Virginia Beach!

At Virginia Beach

Coins

JT LOVES coins! We count, we talk about their names, we talk about the pictures on them...

Here he is playing in our penny collection.

It MAD!

JT was playing with his Playdoh, and he made this for me:



He brought it to me and said, "It MAD!"

My Drawings

I just decided to draw a few things this weekend. I've never really done anything freehand, I usually have my paper broken into grids to get it right. Not to mention I haven't drawn anything in over a year!
Anyway, here are some of the drawings...

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there!

I'm lucky to have the best dads in the world in my life... my awesome dad and my husband.

I hope every dad gets a chance to relax and take a little time for themselves today.

:)

1 Year Bob-iversary

Today is the 1 year anniversary of the removal of Bob.

Rest in peace, Bob. And I hope all your little bitty pieces stay little bitty and don't grow.

Playdoh

JT LOVES playdoh! We found out about it at his end of the year party, so we dug out our playdoh here to see if he was as interested.

He definitely is!

Not only that, but he makes things with it! He has made me hot dogs, cake with a candle and a sandwich (and he tells me what they are!).

One proud mommy.

Audrey is realizing, as she gets older, that there is something different about her brother. She asks about it, and we're really honest with her. JT has autism. It's hard for him to do things that we do sometimes. JT thinks different than we do.

So, it shouldn't surprise me that at a birthday party a few weeks ago, Audrey explained her brother to her friends.

"That's my brother JT. He has autism."
"What does that mean?"
"Hmm. It means he thinks different than us. But he's REALLY smart."

My heart just about burst with pride. But then, this morning, she said what she really thinks about autism.

"Dad, JT has autism."
"Yes, he does."
"That means he's a lot of fun."

It feels good to know that she loves him because of his quirkiness :) not in spite of it. We all do!

Friends :)

JT found his little book he got at Christmas that his teachers made for him. It's a version of the "Brown Bear, What do you See?" - but instead of animals, it's JT and his friends.

He's naming all his friends and smiling at them... and he's been carrying it around all morning.

SO cute!

(Oh, and he most definitely is still asking for Weesa!)

JT's IEP Progress

We got JT's IEP (individualized education plan... special education 'list of things your child will accomplish' - legal stuff on progress) in his backpack yesterday...

Here's the short version: JT is going to meet all his goals by the year mark (which will be 10/29).

Here are some of the notes on his progress...

JT will increase overall communication skills.
-JT has shown growth in vocabulary, following directions, identifying pictures and using manipulatives to retell a story. We hear a few 2-4 word phrases at school, mostly when the other children have left for the day and the room is quiet.

JT will demonstrate improved social skills.
-JT continues to make great progress in his social interactions. He seeks out peers and adults to engage in interactions. He loves to play tickle games and chase games and shows the ability to take turns in these games. He is playing with toys in proper manner. He is able to use representational objects in his play. He is able to retell stories with objects!

JT will increase his ability to follow the classroom routines and rules.
-JT is transitioning wonderfully between activities. He is able to utilize his picture schedule. He is able to put up his schedule for the next day, at the end of the day, in the right sequence. He is participating in circle time. His attention span for morning circle is much shorter than literacy circle. He LOVES books. We are working hard on following the rules, keeping our feet on the floor, and our hands to ourselves.

JT will increase his self help skills in his preschool classroom.
-JT is doing well with washing his hands now. He needs only verbal cues, most of the time. We are still working on drying his hands. He is making great gains in the potty training area. Hooray!
**I should note here that JT is, indeed, potty training, and goes whenever you ask him.

JT will increase his early learning skills.
-JT's skills continue to increase in this area. We are thrilled with his progress with "school tools".

Teacher Comments:
JT continues to make us proud in all that he accomplishes at school. He is truly a delight to teach!

Day 1 of Summer...

And JT is already asking to "Go Weesa?".


Oh dear. I think this is going to be a long 3 months!

Audrey is a First Grader!

She officially graduated from Kindergarten today.

Growing up SO fast!

I Graduated!

Biting...

Ugh.

JT is biting. Again.

I can't figure out if it was triggered by the steroids (post-steroid aggression happened last time) or if one of the new kiddos in the class is a biter as well and he's re-learning it.

Either way, it's bad. I have three very prominent bruises on my arms from where he got me :(

Hopefully this, too, shall pass - QUICKLY.

NO HORSES

I've always heard that autistic kids love horses. Hence the mad dash for equine therapy among members of the autism community.

Not the case with JT.

We spent 2 hours at a horse farm yesterday for a birthday party Audrey was invited to.

JT spent the WHOLE time saying, "Go byebye?" "Leave?" "Go home?" and other such phrases.

He saw a horse up close at one point, and he said, "NO HOWSE! GET BACK!!! GET BACK!!!"

Very good language, poor JT was scared out of his gourd.

Perhaps this is what he saw when he looked at the horse. Might be intimidating to a little fella...

Moon!

Here's JT drawing - he draws moons, and brings the pictures to
me... Excitedly saying, "mommy! A moon!!!"

Green Thumb?

Propagating hydrangeas and gardenias - 5 hydrangeas and 2 gardenias
are rooting!

Watermelons!

Hopefully our plants keep growing...