One of those days...

We are having a rough start here this morning. The boys were awake at 7am which is not all that unusual. Nick was fine through breakfast,eating like a champ. He actually ate one pop-tart. After that though, things have gone downhill. Nick is currently in his room having a meltdown. I dont even know what started all of this,but he is screaming. He is just in one of his funky moods where nothing goes right. All is quiet now, until the next time!

At our last appointment, the Dr. put in a referral to a nutritionist for help on his eating issues. Well, Mike got a call yesterday and they are full until next month. I also called the Clover Park school system yesterday to tell them we had not recieved a call from Evergreen Elementary to meet with Nick's teachers so we can discuss goals for him. As my luck would have it, that person was out of the office for the weekend and I had to leave a message. I just wish people would actually call when they are supposed to!

As for us, we are managing. Somedays Nick's autism is very noticeable-he just has those behaviors that are "classic", and those are some of the hard days with him. He has taken to licking himself when either frustrated or to calm himself-I cannot really tell just yet when or why he does this. It is just one of those things that has suddenly come about within the last couple of weeks. He has started to bite himself as well. Michael also bit himself quite a bit on his arms or hands. He would actually leave teeth imprints on himself! I think it is just one of those days where everything Nick does seems "pathological" versus normal three yr old behavior. Sometimes I have to take a moment and put aside his diagnosis and see his behavior as a typical three yr old. Those lines can be very grey at times, and you really wonder how much of his behavior is due to autism and how much is "normal" on any given day.

Michael is doing great at soccer! His skills along with his physical growth are really coming together. He is closing the height gap by leaps and bounds, and can now at least blend in with some 7yr olds on his team. His footwork with the ball is ahead of his peers I would say. He can weave himself past the bigger kids and one of his greatest things is his speed. He can really cover some ground very quickly when he wants to. He is doing well in school too. Aside from his antics this week, which I dont think he will do again anytime soon...he is moving right along.

Nothing much planned for today. I need to take Michael and get him some new cleats. He outgrew his ones from last season. He also needs bigger shin guards. Yesterday at practice he got kicked just below his old guards and it kind of put him out for a few minutes. He was a good sport about it though. He sat down for a few minutes, then "walked it off" and got right back on the field.

I am the Team Mom again this season. I learned quite a bit from last season and have my contacts now, so hopefully it will be less stressful! One can only hope right??

Happy Birthday Nicholas!!!

As you can now see, I have figured out how to do slideshows! The newest slides are from today. We had Nicks birthday party today, and from what I can tell he had a pretty good time. Only one of our friends ended up coming,but it was just enough really for Nick. Corey from across the street ended up coming over, so there was one more kid for Michael to play with.

Yesterday we were quite busy with shopping. We went to Wal-mart and bought all the party necessities. Treat bags,prizes,tablecloth,candle,ribbon, and also his presents. We got him a Spiderman that sings and dances, and a little rocking horse that makes noises too. After Wal-mart,we were off to Safeway to get the cake. We also picked up some chips and dip, and some sodas. Today was a mad house with setting up, and cleaning up the house before everyone showed up. I was not sure how Nick would act because he was pretty mad this morning-screaming,arching his back,head banging..etc. He has started that in earnest now. He falls to the floor,stiffens like a board, and just screams at the top of his lungs! Then, if he is still not satisfied, he finds a wall and BAM!

Tomorrow is his last day at the Birth to three center. It is kind of bittersweet..it is the ending of the first chapter and now we are beginning another one. But,Nick has outgrown the center in a way. He needs more. He will start pre-school later this month, and hopefully in a couple of months we will get a call from UW saying they can start ABA and speech. I am really looking forward to seeing what pre-school does for him. We are hoping it gets him talking more, and learning to deal with other people.