Today, the Monster turns five.
Like many “normal” children, this will be marked with cupcakes and an activity in the classroom at school, and a party in short order. (We’re holding off a few weeks on the party so that it doesn’t conflict, as usual, with Mother’s Day or with local events that would complicate family coming in from out of town.) Continue reading
Tomorrow is the Monster’s gymnastics day, one of his favorite activities that’s going to soon be coming to a temporary end as the school year moves into the summer camp period.
It’s not a lack of money that’s going to be ending his time at gymnastics for now, but really just a lack of time – we don’t know how it’s going to work, getting him from the camp bus to the gymnastics center, what his energy level’s going to be, and so it’s better in our minds to hold off until the fall. Continue reading
I’m somewhere between thinking that they’re going round-and-round or falling off… take your pick.
The Monster likes taking the bus, it seems. He’s used to the pattern of it, and he’s pretty much good about knowing what’s expected of him vis-a-vis using it every day. Continue reading
Lately, the Monster’s been on-and-off about being good using long, real sentences.
He can, when he wants, construct a good, normal request. For instance, this evening, he asked me, “Can you to turn on Sesame Street, please?” (Well, the ‘please’ was with coaxing, and ‘to turn on’ isn’t a great construction… but it’s head and shoulders from where he was last year.) Continue reading
Yesterday was family photo day.
Now, setting aside that I myself don’t like being photographed, it’s been a while since we’ve done the family photo thing, so when the wife found a deal through one of those “deal of the day” sites, I relented. Continue reading
There’s the rare morning where I’m solely in charge of getting the Monster ready for school and out the door.
The Monster’s morning routine’s not very complicated:
Now, granted, we do prepare number 3, do number 4, help him with number 5, and guide him through the rest. However, there’s usually two of us leading him, since the baby’s not usually in a “wake up ” mode until about a half hour before the Monster’s out the door. Continue reading
So after gymnastics today, I was tasked with taking the Monster to the urgent care facility near the gymnasium to get his foot looked at.
The Monster’s not too fond of going to the doctor, or folks playing with his feet. So imagine what it’s going to be like, having to take him to the doctor to have his feet looked at. Continue reading
This morning, while getting the Monster out of bed, the wife discovered that he had a splinter or something in the sole of one of his feet.
Obviously, he’d not said anything at all to us, and we’d not noticed because he’s not been acting funny. It was simply that she was being observant that we noticed anything at all. Continue reading
The Monster’s not really the adventurous eating type, and I know I’ve commented on that at various points on the blog. He was, of course, when he was a baby – like most babies, he ate just about anything you put in front of him – but as his Autism really came into force, his dietary habits have somewhat slimmed down.
One thing I’m still getting used to is how they can keep narrowing, even after that initial onset. Continue reading
The Monster, being in a regular public school, gets the same rewards and treatment as the other children that attend his school, even if he’s not aware of what those things are.
We got a notice today that, as part of being in this regular school and having perfect attendance for the prior quarter, that he’s getting a reward of being able to see a movie later this week. They’re showing Wreck It Ralph for the younger kids (pre-K to 4), and a separate film for the bigger kids, with a note sent home for us to sign if we don’t want him to see it. Continue reading