Last Sunday, we spent some time at one of the local parks in Mesa, gathering with our friends Julie and Sean and their pups for an evening cookout. The boys had fun feeding the dogs fresh string beans, watching the fire and getting some much needed fresh air.
Connor kept the pups entertained with his antics.
We had a fun badminton game, with Ian as the coach. ("Mommy, you need to have the birdie hit the middle and go past Aunt Julie.") Let's say that having a coach did not make for an easy game, since we were "coached" after almost every volley.
As it warms up in the Valley, the evenings have been just beautiful. We need to do this more often-enjoy the nice weather and spend time with good friends.
Tough Love Part Deux:
At bedtime tonight, the boys were asked to brush teeth. Ian goes into to brush, while Connor continues to lie on the floor, rolling cars in the hallway.
"Connor, brush teeth time. "
"No, MomMY! No, I play Lightning McQueen."
"Connor, brush teeth or go to bed." He begins gathering cars, afraid I am going to take them away.
"No, MomMY. I say NO!"
"Yeah, Connor, you're going to bed. Goodnight." Scoop him up, put him in bed.
"NO! WAAAIT! I BRUSH TEETH!"
"Too late, Connor. Goodnight." Meanwhile, Ian has brushed his teeth, but is busy playing in the hallway. He was asked to choose a book to read and never did, so he gets no book reading tonight.
"I BRUSH TEETH!" Continous wailing from the boys room.
Ian chimes in. "Mommy, how many books do I get to read?"
"Zero. I asked you twice to pick out a book a half an hour ago and you didn't. No books tonight."
"Okaay." He is smart enough to realize that any pouting or arguments will not be received well and climbs into his bunk.
"I BRUSH TEETH! I BRUSH TEETH! NOOOOO!" This goes on for a solid half an hour. Finally Ian comes out of the room, once it is mercifully silent.
"Uh...Mommy?"
"What's the matter?"
"Uh, Connor kept yelling that he wanted to brush his teeth and then he fell asleep on the floor and now he's blocking the door." We go to the door and Ian squeezes through and rolls Connor away from the door so we can open it. I put Connor into his bed. Ian, ever the Informer, climbs into his bed before he can get into any trouble for anything.
On a positive note, Connor IS sitting nicely and eating dinner since last week's go-to-bed-hungry episode.
My friend and former colleague Shannon directed me to her school website for some research I am doing on building my own school website.
As I looked on the district homepage, I saw that my former school district-where I grew up and where I taught for six years-is considered one of the "Best Communities for Music Education".
Let me tell you that I am not at all surprised.
The quality of the band programs, the elementary music programs, the choral programs has always far outranked anything I have ever seen here in Arizona. (Notice no Arizona schools made the list---tsk, tsk!)
So, congratulations to my former colleagues who I know to be dedicated and talented musicians and teachers-you deserve this honor and I am happy that you have been recognized.
Visit the Best Communities For Music Education.
The weather is warming up here, but the evenings are comfortable. We met Julie and Sean over at the park around 5:30pm for a cookout, badminton and a nice walk.
Click on Julie's blog to see how Connor spent his evening.
Due to pink eye, Ian had to stay home all day with Connor and me. Tom was working all day and after a short trip to get a few things at the store, we were home. Being home with sick kids give whole new meaning to the words "stir crazy."
Connor took a nap in the afternoon and Ian was quietly playing Legos. We had placed two of our extra tables together so he would have room to build lots of creation. I need something different to do besides worry about Chorale work, check email and wonder why people on Facebook care what I am doing at any point during the day. So I opened my new jigsaw puzzle. Ian was immediately intrigued and began helping to sort pieces and figure out the edges.
We worked for two straight hours. Non-stop. If anyone wonders where Ian gets his focus from, it is most certainly me. We forced ourselves to stop for dinner, baths and books. Connor fell asleep and Ian wandered out to bed to find me still working on the puzzle at 9:00pm. We were just about done, so I let him stay and help until Daddy got home.
Neither of us were awake enough to finish the last thirty pieces, so we finished it this morning after breakfast.
Ian's technique has improved because he can do an entire section on his own if I give the pieces that go together in a small pile. He also started noticing the shape of the pieces and how they could potentially fit or not fit in a space. This puzzle of New York City was actually a good learning puzzle because it had such a variety of different objects and colors, instead of hundreds of pieces of the same color.
