Happy Holidays!

Between Christmas festivities, work, cleaning the house, wrapping presents, and cooking, I've been pretty busy. And, of course, there's more of it the next couple weeks.

I thought I should wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year now, before I forget.

One fun thing that we've been up to at work is making a video about "Lowercase i Day". It's a spoof on goofy holidays and everyone's favorite office-based tv show. Anyway, here's the explanation, and here's the video:



Happy Holidays!

Trying

Most of the time I say that I "try" but really, how hard do I try?

I try to keep my house in line, try to cook dinner every night, try to eat dinner together at the table every night, try to get up the first time the alarm goes off, try to be awesome at work, try to write in this blog, try to spend quality time with the kids and Craig, try to get the kids to bed on time, and try to do all kinds of things that working parents are supposed to do. But it's hard, and I find myself overwhelmed and frustrated because I can't do all of it all of the time. It can be quite "trying".

And then I thought, this must be how Chase feels.

We're always telling him what to do, when to do it, the "right" way to do it, not to do it, what to say, and all other kinds of things. A lot of the things we're telling him to do are not always in line with the way his mind works. But HE TRIES. That little boy tries hard to fit in with our lives and the norms of school and society. He tries to make friends. He tries to not melt down at school. He tries to write all of his letters when we ask, even though he breaks into tears if the first H he draws looks more like a 4. And he tries to be gentle, which is very hard for a kid that craves and needs heavy touch.

When I noticed that his preschool aide wrote a long entry in his daily journal yesterday, I was at first concerned because it was gym day. Gym day always gets a little crazy. Chase always want's to be first in line, whether walking, running, or waiting. And, also he has a new found interest in Karate. (Thank you Po.)

The kids went to different stations in the gym to do different activities. One of the kids in Chase's group is an adorable little girl with leg braces. She's a fragile little thing and I'm sure there's a consensus concern that he might hurt her by bumping into her to hard, hitting her with a ball, etc.

Chase's aide wrote in his journal that he was very gentle and kind to this little girl. He was actually watching out for her. He was telling other kids to be careful. She said she could visibly see him trying to stop his urges to push or bump into things and kids.

Funny thing is, without having read this entry yet, I was asking him how gym class was. He told me "You kick balls, you run, run kick more balls, and you be careful. I like it." When I asked him who he played with, he told me this little girl's name and then told me about her "super shoes" which I guessing are the leg braces. "His legs didn't bleed or get broke or have a 'dandaid'. He just has super shoes. You have to be gentle," he said as he signed "gentle". (We have a little trouble with He and She right now, if you noticed.)

I told him that I was proud that he was being careful, he smiled and said that this little girl is his best friend. He has three best friends these days, all girls.

He's trying to be gentle and sensitive because he's understanding (at least a little) that his actions affect other people. Even if it's the opposite of every urge he has.

Talk about trying. Wow. Maybe we all need to try just a little harder. If he can do it, we should be able to.

Pumpkins and Monkey Poop

Ok, that's really two different topics, but it does sound funny together, eh?

Pumpkins
So, we bought the kids some ginormous pumpkins at Sam's. Only $5! Awesome, right? WRONG.
These pumpkins have some sort of titanium exoskeleton that killed:

• two little pumpkin saws (the ones that come with the pattern kits)


• one of the slightly larger safety pumpkin carving knives


• an electric knife (like the kind you carve turkeys with.

And that was only to cut off the top of one! I finally made it through with one tiny pumpkin saw #3, proceeded with the very basic of jack o'lantern faces, and left the second pumpkin whole.

Lesson learned: Next year we paint the pumpkins.

Monkey Poop
Chase LOVES the Speed Racer movie. I wasn't sure that he'd like it, so I got it with Netflix. We've had it for like 3 weeks now. I'm going to sneak it back in the mail tomorrow.
Anyway, there's a chimp in the movie, who when in a tough spot, throws poop in the bad guy's face.

