Happy Halloween!

This week was Halloween, and Alex also was able to go to the Planetarium for a class trip. He has been very excited about spelling his name this week, and even though he still has a strong distaste for using lower case letters, as you can see. I like how excited he is about spelling his name!

For school, he dressed up as The Cat in the Hat, and he really enjoyed the planetarium. After they got back, he had a Fall Party at school with his friends, and when he came home from school, we went and nabbed Uncle Erik to go Trick-or-Treating in West Salem. What a day! Alex had a blast walking with us up and down the streets, until he got sick of it. Then there was quite the fight to get him back to the car. But still, this little Thor got a lot of candy and was very brave when it came to walking up to houses and getting candy, something he would have never done three years ago.

At school this week, they had a new friend come, and Alex did a great job with all of the interruptions to his routine. Next week will be a normal week for him, thankfully. He makes it so easy to be proud of him. He is talking a whole lot more and getting frustrated less. He even ate the school lunch twice this week. He had chicken nuggets one day, french toast sticks another day.

Its a great time to be a Kindergartner, that is for sure!

The hammer that I made has been a lot of fun. Alex has really enjoyed having something new to play with Dad with. I even had to bring it to school on Wednesday to finish the runes on it. This was a great week for our family, and I am so glad that Alex took it all in stride and really enjoyed it!

Oh, and if Stacey reads this: Alex has already mastered the games that we got for him on the iPad. Now he is putting together and reading 4 and 5 letter words with ease. He is so very smart! Now we have to find more games for him to master. Challenge: Accepted!

Another 4 Day Week

Alexzander had a great week. He had tons of fun painting, writing in his journal, and homework!

He is starting to really enjoy learning how to read. This week he went up to the Smart Board when asked and pointed out the word "the", to which all of his classmates replied with how much they love Alex. They really enjoy having him in class!

This week Alex also got to wear the new shirts that Dad picked out for him:

And, since it is getting colder, we get to even break out his new jacket soon!

Halloween is just around the corner, and I still haven't finished his Thor hammer. There has just been SO MUCH going on. But I have to finish it this weekend, since Halloween is on Wednesday! Also on Wednesday, Alex gets to go to the planetarium, which I know he will love. I am still trying to talk Dad into going with him, since he has the day off. We will see.

Yesterday, while I was working on my powerpoint presentation for my English research, I made a new friend. This is rare, for sure, let alone meeting someone so cool! Since I have not ok-ed taking about this here with this person, I will just say this: This person opened my mind to new ideas about Alex. For example: the pica thing can be helped by just giving him somewhere to spend his extra energy that he has, and usually uses up chewing on things. One good thing is to get him a drum set. So, for these weeks leading up to the Holiday Season, I am working on Dad to hopefully get him to say, "Yes, we will get Alex a drum set.". Music was very important to this person, and it came highly recommended that since Alex likes it too, we make sure that we get it into his life as much as possible.

This person also told me about their experience with Holmen School District. Very positive things indeed. However, when it was brought up to the Grandparents, there was static, not only because they were geographically unaware of where in Wisconsin Holmen is, but also because they still have this need to keep Alex close. That would be great, but I want to, no matter what, give Alex the best chance of getting an amazing education. Sometimes you have to give up things you want to ensure that the best chance is given.

Well, there is a certain little boy who is waiting on me to finish this, so we can start baking and washing dishes. Have a great week everyone!

Parent/Teacher Conference FTW!

So I will admit it, while all of this information is fresh in my brain, I am starting this post on Thursday. Today we had Alex's Parent/Teacher Conference for Kindergarten, and wow. That is all I can say! Well, not really, but that is just the general feeling that I have.

This week, since it is a short one for both Alex and myself, went by really fast. Alex was able to hang out with his favorite Lauren, Leah and Megan on Tuesday evening at Grandpa's house for his birthday. He had so much fun, especially since they got to dress up in costumes! He was tired when we came home, because running with the babies (Leah and Megan) can tucker any guy out.

For the conferences, we first met with his speech teacher. Now for anyone who has read this blog from the beginning, Alex has not had the best of luck with speech teachers in the past. He was very frustrated by it his first year of Preschool, his second year of Preschool had an entirely different person for Speech, whom he also did not get along with the best, but this year has started out right! He has been doing very well during speech, even using more language outside of the speech classroom. He has started to use his imagination more, and play with dolls and his stuffed animals in different scenarios. He uses a Mr. Potato Head at school and tells about how if his mouth is this way, he is happy, and if it is the other way, he is sad.

