There is nothing J loves more to eat than chocolate donut holes (munchkins) from Dunkin Donuts.
Here he is with his favorite snack, rocking out to music playing in the Dunkin Donuts we were at:
J-bear runs on Dunkin.
Tag: silly (Page 1 of 2)
Little bear has a new ‘thing’. It”s actually a very good thing that did not become a thing until he saw the strong reaction it got.
J is still recovering from his cold. This means he has occasional coughing fits. When he has one, I generally ask “hey, are you alright?” after he’s done. It used to be that the question would go unanswered but he might look my way or just generally putter around as per the usual, showing me that he was indeed okay. Sometimes I have to use this to distract him from the temptation to try forcing a gag that won’t work. Yeah, that’s another thing for another day.
Yesterday this all happened while he was standing across the room and as the coughing calmed, I asked “are you okay?”. He looked directly at me, a rare occurrence in and of itself, and nodded stiffly then said “yeah”. Clearly. With meaning and intention.
I was stunned.
Now, as I’ve said before, J is not a silent kid. He babbles a lot and is echolalic, meaning repetition is king in his language. His skills in repeating words have exploded in the past months, enough that one must watch what they say around him. The words come out most when he’s in a place he is secure and comfortable, so I hear them all. It’s not often he is asked a question and gives a direct, precise answer though. It is quite, quite rare.
So of course I gushed and teared up and wrote on Facebook about the event.
Now, never ever let non-verbal fool you. Never let it be thought that J doesn’t catch ever nuance of what’s going on in the world around him. Why? Because wouldn’t you know it, now every time I ask if he’s okay he automatically crows “yeah!” in search of that big, happy reaction. There’s snot pouring down his face and he’s hollering that he’s just fine.
We have some learning to do, but it’s going in the right direction so yeah…We’re alright.
Yesterday the public schools graced us with their presence while J was at playgroup.This after a few curt exchanges in the weeks prior. I was barely greeted by them (really, guys?) and they spent maybe 30 minutes in total observing what happened to be a very chaotic group day. Group always has a little bit of chaos to it, that’s what happens when you get that many 2-3 year olds in a room, and yesterday just kind of highlighted that fact.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: His playgroup is about the most awesome I could have ever wished for. The children have all been absolutely amazing and their parents have all been wonderful. I am seriously tempted not to let J turn 3 so we can stay with them forever.
Anyway, that’s where we stand with the schools. I am now awaiting the date for his IEP meeting and am terribly convinced that this meeting will be a huge war. I have sadly no trust in the school’s staff to do what is right by my son after some of the behavior I’ve seen and while I am willing to be flexible in some regards, I refuse to see my child short changed because the schools want something easy or because they want to use a cookie cutter method on a child that simply cannot and will not work for.
We’ll see.
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We have an appointment with the ENT this morning for the results of his sleep study and a discussion about how to proceed in regards to his tonsils. His primary care doctor armed us several weeks ago with a prescription for liquid zofran, which helps curb his ability to vomit, but the gagging is assuredly still there. I am curious to see what the ENT has to say and see if his apnea is neurological or merely one of several physical side effects of having tonsils the size of boulders.
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This is a perfect snapshot of a day in my life with J – we were driving to group yesterday and he was chattering in minion in the back seat as we were turning onto the street that leads to the early intervention center. Amidst his rambling, I started to hear oinking sounds. He’s got the pig noise down pat thanks to Peppa Pig. So, like any good mother, I oinked back.
And he oinked back.
And I oinked back
And this went on all the into the parking lot at the center.
He sure doesn’t talk much but when we do have “conversations”, they’re hilarious.
Oink oink oink.
So a little pic spam to brighten up the day.
Once upon a time there was a baby dragon…
zzzz
Who had the biggest grey eyes I’ve ever seen.
i’m here for your ice cream
Of course then he got an iPad and I stopped being in charge of photos, so you get stuck with this for now 😉
Hopefully these made someone smile.
I hope to be able to write more soon. We shall see! Until then, another huge thank you to all who have donated or spread the word about Team Jacobly for 4 Paws. The response has been warm and encouraging – it means the world to me.
This morning and day feel surreal. They just do. Yesterday, I worked a baseball game and left it as hell unfolded blocks away. Lives were lost and others were unbelievably altered. People survived, but they will never live the life they once did the same way again.
Yet this morning, I woke up, and I approached a Tuesday like so many before it. Today we have occupational therapy in the morning and ABA at home in the afternoon.
J and his peers showed me wonders, this morning. Three little boys, all struggling with different things yet all so deservedly ignorant of what happened in Boston yesterday. Three little boys, all so delighted to be in the presence of one another. For the sake of this entry, I’ll call them H and S, for I would never want their parents to feel their privacy invaded, even if my audience is small.
S is a charming little man, quite dapper in how he handles himself. He seems to be a lot like J in that they both have sweet, silly natures. H is a bundle of energy, exploding onto the scene with an exuberant shriek that I cannot help but to translate as “OH MY GOD YOU GUYS ARE HERE I AM SO HAPPY I CANNOT EVEN CONTAIN IT!”. I swear he just happens to be working in caps lock and, given that I do not have to deal with it for multiple hours a day, I find it hilarious and endearing. The three are close enough in age and skills that they fall in step with one another and work together despite being with individual therapists. They are each others best teachers and best motivators.
