Wishing you all a very safe, happy holiday!

Big Brother Bike Riding



K.C. snoozing away..

The Boys and I want to wish everyone a very safe, happy holiday.

Chuck E. Cheeses and Hiking With Daddy.

We had a busy weekend with the boys. Their Daddy is in town and we we took the boys a few places to have fun. We first went to Chuck E. Cheeses, I printed some coupons off the Internet for pizza and tokens before we went. We got 100 tokens and a large pizza and 4 drinks. K.C. loves to walk with us to the drink area and I watch him visually scanning which drink he wants. He almost always picks Sprite these days. He smiles and looks very happy when he gets to hold his cup under the Sprite label and watches it fill his cup. We have to be careful though because he overflows his cup with soda.

Big Brother played lots of games, when he did finally come back to our table, I asked him if he wanted to walk with K.C. to look at the games with him. He said, "yes" so we watched as Big Brother took K.C.'s hand and walked around. We could see them the entire time, we picked a good booth to sit at. Both boys sat down at a Jurassic Park game, Big Brother put the coins in and K.C. watched, he loved watching the dinosaurs! They sat at the game for about 20 minutes, K.C. loved watching him play. Then, two boys walked up to where K.C. and Big Brother were playing. I heard one of the boys say, "can we play now?" Big Brother said, "we are still playing." The other boy looked at K.C. and said, "move it!" I started to get up and hurry over to where the boys were but their Daddy said, "no, let's see how Big Brother handles this." The boy said, "move it" again to K.C. and of course it looked as though K.C. never heard a word he said, so maybe the boy thought K.C. was ignoring him? Then I watched as this kid pushed K.C., I could not believe it! What is with kids these days? As fast as he pushed K.C., Big Brother shouted very loud, "you asshole, stop hurting my brother, he's Autistic!" People stared, the kids knew they were in trouble and left mighty fast. The whole time K.C. didn't cry or seem to realize that someone was being mean to him. He just wanted to watch the game. I have always told Big Brother that if someone was trying to grab him or hurt him to scream as loud as he could. He remembered :) After that the boys did had alot of fun together, the rest of our visit to Chuck E. Cheeses went very well.

Today we went hiking, the weather was nice and cool today, perfect for hiking. We walked up a "medium sized mountain" as Big Brother described it. K.C. walked with his Daddy and Big Brother walked with me. It was so nice to see K.C. take his Daddy's hand on our hike. K.C. almost always sticks with me, today was different. The best part about it is his Daddy looked so proud and really moved that K.C. took interest im him and walked with (even held his hand!) Big Brother and I talked alot as K.C. and Daddy were pretty far ahead of us. I let Big Brother know I had hidden a bag of corn nuts (Ranch Flavored) in my backpack. He was quite happy as he's a total corn nut addict. We talked and ate those along the walk, it was really nice.

When we were finished hiking, we needed to go to the supermarket for a few things. I am not sure what happened but as we were driving to the supermarket, K.C. began to kick a little in his seat. He howled a little too. When we pulled into the parking lot he looked very distressed. Before we got out of the car I told his Dad that I didn't think it was a good idea that we go shopping when K.C. is clearly not happy. (K.C.'s Daddy is in town only a couple times a month) He said, "he'll be o.k. once we get inside." I knew he wouldn't. But....tried anyways. K.C. did try to keep it together as we walked, (the whole time it looked like an explosion was imminent) then as we walked down as aisle he bolted from me and shoved 7 spaghetti sauce jars onto the floor. I knew I could not make a big deal out of what just happened or he would probably remember how I reacted and do it again the next time we went to the store. I just walked up to him and took his hand and led him away from the mess. By this time Big Brother and Daddy got as far away from us as possible, can you believe this? I tired to walk K.C out of the store in a hurry before headbanging or falling to the floor and not getting up could happen. As we walked I looked back and saw their Dad point towards the door (duh, we did he think we were going?) then I heard Big Brother say, "wait Mom." He caught up to us, he looked worried, he said,
"hurry Mom he's biting his fingers." We made it out of the store, poor K.C. Something set him off when we were in the car, I am not sure what it was. One thing for sure, I will listen to myself when it comes to K.C. next time. I did tell their Dad later that he isn't with K.C. enough to know when he's had enough and a meltdown is about to happen. He agreed and apologized.

