Dr. Alex

Alex can be the most sweet and kind little boy.

The kids and I have been sick around here and I was coughing yesterday morning.  Alex decided that he needed to take care of mom.

He said, "Mom, what can I do to take care of you?"

He brought me his taggies and puppy to snuggle with.  He brought me some crackers.  He read me a book and made up his own stories.  He kept asking if I needed more food.  (I think he enjoyed knowing that he could get the food himself)  I told him I was pretty good on food, but he insisted that he should make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  So I agreed.

He got everything out himself.  All I had to do was help him open up the jelly.  He was so proud of himself for making me a sandwich.  Now he tells me that he can make his own sandwiches!

A few hours later he asked me if I wanted another sandwich or if I was good on sandwich's.  Haha, too cute!  I told him I was good.

Then he says, "Mom, you can call me Dr. Alex when I take care of you."

He has such a kind heart.



Look at all of that yummy peanut butter...



Time for the jelly!

This is Rhoslyn's latest trick when you take a picture of her.  Nice huh?  She was watching Alex make the sandwich.



The final masterpiece!



Some days are hard

I don't normally get this personal with myself on here.

Some days are just hard around here.  It seems a bit easier now that we know Alex has PDD-NOS because we know some of his behaviors stem from that.  There are days where I feel like I just want to explode.

Since we have moved into the new house he is definitely off his routine and is struggling a bit with that.  Not that anything has really changed, but it's a new house and he is going to a new school.

I am sure many of your children out there bug you about how long it's going to take to get somewhere or how long will it be until you are doing that "something special."  I hear this everyday ALL day.  As I mentioned, Alex's obsession is angry birds.  Everything is angry birds.  He barely plays with other toys because they aren't angry birds.  It means that his day revolves around playing the kindle (angry birds), playing with his stuffed angry birds, or wanting to watch the movie Rio.  As soon as he wakes up in the morning his questions begin... "Can I play angry birds?  When will I get to play?  How many more minutes?  Is it time for me to play angry birds?  When can I play the kindle?"  I am not kidding when I say that he will ask this constantly until he gets to play or until I give him a specific time.  If I give him a time (ex. you can play after lunch), then the questions are, "Is it time for lunch yet?  How much longer until lunch?  How many more minutes until we eat lunch?"  Over and over again.  I love him dearly, but after awhile it just gets to you.  He needs to know what is happening and when.  If he doesn't, he will continue to ask. 

At school his teacher has put together a schedule for him.  He keeps it at his spot at the table he sits at.  There are laminated cards on a folder with velcro.  Everything is in a row so he knows what is happening next.  When a task is completed his teacher removes the card so he can see what is next.

So I have decided that I think I am going to do something similar at home.  So everyday he will pretty much do the same thing at the same time.  This way he will feel more comfortable knowing what is coming up next.

The two weeks that Billy was gone was definitely rough.  It's hard not having an adult to talk to face to face everyday.  It's been hard around here too because I have been working so hard on getting stuff done around our new house that I feel completely exhausted which has not left much energy for Alex and Rhoslyn.

Back to school... Alex had his first music class on Friday.  It's great, the kids actually get to go to the music room for class.  He had a hard time with it.  He didn't want to participate.  Instead he sat on the floor in the middle.  I talked with him about it and he said he was shy to dance and it was too loud.  The teacher said the kids were trying to get him to stand up and dance and sing.  He didn't want to.  She is moving him to the side of the class so he isn't in the way of the other children.  I hope that he can get adjusted to it and have fun.  It was sensory overload for him and it was too much for him to handle.  His class is having a fall concert next Friday and I am so nervous for him.  I have a feeling he is either going to stand stiff and hold his emotion in with his hands fisted or he is going to start crying because it's too much for him.

I also contacted a therapy program which specializes in Autism that is located in Appleton and I was disappointed with the doctors response.  I felt like he was very short and almost rude in a way and offered no other advice.  So my search for a child psychologist will continue.  I am hoping the psychologist that diagnosed him can offer some advice on switching doctors to someone in our area.

Thanks for listening (or rather reading)!  The kids both have ear infections right now so it's been a long day!

Dear Daddy,

It's Rhoslyn here...  Alex and I sure do miss you!  Only three more days until you are home.  Don't worry, mom left some boxes so you can help finish the unpacking.  She said you would be pretty upset if you didn't get to unpack ANYTHING. =)  I think she is nuts.

Mom took us to Kmart today so she could buy Alex some gloves for school and get some new shoes.  Guess what brother found.... Angry Bird Shoes!  Mom even let Alex get them (although I am sure she was secretly rolling her eyes).  I picked out a Minnie winter hat with matching mittens!  We even bought you something!

Alex has been Mr. 50 Questions lately, especially when we are in the car.  He has been asking about why fish can't breath when they are out of water, questions about things dying, what goblins are, and even more...  He sure does talk a lot!  

Mom has been a trooper while you have been gone.  However, I think she is going to need a shopping trip and a day to herself... hint hint. 

We really really miss you and we can't wait for you to get home and enjoy our new house with us!!  We love you daddy!!

Love,
Rhoslyn

A great visit!

We had a really nice visit with Kelly, Birgitta, and Wyatt while they were here.  We already miss them!  Rhoslyn has been saying Kelly Kelly (I think she is trying to say Auntie Kelly), Gitta, and baby Wyatt.  Anytime she sees a photo of a baby boy she automatically thinks it's Wyatt.  It's cute!

