Big Changes

As many of you may already know, I have been waiting for the day when K.C. will give Mommy a kiss. I am happy to say, I got that kiss! He did it! We were taking pictures (Big Brother the photographer) and I leaned in and said, "give me kiss." I have said it a million times to K.C. and didn't expect him to give me one but he did. He leaned in and put his puckered lips on my forehead! Big Brother just stood there in amazement and immediately said, "give me a kiss K.C., give brother a kiss!" Well K.C. didn't, probably because of the commotion his kiss did cause, lots of hugs and lots of praising him. Can you guys believe it? I felt such a strong connection, he really does love his Mommy, it was amazing, lots of happy tears.

I have seen some very big changes since taking K.C. out of school. He seems so much more relaxed, happier and not anxious. No headbanging at all! I never thought I'd say that, no headbanging!

The best part about homeschooling K.C. is that I get to spend time with him. I don't have to constantly worry about him being at that school. I wish I could have kept him there, I wanted to keep him in school, but it just didn't work out in the end.

Some things that K.C. has learned in this short time at home are, he can match colors into groups, (still doesn't understand, "give me yellow" but if you sign the colors he seems to get it better. He successfully matched 4 times last week with signing the colors along with saying the color. He also can sort objects (any objects) by sizes into groups, he is really good at it.
We have been working with learning to use scissors as well. He doesn't like me holding his hands but I really think he's going to pick this skill up soon.

We got a "Service Plan" through the district. It means that even though K.C. isn't in school the district is still going to pay for some services. I could pick, Speech, OT, etc. but the thing is I could pick only 1 service. I picked help from a Tutor. So a Tutor comes out to our house to work with K.C. I asked the tutor to work with him with holding a pencil hand over hand to write his name. The reason I asked for help in this area is because this is the area that K.C. gets frustrated with the most. He does get frustrated but the good thing is we can stop for a bit, call him back to the table and work some more. Taking breaks has helped tremendously. He is always willing to come back to the table. I am happy that we can give him a break, let him play a bit and then have him come back. I remember his teacher saying, "I only have so many hours in the day." I think this is why he got so frustrated, he could sense it from her, now that it's gone, he's doing better. If he's stimming I don't stop him, it has helped to calm him and get him through. I just have to be careful not to let stim too long.

I have been working extra hard with potty training too. I have figured out when he is most likely to be wet during the day by writing down what times I change diapers. It is always just about the same, around 8:30 a.m., 11:00, 1:00 p.m., 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. At night he's definitely in diapers. He's been going pee most of the time I take him to the bathroom. We have had lots of accidents but they are becoming less and less. I am so proud of him! When he does have an accident it's really important to not let K.C. know that it upsets you in any way. Using a calm voice is working wonders.

Three days a week I have been taking him to parks, we see mostly toddlers there with the their parents but he's still getting to be around other kids. He still won't play with them or even look their way. I want to take him to the library soon, we are going to take it slow.

Big Brother is in school :) Actually it's Spring Break, here all this week and he's at home. Tomorrow we are going to go to the skate park.

Passover is just around the corner, this year will be different. I really think K.C. may sit just a little longer. We are surely going to try and if it doesn't work out I will let Big Brother stay with my Parents and I will take K.C. home.

I want to thank Melinda from Dear Noah, http://www.dearnoah.blogspot.com. She has helped us with starting homeschooling, provided us with super good links and wonderful ideas to help K.C. Thank you so much Melinda and Noah. Thanks to everyone for your support, it means so much to us.

We hope you are all well and the kiddos are well too :)