. He was hot and had a fever so we took Tylenol. After several more books, we got out bath and he said turtle when he pulled one from his toy basket. Very cool. No improvement on numbers no matter how many times I sang 1,2 buckle my shoes. teeth went great. I let him play with the bubbles while I brushed. Book was good. We read 5 monkeys on the bed which he was good with and he seems exhausted so off to bed. No fight. Not even a mutter.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday March 28th PM
Okay so up from nap after about two hours. So I offered him some lunch and we had a minor meltdown about what he wanted for lunch. He wanted Trix again and I wanted him to have something else. He had a fit and I sat him back on the floor and heated up a bagel with cheese. He came into the living room to tantrum and I followed with the bagel on a plate and his milk. When I looked back in on him he was sitting like a big boy at the table eating lunch like no big deal. I was amused. I brought him a container of applesauce with a spoon and he would not eat it. I showed him how to put his plate away after lunch. My hope is that with some training that he can end his dinner/lunch breaks on his own and I will know he is done eating.
After lunch we got out the stuff to color. So Nathan is not a colorer. But he did enjoy watching me color Elmo, Zoe, and Prairie Dawn. He also knew the first two's names and kinda made up the third. But who names a puppet Prairie Dawn?? I asked him to select colors for me and I had my first thought that he might be red/green color blind like Mike. He kept handing me pink when I asked for red. So time will tell. He did try to master the scissors and they was just almost to much work for him. He did hear the train outside, which he has never heard before since the TV was normally going. i think that being turned off helps him to concentrate. No backgrounds noise and nothing visually to distract. Only had one time today when he went for the remote and I again simply hid it from him. No worries. Anyway when he heard the train he asked what's that. Or at least what I think may have been that question. He did go and get the book we had been reading before lunch back out. Clearly said bed when he saw the bed, said ally for the alligator, eat, phone and flowers. Knew monkey again. He really liked this book which means I will be looking for more books with lift up flaps.
We then heard the girls playing outside, and I realised the weather was around 50 so we got dressed to head out. We had gotten him a cottage last fall on the last good weekend so it had not been outside. Nathan played with it once this year and had been eyeing it from the back door so it was a great day to get wild outside. He played with the cottage solo and I wandered around the yard looking for sticks. I got bored with that and headed inside to get my yard tools and when I cam back he had removed the sandbox cover and was playing in it. I spent the next two hours telling him to stop throwing sand and cleaning up the back patio. He finally got the hang of using the shovel to pour the sand into a pail instead of dumping it on the ground. I had to run him out of the box twice but in the end we found a happy compromise after I finally showed him a few ways to play without all the sand ending up on the ground. Some fun additions to out afternoon was the train which he kept looking for in the front yard, and the planes that kept flying overhead. It was a great day with clear skies and he loved the extra excitement. In the back of our house is a large Rottweiler that our dog kept barking at and getting excited. Nathan saw it and called it a cow and then proceeded to MOOOO at it. I laughed hysterically and was pleased that the education from the day before had stuck. At least he remember that a cow MOOOO'd. There was no fight in coming back in, but I learned another Mommy lesson. 1. Never teach a kid how to lock a door 2. Never put your kid in the house without a spare set of keys in your pocket after you have taught the kid how to do number 1. I got lucky today and remembered Nathan locking himself in the bathroom the same moment he reached to swing the lock closed. Crisis averted. If you remember yesterday I taught him how to let the dog out. And of course I taught him how to lock the door back....BRILLIANT. I did manage to get him and all of stuff back inside without an issue. But I will be smarter next time.
So I was telling my best friend Kristel that Nathan refuses to sit still for a story and she told me that he would develop a longer attention span and I would remember forever the first book he sat through. Well, less than 24 hours later I can already say I am sick of the Spot book because out he drug it again once we got inside. So I invited back into my lap for the third reading of the day. This time he noticed the chair in the book and we had to inspect the chair we have in the living room. He looked at its legs and its back and touched it all over and pointed at the book. It was funny. I know 2 year old funny. Hilarity. This time besides what he had from before he also stuck his tongue out when the dog had his tongue out. I thought for a moment he had lost his mind and then I looked closer. Funny again. So Kristel, you were right. I will never forget that damn book. I may have it bronzed.
So Nathan comes to show me this spot on his hand and I inspect it all over and don't see anything wrong so I ask him if he has a boo-boo, he smiles and I kiss it and tell him it's better. So then he goes and gets the play band aid that came with his Doctor kit and tells me boo-boo and slaps it on his wrist. I had to smile. Some boo-boo. It was adorable.