When we got home I realized it was about 1:00 and think I figured it out. K.C. was probably hungry and wanted to go to McDonald's for lunch. I put a soy pizza in the oven when we got home and he ate 3 pieces and Big Brother had 2.

K.C. still can not answer yes or no questions. He can not nod his head yes or no so if something is out of reach and we ask, "do you want pizza?" He can't nod no or yes. He has to be able to touch the pizza twice to indicate "yes." That is huge progress for K.C.!

All in all it was a good day for the boys. We aren't going to let the supermarket incident get us down, there is much to learn and K.C. is making good progress each and everyday.

K.C. watching Open Season, happy kiddo!

School, Bus and ABA

(Getting Ready to Leave For The Bus)



The first night of Hanukkah began for us this evening. Big Brother is very excited and K.C. happily ate 3 Latkes and watched his Big Brother play his new game. We are celebrating a very low key Hanukkah this year. We usually spend Hanukkah with my Brother and Parents, but this year we are spending it at home. Tomorrow my Brother Adam is coming to spend Hanukkah with us. We are very happy about that :) K.C. got a squishy, spiky ball tonight as a gift, (at school they are called sensory balls).

K.C. actually has a P.E.C.S. card with the picture of the sensory ball on it as a motivator to board the bus and as soon as he gets to school his teacher allows him to hold the sensory ball straight away. We have been having some problems with the bus for about a week now. K.C. has been refusing to board the bus. As I put him into the car for our trip to catch the bus at my Parents house, as we nearly get there, he looks panicky, as I get him out of the car he falls to the ground and won't get up. Twice I could not get him onto the bus period. As he is much bigger now, I can't just scoop him up anymore. Gosh this kiddo is stronger and heavier than he was just a year ago. Still I had that horrible feeling that maybe K.C. was trying to tell me something. I can't begin to even describe the feeling I have putting him on the bus when he is trying so hard to keep my from doing just that. I kept thinking to myself what if something terrible is happening to him once he's on the bus? Here I am putting him on the damn thing, guilt, it is overwhelming. I have been talking with his teacher on a nearly daily basis. That is where the "squishy ball motivator" came into play. Well, one afternoon he refused to board the bus home. His teacher reported he had a major meltdown and couldn't figure out why. She had to take him off the bus, re board the bus, try to figure out what she had done differently. Poor kiddo, I knew something was wrong, it hurts not knowing how to help your child.

In comes his ABA therapist. K.C. has had a new therapist for a month now and it has taken him sometime to get used to him. His therapist knew what was going on and asked if he could ride the bus with K.C. I was so relieved that I had someone that would help, be there for us and has K.C.'s best interests at heart. That morning, that afternoon, his therapist, with one P.E.C.S. card in hand, rode the school bus with him. That afternoon, on the bus, his therapist called me. He watched each and everything the drivers did and figured it out. The afternoon driver hooked K.C. into his harness (as he is still quite unpredictable on the bus) and then she pulled his lap belt tight. That was all it took, K.C. screamed, kicked, lost it. His therapist took him off the bus, (it was raining that day) stood in the rain, waited, kept K.C. safe, let him calm down and boarded the bus again. This time he told the driver, "to do what she normally does slowly." Just as she was about to pull his lap belt tight, he looked panicked and his therapist told her to "stop." K.C. reached down at his lap belt and wanted to pull it tight! He wanted to try to do it! Nobody could understand, nobody thought he could do it, nobody thought he was paying attention all this time but he was! His therapist called me that afternoon, so very proud of K.C., I cried and cried.

Today, he was hooked into the harness, he pulled his OWN lap belt tight, I watched, amazing. I got off the bus, knocked on the window and waved to K.C., he never looks in my direction when I wave from outside the bus, just looks straight ahead, my big boy going to school, learning to help himself, wanting people to give him a chance :) I am amazed and so proud.

Spending time with my son, (sons).