Chase finds this HILARIOUS. He'll be sitting in the car and suddenly be laughing. I'll say, "What's so funny?" "Mom, monkey throws poop!" More laughing.

Anyway, Chase is Speed racer for Halloween, so we here this joke A LOT. It's actually pretty funny. Here's a few pictures of his school party. You might notice it's a "homemade" costume. It does have a white collar that goes with it, but Chase decided he doesn't want to wear it. Chase has never been willing to put on a costume. The "Jedi episode of Halloween 2006" was a doozy and taught me to give up until he's older. I've also learned that it's not a good idea to spray Chase's hair black, even if he insists. We'll call bath-time last night the "Hair washing from Hell incident of Halloween 2008".

















Also, here's a few other pictures from a corn maze that we went to back in early September.









And, here's some of Craig's projects: "our" beer (mostly Craig makes it and I drink it) and FRED (who is done, except for another coat of paint next spring.)





Happy Halloween!

Sick

And I don't mean "sweet" or "cool".

I'm kind of glad that I don't feel better because then I'd have to ponder whether or not to be happy I got sick after everyone else.

Even with my stuffy nose and accompanying headache, we brought the kids to a "tailgate" party at my work for the MSU/U of M game. Since it was cold, wet, and muddy, we stayed inside most of the time. Chase and Cory made it for a few hours, thanks to cookies, pop from the free pop machines, and playdoh. Luckily, the people that work in the marketing building like to keep creative things, including playdoh, out in the meeting areas.

The only major issue we had was Chase's breakdown when his hotdog bun broke. Just to bring you up to speed, if he's eating a hotdog and the bun splits, he gets very upset and refuses to eat any more of the remaining hotdog, even if we put it on another bun. And, since he's into these whining breakdowns, he's very noisy, agitated, and teary when this happens. It's interesting how much louder it sounds when you're with ten of your coworkers, instead of at home.

With some slight of hand that would make Penn and Teller proud, we were able to replace the hotdog bun with Cory's without either kid noticing. Throw in a no bake cookie, and we were set.

Another funny thing, last night Craig was trying to watch Cold Case. Chase was playing with his new favorite Speed Race car, racing it around the table in the dining room. Chase kept coming out and turning on the basball game. He was listening to it from the dining room. It was really interesting. He's never shown an interest in baseball on tv before.

Autism Moms Unite!

I wanted to share something with you all. I know that some of you also have Autism in your lives. Some of you don't, but someday will have to help your kids understand our kids.

Anyway, there is a very good blog by an Autism mom called Diary of a Mom. The woman, Jess Wilson, and her blog are listed as Resources on the Autism Speaks website.

I've checked it out periodically, but this post made me really want to share it.

I hope you all take a look at it sometime. I wish I had enough time to think and write like she does. Maybe too many years of writing about computers and procedures have broken my creative side.

Daycare Woes

Well, over the past year and a half, I've been very happy with our daycare. Chase is a handful some days, but the teachers have been very understanding and given him the extra attention he needs to survive in a daycare situation.

Until now, that is.

For some background, Chase (and Cory) go to a very nice daycare each morning. Chase leaves around noon to go to his "real" preschool class.

At daycare, he's in the 4-5 year old preschool/daycare class. There are about 20 kids and two teachers. It seems to me that one of the teachers does not want to "deal" with him.

Yes, he takes some negotiating on certain things. But, once he's comfortable, he does pretty well.

At his "real" preschool, which is afternoons at the Elementary School for our district, he is doing good. The class is about the same size, but there are three teachers.

So, yesterday, we had his Teacher Consultant (who helps his teachers to meet his special needs) observe the daycare.

Her feelings were like ours: The teacher was not going to put any extra effort in to help Chase. She was actually excluding him to a certain level, and even though we offered ideas to make things easier for him, it was going "in one ear and out the other."

So, we took him (and Cory) out of the daycare. My angel of a Mom is going to watch the kids until we can figure something else out.

We've been at that daycare quite a while, and I'm sad to have to do this, but we don't really have a choice. They never said that they could handle special needs kids, but so far, the teachers have cared enough to put in a little bit of effort.

