Tree and the Store

K.C. and I went shopping yesterday. I have been taking him almost everywhere I go. College Boy has taken him to the store twice, along with Big Brother. The only catch is. K.C. will not ride in any car other than our car no matter what. Still, it was a huge step for K.C. to go with a different driver, Big Brother was encouraging him to come along to the store the whole time. It's funny cause Big Brother's encouraging sounded like he was calling a puppy to the car, "Come on, come on K.C. , get in, come on!" It was too cute and it worked! College Boy was all smiles. There is just something about College Boy (maybe it's his age and fun attitude) that the boys love.
Back to our day (K.C. and I) of shopping yesterday. I helped K.C. peel the photo of "shopping' from his chart and off we went. He held onto the photo in the car, I glanced at him and seen him look at the photo quite a few times. I know it's clicking, he looks at the photo of "shopping" and some of the worried look disappears. When we arrived at the store, I helped him unfasten his belts and off we went. As soon as we were about to go through the doors, well as soon as we stepped down the doors slid open. K.C. then tried to pull the doors shut. He couldn't because everytime he stepped or moved away the door would either open or close and it made him panic. He dropped to the ground and screamed. I pulled him to his feet and said "walk" a few times and we did, just not inside the the store yet. We walked around outside, K.C. still crying, trying to see the door that I got him away from. We walked about ten minutes. He then pulled me in the direction of the door and I knew he was ready to go in. I walked him quickly past the door and got out of the doors view once inside. He did stop crying. What a relief, I was worried. I thought "oh, no, we have worked so hard, please let this be a one time thing." Once inside he looked all around and noticed a very big Christmas tree display. He pulled me toward the tree (yep he didn't bolt from me to get to the tree) as we got near the tree I let his hand go and he stared at it for about 5 minutes. K.C. hasn't seen Christmas trees. It's really been just this year that I have been able to take him to different stores other than the dollar store. So the tree was really the very first time he has seen one, (other than t.v.) It was pretty and I told him, "oh pretty tree." He looked perplexed! We then moved on and as I picked up what we needed I handed it to him and he "put in" the cart. It has to land in the cart laying flat or he'll keep reaching over into the cart to straighten it. It can drive him batty if it doesn't land in that cart flat. I bet I had the most organized cart in the store. We got to the candy section (wasn't buying candy but soda on the opposite side of the candy) and K.C. stood with his back to the candy looking out of the corner of his eyes. It was strange, it looked like he was trying to hide from someone. I took his hand to move him along and he wouldn't budge. So I waited about two minutes and he started walking again. I should have kept him moving along. We finished up, waited in line and I kept him close so he wouldn't touch the person in front of me. He did very well! Never touched the candy next to us, (I am never going to pick up candy when I am in line with K.C.) that would be horrible if he thought he was going to get candy everytime we waited in line.) He does like Skittles though!
He did a super job! I am so proud of him! He's learning to go shopping and each time I take him he does better and better! It's a huge relief!



This is a photo of Big Brother having his afternoon soup. When he gets home from school and changes out of his uniform he must have his soup!

K.C. and the candy section.

My toothless boy, gosh this kids teeth are falling out so fast!

Hands/Holidays

We have been working on using the spoon with K.C. His OT is trying , trying very hard to get him to use the spoon and we are doing the same at home. He has a hard time using the spoon, gripping, scooping and trying to bring the food to his mouth has been a real challenge for K.C. He appears to be a lefty on some days and a righty on others. Big Brother can use either hand just like his Daddy and I am not sure just yet if K.C. is the same way. He really get's frustrated with the spoon but he's trying very hard. He likes to eat dry crunchy food.
Big Brother has been invited to a Christmas Party! His school teacher invited him to a Christmas Eve party at her home with her family. We are a Jewish family I reminded Big Brother again, but he really, really, wants to go so I agreed. He's very excited and asked me if we could go to the library to check books out on Christmas. His exact words were, "I don't want to go a Christmas party and know nothing about Christmas, I don't have much time to learn, we have to hurry!" It was very hard for me to come to this decision about Christmas. His teacher agreed it would be just fun. She has two sons and a daughter:) So I really need some ideas about Christmas. Food, traditions, what he should wear, anything you guys can tell me about Christmas please pass it on. Thanks!

