sj and bob turn back time when they watch an old video

I was singing a song in the car the other day.  It was the backwards alphabet song from an old kids DVD we have at home.  The DVD was Here Come The ABC's by They Might Be Giants.  Bob asked me what I was singing, so I told him.  He said he didn't remember that video.  I was surprised since they probably watched it 1,000 times.  It was a great learning tool for the boys.  The best part was they didn't even realize they were learning because the songs were so much fun.  SJ's TSS had told me about it and felt it would be good for SJ.  She was completely correct.  SJ and Bob loved it.  SJ is a visual learning, so he could use the graphics as a reinforcer.  I was telling my husband about it and he said I should just put it on one day.  Yesterday when I was preparing dinner, I put it on.  Slowly, the boys made it into the living room.  They both sat down on the couches and were mesmerized.  "Oh, I remember this one," said SJ.  "I love this song," said Bob.  I said, "See, I told you that you have watched this before."  The boys were so into it.  They went upstairs and got SJ's puppets.  They were using the puppets like the ones that were in one of the songs.  It was hysterical to watch.  I was flooded with memories of SJ being 3 and Bob being 4.  It was only 6 years ago, but it almost seems like a lifetime ago.  We no longer have a TSS, but if we did I would have thanked her again for introducing us to such a great video.  Check it out if you have a child who would benefit from visual learning!

eye dr. appointment for sj...are they testing his patience or his eyes?

SJ had his annual eye doctor appointment this morning.  We arrived at 10:05 am for a 10:15 appointment.  We didn't get called back (into the smaller waiting room) until 10:45.  The boys were moderately well behaved in the big waiting room.  Bob was on his DS and SJ was playing at the activity table.  When we were first called back, SJ was getting in and out of the exam chair.  He was fussing with the plastic rug (for chairs with wheels).  He was standing in front of the reflected alphabet eye chart.  I repeatedly reminded him not to touch the doctor's instruments, but he is a child with a very short attention span.  A few minutes after we were in the small room, the nurse came in to do the preliminary eye exam on SJ.  He did as well as can be expected with the nurse.  His eyes haven't changed, so there is no immediate need for new glasses.  The nurse left and said the doctor would be right in.  This is when the behavior started to get hairy.  SJ was acting very hyper and wouldn't leave Bob alone.  Bob was getting frustrated with SJ, so he wouldn't even let him watch him play his DS.  I threatened with the "no electronics", but in their defense we were waiting over an hour.  Finally at 11:10, the doctor came into the room.  He spent about 3 minutes with SJ.  He did the more thorough exam and said he would see us in a year.  It just boggles my mind that doctors make any child wait so long.  For a child like SJ, it is inexcusable.  As we were driving away, I wondered if doctors ever get frustrated when they wait for an appointment.  I am sure if they had a child on the spectrum they would think twice before testing any child's patience.

summer speech therapy part 7

Yesterday, SJ had his weekly speech therapy session.  He worked on a Deciding What to Do worksheet.  His therapist said he did an okay job, but he did need some prompting.  She also worked on some "How" questions with him.  These can be challenging for him, because the answer isn't always concrete.  She assigned him some "How" questions for homework.  She also told me that he was asking her many conversational questions.  She seemed pretty impressed with that.  She had suggested possibly putting him with another speech student for a social conversation therapy session.  I told her that I would discuss that option with my husband.  My only concern was that the student or SJ may pick up each other's bad habits.  After speaking to my husband about it, we may have him participate in the joint speech session.  Once he starts the new school year, I will have a better grasp of how scheduled he is.  I don't want to over schedule him, because then he will just shut down.  He still needs to time to relax after school.  Two speech therapies a week may be too much for him.  I guess we will see in a few weeks.  I never know with SJ.  Sometimes, he really surprises me!