So I am exhausted from being outside and am almost resigned to some TV watching when he goes and get the shape sorter from earlier and I sit on the couch while he plays with it and put all the shapes in with no problems. Earlier it had been a struggle but with it elevated it was an easier task to accomplish and he did a great job. Great reminder for me to not be a lazy mommy and let the TV be the entertainment. That a properly stimulated kid can entertain themselves. He also drug out his play Doctor stuff and had the above scene and then it turned into him dragging out CARS. That means it was directly from the pixar movies named CARS. Just in case you are wondering why the differentiation. So he drove them all over a box while I cleaned up again. And I started him some dinner. While it cooked I let him throw a soft ball around. He would throw it up and I would catch what I could while I counted 1-10. He has been counting 8,9 lately and no longer doing 1,2. And by lately I mean since yesterday. It was like since we introduced a few new numbers to him that the old ones were no longer cool. So I kept chanting and he kept throwing and we would both laugh when I could catch it. I did try tossing it back to him but he is not that coordinated. Dog tried to get in on the action and Nathan was very good about saying NO DOG. He was also quick to figure out that it was a dog in the book and that was like our dog. I have been having him pet Jasper and I do think they will be better friends. So numbers counted, lunch onto table with applesauce again. This time on the tray instead of from a cup. He ate a bagel bite and ignored the sauce but after a few attempts he actually tried a bite from the offered spoon and from that point on he thought it was great. I guess the cinnamon in it added something. He ate two bowls full and three of the pizza and a gallon on apple juice. ....okay. slight exaggeration. 2 cups worth. We played hard, you know. Even I had some juice. So dinner went good but took forever. I was falling asleep at the kids table and too make it even more painful I kept recounting ten CARS and he kept saying 8,9. Maybe Dad can get that fixed tomorrow. So it was off to bath, with splashing and good times. I put away clothes and then remembered that while I was not worried about him drowning in the bathtub he could still cook himself with the hot water so I decided no more multi tasking at bath time. Bath was fine. Had good fun with bubbles. And the word bubbles, brushed teeth, put on clothes and then I told him about reading a book and he took off for my bedroom and jumping up on the bed. So this is what they call a routine! Spot book read again. this time he did not follow alone as well but I think he was pretty much wiped out. I read another book while he played with his doodle pro but he kept closing my book after a few pages so I asked if he was ready for bed and he took off in that direction. He grabbed a new toy truck while he headed that way and off he went without a peep until I turned off the hall light and from behind his bedroom door, I am sure I heard his little voice say light on! And I left it one. Who wouldn't?
After lunch we got out the stuff to color. So Nathan is not a colorer. But he did enjoy watching me color Elmo, Zoe, and Prairie Dawn. He also knew the first two's names and kinda made up the third. But who names a puppet Prairie Dawn?? I asked him to select colors for me and I had my first thought that he might be red/green color blind like Mike. He kept handing me pink when I asked for red. So time will tell. He did try to master the scissors and they was just almost to much work for him. He did hear the train outside, which he has never heard before since the TV was normally going. i think that being turned off helps him to concentrate. No backgrounds noise and nothing visually to distract. Only had one time today when he went for the remote and I again simply hid it from him. No worries. Anyway when he heard the train he asked what's that. Or at least what I think may have been that question. He did go and get the book we had been reading before lunch back out. Clearly said bed when he saw the bed, said ally for the alligator, eat, phone and flowers. Knew monkey again. He really liked this book which means I will be looking for more books with lift up flaps.
We then heard the girls playing outside, and I realised the weather was around 50 so we got dressed to head out. We had gotten him a cottage last fall on the last good weekend so it had not been outside. Nathan played with it once this year and had been eyeing it from the back door so it was a great day to get wild outside. He played with the cottage solo and I wandered around the yard looking for sticks. I got bored with that and headed inside to get my yard tools and when I cam back he had removed the sandbox cover and was playing in it. I spent the next two hours telling him to stop throwing sand and cleaning up the back patio. He finally got the hang of using the shovel to pour the sand into a pail instead of dumping it on the ground. I had to run him out of the box twice but in the end we found a happy compromise after I finally showed him a few ways to play without all the sand ending up on the ground. Some fun additions to out afternoon was the train which he kept looking for in the front yard, and the planes that kept flying overhead. It was a great day with clear skies and he loved the extra excitement. In the back of our house is a large Rottweiler that our dog kept barking at and getting excited. Nathan saw it and called it a cow and then proceeded to MOOOO at it. I laughed hysterically and was pleased that the education from the day before had stuck. At least he remember that a cow MOOOO'd. There was no fight in coming back in, but I learned another Mommy lesson. 1. Never teach a kid how to lock a door 2. Never put your kid in the house without a spare set of keys in your pocket after you have taught the kid how to do number 1. I got lucky today and remembered Nathan locking himself in the bathroom the same moment he reached to swing the lock closed. Crisis averted. If you remember yesterday I taught him how to let the dog out. And of course I taught him how to lock the door back....BRILLIANT. I did manage to get him and all of stuff back inside without an issue. But I will be smarter next time.
So I was telling my best friend Kristel that Nathan refuses to sit still for a story and she told me that he would develop a longer attention span and I would remember forever the first book he sat through. Well, less than 24 hours later I can already say I am sick of the Spot book because out he drug it again once we got inside. So I invited back into my lap for the third reading of the day. This time he noticed the chair in the book and we had to inspect the chair we have in the living room. He looked at its legs and its back and touched it all over and pointed at the book. It was funny. I know 2 year old funny. Hilarity. This time besides what he had from before he also stuck his tongue out when the dog had his tongue out. I thought for a moment he had lost his mind and then I looked closer. Funny again. So Kristel, you were right. I will never forget that damn book. I may have it bronzed.
