A Look Back & A Look Forward

I have a new cyber friend that sent me a request to post this list of questions, and I thought it was a neat idea, so here goes! (You can find a link to AutismCards' 360 page in my Friends list). I'll post my responses later. :)

"AutismCards" writes:

Here are a few questions to ponder about 2006. I got this idea from another site, but thought I would change some of the questions to make them more applicable to the "autism theme" of my blog. You can leave your answers here or copy & paste the questions with your answers to your own blog and post a link to it in the comment section. I'll have to think awhile to come up with my own answers, so I'll post them later!


1. Share a treasured memory from 2006 of something your child with autism did or said and why it was special to you.


2. What challenge or task did your child accomplish in the previous year that you thought you might never see?


3. What was one of the funniest things your child said or did in 2006.


4. Name one goal - small or large - that you would like for your child to achieve in 2007.


5. Who has made the biggest impact in your child's life in the past year & have you told them?

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Christmas was so nice!

Nathan did wonderfully with all of the relatives. Even with all of the late hours, hectic schedules, and extra visitors, he really pulled through great!

I was out shopping on the 23rd, since I couldn't get much done on the 22nd. I made it out the door at the crack of dawn, literally. I had a lot of luck in the first store I went to, so I was able to wind up my huge shopping list before 10 am! Yay! Fortunately for me, dh was able to watch Nathan for me, so I could shop at my own (lightening) pace. Thank goodness.

I had most of the food prepared for Saturday and Sunday, so that all we had to do was pop it in the oven for a reheat, and we were set to go. With some determination, I was able to make it possible for my in laws not to have to cook at all, or go out to a restaurant, the entire weekend! I even had a breakfast casserole for everybody for breakfast. (It was a brand new recipe for me, but I thought it turned out really yummy!) For Monday, all I had to worry about was the turkey, and that's not a lot of work. There was plenty of leftovers for lunches and snacks, too.

I had all of the gifts wrapped before running out the door to my sister's Blue Jean Christmas (which was a relief). That was a lot of fun. We arrived just in time for Nathan to jump out of the car and hop on the horse-drawn wagon ride. Cool. He did so well with it!! This is the first year he really enjoyed it! We dressed him warmly enough (we made that mistake one year, and he was a miserable, crying popsicle). But he got off that wagon all smiles! It was good to see.

He was good with his cousins, too, but the noise level was having its effect. By the time we were getting ready to head out, he was getting really wound up. The timing was good.

He calmed down quite a bit on the way to Grandma & Grandpa's house. He did pretty well with all of the Christmas Eve gift giving. Even though it ran past his bedtime. I was very proud of him!

Christmas morning was nice. He didn't get everything he wanted from Santa, but he didn't seem to mind. (Yikes, he didn't have a single thing on his wish list for under $100! He even asked for the Playstation 3 AND the Wii!! Since he got a lot of smaller things, he didn't even miss those. Poor Santa didn't have room on his sleigh, or in his wallet, for those goodies.) He was a pretty happy camper with what he did get, and never once mentioned the things that didn't wind up under the tree. I think he's just glad that he didn't get socks or underwear like mommy and daddy get, heh heh heh.

The entire holiday was very nice. It was peaceful, and pleasant, and full of family. I'm looking forward to ringing in the New Year tonight. 2006 was not a very good year for me, for our family. I'm very optimistic that 2007 will be better.

Happy New Year to you all! May 2007 be full of family, friends and joy. May your health be good, and your successes be many. God Bless!

Holiday Happenings

Yesterday was long. I got up early and went to breakfast with my co-workers. I had the day off, and so did Nathan, so I brought him with to go have a little Christmas cheer with my department. Nathan did pretty well! He was starting to get pretty hyper by the end of it, but that was really awfully good. With no meds, and all the stimulation that goes with a breakfast in a restaurant, I couldn't have expected things to go so well.

After breakfast, I dragged the poor little guy all over town, shopping. He wandered off every time I blinked, but he was in a really good mood through it all. Shopping took me about four times longer than it should have, with all of the retreats to go find him again, but at least he was pretty patient with it all.

Evening was another story. I can't blame him. He had been dragged out of bed before sunup, and then dragged though Power Christmas Shopping, before finally ending up with the family gathering to wish an uncle Happy Birthday. It was too much. He finally started to melt down. It was not a pretty sight.

We had planned on going to the Support Group's Christmas party, but there was no way I could bring him after that tantrum. The excitement of a party on top of everything would have been an invitation for an even bigger disaster. I know the group would have at least been understanding, but I just couldn't put Nathan through that. He needed a break.

This morning I was supposed to go back out shopping, but there was no way. Nathan is so excited, he is crackling with energy. I need to keep him calm for a while. (How do you do that, a couple days before Christmas??) Tomorrow the family starts to arrive. Yikes. I'll have to be sure to bring ear plugs, and see if I can give him some kind of break here and there.

