Saw this on the blog these are the days. It looks like fun. Here goes!
Two 'Fer(remember, only two):
1. Name two things you did yesterday/last night.
2. What are two of your current favorite foods
3. List two things you are looking forward to
4. Name two things you fear
5. What are your weekend plans
---------------------------------
1. I took both kids to the pre-Halloween Trick & treat event at the North Bay Regional Center. It was fabulous! Then I took both kids to a birthday party at Funky Monkey. It was good crazy fun.
2. Just ate them: bacon and scallops (I love Trader Joe's)
3. Our upcoming trip to Disneyland! Having both kids going out trick-or-treating for Halloween this year.
4. The economy. My dad's health.
5. Supporting our PTA fund-raising school carnival (mission accomplished) and RESTING. I wish we could have gone to the rally in Oakland to push for getting therapies for autistic children covered by health care insurance. More on that soon, because my master plan is to NOT GET SICK AGAIN!
Your turn!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Mission Improbable: Potty Training
Warning: Potty talk ahead.
Good news: James has met all but one of his IEP goals and his next meeting for next year's goals has been moved up 6 weeks!
Not so good news: That elusive goal is Potty Training. James is happily ambivalent when it comes to Potty Training. Other people on the potty are fascinating. But sitting on that seat? No way! He literally digs in his heels and locks his knees, yelling "NO!"
It's small comfort to me that the school has been encouraging James to use the potty since he began preschool last This January. I have been shirking my duty. I have encouraged interest in going potty and check in with him verbally if he's gone pee-pee or poo-poo. He became rather good at telling me as the events occurred and I praised this. But trying to take him to the bathroom produced distinctly lackluster results.
So his teacher, SHAPE aid and I all agreed -- potty training starts NOW. I set up his potty seat in the bathroom and have started dressing him in big boy underpants (hand-me-downs from his cousin) and a diaper cover under his pants. We periodically take him to the bathroom, even though James prefers to continue bodily functions under cover, as it were. My stealth guy!
Soon he stopped talking with me about pee-pee & poo-poo, parrying all queries with a "NO!" He stopped having bowel movements until he was in his night-time diapers. Sigh. So then we'd do diaper change #2 for the night and make a kind of burial-at-sea ritual out of tumbling the diaper contents into the toilet, and saying "bye-bye" as they were flushed away.
However, on Thursday, his teacher reported in his handy dandy school notebook that he told her that day as soon as he'd gone pee-pee in his underpants. Progress? I'll take it!
I am also writing a letter of support for his teacher's request to move their classroom to a location that has a bathroom attached. I cannot believe I haven't done this before. I would have gone raving bonkers trying to get a small group of kids potty trained across a school campus and down a corridor from where I was also trying to teach said class. Gah! and Duh! (Two words that I will, of course, not use in my letter).
Good news: James has met all but one of his IEP goals and his next meeting for next year's goals has been moved up 6 weeks!
Not so good news: That elusive goal is Potty Training. James is happily ambivalent when it comes to Potty Training. Other people on the potty are fascinating. But sitting on that seat? No way! He literally digs in his heels and locks his knees, yelling "NO!"
It's small comfort to me that the school has been encouraging James to use the potty since he began preschool last This January. I have been shirking my duty. I have encouraged interest in going potty and check in with him verbally if he's gone pee-pee or poo-poo. He became rather good at telling me as the events occurred and I praised this. But trying to take him to the bathroom produced distinctly lackluster results.
So his teacher, SHAPE aid and I all agreed -- potty training starts NOW. I set up his potty seat in the bathroom and have started dressing him in big boy underpants (hand-me-downs from his cousin) and a diaper cover under his pants. We periodically take him to the bathroom, even though James prefers to continue bodily functions under cover, as it were. My stealth guy!
Soon he stopped talking with me about pee-pee & poo-poo, parrying all queries with a "NO!" He stopped having bowel movements until he was in his night-time diapers. Sigh. So then we'd do diaper change #2 for the night and make a kind of burial-at-sea ritual out of tumbling the diaper contents into the toilet, and saying "bye-bye" as they were flushed away.
However, on Thursday, his teacher reported in his handy dandy school notebook that he told her that day as soon as he'd gone pee-pee in his underpants. Progress? I'll take it!
I am also writing a letter of support for his teacher's request to move their classroom to a location that has a bathroom attached. I cannot believe I haven't done this before. I would have gone raving bonkers trying to get a small group of kids potty trained across a school campus and down a corridor from where I was also trying to teach said class. Gah! and Duh! (Two words that I will, of course, not use in my letter).