Yesterday I spent part of the day with Big Brother :) We walked along the water, talked about school, friends and (if he wanted too, K.C.) It was his special day and I thought it would be best to follow his lead. He skateboarded 2 miles and I walked behind him watching, talking. I watched him go up a big incline and go down fast, very fast, nearly gave me a heart attack.
We made our way to the sno cone stand and got two bubble gum flavored sno cones. After we walked back to our car (2 miles back) I asked him if he wanted to go to McDonald's, he agreed but looked like something was wrong. I asked him if he was "o.k." and he said, "yes." When we got to McDonald's, just as we were about to park, he said, "can we go get K.C.?" "It's not the same if he doesn't come too, you know how he loves the french fries!" I said, "super idea!" So as we headed back home to pick K.C. up and thanked my Mom for watching K.C. we headed back out to McDonald's. Big Brother was much, much, happier with K.C. sitting along side of him. I'm so proud of both my boys :)

Did I jinx myself?

Did I jinx myself in my last post when I said, "K.C.'s hair pulling and headbanging has become less?" This morning was horrible.

It all started as we were getting ready to leave the house to drop Big Brother off at school. Our morning routine is I drop Big Brother off and then we head to K.C.'s bus stop. K.C. did not want to leave the house, actually I should say he didn't want to turn his t.v. off. He always watches t.v. in the morning when I finish getting him dressed. I turned his t.v. off and that was all it took. He flew into hysterics. He ran back to the t.v. and switched it on, when he switched it on, there was a commercial he can't stand to hear that made he run to the closet and shut the door. When he heard the commercial end, he came out, but from that point on it all went downhill.

I managed to get him out to the car, wasn't easy since he was pulling the opposite direction and screaming his head off. Big Brother looked very frustrated and kept repeating, "I'm going to be late because of him!" Finally got them both into the car, K.C. kicking the back of my seat, Big Brother trying to reach over and put his hand over K.C.'s legs so I could actually drive, Big Brother somehow getting hit or kicked in the nose, nose stared bleeding on his WHITE school uniform top. I am trying to find a safe spot to pull over and try to regain control of K.C. just before I find a spot, Big Brother is so upset cause his uniform is dirty, nose hasn't stopped bleeding and he hits K.C. on the top of the head, HARD. Now K.C. is hitting himself in the head and is trying to pull his own hair out.

Found a safe spot to pull over and sit in the backseat with both boys, I have to hold K.C.'s hands because he is in full beat himself in the head mode. We all sat, listening to K.C. screeches and finally after about 15 minutes he calmed down. The backseat of my car looked like a murder scene. Big Brother whispers, "let's just go home Mom, I can't go to school like this and I am too upset." We did just that. I let Big Brother ride in the front seat with me praying I wouldn't get into an accident (passenger airbag) but figure if we kept driving like we were, we were probably going to get into an accident anyways. When we got home I called the schools and (it was too late, K.C.'s bus had already come and gone) to let them know the kids would be out today.

K.C. has been completely out of sorts today. He's been touching everything once as he walks by and looks very anxious. I just don't know what's wrong with him today, I feel like we are back to square 1. Just when you think things are getting better.
Thank God there is no school tomorrow!

McDonald's for lunch time.

K.C. and I walked to McDonald's today, the weather was really nice.
My little guy, who is not so little anymore (74 pounds and 49 inches tall, 4 feet 1 inch tall) he is one big 6 year old!
At McDonald's I ordered french fries for him and helped him choose his own drink. He is able to put his cup under the Sprite label and I press the button as he holds the cup. He loves Sprite!
He sat so very nicely in McDonald's with only 2 very loud outbursts. I call them outbursts because they seem to occur for know reason that I can see. He will suddenly make a very loud screech followed but another loud screech. A Mom and her son who were sitting across from us (I always try to pick a table away from people but they always seem to find us and sit near us.) I only pick tables away from people because I know K.C. has these outbursts. I try to put myself in his shoes. If I had outbursts I couldn't control I wouldn't want people staring at me either. When he did screech, the Mom and son stared, then the Mom stopped but the little boy kept staring. She noticed him staring and tapped his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Oh well.
The boys Daddy is in town and Big Brother and him Have been doing lots of stuff together. Their Daddy gave them both haircuts, I didn't like the haircut he gave K.C. because I have been trying to grow his hair out over his ears since the headbanging and hair pulling has been less and less.
Tonight we are going to have a bar b que and Big Brother asked if we could roast Marshmallows when the food is finished. This is an activity both boys enjoy. Big Brother will eat his but K.C. won't. He just likes being able to roast them. I have to be extra, extra, careful because he'll try reaching into the fire if we are not careful.
Last night we were able to go for a walk as well. Our neighbor who lives just across the way hung Christmas Lights out and K.C. loved looking at them. They were really pretty :)

Cousins birthday party/family.