To top it all off, I discovered a large table on Craigslist for super cheap, large enough for a 2000 piece puzzle. I am totally thinking it will be a perfect craft-card-Lego- puzzle table. Not sure that hubby will appreciate that much, but I am about to see. My friend Hilary has a wonderful puzzle table and I thought it was such a terrific idea since they just leave it out and work on it when they can. I love that, except my OCD mind doesn't allow me to leave things unfinished for too long.
Plus, puzzles are good family time. We talk, we sit quietly together. Tom doesn't enjoy puzzles, but he will bring his book in and sit and read with us. Connor will bring his cars and sit on the floor with us. Puzzles aren't expensive, especially if you score some good ones at Goodwill or on sale.
The boys are reading the Sunday funnies.
Connor is yelling, "IT'S FUNNY time! IT'S FUNNY TIME!!"
We are all ready for some funny time.
"
I WANT JUICE BOX!"
"I WANT DEENER!"
"I WANT WATER!"
"I WANT LIGHTNING MCQUEEEEN!"
"I WANT PLAY!"
"I WANT OUT OF HERE!"
To which Tom and I say, "WE WANT OUR SANITY!"
Connor has been crying about almost everything today, even as he is recovered of fever and the eye goop. Included in his repertoire today was spitting at Ian, while I was on a business call.
"Yes, so the venue we are looking at for the chorale is...." Enter Ian, tiptoeing and stage-whispering.
"Mommy?" I shoo him away.
"Mommy? Connor is spitting." Enter Connor, actually spitting. I feel my eyeballs split open.
"Excuse me, could you hold for just a moment?" Mute the phone.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? " Move kids to separate corners. "THERE IS NO SPITTING AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, NO TALKING UNTIL I COME BACK AND SAY SO. NOT A WORD!"
"Yes, hello? Yes, I'm back. So, as I was saying...."
Then, after a fiasco with the pharmacy and Ian's prescription for pink eye-because you knew he was going to get it too-Thomas brought pizza home for us. Economy be damned, we are having pizza Fridays.
Connor refuses to join us at the table, choosing instead to throw some fit about playing in the spaceship that Ian made out of couch cushions. (It was cool.) Tom offers him two opportunities to come to dinner, which are denied. Tom sends him to bed.
"WAAAITT, I WANT PIZZA!"
Connor is invited back. He sits in his chair and I had made the mistake of having a juice box out for him. He grabs for the juice box, but I realize he will drink the juice box and eat nothing. So, we take the juice and have him eat a bit. He then gets the juice box and starts messing around again.
"Eat your dinner."
"No dinner. I want juice box."
"Eat or go to bed."
"No dinner."
Tom puts him back to bed. This happens a second time. Finally, Tom puts him to bed for good. Pajamas, brushed teeth and right into bed.
For an hour now, he has been knocking on his door, screaming, "I WANT DRINK! I WANT DRINK!"
Yeah, buddy. Me too.
So, my mother-in-law has told me that going to bed without dinner is completely fine. They will survive and learn for the next time. We did the tough love bit with Ian too and his cooperation improved dramatically. It's such a fine line with Connor, but neither of us are in the mood for his drama. Tom handled Connor swiftly and I applaud his resolve.
Ian, on the other hand, has completed 37 pages of hidden picture activities and assisted in loading Tom's percussion equipment, so he is enjoying some Daddy/Ian time.
Tomorrow is the Tempe Beach Salsa Challenge! Yum!
It is Autism Awareness Month.
We all probably know someone who has autism, has a child with autism.
I say reach out and connect with that person today. If it is a parent-give them a hug, check on how they are doing-listen. Listen without opinions.
If it is a person with autism, reach out in whatever way you can. Send them an email. Send them a card. Give them a call. Make a donation of time. Release any judgments and just look for the person that is there-look past the obvious quirks. If you think about it, we are all pretty quirky people anyway.
You see, in the end, we are all people just the same. It doesn't matter what we have or don't have. We are all deserving of someone who truly loves and cares about us, all our faults, all our strengths and all of who we are.
Connor has pink eye, so he finally is on antibiotics. We are hopeful that he can return to school tomorrow, but probably looking at Friday before he is completely ready to rejoin the world.
I feel better today. I think parents must be given super immunity powers or the ability to just think yourself out of being sick.
Until then, he is stuck with Ian. They are beginning to act like cats and dogs. I actually dug out the coffee pot at lunchtime to prepare some energy for the rest of the day.