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
That Sinking Nap-Time Feeling
James is having an exciting and challenging school year. He is also starting to give up naps. I am so not ready for that. All those in favour of mandatory nap time until the age of, oh say 21, raise your hand *both hands raised*
Okay, that said, James is starting to initiate speech by coming up with the names of things he sees and wants. Sometimes its a word I didn't know he really knew, such as "rabbit" (I usually say "bunny" anyway).He still needs to be pushed to say "I ... want ... ____", unless he is being ignored; then we get the whole thing, LOUD AND CLEAR!
James is starting to get playing with and alongside other kids. His teacher said that on the way back out to the bus one day James asked, "Where is Jason?" Jason was his bus-buddy last year and has been one of his most consistent classmates. Jason was absent that day. Way to go, James!
He knows and can sort and say his colours, basic shapes, numbers up to 13 (especially the number 2), and is starting to fixate on letters. We are working on cutting skills, sitting in his chair, and drawing circles, and H & V lines. Also, we are working to get him to ride a trike.
James will now swing in the classroom swing and asked to swing on our swingset outside with his sister. And then did it for about ten minute!!! This is huge!
Favourite things right now: Popsickles. Especially rrrrrrrred popsi'lles. Think of Tony saying "Redrum" and you'll know how James pronounces "rrrrrrrred." Kinda cool, in a spooky Halloween way. Also, Cars, WALL*E, Thomas, and long-sleeved shirts striped in red, white, & blue. Playing Mine Sweeper on his Daddy's Sidekick. His teaching assistant. His big sister. Swimming. Playing in water. Looking at animals. reading books, like "Caps for Sale," Baby Einsteins, and "Maisy Goes to Bed." Curious George. Cars. Shaking his blinds. Saying "GOOD BYE!!!!" to people he likes. You can almost always cheer him up with watermelon, especially if it's cold. James still adores music, specially if its live.
Does NOT like: Nap time. Potty training. Potties in general, unless I am using it. Then it is fascinating.
Okay, that said, James is starting to initiate speech by coming up with the names of things he sees and wants. Sometimes its a word I didn't know he really knew, such as "rabbit" (I usually say "bunny" anyway).He still needs to be pushed to say "I ... want ... ____", unless he is being ignored; then we get the whole thing, LOUD AND CLEAR!
James is starting to get playing with and alongside other kids. His teacher said that on the way back out to the bus one day James asked, "Where is Jason?" Jason was his bus-buddy last year and has been one of his most consistent classmates. Jason was absent that day. Way to go, James!
He knows and can sort and say his colours, basic shapes, numbers up to 13 (especially the number 2), and is starting to fixate on letters. We are working on cutting skills, sitting in his chair, and drawing circles, and H & V lines. Also, we are working to get him to ride a trike.
James will now swing in the classroom swing and asked to swing on our swingset outside with his sister. And then did it for about ten minute!!! This is huge!
Favourite things right now: Popsickles. Especially rrrrrrrred popsi'lles. Think of Tony saying "Redrum" and you'll know how James pronounces "rrrrrrrred." Kinda cool, in a spooky Halloween way. Also, Cars, WALL*E, Thomas, and long-sleeved shirts striped in red, white, & blue. Playing Mine Sweeper on his Daddy's Sidekick. His teaching assistant. His big sister. Swimming. Playing in water. Looking at animals. reading books, like "Caps for Sale," Baby Einsteins, and "Maisy Goes to Bed." Curious George. Cars. Shaking his blinds. Saying "GOOD BYE!!!!" to people he likes. You can almost always cheer him up with watermelon, especially if it's cold. James still adores music, specially if its live.
Does NOT like: Nap time. Potty training. Potties in general, unless I am using it. Then it is fascinating.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Fall Patterns
We are settling into a routine! We all get up, have breakfast, & go to school. First big sister to Kindergarten, then James to his school. I am still driving him. The buses are better at being on time, but still feel better taking him.
James has SHAPE Mondays and Thursdays. He is staying up until about 3:30, when he then crashes for his nap. We are working on getting him to pedal his bike a bit longer each time. He is so good at saying and matching colours and shapes! He counts and is starting to say random letters.
His teacher is getting him to swing each day at school. This is huge because just the idea of sitting in a swing used to send James into a panic, with yelling, crying, and frantic attempts to escape. Each week, his teacher is bringing the swing up a bit. Right now, his toes touch the ground, and he uses this to push himself into some mild swinging. The ultimate goal is to not have his feet touch at all and enjoy some swinging.