Bringing this into the classroom, he is able to communicate with his friends more. This, I think, is not completely because of his work in speech alone, but also has a great deal to do with how AWESOME his classmates are. They understand that everyone is different, and love Alex for his differences. They cheer him on all the time, and when he overcomes an obstacle, they are right there telling him what a great job he has done.

He does still have some challenges. He still needs reminding when following rules, to keep with his routine, and sometimes is rough with the stuff he handles in a day. His motor development is getting there, and we still have to work on using upper first letter, then lower case for the rest of the letters of his name. Thankfully, he has his numbers, shapes, and colors down (except gray) so we can really focus on the other things.

With Kindergarten, there is now homework. With homework and class work, there are tests. Mrs. Harger showed Tony and I his first test, that he did all by himself, and both Tony and I had to giggle. He drew circles, a tree, and then... his mind wandered to World of Warcraft. On the front and the back of the test, in very clear letters, he wrote "BLIZZARD", meaning Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of World of Warcraft. No, he doesn't play the game, but he is a fan of the fan-made videos, especially "Oxhorn Brand Movies". I blame Tony completely.

He does a great job with trying things after he lets the other kids show him how things are done. His friends are very encouraging. And Mrs. Harger said that whatever Tony and I are doing, it is working. But I don't believe it is Tony and I... I think it is everyone.

From the pictures that his teacher took this week, I have to say that this is probably my favorite one:

He is interacting with his peer! Even I am not terribly good at that. I am glad he has such great friends, such great support at school, and such an amazing family. So this is not just a victory for Tony and I, its a victory for everyone in his life!
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Now it is Sunday, and I finally have time to complete what I started.

Friday Alex and I had off from school, and he went to visit with Grandpa and Grandma while Tony and I went to the gym. Normally, this is not really that big of a deal, but what happened after the gym time was. We went out for lunch, and I knew we were going somewhere that was a surprise, but I really had no idea where he was dragging me to. We walked over to Howe's Diamond Jewelers, because apparently on Wednesday Tony went and looked at some possible engagement ring/wedding band sets for me.

The ones the lady showed me first were nice, but they were just that. Just nice. But when she got to the one that Tony said I would love... I did love it. The engagement ring itself was a solitary diamond ring, but the wedding band around it had jewels on the side, almost in the shape of ribbons. She colored them purple to give me a better idea how he wanted it to look, because he wanted to put amethyst in there to look like my cancer survivor ribbon. It... was gorgeous. Absolute perfection. So in 8 weeks, after I graduate, that sucker is mine. Insane how such a small piece of metal and highly pressurized carbon can make me just melt with love for Tony.

I have since finally recovered from the shock, and today Alex and I were able to get a lot done. He helped me grocery shop, we made pumpkin cookies with caramel frosting for Dad, and we did two craft projects he has to do for school.

We have had a lot of fun together today. He has also been helping me print off some pictures to prepare for the holiday season. We have a few pictures that are going to be sent to his grandparents far away, some to his cousins far away, and we were trying to decide which one to put on a holiday card. I just wish we had a really good picture of the three of us to use for holiday cards. Well, in 384 days, there will be epic pictures taken of us, all dressed up, becoming a family via a very unique wedding.

Fire Station Visit and Progress!

This week went well for Alex, considering his favorite Mrs. G in the whole wide world was gone for two whole days!

Lets start with Sunday, at Lauren's birthday party:

He had a great time playing with Leah, Meghan, and Lauren. There were balloons to play with, he played with a lot of toys, and even enjoyed the cake! He likes this picture of him and Leah, because Leah is one of his favorite cousins (don't tell the other ones, because he loves them too).

When we got home, he was so tired from the party, he bathed and went right to sleep. It was a great day for a party, even if he was recovering from a pretty rough cough.

This week has been one of focus. We have been working on homework time and trying to make it go smoother. Monday's homework time went well, with less screaming and crying than the last time we tried. However, Wednesday was back to being rough again, with a lot of fight. We tried to use iPad for "first, and then", and it worked the first time, however Wednesday... even iPad didn't work.

But on Friday, he sat right down, did his work, and was finished before the song played on the radio. I think as long as we keep him sitting in the same spot, turn on some music, and let him focus on what he needs to do with the prize of getting iPad time, then it will start going smoothly as the routine is established.

On Monday, we got his school pictures sent home. He did such a good job! They are so great. I think that we are going to use them for Holiday Cards this year, just because he is so handsome in these!