So Nathan comes to show me this spot on his hand and I inspect it all over and don't see anything wrong so I ask him if he has a boo-boo, he smiles and I kiss it and tell him it's better. So then he goes and gets the play band aid that came with his Doctor kit and tells me boo-boo and slaps it on his wrist. I had to smile. Some boo-boo. It was adorable.
So I am exhausted from being outside and am almost resigned to some TV watching when he goes and get the shape sorter from earlier and I sit on the couch while he plays with it and put all the shapes in with no problems. Earlier it had been a struggle but with it elevated it was an easier task to accomplish and he did a great job. Great reminder for me to not be a lazy mommy and let the TV be the entertainment. That a properly stimulated kid can entertain themselves. He also drug out his play Doctor stuff and had the above scene and then it turned into him dragging out CARS. That means it was directly from the pixar movies named CARS. Just in case you are wondering why the differentiation. So he drove them all over a box while I cleaned up again. And I started him some dinner. While it cooked I let him throw a soft ball around. He would throw it up and I would catch what I could while I counted 1-10. He has been counting 8,9 lately and no longer doing 1,2. And by lately I mean since yesterday. It was like since we introduced a few new numbers to him that the old ones were no longer cool. So I kept chanting and he kept throwing and we would both laugh when I could catch it. I did try tossing it back to him but he is not that coordinated. Dog tried to get in on the action and Nathan was very good about saying NO DOG. He was also quick to figure out that it was a dog in the book and that was like our dog. I have been having him pet Jasper and I do think they will be better friends. So numbers counted, lunch onto table with applesauce again. This time on the tray instead of from a cup. He ate a bagel bite and ignored the sauce but after a few attempts he actually tried a bite from the offered spoon and from that point on he thought it was great. I guess the cinnamon in it added something. He ate two bowls full and three of the pizza and a gallon on apple juice. ....okay. slight exaggeration. 2 cups worth. We played hard, you know. Even I had some juice. So dinner went good but took forever. I was falling asleep at the kids table and too make it even more painful I kept recounting ten CARS and he kept saying 8,9. Maybe Dad can get that fixed tomorrow. So it was off to bath, with splashing and good times. I put away clothes and then remembered that while I was not worried about him drowning in the bathtub he could still cook himself with the hot water so I decided no more multi tasking at bath time. Bath was fine. Had good fun with bubbles. And the word bubbles, brushed teeth, put on clothes and then I told him about reading a book and he took off for my bedroom and jumping up on the bed. So this is what they call a routine! Spot book read again. this time he did not follow alone as well but I think he was pretty much wiped out. I read another book while he played with his doodle pro but he kept closing my book after a few pages so I asked if he was ready for bed and he took off in that direction. He grabbed a new toy truck while he headed that way and off he went without a peep until I turned off the hall light and from behind his bedroom door, I am sure I heard his little voice say light on! And I left it one. Who wouldn't?
Sunday March 28th, 2010 AM
So I woke up to hearing Nathan chatting in his room. The thing I noticed is that I understood some of what he was saying. No way, wow, yeah, I have never really sat and listened to his morning babble but I could understand some of it. I heard letters as well. So when I went to check on him, we saw his flashlight. Now while it may be a flashlight, we actually use it as a microphone and sing into it. Which he remember. I use it at night when he cries and it lights up my face while I sing. So I sang some Elvis for him this morning and then I gave it to him for his song and he said 1-2. Which made me laugh. He doesn't really know a song so we did head shoulders knees and toes and he tried again. He didn't get the words right but he did get the tune. Cracked me up. He sang while I changed his diaper and we had another poop. More solid this time. Rust colored but still very loose. Salsa like. Sorry world more poop talk.