We have started the CATs program and I feel very fortunate to have our student partner, who is very motivated, bright, and focused. We attended the monthly parenting class offered by James' preschool and the student had a great time observing James with his SHAPE and teaching assistants. The group was very welcoming of having a student observer and I feel how lucky we are to have such a great support team for James all over again!
We are going through growth spurts again. Before school, James was under 40" -- now he is over 40" and he's up another half shoe size. He is ticklish lately, and very playful and cuddly. I think part of that is because he is growing so quickly he's unsure of where his body is in space. But I am loving the way he puckers up, goes "mmmmm" and kisses me on the lips. So. Sweet!
James has SHAPE Mondays and Thursdays. He is staying up until about 3:30, when he then crashes for his nap. We are working on getting him to pedal his bike a bit longer each time. He is so good at saying and matching colours and shapes! He counts and is starting to say random letters.
His teacher is getting him to swing each day at school. This is huge because just the idea of sitting in a swing used to send James into a panic, with yelling, crying, and frantic attempts to escape. Each week, his teacher is bringing the swing up a bit. Right now, his toes touch the ground, and he uses this to push himself into some mild swinging. The ultimate goal is to not have his feet touch at all and enjoy some swinging.
We have started the CATs program and I feel very fortunate to have our student partner, who is very motivated, bright, and focused. We attended the monthly parenting class offered by James' preschool and the student had a great time observing James with his SHAPE and teaching assistants. The group was very welcoming of having a student observer and I feel how lucky we are to have such a great support team for James all over again!
We are going through growth spurts again. Before school, James was under 40" -- now he is over 40" and he's up another half shoe size. He is ticklish lately, and very playful and cuddly. I think part of that is because he is growing so quickly he's unsure of where his body is in space. But I am loving the way he puckers up, goes "mmmmm" and kisses me on the lips. So. Sweet!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Preferences
James has a mind of his own. Many times, he's an easy-going guy. But occasionally he wants a certain thing. A very certain thing and not what Mommy/Daddy wants. Look out! We are loving it, too.
Sometimes, James will go to his closet and point to a shirt and say "Dis one." Sometimes, Mommy gives him choices. If we have lots of time, choices of 3 for shirt, pants, and shoes (well, only 2 kinds of shoes, but still, I offer him a choice). If time is scarce, a choice of two on shirts and shoes. It's a great way for him to work on his colours and appreciate the power of spoken words.
Also? He has a much better dress sense at this age than his sister did. She goes for bizzarro. James has his favourites: orange shirt, orange striped shirt, and the green gecko short-sleeved shirts. He prefers the red, white, & blue striped long-sleeved shirts. He adores his striped blue polo shirt, but it's so nice I hesitate to send him to school in it -- they do a lot of finger paints - Yiiii!
His favourite things to watch are also clearly stated (hooray!!!): "I. want. George/Red/Bear/Green/'Side-down." Translation: Curious George, Shapes: Talking with Dog (in a red library VHS case), Baby Einstein: Baby Mozart (Bear on case cover), Baby Einstein: Baby Shakespeare (Green lizard on case cover), The Upside-down Show.
His favourite books: "I. want. din'saur/caps sayuh/shapes/fwog/li' kak/E'mo." Translation: Does a Donosaur Get Sick?, Caps for Sale, Book of Shapes, The Rainbow Frogs, Little Quack, Elmo's Book of Babies.
He is doing imaginative play with cars and airplanes right now. He still loves things that spin and spinning them. He is starting to ride a tricycle! He engages with us (and occasionally his schoolmates) for playing.
And his newest friend is WALL*E.
Go, James!!!
Sometimes, James will go to his closet and point to a shirt and say "Dis one." Sometimes, Mommy gives him choices. If we have lots of time, choices of 3 for shirt, pants, and shoes (well, only 2 kinds of shoes, but still, I offer him a choice). If time is scarce, a choice of two on shirts and shoes. It's a great way for him to work on his colours and appreciate the power of spoken words.
Also? He has a much better dress sense at this age than his sister did. She goes for bizzarro. James has his favourites: orange shirt, orange striped shirt, and the green gecko short-sleeved shirts. He prefers the red, white, & blue striped long-sleeved shirts. He adores his striped blue polo shirt, but it's so nice I hesitate to send him to school in it -- they do a lot of finger paints - Yiiii!
