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My house is a mess. I am exhausted! this was another day of 4 hours in the car. Ugh. Work was good though. Got a lot done.
I am sitting down on the couch watching Graeme play with a toy I bought him before he was born. A lullaby Glo-worm. He LOVES it. He has rediscovered it. He's holding it like a baby and kissing it. I'm not interfering.
P and I think we are pretty lucky in so many ways; it's funny how many people say "i am sorry" when you tell them about G's diagnosis. It's been hard, well...it IS hard. But we're not feeling sorry, or sorry for ourselves, because at lease now we know what we need to do, and I am no longer to live in denial. Not that you need to hear it, but I am so over the moon for this kid. I feel like he was meant for me. He is my sky, and stars, and everything.
P expressed to me that, when G was 18 months or so, and completely obsessed with the alphabet, that G might be showing more signs of autism. I just wanted to believe that he was just super smart, and that was just him being shy and nerdy. However, when he would get upset, instead of saying, No, or Wah! he would say, crying, ABCDEFG! I remember the puzzled looks P and I used to give each other.
Right now, as I write, he is repeating phrases he's heard all day today, from us and at school. He practices talking. From talking to other parents, we understand that it sounds pretty awesome. Our kid talks! What a lot of people don't realize is, he can talk, but he had a hard time communicating. Sort of like how I know a lot of french words, but I don't know how to use them and have a hard time expressing them when pressed to. We got the school district's evaluation, which they have combined with the university's evaluation. It was kind of upsetting, because it just reinforces what we already knew. However, this is also a good thing, because now we have a school district verifying that our son has the developmental issues (speech, behavior, communication, etc) and will need intervention by the school. I feel like, at home, we are making progress with the sensory stuff. haircuts are still a bit of a crisis, but he has been letting us wash his hair once a week. If you think that is gross, don't worry, we comb and brush it everyday, twice a day, and use a gentle soap and water rinse every other day. He is starting to love baths again. Can't clip his toenails unless he sound asleep. And he's a light sleeper. He fell yesterday and hit his chin. Big bruise. I told him later that he has a bruise and he laughed hysterically. He has inappropriate reactions to pain often. We're working on signing with him. He can sign "hurt" but doesn't always apply it.
Baby signing time is great, though. Read that Rachel from baby signing time is 2nd cousins or something like that with the Butler brothers from Arcade Fire. Pretty cool!
P and I have some pretty exciting news (no, we're not having any more kids!!) but we are keeping quiet until we know all of the details. I'll give you a hint: closer to family. Good programs for G. Stable place to live. Closer to more friends. Not DC :(

Private message me if you wanna know the dirt.

It's Friday night. G is up partying with his daddy and I gotta tell them it's bedtime!
Rudy the cat has a vet appt in the AM. He pooped on Graeme's favorite alphabet book last night. We think he has a G I problem or he is having issues with loneliness because Boots is gone and he can still smell him on our furniture and because we don't play with him as much because of all the therapy stuff we do with G at home now.
It should be said that G is rough with Rudy and Rudy never swats back. The only time Rudy swatted was back when Boots died and G pulled his tail.
Our cats have always been very dog
Like and protective of G. I feel lucky in that way.
So I hope Rudy is ok. He puts up with a lot. We love him and I don't know if I can take another furry baby passing away!

hands full!

Today I am trying to keep a balance of parenting, laundry, cards & scans, and trying to relax. Up against huge deadline at work which may require me to work a few weekends this month. yuk. Gota enjoy family time today. I am set up where we can all play together.
Our son is feeling under the weather; has some kind of cold or allergies. Extra clingy, which isn't too bad because we love hugs and snuggles.
with just what P and I are doing at home (best we can) he's making great progress.

He's playing with my phone. Pretty cute.

So, I ran into the PhD lady who diagnosed him on Friday. Randomly. She's running a longitudinal study on early intervention in autism. We hope her study stays funded so he can follow up with her next year at the age of four. It was nice to see her.

It was weird because I was looking at a condo in the school district we would like to be in. Afterward, i got some fro-yo and there she was. Just wow. I took it as a sign that maybe that is where we should be.

However, I was in a hurry to leave and go get G from preschool, so I didn't check my email. The condo was in a desirable area. someone wrote to the owner first & they got it. Crap.

P and I are tired of being in the car 3 hours a day, each. If we stay in our metro area, we HAVE to move closer to the autism resources and our jobs. I have so much on my mind. Yikes. Tired of moving, tired of making dumb decisions. Want all decisions from now on to benefit my son. Thank goodness for parents who have tread this road before we have, and have given us so much to work from.

Can't wait for the TACA conference. 

Just learned that Tony from the punk band Adolescents is a huge advocate for Autism and taught special ed, and is the parent of a child on the spectrum. Wow. I haven't seen "the other f-word" yet...(is he in that?) but hope P and I  can watch it tonight after G goes to bed. If he falls asleep at a decent time! (sleep disturbances are common in Autism.)