I completely missed Dancing With the Stars last night. We gave up our DVR and VCR (yep, we still have one of those) to save on bills, so I have to go back and read the recap or watch online. Not sure why I like the show, but it's fun to watch. Ian really likes it too.
We might have to celebrate a belated Earth Day, but I am hoping to plant some more flowers under our tree and maybe a few succulents in the front garden. One of my roses started to open up today!
A/C update-still haven't turned it on yet!
Unfortunately, not for more cowbell.
Connor-still running a temperature. He was chipper all morning until 3:00pm, when his temp began to rise.
Ian-happy all day. Still awake at 9:15pm, but in bed. There is always one person NOT sick in the house. Appears to be him this time.
Tom-starting to not feel well, not hungry.
Me-I have been surrounded by germs all day-I'll spare you details- and tonight in my 3 hour class, began feeling hot and cold. Achy. Tired.
Looks like it might be another sick day tomorrow.
Positive note-I tried making Caribbean style black beans with mango, red pepper, red onions, garlic, cilantro and cayenne pepper. Supposed to serve with rice, but I probably will not make the rice. Not too bad for first attempt!
Triple Digit Note: I think we hit 102 for a high today-the first triple digit day. Tom and I did NOT turn on the a/c, opting to see how long we can go before turning it on.
Connor is running a 103.5 temp tonight, sleeping in a diaper on the bed next to Daddy. He spent the day at the hospital daycare (they LOVE him there-he got to watch "Cars" twice!) and when I arrived, they were concerned with his temp going up. I got him into Dr. Mike and while it is probably viral(I always spend $25.00 for him to tell me the same thing) it might turn croupy.
Connor and Ian both love Dr. Mike, so they had a lot of fun during the visit. Connor was showing Dr. Mike his Lightning McQueen car.
The best moment came with Dr. Mike saying, "This is like a totally different child."
He commented on his eye contact and speech gains. He said that he could see where we might want to work on his fixations (Lightning McQueen) but that he might just be a really great, quirky kid. That was really encouraging, especially since he was the original person to direct us how to help Connor.
I spent much of this afternoon at a birthday party at one of those germtainment centers, chasing after Connor and coaxing Ian to actually do something. It's actually a cool place, but a little too much sensory overload for Mommy. This was followed up by Connor's staunch refusal to eat his cardboard pizza.
"No, I want birthday (meaning cake)! I don't want lunch! No. No, Mommy!"
I can't say that I blame him for not wanting to eat the pizza. Even I, who will eat just about any kind of pizza, found it unpalatable. He managed a few bites before the chocolate sugar bomb of a cake arrived. THAT he ate with gusto.
Then, as the birthday honoree opened his gifts, Connor was unclear on the proceedings.
"That Lightning McQueen? That Connor's Lightning McQueen? That Connor's?"
"No. It's his birthday, not yours. It's not Connor's. Not your birthday."
"Noooo, Connor's Lightning McQueen. " Several race cars, trucks and Cars presents later, I had to remove Connor for a bit. Honestly, it's pretty hard for any kids to watch other kids get cool presents. And when they are Lightning McQueen presents, well, that puts Connor right over the edge. Not that the chocolate cake didn't help that along.
The best part of the day was the opportunity to hang out with Cindy and spend some quality time chatting. Especially while sitting in traffic on the 101.
Needless to say, I was a little crabby and tired when I got home. Our dishwasher is broken. Our garbage disposal-broken. Backyard-a weed explosion. Kitchen floor-not washed. Laundry-not done. And when I feel stressed, I begin to find all of the things in the house that are wrong and try to rectify ALL of them in one fell swoop. Riiiight. Luckily, Tom was in a terrific mood and was able to counteract all of my impending crabbiness by getting some dinner and offering to hang up shelving in the boys room. That was enough to appease me and feel like something was accomplished. By the end, I was not even crabby, all credit to my husband.
He hung up Ian's karate belt holder, courtesy of Grandma Sheila.
He also hung up two matching shelves that I found at Goodwill for $3.00 each.
Ian chose to place some Lego models on his, along with his soccer trophies. I added a few Cars cars on Connor's and although it isn't pictured, his Lightning McQueen bank is on there now. We decided to try and find something cozy for their reading corner (NOT THE DAMN GREEN CHAIR, T!) and so once we have a garage sale, perhaps we can do a bit more for their room. It has no dresser, but I got some underbed storage drawers that the boys like a lot, so we are just going to forgo a dresser for now.