We got up and got the day started with playing with our shape shorter in the sun room. This was a challenge for him. The shape sorter is a fancy room with the top open and you stick the shapes through the sides. Stupid design. Nathan liked dancing to the music and wanted to drop them in through the top. With lots of assistance and showing, he figured it out. But it was not easy. At one point he tried to pick up one of the car play sets and I redirected him to the shape sorter and he had a break down. He left the room and cried and threw himself down several times. I ignored the tantrum and he came back to play with me. When he worked with the shape sorter again successfully I offered him the play set and he simply ignored it and went about play. It amused me since just a moment before it was worth the tantrum over. He dumped out his larger Lego's and as usual he spent more time pulling them apart and crashing them around. But I was able to get his attention and showed him how to build a tower and he helped add to the block tower and it got very tall. This is the first time he helped and did not have to take down what I was building. We found a chicken mixed in with the blocks and we had a great time talking about how the chicken goes bock bock. Which turned into the chicken dance. I showed him the dance with lots lots of flapping and marching in a circle. Lifting one leg at a time. Nate laughed and danced and didn't really get it. But loved it. So after lots of chicken dance we sat down to build again. While we were playing I noticed he kept grabbing his shirt with his fingers and flapping his arms and I realised he was doing the dance. So up again and more chicken dance. Good stuff. He also mastered letting the dog out. He has done it three times today. Understands when I say, please let the dog out. I am going to try it when he gets up from his nap but from a different room. So the cool part was when I asked him if he wanted to read a book and he sat down next to me on the couch and we read a book about Spot the dog. It has flaps and Nathan enjoyed lifting them to see the other animal underneath it. Spot was at the end of the book. He sat through it multiple times without distraction. I went on to read another book about ears which he understood the ear part but he kept looking at the Spot book. I had gone through the book and showed him all the animals and had named them and the noises they made. And while I was reading the second book he lifted the flaps and said monkey and pointed to the monkey. I was pretty pleased. He also lifted the panels and read NO off the page where the animals were saying NO, they were not Spot. Then he lifted the snake's door and said SSSSSS, which was what I told him the snake said. So I felt like it was a victory. After the book and blocks, we had some breakfast. I asked him if he wanted something to eat and he took off for the kitchen. No issues understanding food for sure. While he sat on the counter I got him some Trix together. We have removed all food distractions from our kitchen. There is no candy, cookies, or other crap. Too often he gets distracted by wanting crap food and miss the chance to eat good stuff. So I have him Trix in a bowl, with milk and a spoon. We often give him food in a bag and let him wonder eating it. Now he is required to eat at his table or in the kitchen on the counter. The counter is nice so that I can do other things while he eats. He had some issues with using his spoon and he kept trying to eat with his hand. I had to redirect him several times to use the spoon and finally noticed he needed retraining. Which we did. It went much better after training. He also kept grabbing my arm to help him with the spoon to make sure it got to this mouth okay. He ate two bowls of the cereal and wanted a third. I looked at his bulging belly and stopped him at two. While he ate, I got the kitchen picked up dished put away and I even got some counting in my juggling cups while he laughed. I am hoping we master the number 3. Maybe even sneak in a 4. Since I know we already know 5.
So next step at about 10:30 was letters. We sat at the table and worked with the puzzle and bag of letters. He knew that F made the FFFF sound. And he knew that on the big and little F. Knows N,T,Y,O by sight. So he got out his dragon from his happy meal yesterday so I showed him how DRAGON was spelled with his letters and then told him the letters. He mimicked me by saying the letters. He did not get them all right but did get D G and O, and added an E. He also did say a letter for each one not just the right one. He also was able to make the dragon spark repeatedly after instruction given. Next we played with his train and connected five of the pieces together. We then counted them. 1-5. He counted with me through two and then said 5. And he pointed at the #1 on Thomas and looked confused since we had just called him #5. It was amusing.
When we picked up the alphabet I asked him to give me the bag that the letters came in. He understood we were looking for something and kept checking under the couch for it. But did not understand I wanted the bag next to him. I pointed again and he got it. We celebrated and then picked up which he helped me with. As he picked up, he added K to his knowledge base.
One thing I am amused by is his mimicking. He has seen me with a coffee cup lately because I have a cold and have been drinking tea. So know he wants a coffee cup to drink from. I gave him one of out blue smaller ones and he has been using it for two days. funny boy.
He has been interacting with the dog more. When Jasper stood in the window and growled Nathan had to go over and investigate what was going on outside. It made me laugh to have both of them standing there checking out the outdoors. too bad the weather is cold or we would go out.
He only brought me the remote once and that was when I let him have some free time with his cars. At about 12:30 I let him play alone while I picked up all the other toys and put them away. He wanted some TV and I just ignored the request and moved on. From now on they will be put away. No more distractions.
Okay nap time at 1. I am tired even if he isn't. Went down without too much issue.