sj visits his specialist

SJ had his yearly appointment at his neurodevelopmental specialist yesterday.  We have been seeing this doctor for a few years.  He has a lengthy waiting list.  I think SJ was on his list for about 18 months before we got our initial appointment.  He is a big believer in a specialized diet and what nutrients are in the kids' bodies.  SJ is on a supplement regimen.  He tweaked it a little this time.  He is now going to be taking Calcium, Magnesium Oxide, Omega 3-D, Multivitamin, Zinc, Coromega (fish oil) and Therabiotic.  He asked us to keep limiting the casein (milk products) in his diet.  We have been doing very well with this limitation for the last few months.  He also asked that we watch the amount of gluten (wheat products) and soy that he eats.  This is much more difficult.  The gluten free products are usually pretty gross, so SJ simply refuses to eat them.  He was a little concerned about his attention span, but I am not ready to medicate him for that difficulty.  He seems to be doing okay with that at school.  If it started to become problematic at school, maybe we will revisit the medication issue later.  He seemed pleased that SJ is getting speech therapy over the summer.  He asked us to continue this therapy throughout the school year.  He also advised that we purchase a High Flux light (SAD light) for SJ to use beginning in September.  He wants him to sit near it for 15 minutes in the morning.  He will be sending us for a blood draw to check on the metals and nutrients in his body.  I am going to try to get that done before we head off for vacation.  Overall, the doctor was very happy with SJ's progress.  We are pleased with his progress too and our lucky that we have a knowledgable specialist.

sj discovers the river, boating and tubing

Yesterday, our friends invited our family down to the river to ride on their boat.  The boys have only been on a boat once, but it was when they were 3 and 2.  They have no recollections of their first boating experience.  We had the talk with them about the necessity of life jackets.  My husband and I thought this would be a problem, but thankfully they wore them without a single complaint.  After they got their life jackets on, we were going to head into the boat.  SJ and Bob were so excited that they jumped off the dock into the river.  They are both great swimmers, but it is a river.  I started to worry for nothing.  They were fine and had a great time.  We eventually got in the boat and our friends took us for a ride.  SJ and his friend went on the tube first.  I was nervous about him falling out.  I know he had on the life jacket, but the thought of his little peanut head floating in the vast river made me a little uptight.  He was laughing and yelling to our friend to go faster.  The kids took turns riding on the tube.  My husband even got in the tube with SJ.  Watching him fall out of the tube caused the kids to go into hysterics.  SJ did fall out a few times and was yelling for help.  At first, I thought he was struggling, but he was crying wolf.  (He does this at the pool too...I am waiting for a lifeguard to jump in to try to save him!)  After they were done tubing, we went back to the dock.  The kids continued to do jumps and cannonballs off the dock.  SJ was getting brave and did a front flip off the dock.  We did have to stop him from that, since we were concerned that he would hit his head on the dock.  It was a great way to spend a Saturday.  SJ already asked me when we were going to go back!

SJ's super power

It was our turn to drive the boys yesterday for Bob's class.  The boys were teasing him some in the car (not badly, just normal boy stuff!).  After we dropped off the boys, SJ was in the kitchen with me.  He said, "Mom, do you know what super power I would like to have?"  I said, "Invisibility?"  He said, "No, guess again."  I said, "Super fast running power?"  He said, "No, guess again."  I said, "Super smarts?"  He said, "No, I would like to be a Name Calling Hunter."  I said, "What is that?"  He said, "When kids call me names, I would like to use my Name Calling Hunter laser to zap them."  I thought about it for a few seconds.  I tried to remember if Bob and the boys had called him names in the car.  I couldn't recall any name calling, but I do remember them teasing him a bit.  I said, "Who was calling you names?"  He said, "Sometimes kids do, like Bob.  I don't like it."  I said, "Well, the boys weren't calling you names.  They were just 'joking' with you."  He said, "I don't like to be teased."  I said, "Well, next time you need to tell the boys that you don't like to be teased."  He said, "Okay, but it would still be fun to have a name calling hunting laser."  I said, "It sure would, SJ."  I thought it was awesome that he was able to verbalize this to me.  This is such huge evidence that he is spending much more time in the typical world instead of the autism world.  It is too bad all of us couldn't have a name calling laser.  I would even settle for a name calling shield that could ricochet the bad names back at the name caller.  Maybe that should be my super power.