His favourite things to watch are also clearly stated (hooray!!!): "I. want. George/Red/Bear/Green/'Side-down." Translation: Curious George, Shapes: Talking with Dog (in a red library VHS case), Baby Einstein: Baby Mozart (Bear on case cover), Baby Einstein: Baby Shakespeare (Green lizard on case cover), The Upside-down Show.
His favourite books: "I. want. din'saur/caps sayuh/shapes/fwog/li' kak/E'mo." Translation: Does a Donosaur Get Sick?, Caps for Sale, Book of Shapes, The Rainbow Frogs, Little Quack, Elmo's Book of Babies.
He is doing imaginative play with cars and airplanes right now. He still loves things that spin and spinning them. He is starting to ride a tricycle! He engages with us (and occasionally his schoolmates) for playing.
And his newest friend is WALL*E.
Go, James!!!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Dining Out Challenge
Oh for the days when James just sat in a chair in a restaurant (few though they were).
One hot & feisty weekend afternoon I decided I was not going to cook dinner. So we brought my daughter's Summer Reading pizza coupon to the local Round Table and I packed a PB&J for James, who has decided he does not like pizza anymore.
My daughter had a ball eating her pizza prize. I am a big pizza fan. We could have spent a good 2 hours there, nibbling crunchy, cheesy goodness, enjoying the a/c, a different room, and our cold drinks. Oh, and making up silly songs. It's a family thang.
James went through his "sanwish" and was *done* with sitting on the seat. In desperation, I gave him my cell phone. He figured out how to set up speed dial (which I have yet to do) and added a new contact to my phone: @.-.!
Their phone number is 1-555-124-1155-555522####6*85##*#327#
When he started downloading ringtones, I had to wrassle him to get the phone back.
How do others cope with restless child syndrome? And sorry, mom & dad. I can guess now what my brother and I put you through l those many years ago!
One hot & feisty weekend afternoon I decided I was not going to cook dinner. So we brought my daughter's Summer Reading pizza coupon to the local Round Table and I packed a PB&J for James, who has decided he does not like pizza anymore.My daughter had a ball eating her pizza prize. I am a big pizza fan. We could have spent a good 2 hours there, nibbling crunchy, cheesy goodness, enjoying the a/c, a different room, and our cold drinks. Oh, and making up silly songs. It's a family thang.
James went through his "sanwish" and was *done* with sitting on the seat. In desperation, I gave him my cell phone. He figured out how to set up speed dial (which I have yet to do) and added a new contact to my phone: @.-.!
Their phone number is 1-555-124-1155-555522####6*85##*#327#
When he started downloading ringtones, I had to wrassle him to get the phone back.
How do others cope with restless child syndrome? And sorry, mom & dad. I can guess now what my brother and I put you through l those many years ago!
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
School, and a Rant
Wow, it didn't seem like there'd be a lot to do for school with James this year, but there was!
First day back was August 18th. Yikes!
Same school, room, and teacher. The new assistant for his classroom was his favourite SHAPE assistant from last year. Yay!!!
James is excited and engaged. Talking in phrases and sentences. Looking at peple and trying to talk with them. Doing some imaginative play and using the tricycle. Actually using the classroom swing for the First Time Ever. Starting on patty training Big Time. Awesome!
The school bus system, however is new. The school district brought that inhouse, to save costs. I know that there are going to be bugs in a new system, but the first day was so bad that I don't ever want to do it again.
First, the bus never showed up in the morning. At 9:00, I just threw in the figurative towel and drove him to school. I found out later that the bus had broken down and the bus arrived 2 HOURS late. Note that I found this out from James' teacher; the school's transportation people never bothered to call and tell me this, let alone apologise for the delay. Oh, and school is 3 hours long. Way to go.
Going home, the bus was a good 10 minutes late getting to the school. I know because I called his teacher at 12:25 to find out where he was. School lets out at noon, and we live *maybe* 10 minutes from the school. Last year the bus was never later than 12:15. I knew there were only 2 other local kids on that bus, and one of them lives down the street from us.
So I tried calling the bus coordinator. No answer. Left message to please call me because I want to know where my son is. I repeated this at least twice more. I guess they were out to lunch. In more ways than one. At 1:05 someone finally picked up the phone. She asked me to repeat myself ... someone was talking to her in the background and evidently it was more interesting than me. Then I was told no one knew where the bus was, and put on hold so she could call the driver. At 1:10 the bus pulls up *next door.* I am still on hold, so I hang up.
The bus driver could only shrug and tell me they were driving around all over. The wrong addresses were given and my son should have been first off the bus, not last. I said "Really, so you have been driving for an hour all over town?" (which, BTW, is small). He thinks for a minute and laughs and says "Yeah."