We got up and got the day started with playing with our shape shorter in the sun room. This was a challenge for him. The shape sorter is a fancy room with the top open and you stick the shapes through the sides. Stupid design. Nathan liked dancing to the music and wanted to drop them in through the top. With lots of assistance and showing, he figured it out. But it was not easy. At one point he tried to pick up one of the car play sets and I redirected him to the shape sorter and he had a break down. He left the room and cried and threw himself down several times. I ignored the tantrum and he came back to play with me. When he worked with the shape sorter again successfully I offered him the play set and he simply ignored it and went about play. It amused me since just a moment before it was worth the tantrum over. He dumped out his larger Lego's and as usual he spent more time pulling them apart and crashing them around. But I was able to get his attention and showed him how to build a tower and he helped add to the block tower and it got very tall. This is the first time he helped and did not have to take down what I was building. We found a chicken mixed in with the blocks and we had a great time talking about how the chicken goes bock bock. Which turned into the chicken dance. I showed him the dance with lots lots of flapping and marching in a circle. Lifting one leg at a time. Nate laughed and danced and didn't really get it. But loved it. So after lots of chicken dance we sat down to build again. While we were playing I noticed he kept grabbing his shirt with his fingers and flapping his arms and I realised he was doing the dance. So up again and more chicken dance. Good stuff. He also mastered letting the dog out. He has done it three times today. Understands when I say, please let the dog out. I am going to try it when he gets up from his nap but from a different room. So the cool part was when I asked him if he wanted to read a book and he sat down next to me on the couch and we read a book about Spot the dog. It has flaps and Nathan enjoyed lifting them to see the other animal underneath it. Spot was at the end of the book. He sat through it multiple times without distraction. I went on to read another book about ears which he understood the ear part but he kept looking at the Spot book. I had gone through the book and showed him all the animals and had named them and the noises they made. And while I was reading the second book he lifted the flaps and said monkey and pointed to the monkey. I was pretty pleased. He also lifted the panels and read NO off the page where the animals were saying NO, they were not Spot. Then he lifted the snake's door and said SSSSSS, which was what I told him the snake said. So I felt like it was a victory. After the book and blocks, we had some breakfast. I asked him if he wanted something to eat and he took off for the kitchen. No issues understanding food for sure. While he sat on the counter I got him some Trix together. We have removed all food distractions from our kitchen. There is no candy, cookies, or other crap. Too often he gets distracted by wanting crap food and miss the chance to eat good stuff. So I have him Trix in a bowl, with milk and a spoon. We often give him food in a bag and let him wonder eating it. Now he is required to eat at his table or in the kitchen on the counter. The counter is nice so that I can do other things while he eats. He had some issues with using his spoon and he kept trying to eat with his hand. I had to redirect him several times to use the spoon and finally noticed he needed retraining. Which we did. It went much better after training. He also kept grabbing my arm to help him with the spoon to make sure it got to this mouth okay. He ate two bowls of the cereal and wanted a third. I looked at his bulging belly and stopped him at two. While he ate, I got the kitchen picked up dished put away and I even got some counting in my juggling cups while he laughed. I am hoping we master the number 3. Maybe even sneak in a 4. Since I know we already know 5.
So next step at about 10:30 was letters. We sat at the table and worked with the puzzle and bag of letters. He knew that F made the FFFF sound. And he knew that on the big and little F. Knows N,T,Y,O by sight. So he got out his dragon from his happy meal yesterday so I showed him how DRAGON was spelled with his letters and then told him the letters. He mimicked me by saying the letters. He did not get them all right but did get D G and O, and added an E. He also did say a letter for each one not just the right one. He also was able to make the dragon spark repeatedly after instruction given. Next we played with his train and connected five of the pieces together. We then counted them. 1-5. He counted with me through two and then said 5. And he pointed at the #1 on Thomas and looked confused since we had just called him #5. It was amusing.
When we picked up the alphabet I asked him to give me the bag that the letters came in. He understood we were looking for something and kept checking under the couch for it. But did not understand I wanted the bag next to him. I pointed again and he got it. We celebrated and then picked up which he helped me with. As he picked up, he added K to his knowledge base.
One thing I am amused by is his mimicking. He has seen me with a coffee cup lately because I have a cold and have been drinking tea. So know he wants a coffee cup to drink from. I gave him one of out blue smaller ones and he has been using it for two days. funny boy.
He has been interacting with the dog more. When Jasper stood in the window and growled Nathan had to go over and investigate what was going on outside. It made me laugh to have both of them standing there checking out the outdoors. too bad the weather is cold or we would go out.
He only brought me the remote once and that was when I let him have some free time with his cars. At about 12:30 I let him play alone while I picked up all the other toys and put them away. He wanted some TV and I just ignored the request and moved on. From now on they will be put away. No more distractions.