3 typical boys + 1 pdd boy=fun car ride

Bob and two of his friends have been taking a class at our local university.  Yesterday was our turn to car pool.  I told the boys it was time to pick up the friends, so Bob went downstairs to get in the car.  A moment or so later, SJ came downstairs with four of his plushies.  "Why does he have to bring them?" said Bob to me when SJ got in the car.  "Because he likes them," I told Bob.  "But it is embarrassing," said Bob.  I told him, "Your friends know all about SJ and they won't care if he has his plushies."  When we arrived at the pickup spot, the boys got into the back seat with SJ.  SJ was having a conversation with the plushies, but then gave each boy one to play with.  To Bob's surprise, the boys started to play with them.  This was no surprise to me.  The boys aren't much older than SJ and love Mario games.  As I was driving, I could hear the boys having fun in the backseat.  Bob even joined in on the plushy play from the front seat.  SJ occasionally tried to engage the boys in conversation.  He asked them who their favorite plushy was and he asked them questions about Cars 2.  The boys answered his questions and continued to play.  When we got to the university, SJ and I walked the boys in.  After a few hours, we went back to retrieve them.  It was more of the same on the ride home.  I am glad that Bob has nice friends.  They don't treat SJ like a kid with PDD, but they treat him as their friend's typical little brother.

summer speech therapy part 6

It is Tuesday, so SJ had his speech therapy session. I was unable to take him today, but my husband was able to go. Last week, SJ had discovered that his therapist is going to the same beach as we are. My sister-in-law had brought over a map of the resort this weekend. SJ was very excited to take it in and show it to his therapist. I thought that was great that he was already thinking about what he wanted to talk to her about. Besides discussing vacations with her, he worked on Multiple Meaning words. For example: He had a sentence that said Devin loved to splash in the waves. Next to the sentence were two pictures: one was an ocean wave and one was a baby waving. He had to circle the correct picture and then provide the difference between both pictures. He did excellent on this activity. She said he got 100% correct. He also worked on a Deciding What to Do worksheet. The therapist gave him a scenario. The scenario was that a friend asks him to leave the pool without telling their moms. SJ had to first, stop and think. He had to write down what he was asked to do. Then, he had to mentally ask himself some questions. He came up with three questions. They were: Is that a problem? Yes, Is it safe? No, and Will he get into trouble? Yes. He did okay with the first two sections, but had some problems with the last section. in the last section, he had to think and decide what to do. The therapist had to prompt him, but he was able to complete it. He had to answer what he knew, which was that it was a problem, it was dangerous and he will get into trouble. He had to decide what to do, which was to not leave the pool without telling his mom. Overall, the therapist told my husband that he had a good day. We will continue to work on helping him with abstract concepts.

badminton fun=typical family fun

Bob and I were playing badminton when SJ came outside.  At first, he was watching us play and making hand motions to show who won the point.  This was bothering Bob, but I told him that SJ was fine.  Half way through our game, SJ decided to join my team.  I had him play the front while I stayed in the back.  Bob is a strong player, so he was fine on his own.  When SJ is paying attention, he actually is pretty good.  The problem is he tends to spin himself in the middle of a volley.  Most of our points were lost because of this behavior.  This was irritating Bob, but I told him it was to his advantage.  He said, "Why can't he be normal?"  I told him that none of us were "normal" and that there is no "normal".  SJ is just who he is just like I am who I am.  I told Bob that I didn't care if my team lost.  All I really cared about was that my two boys were participating in an outdoor activity together.  When the game was over and SJ and I lost, I told SJ that we tried our best and that is all that matters.  (I did tell him we may have gotten more points if he would pay attention to the game more!)  I thought SJ was going to throw his racket like he did earlier when he lost to Bob.  He surprised me, however, and said, "Can we play another game?"  I said we could and we lost to Bob again.  In the end, I feel that we won.  We played a game as a "typical" family.  We had fun and that is all that matters!

finally, cutting his pancakes=no tears

This morning, SJ had his normal breakfast.  I put three pancakes on his plate and gave him a knife and a fork.  If you are new to this blog, we have been working on getting SJ to cut up his own food.  Usually, I get a lot of complaining and tears when he is asked to do this.  Well, hallelujah!  He came in the kitchen and sat at the island.  The pancakes were there.  I was busy getting his supplements ready.  When I turned around, there he was quietly cutting his pancakes with a dry face.  No tears, no complaining, no yelling.  The only thing he said was, "Mom, we need more syrup."  He was right.  We do need more syrup.  "I will add it to the list," I told him.  He said, "Thanks, Mom."  "No, thank you for being a big boy," I thought.  Imagine it only took 46 days, but he did it!  I am so proud!

what about me?