Grocery Shopping With K.C.

K.C. and I went to the supermarket today. I have been trying to take him with me more and more using pictures as we go along. As we got out of the car, I noticed another Mommy with her daughter, the little girl was about 6 years old. The Mother sounded very upset with the little girl. Apparently the mother didn't want her walking and wanted her to sit in the shopping cart. The little girl screamed and started to stomp off away from the mother. Wow that mother was really p.o.'d at the little girl. She yelled at the daughter to, "come back right now!" I overheard the Mommy say to the little girl, "do you see that little boy walking?" "Why can't you walk nicely like him?" She was talking about K.C. , my little boy! I felt very proud and then remembered how hard we have worked to get to this point, just to go shopping, it's paying off ! K.C. walked alongside the cart, the trick to shopping with him is to get what you need and keep moving. Don't stop to look too long or he'll start lining up whatever he can find. I asked him to "put in cart" each thing that we bought. I handed what we needed and he dropped it in. When he does go to reach for something I haven't handed him, I tell him, "no." If I didn't he'd be lining everything up! This time when he reached for a can, I said, "no." He paused as if it clicked for that second and we walked on. He understands, "no," I am sure of it. Just as we were about to finish up I handed him his photo of Funyuns and walked to the snack section. I let him find the Funyuns and let him pick these up. I am wondering if Funyuns could be a stim food? Does anyone know? He loves them and could eat a whole big bag in two days if I let him. Waiting in line is the hardest part for K.C. He tends to walk back and forth quickly, makes noises and will touch who ever is in front of us. Today he touched a woman's button on the back of her jeans. She turned around a smiled at K.C. I am going to have to keep him very close to me when we are in line from now on. He did a great job today!

Everyone have a safe and wonderful thanksgiving!

Imitating

Big Brother watches a cartoon called, "Xiaolin Showdown." K.C. is usually wandering about when the cartoon is on. Yesterday I had figured something out! K.C. makes a lot of noises, some are hard to describe, but there is one noise he makes that sounds like he may have actually heard but I could never figure out what it was. He does the noise alot during the day and it goes like this, "AHHHHHHH." He starts the noise early in the morning and it goes on throughout the day. Well when Big Brother was watching his cartoon, (the opening theme song) I stopped in my tracks because the noise K.C. has been making was from that cartoon! There is a scene in the cartoon where they are "about to battle" as Big Brother says and just before it happens you can here an, AHHHHHH! All along that noise meant something to K.C. So, I went to YouTube and found it and played it just to be sure and sure enough, K.C. waited for the AHHHHH as the little characters battled in mid air. He was smiling the whole time and for the rest of the day and including very early this morning we heard AHHHHHH many many many times! Now we need to figure out how to turn the AHHHHHH into some words! Mahhhh Mahhhhh would be nice!

Leaning Forward / Be Thankful

The Boys (College Boy included) and I went for our weekend walk to the park. Since K.C. has been sick we actually drove there then walked the park. He's looking much better today! College Boy took note of how K.C. walks. He doesn't walk like any of the other kids at the park. He walks a bit hunched over, almost like he's leaning forward. His walk is definitely different than the other kiddos.
We fed the ducks today, one goose looked mighty big, so big in fact it scared me. Big Brother loves to climb and K.C. went down the slide a lot. He had trouble using the stairs to come down and slipped on the top stair, fell and scraped his back. He's o.k., just a scrape.



Be thankful

Be thankful you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward too? Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn. Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow. Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement. Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character. Be thankful for your mistakes, they will teach you valuable lessons . Be thankful when your tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference. It's easy to be thankful for the good things, a life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks. Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, they can become your blessings.