I also spray-painted their little table blue, which is outside drying and needs another coat.
Tomorrow is work-on-the-weed-infestation day and hopefully get out for a nice long walk with our canine house guests before that 90 degree sun gets going.
I got an email from Connor's preschool teacher that he will be continuing in his special education preschool next school year. She asked to move him to the afternoons with the older children because his language is really strong. I was a little concerned that with his progress that he might be asked to leave the program altogether. Of course, that isn't entirely a bad thing, but we do want to see him continue on without any regressions.
He is still working on transitions quite a bit. He likes routine and he likes his Lightning McQueen cars. His teacher is firm with him and they do say that he melts down a few times a day, but there has been improvement. He tends to get very quiet, like yesterday when we had Trevor and Annika visiting overnight. He separated himself and played with his cars and got emotional a few times. He has also started picking his lip again (gross!) so we can sense that he is feeling out of sorts at times by his actions.
By the way, I am certain I have posted this photo, but I just love it anyway.
I heard about this story on the radio this morning. When I got home to actually view it, I was astonished, moved to tears and so impressed.
Her talent is evident and overwhelming and it didn't depend on the package it comes in. How discounted this woman was the moment she walked on the stage, the shots of eyes rolling, of snickers is the sad commentary on how we are taught to judge talent. Superficially. Look at the female judge in all her plastic glory-who gave a beautiful commentary nonetheless.
I hope we someday get back to recognizing and revering truly gifted people, uplifting them instead of making judgments based on outward appearances. Apparently, looks can be deceiving. Be sure to watch the video link before if you haven't yet.
Susan Boyle
Just a note, it's been a looong day, so coherent language might be beyond my reach tonight.
Superintendent Breakfast....very nice! One of the administrators remembered me and asked me about my prize vacation that I won last year. Thankfully, the district seems to be ahead of the game-although the students = dollar signs continually bugs me. She also clearly explained a lot of the discrepancies among charter, public and private school funding. We live in a state that does not value public education at the government level, which trickles down to parents, who do not trust the school systems to educate children properly. School systems are locked in a funding battle based on enrollment and test scores and not based on offering a decent overall education. I heard a woman on NPR or some station explained how she lived overseas and was educated for three years in Japan or China. They had to learn three foreign languages, science, math, reading-everything. It was rigorous and she said she worked her tail off. When she returned to school in the States, she was literally three grade levels AHEAD of the public school students. What the heck are we doing?
Okay, tangent.
Anyway, I took a basic web design class tonight for school. I went in expecting a long, three hour class of unexciting material. Instead, we actually created a usable website-nothing fancy, I leave that to my friends Diana, Cindy and the pros. But we used Google to make a decent website.
Sitting next to another music teacher colleague, we passed some ideas back and forth on different things we were doing. I wanted to create a website that addresses lesson planning and musical activities for special needs students. She talked about some common acquaintances who might be interested in workshops and piloting some kind of group classes. My wheels were working, but I couldn't focus on a direction for it. Instead, I created a website related to my music classes at school.
But I think the need is out there for more instruction for special education students. My brain is too tired to formulate ideas, but the more I discussed things out loud, the more I could envision a plan.
Other than that, I missed Dancing with the Stars. Why I watch that, I don't know, but it is fun.
The boys are still awake at 8:56pm. Should be a fun morning of rise and shine.
I am going to put some feet up, turn on Slumdog Millionaire and fall asleep mid-movie.
I am having breakfast with the superintendent of my school district tomorrow-a random selection, by the way. I am looking forward to it and I don't believe there are more than 10 or 15 invitees.
Then, I get to keep working until 8:00pm taking a class on website design. I wonder if I can design a page with me jumping through several hoops.
That would be me. Due to my son's hostile outbursts several times this morning-mostly directed at Connor with little to no provocation, I decided there would be no egg hunt, no presents, no candy and no Easter baskets. They didn't seem to be missing anything really, until they got to the Wines residence, where we spent the afternoon.
Then Ian realized that he was missing out on the egg hunt, candy, baskets, etc, when he saw Trevor and Annika's loot. Annika set up an egg hunt, which I felt very reluctant to allow him to join, but I did relent because he was well-behaved at their house. He even ate his entire dinner. The truth is that we don't truly celebrate Easter, so I didn't honestly care one way or the other if he got anything or not. But, we are all at odds this weekend and he went to bed tonight with stern reprimands from his father as well.