Okay nap time at 1. I am tired even if he isn't. Went down without too much issue.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
So this evening was a little harder. Routine is so important and we threw it off today by putting him down for his nap late. I got him up at seven and he came downstairs and sat on the kitchen counter to eat a pudding cup. He wanted to squeeze the cup to get out the pudding but I redirected him to use the spoon and he did a pretty good job following those directions. He and I had a great question session over what he wanted to eat. I would ask and he would say no. Until we got to the pudding he said no, but shook his head yes. I made him pizza bagels for dinner and he managed to get one eaten in the living room at his table. But once again, it is important to not distract him from the job at hand. There where toys on the table which distracted him. So we ended up covering alphabet instead of eating. Learning as well go. Yesterday we kept the TV off all day. Today we watched one hour of Sesame Street. Number of the day was 4 and letter was r. Nathan say the number five come up and he said five clearly. Not the first time we have announced that number proudly. Struggling with three and four. But we have one and two down. So this morning, I forgot to add earlier, that we were going over the names of the cars from CARS, and I was pretty excited when we asked him who DJ was and he said this is Dj. That is a three word sentence and Nathan has never used prepositions before. So that was cool. He also has mine down like a rock star. But not that's mine. So one of the tests they did with him at KU was to have him blow bubbles, so Mike worked with him tonight on blowing bubbles. Giving him instructions and then having him practice. He was great at trying to blow but when he was not success it turned into slinging the wand. Now I try to not be a poopy head. But when it comes to making a mess I get pretty unhappy. So I had to practice some serious patience in the effort to learn a new skill. So fast forward to dinner being over and me announcing it was time for bath. I have not been very consistent on nightly baths. Mostly because he rarely goes outside and this winter his skin has been crazy dry. So in my effort to develop consistency I am doing bath, brush, book, and bed. Bath was okay. He thought it was hysterical to squirt me in the eye over and over with the duck squirter and he declared duck with the rubber duck. I was not amused. Maybe the first and second time. But not at the end. Bath done, fighting over teeth was a level 2, mostly annoying because he kept putting the towel over his head and then he spit out his rinse all down his front. But we got the job done. He did not settle down for his book and only set in my lap once. I read from nursery rhymes and when I read one about don't walk too fast daddy, I am following you, I cried. Nathan looked at me and came over, not to console me as much as just check me out. He gave me a hug when I asked for it. I know kids with autism are not empathetic but I am not real sure what his response should have been. Should he have crawled into my lap and cried with me? Or the simple fact he kept looking at me and went into the corner to stand a good sign that he actually knew I was upset? Hell who knows. These are all great questions for when he start seeing the behavior folks who are going to start coming to our house for his treatment. That will be exciting for all of us. Mostly since it will mean training for Mike and I. He has just voiced his disapproval over the blog. I knew he would. He is so private. Doesn't want anyone to know anything, surprised he facebooks! Okay, so story time was done. Nate had a poop I had to changed. And it was soft. Not like diarrhea, but not a solid for sure. He had popcorn yesterday. So I am sure you are asking WHY IN GOD'S NAME....DID SHE JUST DESCRIBE HER KIDS POOP? Well kids with autism also have a tendency to have stomach issues and that is why some believe it is essential to feed them a gluten free diet. I have noticed his poop is always soft and rarely ever hard so I am wondering if he has digestive issues. And do remind everyone why I started the blog, it was because we have a terrible memory so the poop will be in here every night. Sorry world. But it is important. He had a tiny meltdown when I dropped him into his bed but he did not continue it once I left the room. He yelled like he was dying so I went back for a back rub and told him I loved him and I turned and left. He is currently playing but I am okay with that.
Saturday 3/27/2010.
So blog looks good. I think I can do this. So I had a fever all night and felt like crap but I knew that today would be either a disaster or a lot of fun for my boys. Husband and I had tickets to the comic convention. Nathan hasn't been out much. When I take him out it always seems like there is some type of melt down so I have avoided it. Which is not fair for the boy, but as parents who are typically solo with him, we prefer to just go alone on our errands. So this was kinda scary for myself and I was really pleased with how well he did. I thought we were not going to be able to stay. There were so many people crowded in and we had arrived a few hours after it started so Nathan had a tiny tantrum and threw his car and hat as we rolled in the door. I pulled off to the side and told him I knew it was going to be hard but that I would get him to some place less busy if he just gave me a chance. He covered his mouth and we headed to the concession area and a corner where we could be sorta alone. We are really lucky that he is not affected by the noise. Even though it was a constant dull roar, he did not seem affected. And once we were there a little while he seemed to find a better place within himself. Next issue was when we decided to get him popcorn, he wanted chips and he picked them up and I told him no. And he threw them. I realised that was stupid of me, he couldn't talk and that was how he let me know what he wants. I bought the chips, and reminded myself, I was going to have to work harder. And we sat down to eat chips. He was very interested in a family that set near us and kept venturing over to them. I thought he might engage in play but didn't. We several times got up and walked around and he was calm. At one point we even let him walk around and he was great then as well. I was impressed. I thought he would be freaked out but the longer we were there the better he was. I kept taking him back to the concession area to be by ourselves so he could process and it seemed to help. He was his normal shy self when people talked to him but did seem excited to see Eric who is a weekly friend from the boy's Wednesday comic book run. There was finally a little girl who seemed ready to play. She was less than 2 but he and her tore up the floor running around each other and screaming. No words, but I am pretty sure that the two of them where on the same level even though Nate was so much older. They were funny and very excited to mimic each other. Nate would do silly stuff just to get her to follow. It was great to see how social he was. And finally both of them on the ground on their bellies they touched hands. It was so silly. But it felt good to see him with another child and playing. Another littler fellow joined in and they all three had a good time. We made it through without event and headed home to a lunch of chicken nuggets and naps for the boys. I started my blog. It's time for everyone to get up so I will end for now. But for those of you who may read this.
Hello, welcome to my journey. Please feel free to read along, even to comment. This probably won't be the most exciting stuff you've ever read and I apologize for that. But know that it is the most important thing to me and my family and I hope to learn from this process. And I hope along the way to celebrate our victories and success in this blog. Come along for the ride.