Update on the Sickies

I tried giving the antibiotics (Pen VK) that K.C.'s pediatrician wrote for him but he just couldn't take it. It made him throw up each time he took it. I called the doctor's answering service and asked them to have the doctor call me back and she did about 20 minutes later. She said I should take him to Urgent Care but I begged her to send something out in PILL FORM because it wasn't the penicillin making him sick, it was the texture, I was sure of it. K.C. will take any pill with no problem, even two pills at once. Even Flax he takes and those pills are huge. So she agreed to send him out pills, thank God, I didn't want to take him to Urgent Care, he would have been miserable. College Boy watched K.C. so that I could go get his prescription, K.C. was asleep when I got home. He's taking the pills very well but isn't better yet. I hate that he has to miss even one day of school, he needs every bit of school that he can get.
Big Brother is doing well, he just asked me if we could go for a walk today. It's been in the upper 80's here but cooling off at night.
College Boy has been a real blessing, the boys just love him and he has helped me so much. Thank you College Boy.

K.C. sick again :(

Sick again. Last night I heard K.C. shivering in his sleep so I covered him with another blanket thinking he must have been freezing. I didn't check if he had a fever because he went to sleep well (or it seemed he was well.)
This morning I noticed his ear super red and felt him and he was very hot. I took his temperature and it was 103. Peeled the blankets off and took his p.j.'s off and headed to the tub for a cool bath.
He was miserable. I phoned the doctor and was able to get a 9:30 appointment. I am always amazed at some of the nurses in the office. There are two new nurses. The nurse who weighed K.C. (who tried to) seemed to get annoyed when K.C. couldn't understand, "get on the scale, now be still." I told her he didn't understand and that he was miserable and weighed about 62 pounds. We walked to the small room and the nurse took his temperature, it was still high and asked him to open his mouth but he didn't understand. The doctor came in and did a rapid strep and it was positive and to top it off he has a ear infection. His ear was so red on the outside. Poor little guy, what a tough time. It's so hard when they are sick and can't tell us what hurts.

Trip To The Dentist

K.C. had a Dentist appointment today at 9 a.m. As much as I tried to prepare him for it (with pictures) he was NOT a camper. He did o.k. in the waiting room but once we got in the exam room he lost it totally. We couldn't get any x rays and the Dentist was only able to look in his mouth with a little mirror very quickly with two people holding his feet and arms. He has two small cavitites and needs a cleaning badly. Doesn't surprise me a bit cause he'll struggle the whole time I try to brush his teeth. We are going back on January 2nd to have his teeth filled/cleaned. Can you believe it takes that long? The Dentist said she would have to have him knocked completely to get the work finished.

K.C.'s teacher says he loves the computer at school. She is using the Reader Rabbit Toddler program to try and teach him to use the mouse. The good thing about this program is that you don't have to click and drag, you can strike any key on the keyboard and it will work!

Big Brother is doing great in school and is reading SuperFudge by Judy Blume. He is half way through the book and is glued to it! He read some parts out loud last night and it's a funny book. It's mostly about a Big Brother who has a pesky little brother name "Fudge."

A Walk To The Park

I took the boys for a walk today to the park. K.C. did not want to go at all but Big Brother wanted to go for a walk, so, off we went. K.C. fussed quite a bit and Big Brother said, "maybe we should take him home cause he's sad." I could tell Big Brother really wanted to stay at the park even though he said nothing. I told Big Brother we would walk a bit more and hopefully K.C. will pull himself together and he did after about 40 minutes. He sat and drank a soda and watched Big Brother play. It always amazes me that there can be a playground with kids playing and having a blast but K.C. won't budge and prefers watching the tree tops blow in the breeze. He likes the simple things, trees blowing, birds flying and cars driving by. He could watch the tree tops for the longest time. He was like that as a baby as well.

I wonder if K.C. knows that he is Autistic/different than the other kids? I seen a video awhile back of an Autistic little boy maybe 8 years old who had some language. He could tell you his name followed by, "I have Autism." I don't know if a Parent or Therapist taught him to say that. If K.C. had language, I don't know if I would teach him to say that or not. I mean, would he really understand what he had said or would it just be to help the public understand he is Autistic? I am certain K.C. has heard the "A" word a million times from me, teachers, therapists etc. I wonder if it makes him feel bad?