There's actually other autistic kids at that daycare, but these kids are less functional than Chase, keep to themselves, and do not interact with the teachers or the other children. So, these kids are "easy" compared to Chase, who wants friends and to interact but doesn't really understand social norms and rules.

It makes me scared to think about future school classes and how those will go. sigh.

Better?

Well, we had a good weekend and most of the sickness is out of the house. We went up north for the trees. We had a good time and beautiful weather, but the colors were just past peak.

Here's a few pictures:
















We also had two dogs show up at our house last night. I think that they might be purebred Jack Russells. We're looking for their owner. They're pretty cute, but the puppy keeps going after Copper, our 90+ lb German Shepard/Great Pyrenees mix. That's not going to work for too long. Here they are:



(We are calling the puppy "Sparkles" and the big one is Jack. Chase helped name them. I think that Sparkles is one of the dogs in Barbie and the Diamond Castle...)

(Jodie, you probably can't tell, but all those images are from the Jing embed code...)

Yikes.

So, today was the first day I was in the office this week. Chase has been sick. Viral something on Tuesday and 12 hours later, he also had an ear infection.

The kids did great at the birthday party, except for leaving... I was the only one with issues. I get so worried when both kids are not in my sight. There were several times when I didn't have either in my sight. It's a safe place, but I'm a worrier. Anyway, I survived.

So, Craig's home tonight, so hopefully things will get back to normal.

All my STC grad friends: We're hiring another writer, so anyone interested in working for an awesome company in Okemos, MI, let me know and I can let you know how to apply.

Have a good weekend!

We've got a birthday party, book club, and Craig's leaving for a conference in Texas.

I'm excited for Chase's first "friend" birthday party. It's at one of those big inflatable places. He's pumped for it. Of course, I'm wondering if he's going to fit in with all the other kids. I sure hope so.

Oh, funny enough, Chase LOVES the song Real Gone by Sheryl Crow from the movie Cars. He's been trying to sing it in the car lately. It's pretty fun to see him doing that kind of thing. It's his first song that doesn't involve numbers, monkeys, the alphabet, baby bumblebees, or Dora the "Explora".

I'm back...

After MUCH prodding, I'm back. While it seems I have time to check out other people's blogs, I can't seem to take the time to write anything myself. So, here I am.

Since it's been so long, here's a list of random stuff:

• Craig finished Fred. It's a great barn/shed/garage-like building. He did a great job. I'm so glad my husband's so handy!


• We had a nice, but busy summer. Lots of random stuff. I can't believe it's over!


• Chase is now in a "regular" preschool class. He still has an aid in the class, but he's doing pretty good. It was a bit rough at first, but things seem to be settling down. He's super smart and so high-functioning that most people see him as being "just difficult". He's not flexible in a lot of situations, and they seem to forget that he's autistic.


• Cory is something else. She's got a LOT of personality and attitude, but super polite. EVERYTHING is "please" and "thank you" although, we're hearing "gracias" more than thank you. (Thanks, I mean gracias, Dora.)


• My mom's car was shot at by a potato gun on her why to the mall after picking up Cory from daycare yesterday. A high speed potato hit her window and exploded. It sounds funny, but if her window would have been open, it would have hit her in the head. What's wrong with people. Oh, and this was in town on a residential street. WTF?


• We got a new cat this summer. His name is Jing (yes Jodie, like The Jing Project. It's just so awesome, and I'm a nerd.) He looks a LOT like Mica, so sometimes it's a little weird, but Jing is much, much nicer than Mica ever was.

That's all I can think of for now. Really, I'll try to post more.

Mango

April asked why Jodie calls me that.

Jodie! Help me remember exactly what happened!

Honestly, I can't remember the exact circumstances. I know that it had to do with the "Mango" character from SNL.

I just can't recall how it started. Maybe I tried to do his voice or something. I can't imagine that I was that funny, but after the initial use, which Jodie thought was funny, it just stuck. I would sign "Mango" on my emails to Jodie.

