Today was fun. We all went to the splash pad together. Judah's aide was pretty shocked at how social Judah was. She had been out with him before but never with Judah's siblings there & at a super fun place that Judah loves. Judah & Sebastian ran circles around the splash pad. They were so active that we didn't even have to tell them it was time to go after we had been there nearly 2 hours. Sebastian REQUESTED to go. And the other 2 weren't objecting by any means.
Willow was continually frustrated with her one piece swimming suit. She doesn't seem to understand that it is not a shirt. She wanted "pants" on after I put it on her. She refused to take off her shorts at the splash pad when I asked her if she wanted to. She sees her brothers shirtless when they are outside playing in the water, so most of the time she just takes her shirt off too & joins them. But a one-piece swimsuit is damn near impossible for a 2 year old to get off on her own. She gets so frustrated. I don't know why I put her through that in public, it's silly really.
Judah found a group of kids his age to run in circles with & Sebastian did the same. Sebastian's new friends were excited that Sebastian had a water squirter and they wanted to be squirted! Sebastian spent a long time chasing them, squirting them, smiling & laughing every minute of it. I took some pictures of Judah & his friends all sitting on a park bench. They would ask him to join them in their chasing games. One kid asked him to hold his hand - and they ran in circles around the splash pad, hand in hand! Judah's aide was right by his side as much as she could be. She said the only time there was really any kind of an issue was when another kid wanted to stop playing & Judah didn't understand that & he kept chasing him. She told me a couple of times that she has NEVER seen a kid with autism be that social. She's seen autism her entire life - her sibling is autistic. She was pretty shell-shocked. I think she was sticking by him thinking that there were likely going to be some kind of problems - but there was only one small issue the 2 hours we were there, and it was nothing most kids wouldn't do. I think most kids would have many more problems in that time frame & situation, but Judah is friendly, positive & very empathetic. Most of the time we were there, Judah was playing with his new friends. At one point he collided into a little girl about his size. Her parents quickly snatched her up. She was crying. Judah walked over to the parents & looked up at her. He was concerned. His aide & I told him, "Judah, can you apologize?" But we were completely unnecessary beings in that situation. The parents were ignoring us & Judah's empathy for that little girl was clearly all he could focus on. The little girl was finally put back down on the ground. Judah quickly approached her, looked at her face closely, then hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He stood there a bit more, looking at her face closely to make sure she was okay. Suddenly the parents stopped ignoring us. People make assumptions about special needs kids - but when you see things like that you get to see who they really are. He's a very loving kid. Would most 4 year old boys you know do what he did? Would any of them be that concerned? He was blessed with a huge heart.
Willow was a little pissed that her brothers suddenly had new friends & that they were playing chasing games without her. Eventually she got a hold of a squirter though. Then she was smiling. ;) All 3 of the kids figured out how to use those pretty easily when we first got them - they all enjoy them! All 3 of them log-rolled down a hill together today, many times. Judah had to start with his head on top of Sebastian every time for some reason. Judah laughed so hard when Sebastian would crash into him or roll over him. The aide got a bit worried until she realized that Judah truly was enjoying being squashed by his older brother.
Willow got water in her eye many times. That was the only thing she told Daddy about today's splash pad experience. She gets things in her eye all day long - "Pixie bite my eye!" - "Judah hit my eye!"- Today I was putting sunscreen on her face and she kept telling me, "Don't get it in my eye!!!"
Judah had a pretty amazing day. I was saying something regarding Judah to Sebastian while Judah was standing in front of me. I can't remember what I was saying, but I looked over to see Judah looking at me, as if he completely understood what I was talking about.. and he was listening.. he kept looking at me until I stopped talking. At dinner he made very serious eye contact with everyone, as he put his face close to mine, made some noises that reminded me of a space ship, and then moved on to the next person, doing the same thing to Sebastian, Willow & Daddy. He kept looking at me saying, "Mommy" while we were eating. I just know in my heart that he had something to tell me but he wasn't able to get it out. I had just told him to tell Daddy about how he chased his friends at the splash pad, etc. I was using short, simple sentences. I'm certain he understood what I was saying. He tried to add to the story, but couldn't get the words out. That's when he started saying, "Mommy" & looking over at me. Scott & I kept talking to him as if we were all having a conversation.. which we were, in a way. But it breaks my heart not to know if he is frustrated or if he likes how things are or if he has just given up. It breaks my heart not to know what he is thinking. It breaks my heart that he wants us to know him so badly & we want to know more about him, after 4 years we should know so much more.. and that we don't know what his questions are.. and his concerns. Today he was right there with us. He just isn't able to communicate verbally - and it's not his fault by any means, that's what makes it so unbearable at times. It's just unfair, it's so unfair.