On Sunday we celebrated Lynn Lynn's 6th birthday party. Lynn is the boys cousin. I brought K.C. and Big Brother along for the birthday party and he did great as long as we let him do his own thing. I did try to coax him into sitting through the happy birthday song. He sat through half of it before getting up and walking away. He didn't like being around so much noise and people. Big Brother spent most of his time with his 1 year old cousin and of course Lynn Lynn. K.C. spent his time walking around the perimeter of the Ramada we sat at. I watched him glance towards the big bouncer that the kids bounced in. I thought he might actually try to get inside and bounce but he didn't. The children tried calling him over to the bouncer but he was having a good time walking and watching them from a distance. He smiled nearly the whole time and I let him be. In the past I would have tried my best to get K.C. into that bouncer fearing he just wasn't going to have a good time unless he was doing what the other kids were doing. I did try twice to get him into the bouncer and then stopped. I figure if he wanted to bounce he would walk right in himself :) K.C. did have fun at the party, he didn't bounce with the other kids but you should have seen his face, he smiled nearly the entire time. Everyone is not the same, Big Brother loved bouncing with the kids, K.C. loved watching the kids bounce. My sister worried K.C. wasn't having a good time because he didn't want to be with the other kids. I know better these days, I would say he had just as much fun in his own K.C. way.

Beware...

I took the boys to the park early this morning to feed the ducks. It was very nice outside as it has cooled off. K.C. liked feeding the ducks :) After we went to the park, Big Brother asked if we could stop at the supermarket to get something to drink. We did just that. K.C. has been doing an excellent job in the stores these days. As we walked down the aisles, K.C. quickly spotted a very small video screen and ran to press the button. I guess it was used for advertising Ritz crackers for the holidays. This little screen played just like a television and I had the hardest time getting K.C. away from the darned thing! Just a head's up to all the Mom's and Dad's of Autistic children, BEWARE of these little screens in the stores during the holidays! K.C. pressed the button a bunch of times and just when you think the little screen has played itself out, it does start up again and again after about a minute. I'll have to watch for those when going to the store from now on :)

A Visit To The Chinese Cultural Centre

Today the boys and I and their Daddy went to visit friends at the Chinese Cultural Centre. The weather was beautiful today, about 85 degrees! I am so thankful it is finally cooling off, we can start to go on our walks along the water again.
K.C. and Big Brother both loved walking in the garden area at the centre. K.C. had a smile on his face as we walked and Big Brother asked his dad a million questions about China.
After we finished walking in the garden, we went inside to visit their Dads friends. Before we made our way inside, we had talked about K.C. and what our plan was going to be if he got antsy or stimmy. Once inside we all sat at a very large table and I watched K.C.'s face every few seconds to see if he was showing any signs of uneasiness. As soon as K.C.'s Dad's friends came over to the table to sit with us, (we were about to order food as we were in a restaurant) K.C. watched out of the corner of his eyes as our friends sat down. I can tell you my stomach was in knots for K.C., I was hoping nobody would touch him but as soon as I thought it, it happened. The gentleman that sat closest to K.C. said in a very loud voice, "hello boy, you are getting fat now, so lucky" and then patted him on the shoulders. I knew that was going to be the end of that. K.C. does NOT like to be touched unexpectedly period. Even is school doing hand over hand with him is tough his teacher says, he doesn't like to be touched. As soon as the gentleman touched him, K.C. let out a very loud yell and slid down in his seat to the floor. Big Brother and his Dad were talking non stop with their friends and it was strange to me because even though they had seen K.C. lose it, they were too preoccupied with talking and visiting. To be honest I was just thrilled that Big Brother was able to get out of the house with his Dad, talk with friends and just be happy.
I did try to re direct K.C. but it was too late. K.C. and I got up and did alot more walking in the garden and even walked across the street to buy two 7 ups. He did great! I know that K.C. would have been able to handle the restaurant as well had our friend not touched him. What should I have done I wondered as K.C. and I walked. Should I have immediately asked the man not to touch K.C. as soon as he sat with us? I think I should have, but I guess I just haven't the nerve to ask a friend "not to touch him."
All in all it was a very good day, K.C. is feeling better, Big Brother got to be with his Dad and talk with friends. K.C. and I spent alot of time together and he was happy. I learned something today, just because K.C. isn't doing what everyone else considers "fun" doesn't mean the day is lost. K.C. finds happiness in simple things, like walking with his Mommy and having a soda. I seen the smile on his face and realized that K.C. isn't always going to do what everyone else is doing but what makes him feel happy. That's all that matters in the world, as long as he's happy and healthy I am at total peace and so is he.