Jodie! Fill us in with what you remember!

WICKED.
We're going to see Wicked tonight. I saw it last summer with some of my girlfriends. I really liked it, so tonight Craig, my sisters, my friend Susanne, and her sister Erin, are all coming with me. And we're going to Ukai, a Japanese Steakhouse, for dinner first. I'm excited!

(Anyone sick of hearing from me yet? This is like a record of sequential days with posts...)

Almost done

Well, I'm almost done with my help files. I have two more little topics to finish up, some edit comments, and fixing the templates.

Oh, and then make all the HTML tutorials for the Learning Center...

Ok, maybe "almost" isn't the correct word...

WebWorks (well, kind of...)

Only one more help file to finish, plus fix some formatting in the help compiler.

I have to say, one of the few things I liked about Unicrap was the tools team. We had no responsibility for how the documents were produced. If Ihad a problem, I'd go talk to Jane.

There've always been issues with Word, but now, I have to design, implement, and support the document and help styles. It gets to be such a pain in the butt.

Using WebWorks to produce, you don't just have to take extra time to fix last minute edit things in the source files, you also have to fix last minute style issues, broken references, and number spacing. Not to mention you have to figure out why it's suddenly broken, when it worked 20 minutes earlier.

I also have to say, for being a company that makes a product to create help files, they have the suckiest help. Always a joy.

Oh well. I guess this is where the "technical" part of my degree comes in.

John Denver

So, if you're reading this, you probably know me decently well. (If not, what could I possibly say that you'd be interested in?)

Anyway, as I mentioned, I'm super busy at work. I work in a cube next to a large open meeting area. To concentrate, I listen to my iTunes.

I found that I was having issues concentrating, even with my music, so I turned to the old standby: John Denver.

I have 6.5 hours of JD music in my iTunes. I've been listening to it non-stop for almost 3 weeks. I can totally get into a zone when I'm listening to JD.

I think that because almost every memory of my childhood has John Denver music as the soundtrack, my brain actually functions better when I'm listening.
Yep, I'm weird, but I'm wondering how weird? Don't other people have some music that they feel this way about?

I assume that they do...

I hope they do...

Still Alive

I'm still here, at least in body. I've been super busy since the beginning of May with work.

My product is releasing in early fall, so my final file dates are now coming, so, I'm trying to get everything done.

I just got a new Vista laptop for work and this handy little Blogger Buddy desktop gadget. So, it is possible you may hear from me more often...

We'll see. :o)

And, I'm Off

I'm heading to the STC conference in Philadelphia. I'm leaving tonight and will be gone a whole week. Am I worried about leaving Craig and the kids for that long? I often feel it would be nice to get away by myself for awhile, but now I'm worried about how much I'll miss them. It didn't seem like that big of a deal until I started packing.

Thank God for video and picture messaging.

We're on a deadline with Fred. We have to have it done by the 20th to get the rest of the insurance money. Craig'll need to work on it while I'm gone. Luckily, my mom will help out and Craig's mom will come over a few times. This way Craig can keep working on Fred.

I can't believe that I'm actually presenting! It's a "cool" presentation, that is, if you get excited when someone uses Keynote on a Mac instead of PowerPoint on a Windows machine.

Fred Update
Craig is powering through this project, and although we have a deadline, I'm confident he'll have it all done. My dad's been helping Craig out some, but my carpenter pro hubby's been doing been really doing a great job. They've been at it less than 2 weeks and you can see the results below.

I'm Alive.

I'm just so busy! Grrrr.

In a nutshell:

• I went to Michigan Tech as part of the STC dept advisory board. It was a lot of fun, and I went by myself so I had a little break from the kids.
• We're working on building a garage/barn/shed-thing to replace the well house that had a tree land on it last August. (Yeah, nine months ago. We're really on top of things!) I've decided to call the new building Fred, since it's not really a shed, barn, or garage.
  
