It was a really special Christmas Eve. Amma (being my Mom she received the Amma from Noah when he lost his hearing)& Papa came to spend the night. We had a pot roast and was just really laid back. Each child was able to open one present. Noah got his dragon, Abi opened a puzzle type toy, Gabriel a bowling set for babies.
Noah has taken to Papa since he's been coming up.
Christmas morning was like every other morning my children slept in while the adults were the ones up early.
Abi was so excited she finally got to open up her presents that had been under the tree, Gabriel was just ready to rip open paper. Noah wasn't that interested. He opened a present and realized it wasn't what he was wanted and gave up. While Abi was joyously opening up her "princess present" Noah went into the laundry room and cried. You see he had been asking for a Lego set for months every time we went shopping he would go to the Lego's and while I was surfing toys he would pick out Lego's. But the only presents he had opened we not the toys he wanted except for the dragon the night before. But Abi right from the beginning picked out her present she wanted.
It took us a minute to convince Noah to come back and open up more presents. Little did he know the very next present he would open would be the one he had been asking for. And that was that 2 days after Christmas he finally opened the rest of his presents because he had, had enough of making the dragon destroy the Lego castle he had made and it was time to move on. (I bet you thought there was going to be a sad ending).
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
So Far So Good.
School is on and Noah has adjusted to the more structured schedules ( I am a horrible Mom during the summer I kinda give him a little break).
He has taken up a new hobby he is very good at. He has discovered the paint program on our computers and whenever he can he starts to draw out whatever is going through his head or the movie he is watching at the time. The more elaborate pictures are on my husbands computer but I am going to try and post a few of the drawing he's done on here.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Leaps and Bounds
This past month has just come and gone so quickly. Noah has had so many milestones this month. I am truly proud. On his own he counted up to 50, he is speaking more sentences and responding to more questions than he was before. Yes he still does the "parrot" (he repeats the last word you say) But he is starting to pull things together.
It thrills me to hear him sing, the "Nuki Nuki Song" and "I am a Gummybear Song" from Gummybär.
He even allowed me to snip his hair 5 times with the scissors. Not the greatest hair cut in the world but it's a start (he also added his own touches).
Noah, you are growing up on Momo. I am very proud of you.
It thrills me to hear him sing, the "Nuki Nuki Song" and "I am a Gummybear Song" from Gummybär.
He even allowed me to snip his hair 5 times with the scissors. Not the greatest hair cut in the world but it's a start (he also added his own touches).
Noah, you are growing up on Momo. I am very proud of you.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Act Of Kindness
Today my Mom and I took Abi and the baby to see Alvin and the Chipmunks (2). She (my Mom) really wanted to take Noah because she was feeling guilty that on Friday she couldn't stay and play with him when he got home from school. Noah on the other hand and for the very first time ever decided that he wanted to stay home with Daddy. We had a great time No one was in the theater so I felt safe from germs and nasty virus's. On the way home we stopped at the dollar store where my Mother picked up a couple of kites for the kids. By the time we got home Abi had them open and all over her car (joy guess who gets to clean that up).
Later on that evening Abi had again took apart the kites and had lost a stick to her kite. Which now we had a hysterical girl crying, Daddy running after her trying to figure out what was wrong. Finally after about 5 minutes of "Abi what is wrong?" he discovered the answer. We couldn't find the sticks. She was still sobbing.
Noah took his kite to Daddy and pointed to Abi's kite. By instinct Brad (my wonderful husband) knew what Noah was getting at. So with a tear in his eye he took the stick from Noah's kite and put it on Abi's kite. Noah clapped his hands and giggled and Abi gratefully gave her Big Brother a wonderful hug.
Later on that evening Abi had again took apart the kites and had lost a stick to her kite. Which now we had a hysterical girl crying, Daddy running after her trying to figure out what was wrong. Finally after about 5 minutes of "Abi what is wrong?" he discovered the answer. We couldn't find the sticks. She was still sobbing.
Noah took his kite to Daddy and pointed to Abi's kite. By instinct Brad (my wonderful husband) knew what Noah was getting at. So with a tear in his eye he took the stick from Noah's kite and put it on Abi's kite. Noah clapped his hands and giggled and Abi gratefully gave her Big Brother a wonderful hug.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Seriously Over Stimulated
Even though Noah doesn't talk, it doesn't mean he can't let you know he had a bad day. All I have to say to that is "Whoa!"
How do I know he had a bad day?
Everything irritated him today and he threw up his hand (like as in giving you the hand) and says, "NO, OUTAHERE!" (He runs a lot of his sentences as one word).