Six and a half years ago, SJ didn't care about people. He didn't really play with Bob. He didn't seem to notice other kids. He would be in his little world while all the "typical" people moved around him. It is amazing to me to think how far he has come. We were outside riding our bikes today when a neighbor friend came to find the boys. I was talking to the boy's mom when Bob, SJ and the boy came to his house. The boy wanted to know if Bob could come in. SJ quickly looked at the kid and said, "What about me?" The boy just smiled at SJ and said, "Yeah, I meant you too SJ." SJ says this phrase a lot now.  It is amazing progress that he is asking this simple question.  It is hard for me to describe how I feel when SJ is realizing he is a part of the typical world. I think back to the boy who would sit in the bay window and watch the cars drive by for hours. I think about him zooming Hot Wheels cars past his eyes instead of playing with them traditionally. I think back to SJ staring at the TV for hours on end and not hearing me call his name. I would have given anything to hear him want to be a part of the typical world. So if any of you out there have a child like SJ, please don't give up hope. Don't stop imagining what your child's future will be. Six years ago, I would have never guessed he would care why a neighbor boy hadn't invited him in. Progress comes.  Sometimes, it is just a little slower with kids like SJ.  I will take whatever progress I can get.

brotherly drama=video game timeout

After breakfast, Bob and SJ were playing the Wii upstairs.  I was trying to exercise when the shouting began.  I tried to let it go initially, but it only got louder a few moments later.  I yelled up the stairs that they needed to "fight nicely" (something my one grandma used to always say to us!) or the video games would be turned off.  Mostly, I could only hear SJ's voice.  He was losing whatever game they were playing and he was getting mad that Bob was winning.  When his voice was getting to my loudness limit, I told him that if I heard one more shout from him he would be done with video games for an hour.  Not even 60 seconds later, SJ's siren started going off.  I told him to come downstairs and he would be losing the video games for an hour.  He was yelling no to me, but I started counting backwards from 5.  This is a very effective tool for SJ.  He made it downstairs when I had reached 2.  He was very mad at me and this was our conversation:

SJ:  You can't take video games away from me!
Me:  Yes, I can.  I am the Mom.
SJ:  But Bob was calling me a baby.
Me:  Even if Bob was calling you names, you need to control yourself.  Tell Bob to not call you names and come get me. 
SJ:  I get into a rampage when he calls me a loser.
Me:  Well, you can't get so mad over losing a video game.  All it is going to do is get you in trouble and you will lose a privilege. 
SJ (still crying):  But Bob never lets me win.
Me:  He doesn't have to let you win.  He wants to win too.  You just have to try your best and practice.  Pretty soon, you will beat him too.

I told him to go get some tissues and I turned on PBS.  We watched a kid's show while I finished my exercises.  Bob then came downstairs.  He told me that he didn't call SJ names, but SJ may have "misheard" him.  I told Bob that he should apologize to SJ and let him know he didn't call him names.  SJ said okay to Bob and we all continued to watch Sesame Street.  When the 60 minute time out was over, SJ didn't even want to continue to play video games.  They are still watching TV together.

pluto takes a bath...twice!

