Building Important Foundations... And Towers

A lot better time this week, that is for sure! This house braved the mid-winter storm Alex, and he seems as though he is seeing the light at the end of these dreary winter days, finding happiness again. This past week he has been building things, and it all started with a penguin house at school:

He built a house for Puzzled Penguin.

And his friends had to come over and check it out. He was very happy they thought it was so cool!

On Friday there was a snow day, and Alex was happy because that meant that Dad could not make it into work, so they built towers together. 

Building the TALLEST TOWER IN THE WORLD.

He has been doing well at school, even with the integration of a new program called PBIS. Positive Behavior  Intervention and Service, which basically teaches the kids how to be respectful to one another, be responsible for their actions, and to be safe. These things are very important, especially to Alex, because he doesn't really understand the social aspect of a lot of things. I hope this new program helps him to get a better grasp on some of these concepts.

On Sunday was Grandma Nofsinger's birthday, and so he was happy that he was able to play outside with Lauren (after I ran home quick to get his snowpants), and play with Leah and Megan. They both enjoyed destroying Grandpa and Grandma's bed with Alex (its one of his favorite Grandpa's house activities), and they found out that they have similar ticklish spots. 

Helping one of his friends give Puzzled Penguin a hug.

Recess inside is always fun when you can build towers with your friends!

Trying to recreate his and Dad's tower.

I am hoping to get a video of Alex saying his social story, because he does such a good job! He repeated it for Grandma yesterday, and she was so proud of him and the manners he is learning. It may sound sort of weird for those who are not accustomed to being around children or people with these issues, but knowing not to hit, bite, or yell when you are frustrated because you don't understand something is a very important lesson for Alex to be learning. 

It has been a big week for the dear boy, and he is continuing to surprise us every day with what he knows and what he is willing to share with us. I am lucky that I get him all to myself tonight, since Dad has to work late. I hope you all have a great week, and enjoyed the pictures!

This is what happens when you try to keep up with Dad: You need to take a nap.

Valentine's Week

There was a lot of love in the air this past week, what with it being Valentine's Day on Thursday, the 100th day of school for Alex on Tuesday, and getting to spend the day with Grandpa on Friday. Alex had a pretty busy week, and I think he was quite thankful that he was able to have three days to rest.

On Tuesday, they had to dress like they were 100 years old. He looked great when he had his shirt tucked in and the waist of his pants above his belly, but he was not comfortable that way, and un-tucked his shirt right away.

Waiting patiently in line to play with the SMART board on the 100th Day of School.

As you may have noticed for this picture, he is looking at the camera and attempting a smile. This is one thing his teacher is VERY excited about! He is starting to smile for pictures and actually let her take some of him! He also is more open to giving her hugs, and he talks a lot about "Mrs. Harger and The Mrs. G" when he comes home from school. Thats right, Mrs. G is no ordinary Mrs. G.... she is THE Mrs. G.

Things are looking brighter for him again, and he seems to be having a better time at school. He is still learning about the consequences of his actions, though. On Wednesday, he jumped into a big puddle even though he was told not to, so his snow boots were soaking wet. On Thursday, they were still not dry (Dad forgot to dry them while Mom was gone) so he had to stay on the pavement for recess. He didn't like this the first time around, but then understood for the following recesses that he couldn't play in the snow without his snow clothes.

Thursday, we sent flowers for Mrs. Harger, Mrs. G, Mrs. Stellner, and Mrs. Ostrem. They do a wonderful job with Alex, and he likes talking about them. So I thought it would be a nice surprise for Valentine's Day to get them something. Alex had a blast at the Valentine's party, then that night we went through and looked at all of his Valentine's, read their names, and he decided that his favorite one was from Mrs. Harger, because it had Blue's Clues on it. He really enjoyed the candy and stickers too!

He got a Valentine from Aunt Bill, and I got flowers from Dad. I told him that even when Mom says she doesn't NEED flowers, doesn't mean she won't feel special if she gets them anyway. Just laying the seed for how to act in future relationships is all I am doing.

Eating Valentine's candy from Aunt Bill and playing on PBSKids.org.

My flowers from Dad.

On Saturday, I had to run to the store for a few things (and to really just get out of the house), so Alex decided he would look for a new doctor kit. His old one is a hodge-podge of toys that he tries to use for a check up, but I thought that he had been really good this week, so why not. However, the only one we could find, was purple and pink (glitter), and he seemed fine with that. He was really excited to get it home to play with, and I think that I am ok with check ups for the rest of my life after how many he put me through.

Rockin' the new doctor kit.