There were a few surprises lately, though. One was the Christmas Party at his school. Wow, that was an eye opener. First I find out that he's been playing football during recess with some kids. How cool is that??? He is usually such a loner, that he would stand there off by himself. Now at least he is joining in (and scored a touchdown, to boot!) Excellent! Then I go to his party, and I watch him from the back of the room. He's off playing and socializing with some of the kids in his class! I've never seen that before! He didn't eat a bite of food, which is typical, but at least he was being friendly with some fellow classmates. That was HUGE. And in spite of the noise, and the excitement, he was fairly well controlled. He was dealing with the elevated stimulation pretty well. I'm not sure how they accomplished that. Even I could feel the excitement in the air, there. An average day at school is usually pushing him to his limits, so seeing him coping with the extremes was really neat. I was very proud of him.

This holiday season has me a bit worn out. I have been battling a flu for quite a while, where it never seems to hit full force, but drags me down. And with Nathan's tantrums getting harder to deal with (he hits HARD now, and I can't just pick him up and scoot him out of the room), I am feeling it. On the other hand, the melt downs are getting further apart, and his social skills are improving greatly! That gives me hope, and a boost to face the next challenge.

I'll be glad when the holiday season begins to wind down to a close. I love Christmas, but it sometimes feels like I'm walking a mine field with Nathan. I don't know if the stress is getting to me more than usual, or if the stress is just greater. At least I'm getting to do some cooking this season. I enjoy that, and it's been like therapy for me. It's fun to delve into a huge feast for a big group. I enjoy cooking when I have a lot of time to devote to it.

Well, I need to get back to wrapping. And cooking.

Doggie Cancer

After we got home from the Parent/Teacher Conference, we took the dog to the vet. He had some kind of infection, we thought. There was a sort of bubble or lump near his anus, and we thought we better take him in and have it lanced, or whatever it is they do.

Visiting the vet was a nightmare. The place was packed, and the dog was freaked out. Nathan was starting to go into sensory overload, and looked pale with dark rings under his eyes. They made us wait forever, first in the main waiting room, then again in the exam room. Dh and I were getting ticked, standing in that hot little room for so long. Finally the vet came in, and she was a real piece of work. She was angry when she walked in (probably because the place was so busy) and made no attempt to hide it. The dog was all freaked out, and was hard to control, which seemed to piss the vet off even further. She was trying to give him his annual shots, and she was throwing stuff across the counter as she did so. Dh and I were startled by her unprofessional behavior. Then she took him into the other room to do whatever it is they do for heartworm checks. As she left the exam room, she SLAMMED the door hard, loud like a gunshot. (Yeah, and that's all Nathan needs, with his sensory overload). Dh just looked at me and mouthed "What a bitch!" (out of Nathan's eyesight). I nodded my agreement.

When the vet came back in, she seemed nicer. I should have known that was not a good sign. She said she had a chance to examine Riley while she had him in the other room, and he has a tumor. It would have to be removed as soon as possible.

My heart just sank. No wonder she was suddenly being nice. I didn't expect this. I thought this would be a quick and simple thing to get the dog fixed up, and we would all go on our merry way. Now we're talking cancer, and surgery, and risk.

I'm not so sure dh was really registering the news. He said, "But he's okay, right?" The vet did not give him a direct answer. I was kind of hoping for some sort of disclaimer, like "oh, he'll be fine, just as soon as we remove this lump." We never got that. She just told him that he needed to have this removed, and that she recommended that we have it biopsied. Her lack of a positive statement made my heart sink further.

So we take him in for surgery the day after tomorrow (Wednesday). We would have tomorrow, but dh has to talk to work, and let them know he will be in late.

I just hope Riley will be okay.

RockfordAutism.com Revamped

This has been a tiring weekend. Yesterday we went out to dinner with dh's parents and aunt and uncle. Nathan was not on his best behavior. In fact, he hasn't been that bad in a long time. He kept mouthing off to us, and was rude and defiant. Finally dh got up and basically dragged him right out the door, after Nathan threatened (and tried) to flip over the dinner table. He refused to go outside, and tried to resist dh's attempt to escort him out, so he just pulled him right along, and I joined them and helped dh pull him out the door, with Nathan threatening to chop off our heads. It was embarassing, and depressing.

We stood outside with him for quite a while until he calmed down. After that, he was considerably better, but we were feeling like we had been dragged through the ringer. (We think hunger was making his mood worse, and we waited for over an hour to get served). Poor dh wrenched his back in the process of pulling Nathan out of the restaurant, and may have given himself a hernia. Yikes. He's worried that he'll end up spending Thanksgiving in the hospital. We're both hoping it's just pulled muscles.