All he wanted to do was be left alone and watch a world of warcraft short film over and over. (and over and over) it started out that it was going ok for him. But then I started to hear him cry "sisser" (translation : sister) She was such a little pain to him today. She misses him so much when he's at school and gets so excited when his bus comes but then after a little while she really starts to pick on him (almost like " how dare you leave me type of thing").
It was such a busy day. Gabriel was so fussy from his 3rd Synagis shot (a vaccination to help prevent RSV), on top of trying to get dinner prepared, doing a couple of loads of laundry, putting a load of dishes on.
I failed at keeping the "sisser" at bay. That was it, he hit his limit and had a semi-melt down. It broke my heart, he just cried, and kept telling me "you you you" which means. " Mommy you didn't watch my back".
I understand honestly, my poor guy just wanted to zen and no one was letting him.
Today is one of those days you just feel like you didn't do anything right. But all said and done everyone is safe and sound asleep (I wish I could say in their owns beds but that goal has not been reached yet).
If there ever was a calgone take me away day this was it.
I love my family so much.
How do I know he had a bad day?
Everything irritated him today and he threw up his hand (like as in giving you the hand) and says, "NO, OUTAHERE!" (He runs a lot of his sentences as one word).
All he wanted to do was be left alone and watch a world of warcraft short film over and over. (and over and over) it started out that it was going ok for him. But then I started to hear him cry "sisser" (translation : sister) She was such a little pain to him today. She misses him so much when he's at school and gets so excited when his bus comes but then after a little while she really starts to pick on him (almost like " how dare you leave me type of thing").
It was such a busy day. Gabriel was so fussy from his 3rd Synagis shot (a vaccination to help prevent RSV), on top of trying to get dinner prepared, doing a couple of loads of laundry, putting a load of dishes on.
I failed at keeping the "sisser" at bay. That was it, he hit his limit and had a semi-melt down. It broke my heart, he just cried, and kept telling me "you you you" which means. " Mommy you didn't watch my back".
I understand honestly, my poor guy just wanted to zen and no one was letting him.
Today is one of those days you just feel like you didn't do anything right. But all said and done everyone is safe and sound asleep (I wish I could say in their owns beds but that goal has not been reached yet).
If there ever was a calgone take me away day this was it.
I love my family so much.
Monday, February 1, 2010
How Was I Suppose to Know My Son Was Autistic?
So your child was just diagnosed with Autism. After the shock you probably thought, "How did I miss that?".
For me, that is what it was like.
Noah was diagnosed with autism kind of late. Not because he wasn't showing any signs. No, because his mother didn't have a clue as to what autism looked like (like it has a look!) or acted like.
In my defense I always knew what he wanted without him asking so I just figured he could say it. I thought I was being an attentive mother. Besides when I would bath him and we (meaning me) would play the "what is this body part?" game. He would look at me like "are you nuts I know what it is. Don't you?”
Noah always smiled and at least looked me in the eye. I didn't realize he wouldn't look other people directly. What mother wants their child talking to strangers and making eye contact?
Noah also was not sitting up on his own when he was a year old. But he could pull himself up with his arms and climb everything and anything.
Noah didn't crawl using all fours. He did the army crawl with his arms and elbows. These things had nothing to do with autism and everything to do with Noah's size and motor development. He was so tiny when he was born and just grew on his own curve it never dawned on me.
At 12 months old he was still wearing 0-3 month clothes (a little background. Noah was born at 37 1/2 weeks gestation and severely IUGR he was only 2 lbs 14 oz and 14 1/2 inches long. I had some placenta issues there). So Noah, not talking was to me nothing to be alarmed about. I was too focused on other issues.
Note to self: you should have started this blog when you first thought about it 7 years ago.
I would take Noah into his Neonatal follow-up appointments and all I would hear was "What" my boy wasn't doing. What do you mean? Not doing, Look how he lined up those blocks for you and made the dinosaurs migrate all in a line from biggest to smallest. How dare they say he's not doing something? He's well organized for being only a year old. (Anyone else ever get that feeling?)I remember dreading every time I had to go to a neonatal follow up because I would always come home feeling like a complete failure as a mother. That first year was horrible. Noah was the light of my life and No One could see what he was doing and that it was a miracle that he was even here to begin with.
They would mail me his reports from the follow up appointments with comments saying "a suggestion of PDD-NOS" but it Never explain in the report what PDD-NOS was. Everything else in that report was detailed enough his mother understood it. This term kept popping up in all of Noah's reports for at least 2 1/2 years and I never had the courage to ask anyone what it was. I was a stupid first time mother that thought that if it was important they would have said something to me in the appointment and then explained it in the report. Man I was so wrong.
It wasn't until Noah was 3 years old when I finally got the courage to ask a family educator "what is PDD-NOS?" She said, “Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified”.
Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) still confused? Yeah, me to. So, I Googled it and then became very quiet and upset that anyone would suggest that my son had anything to do with autism. The only child I had ever met with autism sat in a corner of his mother’s house and played by himself and his mother quietly leaned over to my mother said, “he’s autistic” like they weren’t suppose to say it out loud. I never noticed that Noah didn’t play with his cousins or other kids (there wasn’t any children in the park we lived in). I knew he would get “over stimulated” and he would put himself in time out. I thought that was because of his IUGR thing.
So, now that was brought into the light, I had to prove to them my son wasn’t autistic. But this meant the beginning of another long battery of tests for the boy. At first he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS because Noah refused to cooperate with anyone who wasn't in his little circle of trusted people. After he was in his autistic preschool program he opened up a bit more and cooperated with the tests and later received a diagnosis of Severe Autism.
And thus, the story begins…
I am interested to know what your reaction was when you found out your child has autism.
For me, that is what it was like.
Noah was diagnosed with autism kind of late. Not because he wasn't showing any signs. No, because his mother didn't have a clue as to what autism looked like (like it has a look!) or acted like.
In my defense I always knew what he wanted without him asking so I just figured he could say it. I thought I was being an attentive mother. Besides when I would bath him and we (meaning me) would play the "what is this body part?" game. He would look at me like "are you nuts I know what it is. Don't you?”
Noah always smiled and at least looked me in the eye. I didn't realize he wouldn't look other people directly. What mother wants their child talking to strangers and making eye contact?
Noah also was not sitting up on his own when he was a year old. But he could pull himself up with his arms and climb everything and anything.
Noah didn't crawl using all fours. He did the army crawl with his arms and elbows. These things had nothing to do with autism and everything to do with Noah's size and motor development. He was so tiny when he was born and just grew on his own curve it never dawned on me.
At 12 months old he was still wearing 0-3 month clothes (a little background. Noah was born at 37 1/2 weeks gestation and severely IUGR he was only 2 lbs 14 oz and 14 1/2 inches long. I had some placenta issues there). So Noah, not talking was to me nothing to be alarmed about. I was too focused on other issues.
Note to self: you should have started this blog when you first thought about it 7 years ago.
I would take Noah into his Neonatal follow-up appointments and all I would hear was "What" my boy wasn't doing. What do you mean? Not doing, Look how he lined up those blocks for you and made the dinosaurs migrate all in a line from biggest to smallest. How dare they say he's not doing something? He's well organized for being only a year old. (Anyone else ever get that feeling?)I remember dreading every time I had to go to a neonatal follow up because I would always come home feeling like a complete failure as a mother. That first year was horrible. Noah was the light of my life and No One could see what he was doing and that it was a miracle that he was even here to begin with.
They would mail me his reports from the follow up appointments with comments saying "a suggestion of PDD-NOS" but it Never explain in the report what PDD-NOS was. Everything else in that report was detailed enough his mother understood it. This term kept popping up in all of Noah's reports for at least 2 1/2 years and I never had the courage to ask anyone what it was. I was a stupid first time mother that thought that if it was important they would have said something to me in the appointment and then explained it in the report. Man I was so wrong.
It wasn't until Noah was 3 years old when I finally got the courage to ask a family educator "what is PDD-NOS?" She said, “Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified”.
Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) still confused? Yeah, me to. So, I Googled it and then became very quiet and upset that anyone would suggest that my son had anything to do with autism. The only child I had ever met with autism sat in a corner of his mother’s house and played by himself and his mother quietly leaned over to my mother said, “he’s autistic” like they weren’t suppose to say it out loud. I never noticed that Noah didn’t play with his cousins or other kids (there wasn’t any children in the park we lived in). I knew he would get “over stimulated” and he would put himself in time out. I thought that was because of his IUGR thing.
So, now that was brought into the light, I had to prove to them my son wasn’t autistic. But this meant the beginning of another long battery of tests for the boy. At first he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS because Noah refused to cooperate with anyone who wasn't in his little circle of trusted people. After he was in his autistic preschool program he opened up a bit more and cooperated with the tests and later received a diagnosis of Severe Autism.
And thus, the story begins…
I am interested to know what your reaction was when you found out your child has autism.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Goals or Milestones Forget New Year Resolutions
Maybe it's time I actually put in writing my goals for my family. When the New Year was about to happen I was asked, "What is your New Years Resolution?" my reply was, " I am not going to make any resolutions because they are basically made to be broken".
Pondering on that I realized I really should set actual goals rather than saying, "Oh I want to do that". So...
Goal number 1 was already achieved by Noah. POTTY TRAINED!!! Whoa-who!