The Two "A" Words

There are two "A" words in our lives, Autism and Asthma. K.C. has been having breathing problems alot this month and yesterday was the worst day yet. Yesterday night is when it started, he was having a very hard time breathing so we (Big Brother and I) got his little breathing machine out and added the medicine. K.C. will not wear the 'Bubbles the fish mask' for more than a few seconds. The noise that the machine makes (it's a puttering noise) K.C. can't tolerate. The moment he hears it he takes off. I have to try my best to keep him seated at least for a few seconds. Well the next morning he was still not breathing well and I called the doctors. We left for the Dr.s office and was able to get in quickly. The doctor listened to him breath and K.C. tried his best to kick her away. You could actually hear him make a whistling Darth Vader type noise. The doctor said she wanted to give him a shot of Solumedrol to help him. The nurse came in and gave him the shot in his left leg in his thigh. He never cries when he gets a shot, I wonder if he even feels it. Well the shot worked! Thank God it worked.
So we have been dealing with Asthma and our major thing today is to get him to at least have the mask on for short periods of time. Big Brother has been helping me so much lately, I am so proud of this kiddo. I felt kinda guilty yesterday because I keep thinking I am asking too much from a 7 year old. He says he likes to help and wants to help and for the I am so grateful. Still I wonder if other 7 year olds do as much as Big Brother does. I mean having an Autistic brother is sometimes hard for Big Brother. I know alot of (most of my attention) goes to K.C. and trying to keep things even is very hard. Tomorrow I am going to ask my Mother to come and stay with K.C. so I can spend a few hours with Big Brother doing something he'd like to do. So many times when we do want to go out and do something Big Brother wants to do, we end up not being able to do it because K.C. can't handle certain situations. I do remind Big Brother how much K.C. has learned and how far he has come. He does the best he can and we love him very much. Big Brother loves his little brother very much and I know he'll always protect K.C. and of all the people who work with K.C. and even family members, Big Brother knows and understands K.C. best. Two very special little boys that I have and I wouldn't change them for anything, ever.

Learning his colors

K.C.'s teacher sent a note home in his communication book, he is learning his colors! I wrote her back and asked her how he is learning them because I have been trying very hard each and everyday to teach him his colors. She said he is doing very well if the color is "signed" rather than only said. He is recognizing the signs for colors and some of the colors! We have learned that he will watch hands so much better than mouths or eyes. I have a very strong feeling that I am going to need to take a sign language class. I don't think I am going to be able to help K.C. if I only know the basics, I need to know more. This may be his way of communicating/learning so I am going to need to know all that I can. Tomorrow I am going to call around and see what classes I can find.

Update on Toe :)

I have been putting loads of peroxide on K.C.'s toe and the weirdest thing happened. His toe nail turned a sorta (milky color, sorry I know it's a bit gross) and this morning when I checked it the nail had fell off! I couldn't believe it especially since it wasn't bruised and the nail didn't turn a dark color. The redness is way better, it's not nearly as red as it was so maybe the nail coming off is a blessing. Still I don't know how it happened in the first place. Just glad it's looking better!

Limping

Hello Blogger Friends, how are you all doing? We hope you all are well. We are doing o.k. these days. Big Brother is reading a great deal about Ireland at school and loving it :) I have been meaning to ask Eileen if she has the recipe for soda bread. Big Brother can bring a traditional Irish food to class for extra credit. He is really happy about it!