So blog looks good. I think I can do this. So I had a fever all night and felt like crap but I knew that today would be either a disaster or a lot of fun for my boys. Husband and I had tickets to the comic convention. Nathan hasn't been out much. When I take him out it always seems like there is some type of melt down so I have avoided it. Which is not fair for the boy, but as parents who are typically solo with him, we prefer to just go alone on our errands. So this was kinda scary for myself and I was really pleased with how well he did. I thought we were not going to be able to stay. There were so many people crowded in and we had arrived a few hours after it started so Nathan had a tiny tantrum and threw his car and hat as we rolled in the door. I pulled off to the side and told him I knew it was going to be hard but that I would get him to some place less busy if he just gave me a chance. He covered his mouth and we headed to the concession area and a corner where we could be sorta alone. We are really lucky that he is not affected by the noise. Even though it was a constant dull roar, he did not seem affected. And once we were there a little while he seemed to find a better place within himself. Next issue was when we decided to get him popcorn, he wanted chips and he picked them up and I told him no. And he threw them. I realised that was stupid of me, he couldn't talk and that was how he let me know what he wants. I bought the chips, and reminded myself, I was going to have to work harder. And we sat down to eat chips. He was very interested in a family that set near us and kept venturing over to them. I thought he might engage in play but didn't. We several times got up and walked around and he was calm. At one point we even let him walk around and he was great then as well. I was impressed. I thought he would be freaked out but the longer we were there the better he was. I kept taking him back to the concession area to be by ourselves so he could process and it seemed to help. He was his normal shy self when people talked to him but did seem excited to see Eric who is a weekly friend from the boy's Wednesday comic book run. There was finally a little girl who seemed ready to play. She was less than 2 but he and her tore up the floor running around each other and screaming. No words, but I am pretty sure that the two of them where on the same level even though Nate was so much older. They were funny and very excited to mimic each other. Nate would do silly stuff just to get her to follow. It was great to see how social he was. And finally both of them on the ground on their bellies they touched hands. It was so silly. But it felt good to see him with another child and playing. Another littler fellow joined in and they all three had a good time. We made it through without event and headed home to a lunch of chicken nuggets and naps for the boys. I started my blog. It's time for everyone to get up so I will end for now. But for those of you who may read this.
Hello, welcome to my journey. Please feel free to read along, even to comment. This probably won't be the most exciting stuff you've ever read and I apologize for that. But know that it is the most important thing to me and my family and I hope to learn from this process. And I hope along the way to celebrate our victories and success in this blog. Come along for the ride.
So my husband and I decided we needed to keep a journal about our son Nathan. On Thursday we were told that he has autism. We think we are just lousy parents who have not done our due diligence as teachers and haven't tried hard enough to offer him social outlets. When we were at KU they asked a lot of questions that neither my husband or myself could remember the answers to and that made me realise I needed to journal. I needed a way to track my son's progress, to see if he was loosing words or actions or if he was making improvement. I feel rather lost about the diagnosis and I have zero network to help me cope so I am hoping this gives me a way to channel my fears and help me create my plan of action.
Friday 3/26/2010
So Thursday was a blur. I had to go to work after our appointment and I was so pleased my autopilot got me through the day. Neither my husband not myself even knew what to think. On Friday morning, I had the day off and my husband and I started living our lives as the parents of a child with autism. But once again, we are in denial. We both take full responsibility for Nathan's developmental delay because we have not done enough with him to get him ready to learn. It was apparent when they working with him that he wasn't even capable of staying seated long enough to do the testing. He threw the puzzles in the floor in his normal tantrum mode. I had seen this mood before and I could even feel it coming before he did it. Regardless if it is Autism or not, we knew we had not done our due diligence. So we started our day buying Nathan a small table and wooden puzzles. We worked with him in the morning with a farm shape sorter and by the time we were done he knew all the animals but the lamb and he knew that cow's mooooo'd. Mike and I were pleased. In addition to the learning, he also kept running back and forth between the two of us to show us the animals and mooo'd. He was proud of his learning and he was actively engaged. He did showing and we kept telling him what a great job that was. I have been ready about the applied learning behaviors and I can already see that Nate is just hungry for the interaction. Only re enforcing our perception that we are failures as parents. But hindsight is 20/20. And both of us are determined to give him the best chance we can of coping with this delay. So in addition to the mooing, which was simply adorable he learned toast. Which is what we had for breakfast. Another great moment. What makes me sad is that Nate is 2 years 8 months and we should have had toast mastered a while a go. But it is an victory. He also managed phone but I am sure we have heard that before. But once again, that is why we need the journal. No one remembers what we have learned and what we may have lost. So we went out to a clothing store, a toy store, and a super store and all three places were meet with tantrums. Twice over train tables. Now I had been considering the purchase of a train table for his next birthday but after seeing the almost obsessive behavior, I have determined that is simply not an option. We were so proud that he would play independently but that was just one of many signs that he was autistic. It is sad to know that some of the things I was so proud of him for where all indicators. Sounding less like denial when I say that. Proud of myself. So interestingly enough, we got to compare him to other kids his age. And yes, I know, you are not suppose to compare kids....so sorry. But there was a little guy younger than him who was clear enough that Mike could carry on a conversation with him. And I know that hit home for us about how far Nate is delayed. We are not there. And it is going to take a lot of effort to get us there. So train table melt down, train table melt down again, and then melt down over wanting some type of candy at Target. Who knows which one but with a peanut allergy as well, it didn't really matter. But I at least can say that I know what caused all three melt downs. Which is good.
