Fundraising With the Monkey

We are still trying to raise money to help keep the CATS Program going. Tonight was a fundraiser at a local business, the Funky Monkey. We met up with some other families and enjoyed pizza, chicken strips, and socializing. We chewed the fat on therapists, IEPs, and plans for the coming school year. At one point, all the kids were in the birthday room, watching SpongeBob Square Pants.

Of course, there are also games, with tokens. James just focused on mastering the sentence "I want more mo-nies, pease." A couple of times I prompted him to say tokens, but the boy knows that monies is monies, pure and simple.

James actually did play for a bit with myself, his sister, and watch a couple of other kids at play. But his real fascination is:

Oh. Yeah!

Magic Marker Monday: Poolside Notes

Even though it's really Tuesday right now, I'd like to share with you some of the drawings James did recently while waiting for his sister to finish her swim lesson.

It's tough to keep Jame occupied around a pool, without letting him get wet in the water. Even though he loves to playy in the water, he can't sit still and take instruction for a regular group session. So while his sister can take the plunge in the morning, he need to be occupied on dry land.

This year I brought along a cheap, spiral notebook and a pen. This was to protect the class login binder from James more than anything else. Imagine the happy shock I felt when he actually stayed at the table, paging through the notebook and solemnly scribbling on each page.

Then I was able to sit down with him, re-arrange his grip on the pen, and help him draw some circles. After a few of those, I guided his hand to draw in eyes. Then James said "Need a nose!" and he drew it! Then he decided to add hair, a shirt, arms, legs, and a toe. I guided him with my hand over his, but he knew what he wanted to do:

Then we turned to another scribbled page, and he asked to help him draw Goofy, so we did, talking about the features as we added them. Than he asked for Mickey ... but then his patience gave out and he wriggled away. Still, I was impressed. This was practically a conversation for him. And I suspect he had fun and enjoyed us working together while his attention was on the project.

(Apologies to the Disney Toon Family)

Visit 5 Minutes for Special Needs for more Magic Marker Monday.


  

SOOC: Wishes, Birthday & Others

First, Happy 55th birthday to Disneyland -- a place that really understands wishes ...


... bright colours & fun ...



... and how to treat kids with special needs like every other special and loved child who comes through their gates:



I've loved it before my first visit in '77. James' big sister had her first visit when she was 18 months old and we were expecting him. James' father had many childhood visits, and shares a birthday with the Haunted Mansion. James' first trip where he could see everything was when he was 6 months old. He was such a cutie that I came off a ride with my daughter and found a crowd of picture-snapping tourists around him. My husband said he thought it was a group from China.



I have found that one either gets the Disneyland warm fuzzies or ... they don't. I'm in the first group. Add to that:

• Watching my kids grow up, meeting family and friends, smiling wonderful smiles.
• Being in a place where I am temporarily trade in wishes for effective IEPs, helpful services for James, and hopes for a verbal son who isn't stigmatized for wishes to share good memories, rides and laughter with those I love.
• Remembering my still largely non-verbal son saying an unexpected early sentence from the back of the van "We're going to Dis-nee-lan' -- Yayyyyyy!!" as we headed to the parks.
• Watching the characters interact patiently with the small cute boy who doesn't seem to respond to their greetings and social questions, but who afterward treasures the memories they helped create.

And yeah, Disneyland is a magic place to me. I really like these photos, which are hardly Kodak-worthy, but capture for me the feeling of what it was really like to be there with the kids:




James' ability to tolerate certain rides fluctuates, but his big loves remain constant: Mickey Mouse and ... the Small World ride:





So thank you, Disneyland -- for being a great place to visit and to feel like we have more in common with other parents and families than not. Thanks for understanding the kinds of wishes children and grownups have, and helping them come true.

The Slurping Life is taking a trip down Memory Lane too. Visit Melody and check out SOOC Saturday/Sunday entries past & present. No cropping or fixing -- it's life, straight out of the camera.





  

Saved By Summer Camp

I love James .... BUT ... having to watch him almost constantly while he is in the house and I am trying to get things done? Oh my. We have yelling, frustration, and sky-high blood pressure. Not all the time, mind you, but he has the uncanny knack of unspooling cassette tapes, stuffing toilet paper in the toilet, and teasing his sister into fits of yelling when I need to finish an email, phone call, or a thought.