Alex asked me how many planes it will take now that we are in Fremont.  Sorry buddy, it's the same!  He said he can't wait to visit so he can play the Tablet (Ipad).  It's cute.  Little does he know, by the time we get there we will probably have an Ipad of our own.

We did a lot while they were here.  Auntie Kelly came with to Alex's evaluation for Autism.  It was great to have her there since Billy wasn't able to get time off of work with his new job.

We spent just about every weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's.  We went to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Dells.  This was the first time for our kids to go to a water park.  They were a bit reserved, but still had a lot of fun.  No water slides for them.  On the other hand, I went on the "Howlin Tornado" with Billy and Birgitta.  Fun, but scared the crap right out of me!!  Don't think I will be doing that ride again.  They were totally laughing at my facial expression during the ride.  I'm sure it was the look of death.  Rhoslyn got very brave and floated in the water on her back (while we held her) and tried to swim.  Alex also got very brave in the water by getting a little deeper and deeper each time.  He even let me carry him across the water in the deeper areas and that was a huge step for him.

The last weekend they were here we spent it at Grandma and Grandpa's.  The kids had fun playing in the huge leaf pile Grandma raked up.  We went bowling (Rhoslyn bowled for the first time)!  We painted and carved pumpkins.  The kids frosted and decorated their own cupcakes that Auntie Birgitta made and we watched a movie on Grandma's wall with the projector! 

We really enjoyed meeting Wyatt and snuggling and playing with him as much as we could!  Don't worry Auntie Kelly and Auntie Birgitta... we had fun with you too! ;)

Photos to follow...

(Apparently I wanted too many for the blog and they weren't downloading)

Moved in!

Well after two loads with a 24 ft. moving truck, we are all moved in.  My sister and mom came over to help unpack and we got a ton done, but there is still so much more left!  I have zero motivation to unpack anymore!

The kids rooms got painted as well as our master bedroom.  They turned out great!

Everyone is loving the new house.  We have met our next door neighbors and they seem very nice!  There oldest son is five so hopefully him and Alex can become good friends.  It will be very nice once everything is done.  We have a bit more work to do then we had anticipated.  More panting, getting rid of our stinky water, and probably changing out the carpet upstairs within the year.  Even though it's a disaster here, it already feels like home.  Something we haven't felt since we lived in Plover.

Billy is gone to Missouri for two weeks (left yesterday).  It's hard not having him here the first few weeks of being in our new home.  However, I am excited to change some things and show him when he gets home!

On a side note... I found this online and I wanted to share it all with you.  This list is what we do with Alex on a daily basis and it helps for others to know. 

Autism Spectrum Disorder

To be completely honest with all of you, I am not really sure how exactly to start this post... so I am just going to go straight into the details.

A few weeks ago we had Alex evaluated by a child psychologist who is part of WEAP (Wisconsin's Early Autism Project).

Wednesday morning I received the results from his evaluation and Alex has been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Some basic symptoms of a child with ASD is social impairment, communication difficulties, and repetitive behaviors. 

Of course Alex is just like any other kid, but we feel it's important for our close family and friends to be aware of some of his symptoms.  There are times he may come off as being rude, but he really isn't being rude... he just doesn't understand certain things the way the rest of us do.

Just to name a few things you may notice or be aware of:

-Alex has a difficult time making eye contact when speaking to or being spoken to.

-If he interrupts a conversation he is not being rude, he just doesn't understand the "right" time to talk.

-He tends to move/flap is hands when speaking.  He also gets stuck on certain words when speaking.

-He is very routine and scheduled.  Sometimes he can "act" out when he is out of his routine.  He constantly asks when meals or snack times are because this is part of his day and he wants to know when they are happening.

-He most likely will not ask you how you are doing or personal questions.  He doesn't know how to or that it is the polite thing to do.

-He has clear obsessions.  Currently his obsession is angry birds.  He will want to talk about angry birds over anything else.  He will interrupt what you are saying to talk about angry birds.  It is his primary focus right now.

-He takes things literally.  It is hard for him to understand that you may be joking unless you clearly say that you are joking.  For instance, if you were to say that money grows on tree's and he didn't know you were joking or being silly, he will most likely take you literally and think it is true.

-It may take a few times of saying his name when you are trying to get his attention.

Of course we don't want anyone to "treat" him differently, we just want everyone to be aware of why he may do certain things.

Also, if anyone has questions don't hesitate to ask us.  We are still learning what it is all about as well, but we are more then happy to talk with you about it.  It has been a weight lifted off of our shoulders to find out the diagnosis.  We feel like we have a better understanding of his behaviors and mannerisms.

On a side note:  Tomorrow is the big day.  We are closing on our house!!  This will probably be the last blog until we are moved in.  We can't wait to be in our new home!

Crazy Busy!

I know all of you were looking forward to another fun blog following  last one.... and look at how many weeks have gone by since!

Our family has been super busy this last month!

We are in the process of moving into our first home... and let me just say that I have about 4 boxes packed so far.  God help me!  We are moving in 12 days people... and only 4 boxes.  AHHH!

Bare with me as we get ready to move.  You probably won't read another post for a few weeks.

If you get this sudden urge to pack up boxes you know where we live!