On Wednesday, with Mrs. G gone, he had another aide to help him named Tracy. She was so great. She told me about how they are starting to work on his independence at school, because he has done such a good job getting his morning routine done by himself. She told me about how she let him pick out his own stuff for hot lunch, and sit by his friends. It was chicken nugget day, and once he saw his friends enjoying their lunch, he joined right in and ate ALL his chicken nuggets! Although he didn't eat lunch the rest of this week, that is at least a start. He has realized that the school lunches that are his favorite are at least really good, maybe this is the start that we need to get him to try new things!

On Thursday, they went to the Fire Station, and his teacher took this really adorable picture:

I was a bit worried because this was his first field trip without Mrs. G, but he did a great job! He sat with his class and listened really well, and I would like to think the above picture is him contemplating becoming a Firefighter when he grows up.

This week they were working on Goldilocks and The Three Bears, and he seemed to have a lot of fun with this. His teacher took this cute picture of him, maybe pretending to be Papa Bear?

I know, I know, he looks so cute holding a baby, he should have a sibling! He does look cute, but he still has to wait.

He also had a great day in Speech this week, where he said an original 6 word sentence. They were so excited by this, as are we! We will get the update on Thursday during Parent/Teacher Conferences.

Things are progressing beautifully in regards to Alex moving forward with the goals we set in his IEP. He is making a lot of friends, and they are helping him jump over the hurdles that he has. This week is only a four day week for the both of us, with Tony and I seeing his teacher on Thursday. We are both looking forward to this! But for now, I have to go. Someone is dying for some attention from Mommy.....

Gift Giving, Homework, and Sickness

I am pretty sure, that for as long as I live, this will be my all-time favorite picture of Alex and I. He was only about 4 months old in this picture, and I, of course, just as bald as he was. We were looking outside, which we were prone to do a lot during that time, because we couldn't go out and play as much as we wanted since I was sick.

Thursday marked my 6 year "Cancerversary", and I found that the whole day I was reflecting on how much Alex and I have both grown in this time. We have had many ups and downs in this time, but we have managed to always make the best of everything and we were always still together on the other side.

But lets get back to our main man.

On Monday, he brought his wedding gift to Matt and Stacey, and he worked really hard on it! It turned out beautifully too!

He was more sociable than normal when we were there, which is good because normally if a lot of people that he doesn't know are around, he will clam up. He stole Stacey's phone, took a video of himself counting along with the timer for the recording.

Everything at school went well this week, and he even had a substitute on Monday. It is good that he is getting into his routine so that he can start making progress at school. He even comes into the school all by himself and (most of the time) remembers to hang his jacket and backpack up, bring his folder in, and even answer what he wants for lunch (which he doesn't eat, he eats his lunch from home still).

We have gotten some fantastic homework sent home, and although our first shot at trying to get him to do it at home ended in screaming and a ripped paper, we have another project that he has to do before tomorrow where he picks what he wants to put on the bus (for the Wheels on the Bus book him and his class is making) and draw it, along with choosing what noise it makes. We have settled, I think, on "The Oxhorn on the bus goes 'ROFLMAO, ROFLMAO, ROFLMAO'", but we will see what he decides when it is time to sit down and draw it. One of my favorite things he has brought home this week was this piece of work:

I told him I was so proud because the picture looks just like Fat Cat! So I had to take a picture and share it with the masses. He also got a letter from his two (4th grade?) buddies, and one of them signed his name "Starkiller 9000" which intrigued me and a couple of my friends when I shared it. I think this is one of the most fun things about being a parent, is getting to see what their little minds come up with.

Yesterday he was sick, and he still is not feeling the greatest today. So that means movie and cuddle time with me, in an attempt to get him to feel better for Lauren's Birthday Party this afternoon. Last night, he even fell asleep in the fort under his bed:

It is hard when he is sick because he doesn't take medication well. Cough syrup, or anything of that consistency  makes him gag and eventually throw up. So when he is sick, we turn on the humidifier, rub him down with Vick's, and cuddle as much as possible.

I am looking forward to telling you all about his trip to the Fire Station this next week, and to let you know how the Oxhorn art project goes today. We hope you all have a great week!

Birthday Celebration and Homecoming

I think that the most important truth that a parent has to come to terms with is this: I have exactly no idea what I am doing. When I came to that conclusion on day one of Alex's life, things seemed to be much less stressful. I only know how to do what I think is best,and I usually just wing it.

With that being said, I also believe that I am, in no way shape or form, any kind of specialist when it comes to Autism. I have people (this week, it was my English professor) telling me I should make this blog into a book, but I have issues with that for a couple of reasons. The first reason is what I mentioned above. My parenting style for Alex can only be defined as "trial and error". The second reason is because every autistic is unique, and they have their own set of abilities and hurdles.