Two days ago, SJ told me that his head got wet when he was going to the bathroom.  In my mind, I was thinking, "How could you get your head wet?"  Instead I ask him out loud, "SJ, what do you mean?"  He said he looked down and got his head wet.  His head appeared dry, but I still called him over to look at his head.  I didn't smell anything, so I thought maybe he was pretending.  A few minutes later, he tells me that it was his hat that got wet.  He was wearing all yellow, so I deduced that it was his Pluto hat.  He got it in Walt Disney World a few years ago and wears it a lot!  I told him to go get the hat and let me see it.  When he brought it downstairs, he was carrying it with hand towels.  He said he tried to dry it off, but I could smell something. (If you guessed urine, you would be right!)  I told him that it was dirty and we would need to wash it.  If you know SJ, you know this was not what he wanted to hear.  He started to cry and he asked me not to wash it.  I wasn't going to argue this point, so I told him to bring it up to the laundry room.  We put "Pluto" in the laundry with the hand towels.  I set the machine and said, "See you later, Pluto."  SJ started to cry harder.  He said, "Why does it have to take 45 minutes?"  I replied, "That is how long he takes to get clean."  We went downstairs to clean up the breakfast dishes.  Every 10 minutes, SJ checked on Pluto's bath.  When Pluto was finally done, SJ announced that the machine said "End".  I went to get the hat and took it outside to the deck.  I told SJ that it was so hot outside (thermometer reads 92^o) that it will dry in no time.  SJ waited about 10 more minutes and retrieved the hat from the deck.  He placed it on his head and said, "He is as good as new, Mom!"  Thank goodness for washing machines and the bright sun.  SJ's crisis only lasted a little over an hour!

summer speech therapy part 5

Today was another speech therapy session.  SJ's speech therapist asked how he was this week.  I told her we had done a Prediction worksheet and he had needed some help.  There was a picture of a family in a car with luggage.  SJ had to answer questions about where the family was going, where they would stay, what they would do if it rained, etc.  He also initially replied with "I don't know" responses, but then I offered him some suggestions for him to choose from.  When he was finished with his session, she told me that they were working on How questions.  She said he was having some trouble when she was reading the questions to him.  When she had him read the questions himself, he was able to answer the questions much quicker.  She said maybe it was too much her reading to him.  She seemed pleased that he was able to do some on his own.  She assigned him the remainder of the worksheet for homework.  I did tell her that the therapy is noticeably carrying over to his social life.  He has been approaching kids at the pool to play with him.  He had a conversation with his dad today on the telephone and was asking him appropriate questions.  He even told me that his therapist was going to the same place as we are for our family vacation.  He said, "She is going the same month as us."  Even though SJ still has some speech struggles, all the baby steps he is making is helping him navigate the typical world.  I couldn't be prouder!

not coming in first while playing a video game=early morning drama

This morning I was downstairs making breakfast for the boys when I heard much crying upstairs.  At first, I thought the boys were fighting.  When I started to walk to the bottom of the stairs to see what they were fighting about, I heard Bob in the library.  He was on the computer.  I yelled up the stairs to SJ to see why he was crying.  Apparently, he lost while playing some Wii game.  It doesn't really matter which one it was.  He tends to have huge meltdowns when he doesn't come in first in any video game that he plays.  I told him that he needed to come downstairs and eat breakfast.  Sometimes the distraction technique works for him (not this morning).  You should have seen his little face.  It was all red and wet with tears.  I asked him what was wrong and he told me through his sobs, "I can't ever win!"  Bob and I tried to reassure him that everyone wants to win, but sometimes you just don't.  We used examples of Olympians, NASCAR drivers and even other kids.  To make matters worse, I (being the worst mother in the world--obviously) asked him to cut up his pancakes.  The tears then turned into screams about how he can't cut the pancakes too.  Poor SJ!  He had such a rough start to his day.  Eventually, he calmed down and I told him he could play Wii again if he promised to not get so mad.  I told him he has to control himself and his anger.  He said he didn't think he could do it, but I asked him to try his best.  Fortunately, the rest of the day was "rampage" free.  This is why I don't play video games.  It is way too much drama before 9 a.m.

don't want to go, don't want to go....don't want to leave, don't want to leave!