Yesterday changed nothing for them. J and S got together working in the back with one another and H joined them later. They filled the entire place with a sense of energy, warmth and excitement. Yes, they are a handful but today there was no therapy better on this earth than the warm, innocent and free laughter of three amazing little boys.
Thank you J, H and S. Thanks for reminding me, and hopefully everyone who saw you all today, what’s really important.
You have not lived until you’ve had a diaper explode and leave its mark all over your living room. We’re not talking bowel fail here, we’re talking all the innards of the diaper decided to be out-ards all over the place. I mean, seriously. It was a Greek tragedy all over the living room that required vaccuuming, carpet steaming and the burning of sage to cleanse the evil spirits that must have once possessed that diaper out of the house.
J didn’t care. He rarely does. As long as life goes apace for him he doesn’t give a care about these random crash and burns. Meanwhile, it’s me losing her marbles over omg another night spent with my best friend the carpet steamer.
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Conversations have been hilarious the past few days because J decided he has to supply your answer, too. Before, conversations went like this:
J: Help.
me: Would you like milk?
J: Milk, please
me: Okay!
and we’d go get milk.
Now?
J: Help
me: Would you like milk?
J: Milk, please. (a pause) Okay!
Me: ….
…. Apparently, whoever he’s talking to at the moment never ever says no. It’s both funny and minorly frustrating. Definitely more the former than the latter.
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Yesterday, we completed his one year evaluation with Early Intervention.
I was SHOCKED that he was delayed in social, cognitive and communication! And if you believe that, I have oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.
He improved markedly if you look outside the numbers. His skills have grown a lot in the past year, which is so promising. It makes me so happy and proud of him to hear that. The numbers look very similar to last year’s but the test asked a lot more this year than it did of him last year due to his age. I understand that. He struggled mightily with the testing as he is not at all a man of quick transitions but we got through it and we never have to do that particular assessment again.
The best part of the whole thing was he saw his whole Early Intervention team – his group leader, his coordinator and his early intervention OT – in one spot for the first time ever. It blew his mind to see his group leader outside of the center! He had fun playing with them all and reminded me how sad I am going to be when our adventures with them are over come June.
I am sure I will have something more deep and profound to write soon. The fun never ends.
Cookie Monster is owned by the Sesame Workshop. No ownership implied here. He’s all their’s.
See that cute blue face? Enemy number 1 in my house this morning.
J-bear has a touch of a cold and therefor has been in a mood anyway, but then Cookie comes on at the end of Sesame Street. Gone is my sweet, mild mannered dancing son and in his place is a face stuffing cereal monster mimicking Cookie.
… If I had not run the vacuum then carpet cleaner an hour earlier I might not have been so NOOOOOOOOOOOO about the entire situation.
At first, I watched in horror. Then I dashed into action to save my (ugly, ugly, UGLY but clean) carpet from the destruction of my Cookie Monster inspired minion. I just happened to have left a cloth diaper nearby or it would have been a tragedy all over my living room floor and hands.
So Cookie? We’re no longer talking. Not until J-bear has the communication skills to understand that while one may think your style of eating is funny, it is not wise to actually mimic said skill. Mama’s sanity can only take so much.
I do not know why in the darkest hours of night I was thinking on this question but I was.
“What goals do you have for your son?”
My son is not even 3 yet, though every day he’s closer to that scary 3rd birthday. My goals are simple: to have us survive his early childhood with our sanity largely intact.
Part of me is sarcastic in saying this, most of me is serious. This is crazy hard work. He challenges me every day in ways you would not expect. As I type this, he stands before me yelling random syllables and sounds. I think he is trying to learn how to modulate his voice as he’s generally prone to whispering when confronted with a loud situation. Meanwhile, the house is quiet but he’s bellowing a story in his own language.
For those interested, his language is a lot like what the Minions in Despicable Me speak, right down to interjections of familiar English words and phrases. Only one out of all his so many therapists and care team has gotten this reference, but thankfully she immediately said “YES”. It made me feel good, strangely enough, that my insanity was shared.
Anyway… Of course I have goals. I have places I want to reach today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, etc. We’re so very early into this journey though so my goals aren’t grand. They’re simple. I want to lay a good foundation for him and then we can look at more structured, specific goals to reach for in the long term beyond giving him all he needs to interact with and enjoy the world in which he lives.
The actual thought that spurred this post was thinking of J-bear in his 20s. What is it I want for him when he becomes an adult?
Frankly, in my exhausted state, my first thought was simply: I want him to be potty trained.
On that note, it’s time to get into what is one of our busiest days of the week.
oh come on, lady
So this is J-bear in December of 2010. He’s a couple weeks shy of 6 months old and yeah. I saw this face lots but man, wasn’t he a squish.
Still feeling down so thought I’d just throw a few pictures of cuteness out there for the world to enjoy.
happy clam!
This one is September 2011. He LOVED those cars! We still have a few of them and he can play quietly with them for what feels like hours.
hat head
And there he is in my 100 year anniversary of Fenway cap. He actually submitted to wear this hat without much fight. It was pretty shocking.
With that, I conclude this fluffy post with more actual meat to follow soon.
there is one jbear of snow outside! better entry coming soon.