our family update

I thought it'd be a good idea to start a blog to share w/our family & friends. Basically it's just to let everyone know what the kids are up to these days, and also the progress Collin's been making.


Let's see, where to start?

Andrew had his 1st birthday on February 19th(his birthday is the same as my parents' anniversary). He is walking, pointing, throwing anything he can, and very curious. He loves balls, cars, dropping food on the floor, banging his head in a doorway or on a sliding glass door multiple times just for the reaction we give him, baths, and just trying to do everything Collin & Ivy are doing. He's recently discovered dirt and grass--loves both. Andrew thinks the flower planter in front by the garage is a huge sandbox--never mind there are plants in there. :) He's also just taught himself last night how to eat w/a spoon & sort of a fork. Yay! Andrew definitely lets me know he doesn't want me to spoon feed him anymore. He's also cutting teeth again, the bottom 2 molars. So, his shirts & onesies are constantly covered in drool from the neckline to about halfway to his belly button.

Andrew's language is rather lacking. He says: this, that, da (down, Dad, and dance), and luh(for light). He does signs for phone, toothbursh(complete w/finger in mouth) and does hand motions every time I ask him "what happened?" He's only said "mama" once, and NEVER again. He's probably not going to end up autistic like Collin(since he's very social, has good eye contact, and points--something Collin still can't do). We'll know for sure between the summer & Christmas. If he doesn't have more words in the next 4 months(when he turns 18 months in August), I'm going to get him speech therapy. Andrew is such a mama's boy, it is not even funny--especially for me. He's going to get his first taste of being babysat this weekend, when Tom & I are going out to celebrate my birthday.



Ivy..well, I can sum her up faster than Collin. :) She just turned 5 this past December, missed the cut-off for kindergarten by 2 weeks. Doesn't seem like such a bad thing. She just recently graduated from her KinderBuddy's program at a place called JumpStart(basically like HeadStart), in a bungalow by an elementary school. It was basically a kindergarten prep class. They read stories, learned to write letters, draw pictures, following directions, raising their hands before blurting out an answer, and Ivy can now sight read a few words. She is still very girly-girly, loves dressing up, making new friends w/total strangers, will talk a little on the phone to Daddy or Mommy(if I call home during a trip to the grocery store), and loves making cards & invitations(to her birthday party--she doesn't quite get that she's got till the end of the year before it's her birthday).



She is also very into writing down words these days, even if it's not a real word. She sings & talks to herself sometimes and gets really embarassed when I catch her. Ivy normally loves riding her bike around the neighborhood. She's been getting a little lazy, and would rather stay home all day than go somewhere like I prefer. One thing she learned to do before Christmas was to catch a ball. We spent the whole day practicing w/a plastic ball. Ivy also loves rhyming these days. Her favorite PBS shows right now are: Word World, Super Why, and Cyberchase(which is math based, for older kids).

Collin..whew! Where to start?? He got his diagnosis of autism almost exactly a year ago. He has made soooo much progress, but still has a long way to go. First, the progress.

This time last year:

1. he made very little eye contact(or also acknowledge my presence ie.wouldn't turn around when I was talking to him in the bathtub when I was standing behind him)--getting better, but still fleeting at times. We did have his hearing tested, he's got no problem.


2. Collin thought of Andrew more of a pancake/pillow than a person. When Andrew was a couple weeks old, I left him on the changing pad, to toss his diaper, not even 2 seconds later I hear really loud, in pain kind of screaming. Aparrently, Collin had sat on him on his belly. Andrew, luckily had no broken bones. I asked Collin the nexy day if Andrew was a baby or a pancake. He answered pancake. Now, he will give Andrew kisses(assuming Collin's in a good mood, still gets upset w/the whole sharing thing).


3. Language wise, we'd only get 10 words at most in any given week. He is now saying 2 & 3 word sentences(basically where a typical 2 year old should be--Collin will be 4 this summer.)

Other progress:

• saying "I love you" to Mommy or Daddy, which is HUGE! Took 3 1/2 years for him to say that! I don't think he really understand what he's saying(a big part of autism is something called echolalia, which is a fancy way of saying he just repeats back the last 2 or 3 words he hears--which, he still does this in other situations.), but I was doing some reading during this past year and I read that most autistic children will NEVER say "I love you".


• Tantrums. Instead of taking of his pants & shoes off (which he did a few weeks ago after a long time of not) when he's super upset, he's now learning to take deep breaths(the way he does it is so cute, basically the same as when he blows on hot food to cool it down).


• Still working on, but he will now say "sorry", "please" and "thank you"--he was over 2 1/2 yrs old before he ever said any of these


• His language has just exploded, but I still have to "prompt" Collin to say or ask for something.


• Just learned how to spoon feed himself during the past few months


• Can now rub soap on his body in the bath.


• He can name colors, but not label them appropriately(not sure if that one will make much sense). Basically, he can say all the names of colors, but he can't tell you if something is green or purple.


• Oh, he's recently discovered how to take off his diaper. So, now he'll tell me "diapper chaaange" (a in really whiny voice, which I'm sure he gets from his sister) when he's wet. Or sometimes he'll say "sit on toilet"(also in a whiny voice), but usually it's after his diaper's already wet. He has pooped a few times in the toilet at home(a couple times he was in the bathtub one night when Tom was out, and I really didn't want to clean up the tub if it was going to be poopy) and once at school last week.
  

So, that's most of what's going on with us. Collin's in preschool every week day. 3 times a week, he has in-home behavior therapy, part of that I have 2 hours parent training. I don't like the parent trainer very much(big personality clash between him, and Tom & I). But, some of the things I've learned are helpful. I sound like a broken record saying this, but I feel like they're making me into a mini therapist.

Things we're still working on with Collin: appropriately labeling colors, aggression issues, climbing(although..this one the parent trainer doesn't really want to address--another reason I don't like the parent trainer, basically like the "don't make me do more work" attitude), transitions(HUGE deal right now, for anyone who's seen him after the closing prayer in sacrament meetings you know what I'm talking about), sharing(trying to work w/him so he'll tolerate more than literally 5 seconds), more spontaneous language(ie. talking w/out any prompting), separation issues(so I can go somewhere leaving Daddy or a babysitter and not his having a huge meltdown), and I really want him potty-trained before Christmas. There are other things too, like safety issues, primary(mostly the opening exercises, since big group settings are hard for him) and social skills that we're working on as well.