No snake sightings today. I talked Scott out of sending an exterminator out to charge us $85 whether he found the snake or not. It's very likely a garter snake. From what I'm reading and hearing from others, garter snakes are apparently harmless unless you just really piss them off. We are right by the kids when we are outside & they aren't allowed near the garden right now. Mostly we are just worried that Willow or Judah might pick it up, because it very likely wouldn't scare either one of them at all.. it would more likely intrigue them. Sebastian knows not to mess with it & he'll come running to find us if he sees it, so we're not really worried about him. But with the 2 little ones we think it's best to remove it when it becomes possible. It's likely eating the slugs in the garden - helping more than hurting. I saw a few more holes in the garden dirt today - each one had an opening about the size of a quarter. We're wondering if those are snake holes.. I'm thinking there may be more than one snake out there, but I'm not sharing my thoughts on that with Scott. The snake went through a vent on the house last night. The vent it chose connects to the fan on our stove. So we had the fan on for a long time. I had the stove on at 425 degrees - getting ready to bake French fries. The snake may very well be dead in that vent tunnel. Scott put a large glass dish on top of the stove piece that would be the only place he thought the snake might be able to come out. We use a casserole dish to protect our home from snakes...
I made the kids smoothies tonight to use up all of our fruit, yogurt & spinach that was soon to go bad. I HATE throwing food away. After throwing so much food away yesterday - TWO PLASTIC GROCERY BAGS FULL - I felt it very necessary to go through the fridge and collect everything that was going to expire soon. I grouped it all together & have been working diligently to feed this food to all of the mouths that come through our home, well except the snake.
Judah was in underwear while he was home today. We were out for 2 hours - he had a swim diaper on at that time. He had no accidents in his underwear. While playing outside he started doing his potty dance. I asked him if he needed to potty. "Nope!" he said. Then the dance got faster and I nudged him inside. Once in the door he RAN to the bathroom. After we got home from the splash pad I saw him dancing again.. this time it was the poop dance, more of a rocking motion while holding the bottom of his belly. I got him in a diaper & he pooped in less than 7 minutes. Huge poop - the aide cleaned him up.
Judah only had his first milk.
He also missed his coconut butter (couldn't melt it due to no microwave & stove laziness)
He missed 1 tsp molasses that would have been in 2nd milk.
Also missed nebulizer & folinic acid. I left message for Dr. Green requesting refills - he should be back in town by now.
Willow was continually frustrated with her one piece swimming suit. She doesn't seem to understand that it is not a shirt. She wanted "pants" on after I put it on her. She refused to take off her shorts at the splash pad when I asked her if she wanted to. She sees her brothers shirtless when they are outside playing in the water, so most of the time she just takes her shirt off too & joins them. But a one-piece swimsuit is damn near impossible for a 2 year old to get off on her own. She gets so frustrated. I don't know why I put her through that in public, it's silly really.
Judah found a group of kids his age to run in circles with & Sebastian did the same. Sebastian's new friends were excited that Sebastian had a water squirter and they wanted to be squirted! Sebastian spent a long time chasing them, squirting them, smiling & laughing every minute of it. I took some pictures of Judah & his friends all sitting on a park bench. They would ask him to join them in their chasing games. One kid asked him to hold his hand - and they ran in circles around the splash pad, hand in hand! Judah's aide was right by his side as much as she could be. She said the only time there was really any kind of an issue was when another kid wanted to stop playing & Judah didn't understand that & he kept chasing him. She told me a couple of times that she has NEVER seen a kid with autism be that social. She's seen autism her entire life - her sibling is autistic. She was pretty shell-shocked. I think she was sticking by him thinking that there were likely going to be some kind of problems - but there was only one small issue the 2 hours we were there, and it was nothing most kids wouldn't do. I think most kids would have many more problems in that time frame & situation, but Judah is friendly, positive & very empathetic. Most of the time we were there, Judah was playing with his new friends. At one point he collided into a little girl about his size. Her parents quickly snatched her up. She was crying. Judah walked over to the parents & looked up at her. He was concerned. His aide & I told him, "Judah, can you apologize?" But we were completely unnecessary beings in that situation. The parents were ignoring us & Judah's empathy for that little girl was clearly all he could focus on. The little girl was finally put back down on the ground. Judah quickly approached her, looked at her face closely, then hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He stood there a bit more, looking at her face closely to make sure she was okay. Suddenly the parents stopped ignoring us. People make assumptions about special needs kids - but when you see things like that you get to see who they really are. He's a very loving kid. Would most 4 year old boys you know do what he did? Would any of them be that concerned? He was blessed with a huge heart.