K.C. has been limping on his right leg. His teacher phoned me from school saying that she would stay in class with him while the rest of the students went on their morning walk. Each morning their class walks 1 mile and then they head back to class. His teacher says the students are much much more focused after their morning walk. She took him to the school nurse and the nurse called me saying she couldn't find anything wrong with his knee or hip. I wish that K.C. could tell me what hurts or at least when I ask him he could understand and point to the area that hurts. As of today he can't tell me what hurts and doesn't understand the "where does it hurt" question. Well last night when I gave the boys a bath Big Brother spotted the "owie." It was his right leg, the littlest toe. I didn't even see it all this time. My eyes have got to be getting bad, I should have seen it. Well, when I took him out of the bath and dried him off, I had a closer look at his toe. As soon as I touched it pus drained from his toe like crazy. I was shocked. I asked Big Brother to get me cotton balls and peroxide and he did. I kept pouring that peroxide on his toe until it stopped foaming. All this time his little toe had to be killing him but he couldn't say. It's times like these that I hate Autism. It got me to thinking, what if he had Appendicitis or something like that? What if his Appendicitis ruptured? It scares me to death. I wish he could tell me what hurts. It's really a guessing game.

Tomorrow he goes back to school and I am hoping that the redness goes down and it looks better. If not, I will take him to the doctor. I checked his toe and didn't see any sign of an ingrown toenail. I don't know if he dropped something on his foot or what. I also checked his shoes thinking something could be in his shoe or maybe they were a little too small. I bought a new pair of shoes with a wider width, size 2 1/2.

Tomorrow is a new day and maybe K.C.'s little toe will be better :)

Zoo and Hiking

The boys and I went to the zoo last weekend. Big Brother had a good time, he really liked the Spider exhibit. My little guy loved walking and liked petting the goats. We also went hiking, there were Rams on the mountains and we watched them make their way up and down the mountain with ease.
The boys are on Winter break and go back to school on Monday. Since K.C. has been out of school he has been out of sorts. I know he misses the routines of school. He now has this obsession with shoes and taking them off peoples feet. As soon as someone walks through the door K.C. will make a frantic (and I mean frantic) beeline for your feet and take your shoes off. The sad part is he looks completely paranoid and frantic. He constantly watches to be sure no one has shoes on and it drives him nuts. Big Brother got kinda angry at K.C. over the whole shoe thing and refused to let K.C. take his shoes off. K.C. freaked out, hit his head and cried and cried. Big Brother hurried over to K.C. and offered him his feet but it was too late, he was in meltdown mode. I know I am not helping the situation by allowing K.C. to have his way and take every ones shoes off, but damn, I am not going to watch him hit his head on the floor over it either. I am hoping that when school starts again he'll forget about the shoes.
I took pictures of the boys at the zoo and in one of the photos K.C. is looking at Big Brother and Big Brother is thrilled! He started shouting, "look mom he's looking at me, he does love me!" I haven't seen Big Brother's face light up like that in a very long time. It sure made our day and I felt so happy for Big Brother :)
I nearly forgot to mention, have you noticed how Big K.C. is getting? I have got to get this kiddo some more exercise, the Risperdal is making him chunky again.

Critters, Spawns?

Ants and Scorpions. How do I get rid of them without using chemicals? What's worse is this morning there was a baby scorpion in my shoe, worse because the little ones tend to be more toxic. I am hoping for cooler weather so that they will go into hiding. I am wondering where the mother scorpion is? Yuck. I hope it isn't hiding in my back yard. I am constantly having to shake shoes out, shake blankets out before bedtime. Big Brother knows not to leave his blanket hanging off the bed to where it touches the floor. I am grossed out by the critters. I shouldn't even call them "critters" cause in my eyes "critters" tend to be cute. Big Brother calls them "spawns" and wants to do experiments on them. Not going to happen. I let the nasty thing go far away from our house. K.C. has no fear and I mean no fear at all of scorpions, spiders etc. He'll reach right down and pick them up. Scary!

Videos of the boys at the skatepark.

The boys at the skatepark:)

It's been awhile

Hello Bloggers, it's been awhile since I last posted. K.C. has been sick with Asthma and it's been very rough. We have been taking him to the Dr. twice a week for breathing treatments. That has been hell because he doesn't know how to do a breathing treatment even though the technician has demonstrated it to him 6 times. She finally got a clue and just held his treatment near his nose. If I were K.C. I would be afraid too. This little inhaler type thing has so much smoke coming out of it and you are supposed to be breathing it in. Even though K.C. doesn't understand, her holding near his face has helped, the only thing is it makes him very jittery. Inhalers are out of the question. K.C. doesn't understand that when I "press button" "he breathes in." I am terrified he'll have a freaking asthma attack and the inhaler will be useless. He has been taking Alupent liquid and it has finally started to help. I wish there was a way to teach him to use the inhaler so that the medicine could get in his lungs quicker. Scares me to death. His ABA teacher is determined to teach him to use the inhaler.