• I'm also at nearing the end of a product release, and I'm super busy documenting Morae, our usability/user research software. If you don't know about it, it's way better than the old Unicrap usability lab and costs a lot less than the pompous fool manager guy put into that lab.
• I took Chase to Cedar Point with our friend Susanne and her son Ethan. Ethan's just 9 months older than Chase, so the boys really have a good time together. We did an evening and then a whole day at the park, followed by a couple hours at the indoor waterpark.
  

Here's pictures of the CP trip, Cory, and the Fred building.

Shining

So, I'm not a huge fan of the Rolling Stones. That I ended up last night at a sneak peak of their IMAX Martin Scorsese directed movie, is odd.

I "won" them from the local TV station. I use the term "won" loosely. I think that they didn't have that many people trying to win, so they gave them to everyone who entered. Anyway, Craig and I both went to see it last night. Aunt Sarah babysat the kids at her apartment, which is a first. The kids loved visiting.

It was good, but not being a huge Stones fan, I didn't know some of the songs and couldn't have watched 2 hours of only concert footage. Lucky for me, "Marty" threw in some old clips of the band from the past 40 years.

Things that I liked in the film:

• Scorsese freaking out because he couldn't get Mick to give him a final set list. The last second before the band came out, a producer runs in with it.
• Keith singing. At least twice, he totally messed up the words.
• Keith talks and acts just like Jack Sparrow. I knew that Johnny Depp modeled the character after him, but it's hard not to laugh watching Keith.
• Keith wearing what I can only call a brooch on his coat. It was the Pirates of the Caribbean logo. (Also had a ring like it on.)
• The camera shots and editing were amazing.
• The video and sound were amazing. You really felt like you were there.

Things that I'm going to have nightmares about:

• They are WAY too old for a 4 story closeup. Some of their wrinkles could swallow a small child.
• Men with legs that skinny are freaky.
  
• Mick and Keith's arms.
• They are all WAY too touchy feely for old men.
  
• Mick's sweaty, sweaty, sweaty armpits. (Come on, really, you haven't figured out yet that a red silky shirt doesn't hide sweat well?)

It was nice to get out, but now I wish I would have seen the U2 IMAX movie when it was out. If you're a Stones fan, I'd say go see it.

Cory, too!

So after going on about Chase so much yesterday, I thought I should mention my wonderful, adorable neuro-typical daughter. Corinne turned two at the end of February and proceeded to enter the terrible twos. Wow, does she have an attitude. Ok, she actually also has an ear infection, but that's not the only reason for the attitude.

She's really into the Disney Princesses right now. Cinderella and Tinkerbell are her favorite. She even sings the "Tinkerbell song". I got some of it on my phone last night after her bath.

Labeling

So, having watched Autism: The Musical, I've been thinking that I haven't talked about how Chase is doing lately, when it was the original reason I started this Blog.

Chase has "high-functioning" autism. Right now his diagnosis is PDD-NOS, Pervasive Development Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified. Nice and descriptive, huh? But, the more he can communicate, I'm thinking that it is more like Asperger's. He really doesn't "get" the finer points of social interaction. Like how hard is too hard to hug, when it's appropriate to hug, kiss, etc. He also can seem aggressive because he doesn't understand this stuff.

I think that he's learning to function. I don't think he'll ever "get it" like neuro-typical children, but I think that he can learn how you're supposed to act and how you're not, but I think it'll be a struggle for him. He has to remember how interactions are supposed to work, because it doesn't come naturally to him.

Watching Autism: The Musical, I see children that do similar things to what Chase does, but they are older. I start wondering what they were like at 3. I think that I always think that they must have been "worse" than Chase, if they're now functioning like him. So, he'll be way better by the time he's their age? Right? That's logical, isn't it?

I just wish it will work out that way, but who knows? This whole autism rollercoaster is crazy. When you first find out, you suddenly "lose" the child you thought you had. Everything you have thought about his future is dead, or is it? While it's not a death sentence, everything in your world is different. My first thought when we got the diagnosis? "We're never going to be able to take him to Disney World or Cedar Point." Seriously. You see all the information about autism and apply all of it to your child, whether it really fits or not. At the same time, he's no different than he was yesterday. And, how much of it is his age, and how much is the autism? (BTW, we've been to Cedar Point and Disney World, both with wonderful results for everyone.)