Yesterday, we went to one of my husband's relative’s graduation party.  We told SJ and Bob about it in the morning.  Neither boy was too excited to go.  SJ kept asking why we had to go.  He said he would rather go to the pool.  I told him we would go swimming the next day, but today we had to go to a party.  I reminded him that there was a playground, ball fields, a pond and other kids to play with.  As we were driving, SJ wanted to know how many miles it was.  No matter what my husband would say he would reply that it was "too far".  When we got to the park, his attitude changed quickly.  He saw the playground and was excited.  In the past, going to a place like this would cause me great stress.  I was never sure how SJ was going to act.  My biggest concern was that he would run away and get lost.  Fortunately, this park had many things to offer and they were all within my visual sight.  He bounced between the playground, playing badminton, having snacks and fishing.  Neither boy had ever really fished before.  The pond was a catch and release pond.  The boys were fascinated with the fishing.  SJ never ended up catching any fish, but Bob caught two small fish and a turtle.  SJ was even playing Frisbee with his teenage cousins that he was calling "the dudes".  Before we knew it, it was after 8:00.  We told the boys it was time to go, but surprisingly they were whining that they didn't want to go.  We would have stayed longer, but everyone was leaving.  This was the best party behavior that we have had from both boys in a long time.  It is amazing how something as typical as going to park can cause me so much stress.  Now that SJ is older and doing better, I can now leave some of that stress at home!

rainy day=costume play

It is raining where we live today.  I have no complaints about it.  We need the rain badly and I could use a day to clean my house.  Around 9:30 this morning, I was surprised by one of the Star Wars characters (actually it was SJ in a Captain Rex costume).  SJ was standing in front of me with the full costume on.  He even had a Buzz Lightyear laser gun that he was pretending was Captain Rex's gun.  This is not unusual for SJ to dress up in old Halloween costumes.  He loves to dress up!  I don't discourage it, since it is a great way for him to use his imagination.  A few minutes after I was surprised by Captain Rex, I saw Commander Cody sneak into the kitchen.  This was Bob, who had decided to get into costume too.  They were running around the house trying to attack each other with their makeshift Star Wars guns.  The costume play went on for almost 30 minutes.  It is great to see them playing with each other as typical brothers.  Bob forgot that SJ was annoying him only 60 minutes earlier.  They were chasing each other and giggling.  It was great to watch.  I wish it had lasted a little longer.  I am hoping as long as the rain keeps falling their imaginations will keep flowing.  As much as we all love going to pool, it is a nice break to have some inside play that doesn't involve video games or computers.  So I will say thank you rain!

cutting a pancake=lots of tears

It hadn't occurred to me that I had been still cutting the boys food for them.  I guess I was on automatic pilot.  I put their breakfast (usually pancakes) on their plates and then cut it up.  It took a friend asking me why I was still doing this for me to stop.  Since school has been out for the summer, I decided that they can start to cut up their own food.  I began with the pancakes.  Should be pretty easy to cut, right?  I showed them both how to hold their knives and forks.  I thought that this would be a simple thing for them to learn.  They both complained initially.  How dare I expect them to cut their own food!  Bob caught on very quickly (no surprise there), but SJ is having a tougher time with it.  Every morning he cries and complains.  He yells that he can't cut them.  "It is too hard," cries SJ.  I try to reassure him that he can do it and it doesn't have to be perfect.  So each morning I watch as alligator tears fall on his plate as he hacks away at his pancakes.  I keep encouraging him that he is doing a great job.  I tell him that it doesn't matter if they aren't cut exactly right.  I told him that the syrup will cover it up.  We'll keep at it and I am hoping by the end of the summer he will be a cutting expert.  Until then, I will serve the pancakes with a box of tissues and extra syrup!

summer speech therapy part 4

SJ had another speech therapy session today.  The therapist said he did very well with the Problem Solving exercise.  He also worked on an emotions worksheet.  She had him list off things that made him mad, happy or sad.  She said he easily listed off the things that make him happy.  They were: 

1. I am happy when I win. 
2. I am happy when I am at the pool.
3. I am happy when I go to birthday parties.
4. I am happy at Christmas.
5. I am happy at Halloween.

He had some trouble listing things that made him sad.  The therapist gave him some examples and he told her the following.