His Easter basket and Connor's are both sitting up in the closet. Connor didn't really do anything, but he doesn't know if he is missing anything, so I didn't bother with any of it. Maybe next week.
All that being said, I think Ian and I are just not connecting this week. Chorale work has been consuming, Tom's car was in the shop all weekend, leaving us with one car and stuck at home for much of the weekend. So, I am certain that my work and our homebody status has probably got Ian pretty emotional.
So, bah humbug to bunnies everywhere. Here's to a better tomorrow!
Okay-just a random thought. Why is every single children's shampoo or soap product marketed with fruit scent? Berry Blast Shampoo! Fruit Rush toothpaste! Watermelon hand soap! If it isn't fruit, it's lavender-which I love when not made into a processed fakey and cloying lavender scent. ICK! I do not want my kid smelling like fruit or fake lavender. Nor do I want them (read: Connor) to think that shampoo smells good enough to taste. Bad enough they drink bathwater. (Oh, yes.)
My skin is also staging a rebellion for whatever reason. I have enormous chafing on the skin on the back of my arms and my legs. The weather is dry, so I begin to resemble a scaly molting lizard. Lovely image, right? I have horrendously dry skin and it is becoming more and more sensitive the older I get. I noticed that Connor was getting several light freckles across his nose, so I think I need to be extremely diligent with sunscreen for him and for all of us. Sun protection is something that I had to really change about my lifestyle. I have the Physician's Formula bronzer with SPF (love it) and I also love the spray on sunscreen for me and the boys. I have an aversion to greasy hands from lotion, so the spray means I don't have to actually touch the sunscreen with my hands.
You wonder where my son gets sensory issues from?? It's totally me.
Anyway, on the up-side, a co-worker whom I hadn't seen in a few weeks, stopped to have lunch with me and some teacher friends. She asked how much weight I had lost and complimented me on my appearance, noting that I looked thinner and less tired. (less tired? really?) She then asked what exercise I was doing to lose weight. I have to chuckle here, because I don't do a lot of consistent exercise and haven't even had time for serious yoga sessions, but I did say that I had stopped eating processed sugar and was eating less fast food. (save for the ice cream cake last night and pizza, which I refuse to give up) It's nice to have the encouragement! Unfortunately, my exercise last weekend and this upcoming weekend is weeding the backyard and let me tell you, there is a LOT of exercise to had with that!
Finally on an unrelated note, what is the deal with school talent shows? Almost all of the Arizona schools I have worked in have a talent show of some sort and while I love children and encourage their creativity, every single talent show I have ever witnessed here is the virtual absence of creativity and talent. Lip-synching-not a talent, at least in my book. Singing to a CD with the actual singer singing on the CD-annoying and is just borrowing someone else's talent. Singing a song in a different key than the CD-that might qualify as bitonal intonation talent, or it is just plain bad. 3rd grade girls singing about "Love Story" and how they want to be alone with their prince just makes me ill. 5th grade girls dancing so provocatively that it is disturbing - this is what is considered talent? I had to attend one of my school's talent shows this evening and while perhaps four children (out of 22) displayed some true talented performances, most of it was girls trying to be Hannah Montana knock-offs and/or singing songs waaaaay off-key.
Yes, all of our kids are talented.....but not all of them are talented in a performing-on-stage way.
Childhood is a short season.
-Helen Hayes
I feel a slight wistfulness as we close the door on toddlerhood and Connor moves on to become a boy, instead of a toddler. I welcome the next stage, but my foot is stuck in the door, hoping to keep it open a few moments longer.
photo credit-Ian Murphy
ACK! The only person who isn't a scientist who would stalk an astrophysicist and I cannot get any tickets to the event he is participating in here in Arizona tomorrow night. I am thinking about hanging outside Gammage, but I probably won't.
Neil deGrasse Tyson visiting Gammage
On a more depressing note, I just read that our school district has sent 200 plus pink slips to teachers in the MAIL. For crying out loud, you couldn't let these teachers know in person that they are losing their jobs?
Keep reading down for Autism post for Sunday.....
In case you didn't know it, my 4-year-old son, Ian, likes Legos. Lego-obsessed. Right now, the kitchen table is covered in a variety of Pirate and Star Wars Legos. His desk in my office has a Secret Agent Lego Base. His idea of fun? Taking three days to piece together an enormous Lego set and then saying, "Hey, let's take it apart and put it back together!" Riiiight.