I wish that everyone would watch that movie and see what kids, parents, and families go through. Maybe instead of people saying that he's overly aggressive, they'd understand that he can't help it and that all he's doing is trying to fit in and learn proper limits. Maybe people wouldn't stare at him standing at a table in a restaurant instead of sitting.

It's hard not to get protective. It's hard not to compare him to the other children with autism. It's hard not to resent other children who start stuff with him and then tattle on Chase when he reacts to them (Thank God for classroom video cameras.) It breaks my heart to see him try so hard to fit in and mix with the other children, and to have one of them say, "Why do you talk funny?" He understands that he's different, or at least he's treated differently. But he tries. How does a 3 year old know to try so hard?

No matter what the outcome of this whole thing, if there really ever is an "outcome", I'm glad that we've gone through it. I'm much more compassionate than I ever thought I could be. All of us have met so many strong and loving children, parents, and teachers.

And, I have a sweet, loving, smart, strong, brave boy who has taught me more than anyone I've ever known. I am truly blessed.

Say Cheese!

I just got this picture from my sister, Sarah. It's from our trip to Frankenmuth earlier this month.

In other news...
I got a new phone. It's a Palm Treo and runs Windows Mobile. I'm excited about it, but I hate that I had to put in a support request to IT to have them help me hook up my work email to it.

Happy last day of March!

(Insert Snappy Title Here)

I'm not feeling real creative today, so I can't think of a good title that will make you want to keep reading...

But, in case you've held on this long, I have a few things to tell you about:

• Until March 30th, you can view "Autism: The Musical" on HBO.com. I haven't watched it yet, but I've read that it really let people see what it's like living with Autism in your family. Here's part of a review from the NY Times:
  

  Ms. Hall’s troupe is not very representative of the spectrum of autism — the most difficult types of children are not in evidence here — and for the first two-thirds of the film, viewers unfamiliar with the condition might be thinking, “These kids don’t look so bad off.” But around the one-hour mark, when Ms. Hall’s 12-year-old slams a smaller child to the ground for no reason, the film begins to show some of autism’s more disturbing manifestations. And you start to see why these parents are so frazzled.

  Click the image to watch the movie. You can pre-order the DVD here.
  
  
• There is a rally to support the Autism Insurance Bills at the Capitol in Lansing on April 22. I sent handouts into Chase's school, so I'm starting to get calls about it. I love feeling like I'm making a difference. Click the image below for more info.

• Chevy is partnering with Autism Speaks. For every person that watches a video tour of the new Malibu, they'll donate money to AS, up to 1 million dollars. Click the image below to do your part. It's only about 2 minutes long.

Drats.

So, the cat belonged to the little girl next door. We saw her and her dad riding their 4-wheeler out in the field and flagged them down. Turns out, she was really worried about "Smokey". I guess he goes outside sometimes, but doesn't usually go far from the house. (There's about 6 acres between our houses.)

They were really nice and asked Chase to come over and go fishing once their pond thaws out.

It's weird to think that I ever lived in a subdivision where the houses were so close and you saw your neighbors every day. I prefer this, but I guess it would be nice to talk to the neighbors more than once a year. Once all of our kids are in school maybe.

Anyway, hope you all have a happy Easter!

Cats.

I didn't mention it before, but my cat Mica got hit by a car and died a few weeks ago. She was an inside/outside cat, and we knew it would probably happen at some point. But, she was miserable if we made her stay inside all the time.

I REALLY had a hard time with her dying. I've never had to explain to a child why they can't see their kitty. I told Chase that Mica ran away and went to a really nice place to stay. He keeps telling me that we have to have 2 cats and that we need to go to the "kitty store" to buy a new one.