Friday 3/26/2010 PM
Came home, had nap. When he got up there was his table and dad and I had cleaned up the living room and organized it for learning. We spent the next several hours working with him on his letters with the wooden puzzles. There were a few moments of tiny tantrums but nothing turned into full blown. He sat at the table without problems and handled directions very well without issues. Only problem that surfaced was he kept putting his foot up on the table and I had to keep telling him to put it down. I could tell it was a test. I passed. He had dinner at the table and did a great job eating from his plate with his fork and spoon. He had more dinner than I normally get down him so I was pleased. When he started to play I asked if he was done and he got down without issue. We went for bath, teeth, and then stories. Mike and I have been terrible about reading to him. First one I read was a 10 minute story and he was not interested at all and kept running around the room. But he brought me a book and settled down for a minute and then was back up. Then he brought another book and we read it three times until he heard his daddy come home and he was back up again looking for him. So good news on the attention span and hopefully with consistency we were get through some longer stories and more involvement. I also want to get a few he really likes and hopefully he will be more engaged. Bed time. No issues. Slept through the night.
Friday 3/26/2010
So Thursday was a blur. I had to go to work after our appointment and I was so pleased my autopilot got me through the day. Neither my husband not myself even knew what to think. On Friday morning, I had the day off and my husband and I started living our lives as the parents of a child with autism. But once again, we are in denial. We both take full responsibility for Nathan's developmental delay because we have not done enough with him to get him ready to learn. It was apparent when they working with him that he wasn't even capable of staying seated long enough to do the testing. He threw the puzzles in the floor in his normal tantrum mode. I had seen this mood before and I could even feel it coming before he did it. Regardless if it is Autism or not, we knew we had not done our due diligence. So we started our day buying Nathan a small table and wooden puzzles. We worked with him in the morning with a farm shape sorter and by the time we were done he knew all the animals but the lamb and he knew that cow's mooooo'd. Mike and I were pleased. In addition to the learning, he also kept running back and forth between the two of us to show us the animals and mooo'd. He was proud of his learning and he was actively engaged. He did showing and we kept telling him what a great job that was. I have been ready about the applied learning behaviors and I can already see that Nate is just hungry for the interaction. Only re enforcing our perception that we are failures as parents. But hindsight is 20/20. And both of us are determined to give him the best chance we can of coping with this delay. So in addition to the mooing, which was simply adorable he learned toast. Which is what we had for breakfast. Another great moment. What makes me sad is that Nate is 2 years 8 months and we should have had toast mastered a while a go. But it is an victory. He also managed phone but I am sure we have heard that before. But once again, that is why we need the journal. No one remembers what we have learned and what we may have lost. So we went out to a clothing store, a toy store, and a super store and all three places were meet with tantrums. Twice over train tables. Now I had been considering the purchase of a train table for his next birthday but after seeing the almost obsessive behavior, I have determined that is simply not an option. We were so proud that he would play independently but that was just one of many signs that he was autistic. It is sad to know that some of the things I was so proud of him for where all indicators. Sounding less like denial when I say that. Proud of myself. So interestingly enough, we got to compare him to other kids his age. And yes, I know, you are not suppose to compare kids....so sorry. But there was a little guy younger than him who was clear enough that Mike could carry on a conversation with him. And I know that hit home for us about how far Nate is delayed. We are not there. And it is going to take a lot of effort to get us there. So train table melt down, train table melt down again, and then melt down over wanting some type of candy at Target. Who knows which one but with a peanut allergy as well, it didn't really matter. But I at least can say that I know what caused all three melt downs. Which is good.
Friday 3/26/2010 PM
Came home, had nap. When he got up there was his table and dad and I had cleaned up the living room and organized it for learning. We spent the next several hours working with him on his letters with the wooden puzzles. There were a few moments of tiny tantrums but nothing turned into full blown. He sat at the table without problems and handled directions very well without issues. Only problem that surfaced was he kept putting his foot up on the table and I had to keep telling him to put it down. I could tell it was a test. I passed. He had dinner at the table and did a great job eating from his plate with his fork and spoon. He had more dinner than I normally get down him so I was pleased. When he started to play I asked if he was done and he got down without issue. We went for bath, teeth, and then stories. Mike and I have been terrible about reading to him. First one I read was a 10 minute story and he was not interested at all and kept running around the room. But he brought me a book and settled down for a minute and then was back up. Then he brought another book and we read it three times until he heard his daddy come home and he was back up again looking for him. So good news on the attention span and hopefully with consistency we were get through some longer stories and more involvement. I also want to get a few he really likes and hopefully he will be more engaged. Bed time. No issues. Slept through the night.
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