Tonight we all went out again. Nathan started to act up a bit, but I threatened right off the bat to take him outside, and he sort of reined in a little. He doesn't like the scene any more than we do. He was not exactly good tonight, but he wasn't really all that bad either. He was so-so, I guess. He was really hyper, and kept bouncing all over the place. It was hard to get him to eat. He started to get mouthy, but he did keep that in check, which was at least an improvement over last night. I wonder why he is so out of control this weekend? He behaves pretty well at home, then gets so defiant when we're out. I don't know if it's a blood sugar thing, and he's ready to eat, or if it's an environmental thing, or what.

Oh, and I've changed colors on the site! I was trying to put the new logo on the Support Group's website, and the puzzle pattern on the state of Illinois just seemed to clash with the puzzle piece border I had at the top of the page. I didn't like the combination at all. So I tried some solid color puzzle borders that I found in pink and in blue, and I like the look of this much better. I think it's less blinding, lol. I used the same pink background on 360, and on the LJ, too. It's calmer, and it allows the logo to stand out. I think it makes the site look more sophisticated. At least I hope it does. It's cleaner, and easier to read, anyway. I had some problems using the puzzle piece buttons on the new site. The words just didn't show up on the small graphic. So I opted to do it manually, instead of using the navigational bars. I put the page info beside the graphic instead of on top of it. It took a lot longer, but I think the results were an improvement. I'm curious to see what the Support Group thinks. (If they don't like it, I can always switch back).

Your feedback on the new site is welcome!

www.rockfordautism.com

Honor Roll

Nathan had a really good morning! He got up without me telling him, got dressed without being told, and fixed his own breakfast. Normally I have to keep telling him to do things, but this morning he was a step ahead of me the whole morning. It was great!!

Then I pulled out his folder, and was taking out the papers that he was supposed to leave at home, and I find this certificate. It says that he's on the honor roll! WOW!!

I asked him about it, and he just smiled. Like he expected me to know all about it. Like it was no big deal really. Just the honor roll.

A Day Off!

Monday was so much fun!

I took the day off of work. There was no school on Monday, and I was reluctant to put Nathan in daycare for an entire day. (The last two times we did that, he never made it past 10:30). We had hoped for my in-laws to be able to watch him, but they had a funeral to attend out of town that weekend. I requested the time off of work and got it.

I wanted to go out and spend some time with Nathan. We don't get to do that very often anymore. So I suggested going to the movies. That's a rare treat for both of us. Figuring that most parents would welcome the opportunity to sleep in on a day off of work and school, I opted on the earliest showing of the movie, hoping to avoid the crowds. Nathan picked the Santa Clause 3 movie. The theater was empty! There was one group of four parents and four kids way up behind us, and a mother and child at the far end of our row, and that was it! I couldn't believe how vacant the place was.

On the drive to the theater, I felt Nathan grabbing at my jacket collar and hair (I think he was just trying to hold on to my seat for leverage), and asked him if he was buckled in. He said he was, and I expressed surprise that he was able to just lean forward and grab the seat like that. I told Nathan he was getting so big! Then I began to tease him, telling him he can't be be that big, he's just a baby. He always pretends to be super annoyed with that, insisting that he's not a baby, and I play along and wail about how it was just yesterday that I was carrying him on my shoulder and stuff. As much as he complains about my calling him a baby, he seems to get a big kick out of the game, and we both play it to the hilt. At one point, I was saying something like, "You can't grow up, you're just my little baby!" and Nathan grabbed the back of my seat, giving it a shake, and announced, "GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF, WOMAN!" I just burst out laughing. Geez, I had tears in my eyes, I was laughing so hard. Where does he get this stuff?

Nathan had a hard time getting moving in the morning, so we left a bit late. We arrived about ten minutes after the movie was supposed to start. Since another one started in less than a half hour, I suggested we go to that one, and kill some time getting munchies and hitting the arcade. That worked out quite well, since that way our time in the arcade was limited (and helped limit the spending). Nathan had the entire arcade to himself! The driving games drew him like a magnet, and they had a bunch of them. He was getting hungry so we hit the lobby. I couldn't believe what they charge for a bag of popcorn and a couple soft drinks. Ouch. But what the heck. It's not like we do this often. We splurged.

The movie was cute. I was curious to see the new character that Martin Short played, and enjoyed him a great deal. They looked like they must have had a blast making that movie. There were some scenes that the kids really went nuts over, particularly one scene where the reindeer are passing gas, and snickering about it, and other scene where Santa's pants catch on fire. Nathan was just in a fit of giggles.

On the way home, we entertained ourselves singing Christmas carols, and got very silly. It was a great time. Later, we went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, and a bunch of other relatives, including a couple of young kids. To my great surprise, Nathan played extremely well with the two boys, and even shared his video games with them. I was very proud of him.

It was such a nice day!