1. I am sad when I get bullied.
2. I am sad when teachers give you a fail grade.
3. I am sad when I get reading homework.
4. I was sad when I gave up my dog.
5. I was sad when my friend moved to New York.

When it came to listing the things about getting mad, they mostly were about Bob.  They were:

1. I get mad when my brother copies me.
2. I get mad when Bob teases me.
3. I get mad when I lose.
4. I get mad when Bob calls me names.
5. I get mad when Bob tells me to be quiet.

The therapist said she asked SJ how he reacts when he gets mad at Bob.  He told her he goes into a rage (he sort of does...he yells at the top of lungs "Bobbbbbbbbbb!".)  She gave him some suggestions of verbiage that he can use instead of yelling.  She said he could say, "Bob that hurts my feelings when you copy me."  She also suggested he say, "Bob, I get mad when you call me names and tease me."  It is great that he is able to discuss his feelings in a calm atmosphere.  I hope with her suggestions SJ will not react so quickly to typical brotherly behavior.  I plan on showing the worksheet to Bob as well.  It may give him some insight on how his brother is feeling too.  He may not realize that SJ is internalizing his words and actions.  This was an eye opening exercise for all of us!

boom, flash, boom....calm, calm SJ

SJ used to be very sensitive to loud sounds.  He wouldn't cry, but he would run and shout that it was "too loud".  He still is occasionally sensitive to loud sounds.  I think echoing sounds are more bothersome to him now.  He has the most trouble during school assemblies, since the auditorium has a lot of echo.  I always tell him to just cover his ears and then the sound will be muffled.  When it came time to shoot off our fireworks, I was concerned that the noise would be too much for him.  He surprised me once again.  He was laughing when the first few went off.  He was running through the smoke that the fireworks emitted.  When a particularly loud one was shot off, he did cover his ears.  He didn't run in the house.  He stayed outside with our guests and enjoyed the show.  I am so proud that he has learned how to adapt to the noises that so many typical people ignore.  At one point, he was even saying that the small ground fireworks weren't "impressive".  Who is this kid?  I don't think that I could have imagined 6 years ago he would be acting in this manner during a firework celebration.  He has matured so much.  It is a great feeling to see that through therapy and practice SJ is able to enjoy the fireworks as much as any other typical kid (or adult for that matter).  Happy fourth all!

who to choose...when both boys want to do something different?

My husband had eye surgery today, so the boys spent the night at Grammy's.  After I got my husband settled in bed to rest, I went to retrieve the boys from my parents' house.  I had two errands to run and then we started to drive home.  It was a particularly hot day today, so I thought we would go to the pool (my husband was going to be sleeping for a few more hours anyway).  I began to tell the boys what the plan was, but Bob had a different idea.  He wanted to play his PS3 when he got home, but SJ still wanted to go to the pool.  The temperature was reading at over 90^o, so I was started to try to convince Bob that we should go to the pool.  He wouldn't listen and was pleading to stay at home.  Meanwhile, SJ had run to get his bathing suit on as soon as we got home.  This is where my choice became difficult.  I knew if I sided with SJ then Bob would feel once again slighted by me.  He had just told me yesterday that "the little Mister always gets his way".  If I sided with Bob, I knew that SJ would have a huge tantrum and possibly disturb my resting husband.  What to do?  I decided to side with Bob.  He is right and I do sometimes choose the path where I know the tantrum won't occur.  I told SJ that Bob was not feeling well and he could just use the sprinkler in the yard.  He started to get so mad.  His face got red and he balled up his hands into fists.  He started to huff and puff.  I whispered in his ear (we were right outside the master bedroom) that if he had a tantrum I would take a few plushies.  He ran downstairs and began to whimper (fortunately for him, a very soft whimper).  I noticed that my neighbor was in her pool.  She had told me that the boys were welcome anytime.  I wouldn't normally assume they can swim, but I could feel the tantrum building.  I asked her if SJ could swim with her kids for a little while.  She said sure and I went back to get him.  He was so thrilled.  Bob got what he wanted, SJ got to swim, my husband got to rest and I didn't have to take any plushies hostage.  Tantrum diverted!