Visiting cousin Linh.

I took these photos with my camera phone, don't know why they look blurry.


Since there was no school yesterday I took the Boys to visit Linh Linh. Linh Linh is their cousin, she is now 5 years old. Taking K.C. to visit Linh has been tough in the past and this time was no different. K.C. refused to go inside. I asked Linh Linh if she would like to go for a ride with us and she said, "yes!" So, we walked back to the car (K.C.was glad to walk back to the car) and Linh Linh hesitated to get in. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "he's weird I don't want to sit next to him he's scary!" So Big Brother sat in the middle and off we went! I took a quick glance in the mirror and noticed K.C. was all smiles and commented to Linh, "gosh Linh, just look at K.C. he's so happy to see you!" She looked and smiled. Linh has always been kinda scared of K.C. K.C. can be very loud with his eeeeee's and sometimes he does things with his hands that look well, just plain weird. We are with K.C. everyday and are used to what K.C. does and I did my very best to eplain to Linh why K.C. is the way he is.

We wound up at a Carniceria. Big Brother loves this market because it is a market but it also has a small food court. Big Brother wanted a Carne Asada and Linh wanted a chicken taco. We walked around the market and came back a little later to pick up our order. K.C. was doing fantastic walking along side the cart and loved looking around the store. We walked over to the canned food section and K.C. made a beeline ahead of us. He spotted tuna in cans of all things plopped down on the floor and started lining them up. I knew if I stopped him before he could finish lining them up he would have a major fit. So we let him line them up. There were 12 cans in all (thank God there were only 12) and it took him little time to line them up. As soon as he was on the 12th can and had set it down, I signed and said, "finished" took his hand and walked on. I turned to look at Big Brother and just as always he was putting K.C.'s masterpiece back on the shelf wih Linh's help. I walked K.C. directly in front of me so he couldn't see the kiddos messing up his line. I have got to really really work on K.C.'s line thing. He is doing so well in the stores these days except for the need to line up.

We picked up our food and paid. On the way out of the store K.C. hurried as he always does (he can spot our car almost right away and when he sees it he'll bolt from me if I don't have his hand. )

Put the kiddos into the car and handed K.C. a PECS photo of the fast food restaurants. Big Brother sitting next to him looking on took K.C.'s hand and said in a louder voice, "Mcdonald's Mom" Big Brother was using K.C.'s hand to poke at McDonalds. We went straight to McDonalds and got K.C. fries. He was happy. I told him "McDonalds French Fries" before handing them to him.
It was a great day and the best part is Linh Linh was smiling at K.C. and looked not so scared. Big Brother is my little trooper, understanding, loving and the best Brother to K.C.

Computer Learning Games

K.C.'s teacher reported he had a great day today but wasn't happy at all bout Adaptive P.E. It's a change in schedule and its going to take sometime for him to get used to. With K.C. getting used to something new is easier said than done. It almost always involves screaming for what seems like forever and dropping to the ground, sometimes head meeting floor ;(. She also reported he loved computer time today and his teacher said he was laughing so much he was snorting! I am trying to find a good computer game he would like to watch Big Brother play at home. He can't work the mouse at all and I have been trying lots of hand over hand with him but he isn't coordinated enough to use the mouse. He loves to watch someone use the computer, if anyone knows of a great learning computer game, we would love to hear about it.
The photo above is of different fast food restaurants in our area. I am going to get it blown up real big for K.C. and see how he does with picking where he would like to eat. I am hoping he begins to understand he has choices and that the PECS photos mean something.
No school today for the boys.

Guess who is helping in the kitchen?

(please excuse the mess in the background, I know it's out of sorts)

Who is that helping in the kitchen? It's my baby that's who! He's helping! I bought these new cupcake holders and he loved them. There are little footballs/baseballs designs on them, he wanted to line them up on the table so badly he actually stuck around! Big Brother was very happy and we used the cup cake holders as a way of getting him to stay and to help if he wanted to line them up! It worked! Big Brother gave him the little holders one at a time and K.C.'s eye's were glued to the little cups. We even got him to drop 2 holders into the pan! It was awesome!