I am in various autism groups on Facebook, and I love a few of them because they have parents asking questions of the whole group as to what to do about one problem or another. Helping out that way is much better to me, because I can address the issues that I have encountered with what my solution was, and learn more about potential problems we may have later when Alex is older. If one separates all of the media and scientists out of the Autism scene, what you are left with is a bunch of parents that just want to A.) not feel alone, and B.) just looking to see if there is help out there.

My English professor told me that the major reason she wanted me to make all of this blather into a book is to help other parents to not feel alone. I have no issues with telling about all of the bad things along with all of the good things, which is apparently a rare thing when it comes to parents (according to her). For example: There are some days where I have a rough time at school, and all I want is to cuddle with Alex and feel better. But he is not always in the mood to have anything to do with me. As a mom, that hurts a lot. There have been a few times where Tony has had to deal with me sobbing because I feel so overwhelmed. What helps me get through? My awesome significant other, and coming to the realization that whether I want it to or not, tomorrow is coming, and it has a chance of being different.

Alright, now all of that information is down, allow me to tell you about Alex's awesome week! I shall do so, with some amazing pictures that his teacher took, and a couple that I took. First, a picture of the Birthday Boy on Monday! He brought cupcakes to school to share with his friends, and had a great day (even wore the crown all day long)!

We had a small get together on Sunday, and Alex was able to play with his favorite Lauren in the whole wide world, and she helped him open some pretty awesome presents. He got a case for his cars, some new cars, and a harmonica from Grandpa and Grandma! Tony and I bought him The Avengers on Tuesday. He had some yummy cake too!

He also had a lot of fun this week, interacting during class. I got the best message from his teacher, Mrs. Harger, on Wednesday, telling me about how he read a sentence in front of the class on the Smartboard. It was "Good Morning, Class.". I was so excited to hear that! But I was even more overjoyed to hear that his classmates cheered him on, and were very encouraging! I said it on Facebook, and I will repeat it here: Alex's classmates are so awesome. Many thanks have to go to their parents for having such awesome and understanding kids.

This whole week, Alex has had such a good time that I cannot help but be thankful for everyone who is so supportive of him. Not just his fellow classmates, but his amazing teacher (who takes the time to message me and tell me how much she loves Alex), and of course, his Mrs. G!

With his amazing support system at school, he has made strides forward to becoming the little social butterfly that we all know he can be.

This week was Westby's homecoming, and all of the Kindergartners were able to go up and watch the parade. Not only that, but they got to dress up as well!

Although the Packer dress up day was kind of rough on Dad (Tony is not a Packer fan), even he had to be proud of Alex for having such a good week. So, as per usual for his reward, Alex gets to go hang out with Grandpa and Grandma today!

We hope you all have a great week!

Happy 6th Birthday, Alex!

Tomorrow is our favorite awesome autistic's 6th birthday. All he wants for his birthday is cake, and that is what he gets! We want to go over to Grandpa and Grandma's house, have some supper, and share cake with anyone who wants some.

This week, Alex had five fantastic days at school. Two of those days he had a substitute teacher, so it is really great that he is getting used to school enough that he can deal with that sort of change easily. They also had him doing more of the different stations, meaning he spends a little time at each table doing something different. He really enjoyed doing this, and being able to be creative right along with his friends.

They also went to the computer lab this week, and started to use computers. Alex really enjoyed that:

He also was able to wear his new shoes to school, so his old shoes can be used for gym class only. However, when I told him to show them off so I could take a picture of them that morning, this is what I got:

Tuesday was picture day, and from the report I have, it went really well, even though the rest of their morning was a bit rushed because of it. He noticed when Mrs. G went on break, and when she came back he asked here where she was, so his communication is getting so much better! We still have not made much headway since he took a bite of pizza many days ago, and most of the time he eats his lunch from home. We are hoping that he will get past this one day and recognize that the school has good food, other than just the string cheese and occasional cupcake. On Friday, he decided he wanted to wear his hat to school, and he looked really good in it!

All in all, he had an AMAZING week, even though toward the end of it he started to get a cough (so now he is told to cough in his "cough pocket", his elbow). Thursday and Friday I asked him if he was ok to go to school, and he would smile and say, "I'm ok." so off he went. I hope that his birthday is just as great tomorrow. I wanted to get this done today so we can just focus on him tomorrow. I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that he is turning 6 years old! What a wild ride it has been, and it is only going to get crazier!

Well, now I am off to get our favorite little guy ready so he can go over and hang out with grandpa for a while (his prize for having a great week at school, and it is exactly what he wants).

In closing, I leave this picture. Its the Kitties guarding Alex while he is in his blanket fort. They have to protect the birthday boy!