Love this saying

Don’t judge my son now based on how he was years ago, or even a day ago, and don’t judge how he was a day ago based on how he is today… and don’t assume where he’ll be tomorrow either.

Drinking from a cup

So Michael just turned 3 a few days ago and is still not drinking from an open cup. I took a video which shows why. He puts his tongue inside the cup as you can see here. I'm hoping if we start OT they can help with this sort of thing because I don't know how to help him if he won't listen to me.

Frustrated Incorporated

You love the title, you know you do. Anyway, I thought this video did really well at showing how he gets upset while playing. If things aren't "just so" he will get upset. When I ask him if I can help, he gets even more upset. I didn't intervene and help in any way because if I did, that would have set him off to a complete meltdown.

He has been asking (more like dragging me) lately into the toy room to "play tracks and trains" which essentially means I watch him play. I can't touch the toys at all or he gets upset. I am happy he at least wants me to interact in some ways by watching him, but it really limits his social interaction by the ritualistic ways he plays. He can't play with other kids because if they do anything that is outside the plan he has set in his head, he gets very upset.

My attempt to get him to say yes

It wasn't working so well! We'll keep working on it though. I really hope to be able to ask him a question someday and get a YES instead of NO WAY!!

The word YES

I realized yesterday how this is one word that Michael NEVER uses. My friend's son who is 18 months old used it yesterday after his mother asked him a question. When I first heard it, I couldn't quite put my finger on what sounded so odd. But then it dawned on me it was the response YES. Michael NEVER uses this word even when you ask him something he likes. I think I've heard him say yes once EVER. You can ask him if he wants a cookie and you'll either get "NO WAY MAMA!" and then him being pissed you put it away because he really wanted it, squeals of excitement, or you'll get him repeating the words you just said (want cookie!). How I long for a normal response to a question. I swear it takes 10x the energy to get this child to do anything.

Being around company

Being around company is hard. When Michael starts acting up or not conversing in the normal way, I find myself being very self conscious. With every "NO WAY!" you start to wonder what they think of your parenting skills. Like they are thinking why can't this mom get her child to just answer a question?!

Yesterday we were out with some friends for Memorial Day. Michael of course was having his normal issues and saying "no way" every 5 seconds. The parents were making jokes saying "Is that the only word you know Michael?" I know they weren't saying it to be mean but it hurt. It was stressing me out. I eventually told the mother later that day that we are having him tested for Autism. She said "Well that would explain a lot of his behaviors". I guess she had noticed his other odd behaviors in addition to his "no way"s. She had made note prior to me telling her this info that he wasn't interacting with her girls (3.5 and 5) until about 5 hours into the day with them. We went to a park to all play together and Michael just sat there rolling rocks down a slide while all the other kids were swinging and running around together. Michael would be either oblivious to them being around or if they were near him he was getting upset they were in his space.

It makes me sad. I hate feeling this way whenever we are around friends or strangers. I have a sitter over today and I basically had to tell her not to take it personal if my son yells at her all day. :(

Tracing the table

Here he is being his typical self tracing the lines of whatever he has with him.

Asking for Help!

This is pretty typical of how he talks now and he is even starting to ask for help pretty often now! We've been working on asking him what he needs help with instead of him just saying "I need help" We ask him "what do you need help with?" and make him answer. It's working pretty well!

Hearing Test

Today we had to go in for a hearing test. This was part of the preschool screening that they weren't able to complete the other day. He had to go in a sound booth and do the test in there. He did this about 9 months ago through the place he gets speech therapy currently, and it was serious drama. I was fearing what would happen! But he completely enjoyed the test and sat in his chair all by himself like a big boy! When he'd correctly identify what side the sound was coming from, they'd make this bear in a box light up and dance. Every time that happened it would freak him out and he'd start shaking his head "no" (what I actually believe to be a stim because he does it whenever he is nervous - view the 'love you mama' video and you can see it in there). After a second of freaking out, he would let out an excited squeal! The ladies doing the test thought he was a riot! Well not surprisingly, he passed the test with normal levels as I suspected he would. In fact, he heard some sounds even I didn't hear! Maybe it's time I get my own hearing checked!

Imaginary Play

Michael got a train table for his birthday and he absolutely LOVES it! He has even started to exhibit some imaginary play! At one point in time he yells for the train to "STOOOOOP!" before it hit the mountain. He also was asking me some questions "How did it get there?" His eye contact is poor while he asks questions though. If you notice he will glance at me and then either look to the side or look up while asking a question.

Spontaneous Speech!

So lately Michael has had more spontaneous speech! This is huge! He still has a hard time keeping a conversation going unless it is with himself but we are working on it. He has started to come up to me and tell me things that he is doing or that he finds fun/interesting.

Notice about 4 mins in the video though he is saying that he sees the balloons but isn't even facing where they are. This is a form of echolalia. Generally when he is speaking he will repeat only what he hears us say. But during this video you hear him give a few comments/phrases of his own which is seriously AWESOME!

Also, notice his amazing skills with counting and math! The fact that he could look at the 4 balloons and say he had 4 balloons without counting them individually is seriously amazing. That kind of skill isn't expected for at least another 3 years! Some of the things he can do leave me in awe!

Tracing Shapes

Last night Michael was playing with this stupid little McDonald's toy that he got with his happy meal. He started waving it around in circles. I asked him what shape he was drawing and he said a circle. Then all of a sudden he started drawing other shapes! He drew a square, a triangle, then a number 1, and a number 2!! He's never done that before. I was super impressed! This video is the result of me trying to get him to duplicate it. I wasn't super successful but that's OK. It was pretty funny though because he wouldn't draw the shapes unless he was holding the stupid toy.

Birthday Party!

Michael always enjoys being around other kids but he can easily get sensory overload. Today was no exception. We celebrated his 3rd birthday (which is actually on the 29th) with a party. There were a ton of kids and excitement. Just transitioning from one present to another was a lot for him to handle and he started to really get upset easily by the end of the day. But altogether he had a lot of fun and LOVES his new train table. :)

Happy 3rd Birthday my sweet boy!

Preschool screening

Michael had his screening today for the developmental preschool. I thought it was a full eval but I guess it was just a pre-screen. They had him go to several different station things they set up and perform whatever tasks for a few minutes. Needless to say, he didn't like transitioning every couple of minutes. Just as he would get settled in and OK with a new stranger, we would have to get up and go to another one. All in all though, he was pretty good for them. Well, in every area they tested they want him to come back for a full eval, which we have scheduled for in September. Now we hurry up and wait.

He AMAZES me!!

Last night I was playing around with the kiddos in the toy room. Michael was playing with his matchbox cars in his usual fashion by lining them all up perfectly. This time, however, he had the school bus on the toddler table and brought over his city bus. He started driving the city bus head on into the school bus and yelled "STOOOOOP!" Then he backed up the city bus and drove it around toward the back of the school bus and said "I'm sorry school bus, I didn't mean to scare you!" I was totally AMAZED!! I was hoping he'd do it again so I could get it on video but he didn't. After that he proceeded to line up his cars in perfect fashion like he normally does. He has never played with his cars like this EVER! He sure made a mama proud last night!