Right now he also has a DVD fixation, and will push chairs into position so he can climb high to get to all the DVDs and their boxes. Then he'll carry them to the sofa and take everything out, mess them up, and spin the DVDs on his finger or in their cases. Then he'll go get his blankets. Arrange everything Just So. Then dump them all on the floor so he can go get his Ring Toss Game. Lather, rinse, repeat. We have a fine mess at the end. Which he cleans up, but I have to be Right There, guiding him through every step. Over, and over, and over ..... AUGH!

We have a six-week gap between the end of summer school and the beginning of (choke) Kindergarten. In the past, we're been able to use some Regional Center-funded respite hours at the speech therapist's, or for physical therapy sessions. Win, win, win, win, IMO. But, funding cuts and crises ... it's a big no-can-do currently. Add to this more anxiety on my behalf that James needs an extra boost before starting Kindergarten this fall in a mainstream class and you get a very angst-y Mom under pressure. Cooking.

Enter Summer Camp for preschoolers. It's run by the city's Parks & Rec department, so it's local and we're not spending time on the under construction roads, burning gas and fraying tempers. The costs are eminently reasonable, so we can actually afford to pay for the sessions (while supporting local jobs). This is the third year that James has attended the summer camps for preschoolers, so everyone is pretty familiar with each other.

Three mornings a week, James is occupied indoors and out with toys, games, crafts, and activities with his peers and caring adults. I get to spend some quality time with my daughter. We both get some peace and quiet hours. I can actually string more than half a thought together and Get Things Done. Priceless.

Bonus: once again, his language skills are taking a huge jump forward. Even though he is not happy about having to go to Summer Camp (this is the first time he's told me he doesn't want to go), once there he runs into the midst of things and, I am told, has a great morning, participating in all activities.

He has taken up an interest in dinosaurs and plays dinosaur pretend games now. He's painted pictures at an easel. He's been listening to stories. He has the chance to run around and play with other kids. The interest in DVDs is starting to slack off a tad. I now hear him say things like "I already did that" and "Mommy, can I ha' some 'ater?" He's getting into writing and drawing more.

Thank you, Summer Camp! If your dinosaur session is this great, I can hardly wait until the water play one. Oh, and I love the glitter action:

Parade

The kids found something new to play this week: Parade! I remember doing this with my brother. Singing, making music with instruments of all sorts. Sometimes bringing along our dolls and stuffed animals.

James' big sister led the way with her princess wand and musical feather. James followed enthusiastically with his yellow feather/horn. At their grandparents' house, they had actual play trumpets. They seemed just as happy with the feathers.

Cheers, kids! I kind of like this shot best: you can see several holidays' worth of decorations on top of the piano. So handy for things like that.

Magic Marker Monday: Digging the Pad

I am always looking for new things that can engage James in creative ways. Sometimes I forget how satisfying a really big pad of paper on the ground can be. With crayons and pencils (of which we have dozens).

James carefully got out the pad and neatly extracted the crayons from their box. I think he just loved having all that paper to flip and decorate at once. Big drawing pads are fabulous:

We had circles, lines, and outlines of James' hand. He got excited and did shorter lines with dots. He called out colours and shapes. I noticed he drew using his right hand, then changed over to his left:

Further proof that getting there is half the fun. He also got a kick out of putting everything carefully away. This is new. I like it!

Visit 5 Minutes for Special Needs for more Magic Marker Monday.

  

SOOC Saturday: Lenses

I forget which setting I was trying out on my "new" point & shoot. I was curious to see what it did. James at the playground was fair game:

You know, I remember when he was afraid to go on that thing, let alone ride it. The unpredictable, wobbly motion was just too much for him, as much as he wanted to play with his big sister on them. I've been cleaning house a bit lately and trying to let go of seeing the kids and life in my back-in-the-past mommy lens. It's a hard, hard thing. Especially when I keep taking pics like these:

... and:

If I tell myself it's really about art and experimenting with my camera settings, it's a step in the right direction, yes?

The Slurping Life is all about life and love. Visit Melody and check out SOOC Saturday/Sunday entries past & present. No cropping or fixing -- it's life, straight out of the camera.