Goal Number 2: Sleeping in my bed without children (we will see how this works out I have 11 months to go to complete it).
Goal Number 3: Get my car finished (almost done) so that I can take my children to the zoo and the other museums this year.
Goal Number 4: Actually buy some NEW furniture for my home Starting with the living room.
Goal Number 5: Even though I have a lot of spending goals I would like to save more money for a raining day (or a sunny one).
Goal Number 6: Get walking again.
Goal Number 7: Have more date nights with my husband.
Goal Number 8: Start a structured (planned) family event.
Goal Number 9: Since I mentioned structured. I should probably work harder at getting my home, and life organized (I need Neecy Nash).
Goal Number 10: Find more me time. So that I can spend it with my family (Wow, I think I may need my head examined but it's true. I honestly love being with my family even when I am feeling manic).
I may add more goals for this year but for now that is quite enough. Now lets see if I can actually follow through.
Pondering on that I realized I really should set actual goals rather than saying, "Oh I want to do that". So...
Goal number 1 was already achieved by Noah. POTTY TRAINED!!! Whoa-who!
Goal Number 2: Sleeping in my bed without children (we will see how this works out I have 11 months to go to complete it).
Goal Number 3: Get my car finished (almost done) so that I can take my children to the zoo and the other museums this year.
Goal Number 4: Actually buy some NEW furniture for my home Starting with the living room.
Goal Number 5: Even though I have a lot of spending goals I would like to save more money for a raining day (or a sunny one).
Goal Number 6: Get walking again.
Goal Number 7: Have more date nights with my husband.
Goal Number 8: Start a structured (planned) family event.
Goal Number 9: Since I mentioned structured. I should probably work harder at getting my home, and life organized (I need Neecy Nash).
Goal Number 10: Find more me time. So that I can spend it with my family (Wow, I think I may need my head examined but it's true. I honestly love being with my family even when I am feeling manic).
I may add more goals for this year but for now that is quite enough. Now lets see if I can actually follow through.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Welcome to 2010 A Brand New Year of Excitement and Adventure!
Number One Lesson for anyone dealing with an Autistic child.
You don't train them, They train You.
This will probably be the most important thing to learn. Once you have mastered this, life will be so much smoother for the both of you.
Wow, so far this year has been exciting! Why? Well, I am a 40 year old mother with a 3 month old son named Gabriel, a 4 year old daughter Abigail (we call her Abi for short) and my miracle child Noah who is 8 years old and severally autistic (among other health issues).
Noah has had it rough when it comes to his health since before his birth and I will get into that a little bit later. Right now, I would like to focus on a HUGE milestone that we have been working on since he was about 2 1/2 years old.
This is a challenge for any parent.
I have to say for a parent with a child with autism there are times when you just really want to give up. Bang your head up against the wall. Cry (sob). Scream. Lay down on the floor and kick your feet like a child- kind of feeling because after years and years of trying to potty train your child. You are still changing diapers at 8 years old. As a mother, you feel like a complete failure just because this one all important milestone is not obtainable for your child, for what reason? No one knows (you get that a lot with autism).
For me, I would like to break out the bottle of bubbly grape juice and put on a party hat because after all these years trying to coax him into sitting on the toilet, hiding the diapers, pleading, and then giving in because he made himself sick from actually trying to hold it in has finally trained himself. He just one day decided to be a big boy and just do it.
Hence the first lesson of autism. "You don't train them, they train you".
You don't train them, They train You.
Wow, so far this year has been exciting! Why? Well, I am a 40 year old mother with a 3 month old son named Gabriel, a 4 year old daughter Abigail (we call her Abi for short) and my miracle child Noah who is 8 years old and severally autistic (among other health issues).
Noah has had it rough when it comes to his health since before his birth and I will get into that a little bit later. Right now, I would like to focus on a HUGE milestone that we have been working on since he was about 2 1/2 years old.
"Potty Training"
This is a challenge for any parent.
I have to say for a parent with a child with autism there are times when you just really want to give up. Bang your head up against the wall. Cry (sob). Scream. Lay down on the floor and kick your feet like a child- kind of feeling because after years and years of trying to potty train your child. You are still changing diapers at 8 years old. As a mother, you feel like a complete failure just because this one all important milestone is not obtainable for your child, for what reason? No one knows (you get that a lot with autism).
For me, I would like to break out the bottle of bubbly grape juice and put on a party hat because after all these years trying to coax him into sitting on the toilet, hiding the diapers, pleading, and then giving in because he made himself sick from actually trying to hold it in has finally trained himself. He just one day decided to be a big boy and just do it.
Hence the first lesson of autism. "You don't train them, they train you".
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