I took Ian to the Lego store this afternoon, after reading that they were hosting an building event for an 8 foot Pirate made of Legos. We walked into the mob scene aka Lego Store and wandered for a bit, with Ian inquiring on the price of several expensive and rather large Lego sets.
Ian asked me to take several photos of Lego sets he wants on his birthday list. The entire photo collection is not posted, because no one really has time to see that many Lego sets.
A Star Wars Lego watch-surprisingly analog and not digital! Way to be educational, Lego Guys!
We then walked down to the Pirate building area, where several tables were set up with boxes of bricks, laminated directions and a roped-off area where the Pirate was in construction. The kids (many kids included Dads, by the way) had to build a rectangular brick to add to the body of the pirate.
Ian got right to work and finished in about five minutes. One of the Lego employees came over to watch and asked how old he was. He was impressed at his ability to read and complete the directions without assistance. The employee then said that he worked in one of our school districts helping children with autism. He said that kids with autism gravitate to the Legos and without realizing it, they are learning about geometry and a host of other skills while building. To this, I agreed. Legos are a toy that I don't think I really played with as a child (perhaps speaking to why I didn't excel in geometry?) and seeing my son, whom I find as brilliant as a star in the sky, complete Lego sets of hundreds of pieces with minimal assistance, I know that it probably does some heavy work in the brain.
At Toys R Us, I always see lists of toys for kids with autism. I say get the kid some Legos.
As Connor's birthday fast approaches-and I see Connor's interest in Legos beginning to peak-Ian chose a small set for his brother and chose a Star Wars set for himself. We inquired about the Lego store club, which meets on Saturday mornings to work on an exclusive set before the store opens-but the Lego employee said that he had to be six years old, so that he could sit for an hour and work on a set. I chuckled a bit and Ian placed his Star Wars ship on the counter to buy. She looked at me and said, "Is this for him?" I nodded. "Can he actually put this together?" I nodded again. She then said, "You know, I wish we had an exception to the age rule." I said that we understood and it wasn't a problem. Next year, he'll be six and we can enroll him for his 6th birthday.
Ahoy, matey!
Tom was impressed and it looks like he might want to take Ian again tomorrow to check out the pirate. Lego is going to appreciate the economic stimulus this weekend.
I happened to hear about this student through school and found an article about her thesis, research and paintings.
Art and Autism
While teaching my special education music class this past week, one of the aides (a former music teacher himself) directed me to this article in the New York Times about Musical Pharmacology.
Those interested in discovering alternatives to medication and ways to unlock emotional doorways might find this intriguing.
On a personal note, I wish that children with autism could be introduced to music therapies early on. In Arizona, music therapy has been teetering with severe budget cuts-Read about Arizona's Music Therapy Budget Cuts.
I know with my little bunch of students, they respond to music despite themselves at times. I'd love to see a prescribed playlist for special ed music classes!
Autism Awareness Month.....pass it on.
April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day.
April is Autism Awareness Month. Last year I posted almost every day in the month about autism as my outreach. Tomorrow there will be several events around the world, including races, discussions and meets to raise autism awareness.
Let me say this and anyone who knows Connor can probably agree.....early intervention is critical-whether it is autism or developmental delays or sensory issues.
Yesterday, the state disability department paid a visit to check on Connor's progress. She shared in our excitement about Connor's progress and encouraged us to continue forward with pursuing continuing special education preschool services and long term care so that Connor continues to move forward.
Here is a photo back from 2007 with Connor. Almost a perpetual look of disconnect on his face in so many of the photos from this time.
And a photo taken by Tom (love this one, T!) just a few weeks ago, and notice the difference. It is palpable. He resonates with spontaneity, laughter and I am wondering if he is going to be the kid in class who kisses everyone and hugs them all. Because he is one lovey boy.
What is still hard are transitions and fixations. Normal two-going-on-three temper tantrums that all parents experience.
But I think we are here to say that early intervention truly made the difference in Connor and in our parental approach with him. And I am here for anyone who would like to know more about how it worked for us.
Last Sunday, we spent some time at one of the local parks in Mesa, gathering with our friends Julie and Sean and their pups for an evening cookout. The boys had fun feeding the dogs fresh string beans, watching the fire and getting some much needed fresh air.
Connor kept the pups entertained with his antics.
We had a fun badminton game, with Ian as the coach. ("Mommy, you need to have the birdie hit the middle and go past Aunt Julie.") Let's say that having a coach did not make for an easy game, since we were "coached" after almost every volley.