Willow was a little pissed that her brothers suddenly had new friends & that they were playing chasing games without her. Eventually she got a hold of a squirter though. Then she was smiling. ;) All 3 of the kids figured out how to use those pretty easily when we first got them - they all enjoy them! All 3 of them log-rolled down a hill together today, many times. Judah had to start with his head on top of Sebastian every time for some reason. Judah laughed so hard when Sebastian would crash into him or roll over him. The aide got a bit worried until she realized that Judah truly was enjoying being squashed by his older brother.
Willow got water in her eye many times. That was the only thing she told Daddy about today's splash pad experience. She gets things in her eye all day long - "Pixie bite my eye!" - "Judah hit my eye!"- Today I was putting sunscreen on her face and she kept telling me, "Don't get it in my eye!!!"
Judah had a pretty amazing day. I was saying something regarding Judah to Sebastian while Judah was standing in front of me. I can't remember what I was saying, but I looked over to see Judah looking at me, as if he completely understood what I was talking about.. and he was listening.. he kept looking at me until I stopped talking. At dinner he made very serious eye contact with everyone, as he put his face close to mine, made some noises that reminded me of a space ship, and then moved on to the next person, doing the same thing to Sebastian, Willow & Daddy. He kept looking at me saying, "Mommy" while we were eating. I just know in my heart that he had something to tell me but he wasn't able to get it out. I had just told him to tell Daddy about how he chased his friends at the splash pad, etc. I was using short, simple sentences. I'm certain he understood what I was saying. He tried to add to the story, but couldn't get the words out. That's when he started saying, "Mommy" & looking over at me. Scott & I kept talking to him as if we were all having a conversation.. which we were, in a way. But it breaks my heart not to know if he is frustrated or if he likes how things are or if he has just given up. It breaks my heart not to know what he is thinking. It breaks my heart that he wants us to know him so badly & we want to know more about him, after 4 years we should know so much more.. and that we don't know what his questions are.. and his concerns. Today he was right there with us. He just isn't able to communicate verbally - and it's not his fault by any means, that's what makes it so unbearable at times. It's just unfair, it's so unfair.
No snake sightings today. I talked Scott out of sending an exterminator out to charge us $85 whether he found the snake or not. It's very likely a garter snake. From what I'm reading and hearing from others, garter snakes are apparently harmless unless you just really piss them off. We are right by the kids when we are outside & they aren't allowed near the garden right now. Mostly we are just worried that Willow or Judah might pick it up, because it very likely wouldn't scare either one of them at all.. it would more likely intrigue them. Sebastian knows not to mess with it & he'll come running to find us if he sees it, so we're not really worried about him. But with the 2 little ones we think it's best to remove it when it becomes possible. It's likely eating the slugs in the garden - helping more than hurting. I saw a few more holes in the garden dirt today - each one had an opening about the size of a quarter. We're wondering if those are snake holes.. I'm thinking there may be more than one snake out there, but I'm not sharing my thoughts on that with Scott. The snake went through a vent on the house last night. The vent it chose connects to the fan on our stove. So we had the fan on for a long time. I had the stove on at 425 degrees - getting ready to bake French fries. The snake may very well be dead in that vent tunnel. Scott put a large glass dish on top of the stove piece that would be the only place he thought the snake might be able to come out. We use a casserole dish to protect our home from snakes...
I made the kids smoothies tonight to use up all of our fruit, yogurt & spinach that was soon to go bad. I HATE throwing food away. After throwing so much food away yesterday - TWO PLASTIC GROCERY BAGS FULL - I felt it very necessary to go through the fridge and collect everything that was going to expire soon. I grouped it all together & have been working diligently to feed this food to all of the mouths that come through our home, well except the snake.
Judah was in underwear while he was home today. We were out for 2 hours - he had a swim diaper on at that time. He had no accidents in his underwear. While playing outside he started doing his potty dance. I asked him if he needed to potty. "Nope!" he said. Then the dance got faster and I nudged him inside. Once in the door he RAN to the bathroom. After we got home from the splash pad I saw him dancing again.. this time it was the poop dance, more of a rocking motion while holding the bottom of his belly. I got him in a diaper & he pooped in less than 7 minutes. Huge poop - the aide cleaned him up.
Judah only had his first milk.
He also missed his coconut butter (couldn't melt it due to no microwave & stove laziness)
He missed 1 tsp molasses that would have been in 2nd milk.
Also missed nebulizer & folinic acid. I left message for Dr. Green requesting refills - he should be back in town by now.
No comments:
Post a Comment