So yesterday, this gray cat showed up at our patio door. I opened the door, thinking it would run away. It didn't. It came in and is the sweetest thing! He's front declawed and fixed. He's not afraid of the kids and is super cuddly. (In case you were going to check, you are still reading Sally's blog, not Jodie's...)

So for now, we're keeping him. This will change for any of the following reasons:

1. We find his owner.
2. He pees on something.
3. Clio pees on something because she doesn't like him.
4. He's too scared of the dogs.

And we didn't even have to go to the kitty store...

I Know: Twice in One Day...

I just wanted to mention this neat thing that they have for Snapfish. It's a way to send pictures from your cellphone to your Snapfish account. It comes in really handy... Details? Click here.

Jodie Must Be Really Bored...

... to beg ME to update my blog! Really, my life's about as boring as a really busy life can be. I seem to always be doing something, but never anything interesting.

So, just for you Jodie... I guess there's a few things of note going on:

1. We went to Frankenmuth on Saturday to celebrate my Dad and Craig's birthdays by eating WAY too much "family-style chicken dinner". That was followed by way too much shopping at Birch Run. (You know you're old when you get really excited to see an Eddie Bauer Outlet Store...)
2. My favorite thing is to ask Cory what a Turkey says. Her answer is "Boggle Boggle."
3. Cory's finally not fighting us when we ask if she's our "baby girl". Up until this week, she'd scream "NO! I A BOY!" at us...
4. I uploaded and bought almost 800 pictures from our trip to Disney World. Now, I have to buy some albums.
5. Craig's put in new tub/shower, new toilet, and is working on a tile floor in our ONE bathroom. (I can't quite remember why we went from a 2000 house with 3 car garage and two full baths to an 1853 house with no garage and one bath...)
6. I think it's AWESOME that there are more DZ's with blogs! I've added some of them to my list of friends. (I hope they don't mind... It's only been like 8 years since I've seen them...)
   
7. I have new pictures:

I Guess We're Famous Now...

Well, in Jackson at least.

They did a story about Autism in the Citizen Patriot yesterday and used Chase as the "face" to go with the story. I thought the article turned out really good. You can read it here. There's a gallery of pictures from the story here.

It was interesting to meet with the reporter and photographer. They were shocked that Chase was so "normal". Even though I had told them he is very high functioning, they weren't expecting a kid that wanted to show them his toys and guinea pigs.

People not affected just don't get it sometimes. Chase is a poster child for early intervention, but it took a huge toll on our family to give him the help that he needed. All the time off of work added to the tremendous emotional roller coaster. I never thought I'd be able to adjust to living with autism.

A year ago, Chase didn't say Mommy or Daddy. He didn't say "I love you." He couldn't say "I want..." It took us two months of speech therapy to get him to say "I", sign the word "want", and then point or grab what he wanted. But, that whole time, he would hug about anyone. How could he be autistic and hug anyone? Autistic kids don't do that right?

Thinking back now, I can't believe that he's come so far in a year. Compared to other kids his age, he seems "normal" at first, but if you know and you watch closely, you can see that he struggles to communicate with the other children and wants very much to be accepted. He's doing better and better every day.

It's weird to think that he's only about 2-4 months ahead of Cory (who just turned two) in expressive communication, when he's advanced in other areas. He is a smart kid. He can write his name pretty well, he knows his alphabet, he can spell some words like stop, go, Chase, mom, dad, nana, he can count to 30, he can read letters, and he's a mean Jedi with his light saber.

Wow. We are so fortunate that we didn't lose him. And, honestly, we're a closer and more compassionate family for having gone through it.

Back from Florida

And I already want to go back. It's way too cold here. To think that a week ago, I was riding in an innertube at a water park...

We had a great time, although I haven't had a chance to get my pictures off my camera yet.

I do have one of my favorite things from the trip to share though: Chase on stage as a Jedi apprentice.


How cool is that? There's a lot more to the whole show, but I was so worried that he'd be afraid of Darth Vader when I saw him come out. Instead, he went right up and kicked some Sith butt!