Most people would probably say, "He is a boy, you should find him a blue one." Bah. I don't care. He doesn't understand the difference, and if he likes it and learns from it, why should it matter what color it is? 

I have come to realize that my little boy is growing up. This stems from him asking me almost daily where Dad is, and that he wants Dad to play with him. He is moving on from me being the center of his world to always looking to Dad for answers or guidance, and I guess... for as sad as it makes me, I am ok with it. He is so smart, and keeps a lot of it locked inside, and if we have to share him in order to get the full (no pun intended) spectrum of his knowledge, then I guess I can stop being so selfish. :)

Post Of Happiness

More snow this week meant that Alex had a really good week. The only aspect that was rough on him was doing his homework once he got home, and Dad and I had to put him in the corner for a few times to calm down so he could focus on what he needed to do. But he made snow men at school with his 4th grade friend, and the whole front of the school is lined with them!

Outside our house, it is snowing!

Alex next to his amazing snowman!

On Friday, we had a date night at the school, because they had a PBIS Family Night where they showed one of Alex's current favorite movies, Madagascar 3. He was such a good boy, eating his popcorn, watching the movie, and cuddling with me. 

Alex and I on our date to Family Night!

This week, we were just focused on being happy. There are so many things that we could focus on for the bad, but I have been feeling so down the last few weeks that I couldn't do that this week. So now I will post some pictures of our happy kid, being his goofy self. 

Goofy growling face.

Big smiles!

Tuckered out after our date.

I love when he makes this face.

He got a letter from Aunt Bill in the mail.

So he had to rip it open to see what it said!

And wouldn't share!

I will have more words for next week. I guess I just want you all out there to enjoy smiles this week, after dealing with sadness and frustration from this blog the last few weeks. So I hope you all have a happy week, keep your chins up and love yourselves and those around you!

Hope

We received Alex's IEP progress report and his Kindergarten progress reports on Friday, and I have finally found a little ray of hope. I think that sometimes it is easy for us to tell one another to not lose hope, but we don't really think about the real meaning and vastness behind that word. But when I see the words "Sufficient Progress" or "Secure" on these pages, it makes the real feeling of hope come back to me.

Lately, Alex has really enjoyed playing doctor with his stuffed animals, and of course Tony and I have had to get several check ups. I like watching him come up with ideas as to what ailment each of his animals have, and what he has to cure it.

First, Blue got a check up.

Then, T. Rex got an X, because that is in his name.

Those are his doctor tools he used to make Blue feel better.

This was after I broke the news to Alex that T. Rex was the last of his kind... that dinosaurs died off a long time ago.

This week brought snow. Alex had two days off this week due to snow, and one of those days he was able to spend with Grandpa, while the other he spent with mom and dad.

He enjoyed his time with us, but when he went back to school on Thursday and Friday, he was a bit confused. At the end of both days he wanted Grandpa, because he thought that he was supposed to pick him up from school. This made him a bit irritable, and he didn't want to focus at the end of the day. So, his teachers came up with an amazing idea to have a picture of the bus above his coat hook for days he rides the bus home, and then a picture of Grandpa by his hook for days when Grandpa comes to get him. We hope that this will help him to concentrate a bit more, because there will be less uncertainty in his day.

The best news that I got on his reports was, "Alex will answer some who, what, where questions when listening to a story. He will occasionally ask a question to get information. Alex is just starting to use picture cues to comment on an activity in speech. He is also starting to work on labeling the emotion 'mad' using picture cards/story." This is great because he is not only working on identifying his own emotions, but he is also starting to ask questions! Even if he is starting to resist doing his homework again (meaning screaming matches, hitting, ripping things... etc.) and he is still not cooperating fully in school, at least he is gaining some ground in his speech so maybe one day we can be told why he is angry or frustrated, rather then having to guess.

I am extremely lucky that Tony is so strong. Yesterday, after spending a whole day fighting with Alex to get his homework done, I went into the kitchen and had a few tears while Tony gave it a shot after he came home from work. Leave it to Dad to get stuff done. Alex finished his homework, and I was so grateful that Tony is here with me. I feel like such a wuss compared to him. I have a great partner in him, and I am so thankful that he has the ability to get through to Alex when I can't. No matter what, no one can take away the fact he has done so much to positively influence Alex and I's lives, and he definitely deserves the title of "World's Best Dad".

So to summarize, this week was rough on us again. Things will get better, but I am clinging to my last shreds of hope. I am putting my positive energy into this week, hoping that it is even a fraction of a bit better than last week or the week before. For now, though, there is a light snow falling outside, and I think it is about time that Alex and I go out there to stretch our legs a bit.

All work and no play makes him a hungry guy.