He has been absent from school on and off, but has finally started going back as of yesterday and today.

Yesterday he had OT where his OT watched him walk on a treadmill slowly and walk on an obstacle course. He also got to play "parachute." Since K.C. has been going to his new school I have noticed the majority of the day is spent on OT related things. If K.C. could get past his OT issues I know the school could focus more on academics. But for now K.C. needs help with sensory issues. He is doing great in his new school and I feel very lucky to have him in this school. Since going to his new school, he has been letting me comb his hair a bit more and he is willing to try new foods more. Huge change!

Big Brother has been doing good. In the evenings since it's cooled down some, he's been going outside and riding his skateboard. Sunday he wants to go to the skate park :) I have noticed when children talk to him at the skate park he will not utter a single word. The last time we went, a little boy about 9 years old was trying to give Big Brother "advice" as to where to "roll in" on his skateboard. Big Brother would not look at him and wouldn't answer. I said nothing to Big Brother about it until we were home. We are going to work on talking to other children when we go to the skate park. He wants friends he says, he really does, maybe he's just a little shy. We will work on it.

Yom Kippur came and I decided to take BOTH boys to synagogue. I had a back up plan which consisted of my sister. If K.C. couldn't handle it I would take him home and she would stay with Lynn Lynn and Big Brother. K.C. sat for about 10 minutes! 10 minutes! I am so proud of him, I hugged and kissed him to death and told him what a good job he did "sitting nicely." I am amazed at him.
I haven't been visiting blogs very much these days and have alot of catching up to do. We hope you are all well :)

Happy New Year

To our dear family and friends,

We wish you a year of good health and joy. May you be inscribed and sealed in the book of life. L'shanah tovah umetukah. This has been a year of many highs, and some lows, but we look forward to a bright year ahead, thank you for coming along on our journey.

We will be going to my Parents home and spending time with them and at the synagogue.

I praise God who is Lord and Ruler over all,
for keeping us well to reach this season.

Our trip to the museum and main street. part 1

I took the boys to the Mesa Southwest Museum today. Big Brother wanted to go so badly because they have a "panning for gold" activity for children. I wondered if K.C. would be able to handle it and decided that yes, he probably would for a short time. We entered the museum and as you walk through the doors there is this huge Mastodon display. I noticed that as we waited in line to pay for admission he seemed o.k., the only thing that looked to be bothering him was the lights. He squinted the whole way through the museum, put his head down and hands over his eyes at one point. I mentioned to Big Brother that we should go outside to the panning for gold and he agreed. K.C. loved the water and the rocks (sand and fools gold) that was outside. He looked so relaxed running his hands through the water, he could care less about panning for anything. After we panned for gold we went back inside to have a look at the meteor display Big Brother wanted to see again. As we stopped to look K.C. pinched my arm and I knew it was time to go. We started to head out of the museum and I made a wrong turn (the place was pretty big three floors) and K.C. must have thought we weren't going to leave because he pinched me the whole time it took to find our way out. His face looked panicky, I told him "outside" and we were in about two minutes. Major meltdown avoided! On the way home he K.C. fell asleep and Big Brother admired his fools gold. Next Friday the museum is having a costume night, "Night at the Museum." You come as your favorite character from the movie. Big Brother is dying to go, we will see if I can get my Mom to look after K.C. I took some photos (alot of photos) but will have to post in two separate posts so they will all fit.





More photos and post below.

Our trip to the museum.

Finally, some rain!

It rained today, for about 15 minutes it rained, couldn't believe my eyes. I took K.C. outside to watch the rain, I think he liked it. His eyes are very sensitive to light and he squints them a lot. Now if I could just keep his hands out of his mouth :)



A rainbow as well!

A walk to the park.

A very hot day today, triple digits. We are getting cabin fever here, decided to go for a walk (a very quick walk). 110 degrees today, oy vey! I am learning to upload videos and will post a couple more soon. Hope everyone is doing well!