Un-friggin' believable.
So I canceled the bus service. I had to do it over via message machine because ... no one was answering the phone at this point. MUCH later in the afternoon, I got a call back saying they got my message. Would I want to try again next week? Not bloody likely. Oh.
Are these people for real? A busload of Special Needs kids, 2 of 3 who have trouble talking, goes missing for an hour and oh-that-shouldn't-have-happened-but-it's-the-first-week-you-know is the best they can do? I will never know what happened to my son on that bus. I am hoping that it was nothing except a lot of driving. But I will never know.
Oh, and if they know it's a new system and things happen in the first week, why did they just walk away during the homeward route and leave the transportation line unmanned? Especially considering their less than stellar performance that morning? If their lunch break is more important to them than getting my son home safely then I will never use their system again.
Has anyone else gone through something like this? I am not a panicky mom (worried and stressed, you bet, but call-the-cops-my-kid-is-missing, no) and I was on Red Alert.
Oh, and I am staying tuned on what SHAPE will look like for him this year. He only has 2 of 5 days a week covered. And he keeps wanting to take naps because that person can only come later in the afternoon. Then there is the CATS program to consider. Hopefully I should hear in a few weeks what that will look like.
I think I will schedule him for a class that I can take him to on either Friday mornings or a weekday afternoon. Sitting and waiting is not my forte.
First day back was August 18th. Yikes!
Same school, room, and teacher. The new assistant for his classroom was his favourite SHAPE assistant from last year. Yay!!!
James is excited and engaged. Talking in phrases and sentences. Looking at peple and trying to talk with them. Doing some imaginative play and using the tricycle. Actually using the classroom swing for the First Time Ever. Starting on patty training Big Time. Awesome!
The school bus system, however is new. The school district brought that inhouse, to save costs. I know that there are going to be bugs in a new system, but the first day was so bad that I don't ever want to do it again.
First, the bus never showed up in the morning. At 9:00, I just threw in the figurative towel and drove him to school. I found out later that the bus had broken down and the bus arrived 2 HOURS late. Note that I found this out from James' teacher; the school's transportation people never bothered to call and tell me this, let alone apologise for the delay. Oh, and school is 3 hours long. Way to go.
Going home, the bus was a good 10 minutes late getting to the school. I know because I called his teacher at 12:25 to find out where he was. School lets out at noon, and we live *maybe* 10 minutes from the school. Last year the bus was never later than 12:15. I knew there were only 2 other local kids on that bus, and one of them lives down the street from us.
So I tried calling the bus coordinator. No answer. Left message to please call me because I want to know where my son is. I repeated this at least twice more. I guess they were out to lunch. In more ways than one. At 1:05 someone finally picked up the phone. She asked me to repeat myself ... someone was talking to her in the background and evidently it was more interesting than me. Then I was told no one knew where the bus was, and put on hold so she could call the driver. At 1:10 the bus pulls up *next door.* I am still on hold, so I hang up.
The bus driver could only shrug and tell me they were driving around all over. The wrong addresses were given and my son should have been first off the bus, not last. I said "Really, so you have been driving for an hour all over town?" (which, BTW, is small). He thinks for a minute and laughs and says "Yeah."
Un-friggin' believable.
So I canceled the bus service. I had to do it over via message machine because ... no one was answering the phone at this point. MUCH later in the afternoon, I got a call back saying they got my message. Would I want to try again next week? Not bloody likely. Oh.
Are these people for real? A busload of Special Needs kids, 2 of 3 who have trouble talking, goes missing for an hour and oh-that-shouldn't-have-happened-but-it's-the-first-week-you-know is the best they can do? I will never know what happened to my son on that bus. I am hoping that it was nothing except a lot of driving. But I will never know.
Oh, and if they know it's a new system and things happen in the first week, why did they just walk away during the homeward route and leave the transportation line unmanned? Especially considering their less than stellar performance that morning? If their lunch break is more important to them than getting my son home safely then I will never use their system again.
Has anyone else gone through something like this? I am not a panicky mom (worried and stressed, you bet, but call-the-cops-my-kid-is-missing, no) and I was on Red Alert.
Oh, and I am staying tuned on what SHAPE will look like for him this year. He only has 2 of 5 days a week covered. And he keeps wanting to take naps because that person can only come later in the afternoon. Then there is the CATS program to consider. Hopefully I should hear in a few weeks what that will look like.
I think I will schedule him for a class that I can take him to on either Friday mornings or a weekday afternoon. Sitting and waiting is not my forte.
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