This has been a great day! We are going to buy several different types of cup cake holders this weekend. K.C. won't eat cupcakes or cake but he is interested in what we are using. He seemed connected tonight!

"Mom can we go for a walk?"

Big Brother asked, "Mom can we go for a walk?" I had just gave Big Brother Tylenol and had to make a late night trip to Walgreens because Tylenol Suspension liquid is so thick it made K.C. throw up. I bought Children's JR. strength Motrin, no flavors added just plain old Motrin in tablet form and K.C. took it right away.
So, we went for our walk, College Boy came along as well. We took a walk along Tempe Town Lake, there sure were alot of airplanes flying over, you see, the airport is just on the other side of the lake.
We walked the same route we have in the past, K.C. making sure we stayed on he very same path, lol. Big Brother was scared to death K.C. was going to fall in the lake when he sat down near the edge of the water, Big Brother ran over to him immediately.
We got two snow cones, last year K.C. would hold the snow cone cup but this year he couldn't tolerate it in his hands. I gave it to him but he sat it down immediately and tried to 'wipe off' the snow cone from his hands, his hands never got dirty, but he was still wiping away. College Boy held it for him and he drank a little.
We didn't stay too long at the lake and left after about an hour. We got into the car and left for another familiar location. Got out of the car and walked up a ramp that goes to a long bridge, just below is the freeway. It's really pretty but K.C. couldn't tolerate the noise so we headed back to the car when he started crying an covering his ears.
Both boys fell asleep not long after we got home. Can't wait for cooler weather! It's suppose to be in the 90's this week. ;( We would walk alot if it were only cooler!

The Sickies

Big Brother came home with a fever on Friday and red spots have started to appear in the back of his throat. This morning K.C. had a fever as well. I am giving both boys Tylenol and taking them to the Ped on Monday if they are not better. Big Brother says his throat hurts, "really bad." I don't know if K.C.'s throat hurts or not.
My Mother ordered Nickelodeon magazines for both boys and they finally came in the mail today! K.C. LOVES this magazine so much he sat so nicely at the table with Big Brother and flipped through the pages studying each and every detail on the pages! Big Brother wanted to trade with K.C. and asked him, "can I see your magazine now, you can look at mine?" K.C. didn't make any moves so Big Brother reached over slowly and swapped with him with no problem!! K.C. didn't cry because of the change or anything. He was so into the magazine! I am so proud of both boys!! How is that!!

Adaptive P.E.

( Waiting for the bus today.)








K.C. will be having Adaptive P.E. soon. On Monday someone is coming from the school district to accompany K.C. and his teacher to "regular ed P.E." to show them that he cannot and will not (he screams the entire time) participate in P.E. class. His teacher says someone from the district has to witness that he cannot go with his classmates to P.E. or Music because of his behaviors. K.C. is in an Autism room but each of his classmates go to regular P.E. and Music with an aide. K.C.'s teacher did try and has been trying her best to have him with his classmates and an aide at P.E. and Music but he cannot. So he will be having Adaptive P.E. soon:) His teacher thinks that P.E. and Music being unstructured just throws K.C. off so much. The Music teacher said she tried to make accommodations for K.C. but it just isn't working out. I did mention to the music teacher that he really loves Disney Songs and I even asked if maybe she could do a Disney Song and she said she couldn't because she has a curriculum to follow. Oh well.





Big Brother has been very mischievous this week. I think he's had too much candy. He has been silly and quite the prankster this week. This is the face of a child who has just pulled a fast one on Mom. I opened the refrigerator and underneath my favorite cheese is the huge fake cockroach! College Boy is teaching Big Brother all the great pranks. Big Brother's fake cockroach scared me to death and I couldn't help notice his evil little grin and had to snap a photo! You can see he's quite happy after scaring Mom to death, lol.