Flashback Cafe, Owie Style!

It's Leap Day! I will always, always love this day. Why? Well, 4 years ago, the Bubs walked. He was standing in front of our fish tank and then just walked over to me.

I screamed. He cried.

You get the point.

Then, after calming us both down, I was hellbent on getting this on video. And I did. For once.



Now, he's a running, jumping lunatic and I really do love it. Just not when he's tearing ass through the produce aisle like I don't feed him. But in all seriousness, at this point in time, I was really getting worried. He was 22 months. Every one kept saying, "Don't worry, he will" But, until you see it, how can you not? I remember our Neurologist telling us to give him until he's 2, then we'll discuss further testing. That loomed over my head every day. I was never so happy to report that he was walking and starting to attempt running by 24 months. Now, if he'd just talk.

Now today, 4 years later, I'm fillng out paperwork for him to sign up for the Special Olympics Young Athlete Program. You get a fun kit for him to play with and prepare him for real sports with the program once he turns 8. We'll see, but I'm hoping this is fun for him! You can find the brochure here http://www.sonj.org/iCMS/Files/00271.pdf if you're interested!

Tales of the Fruit Thief

It's been too long. I have no excuses. So, I'm just going to jump back in.

Owen loves fruit. I mean LOVES it. He will eat it anytime, no matter how full, if you offer it, he will eat it. He will also steal it.
Today, the boy and I went to Delicious Orchards. Shop Rite was mobbed so we went to Delicious Orchards so he could help with the shopping. When the store is too crowded I can't have him bag the fruit or talk to him like I try to. So, off we went.

We get in the store, and after touching every package of bread, he saw the Motherland, the produce section.

And they had free samples of oranges.

Flash forward 5 minutes, and I'm dragging the boy away as he's clutching a blood orange like he's never been fed in his life. We make our way around the the cider, he bellies up to the bar, and I think we're on our way.

And there is the grapes section. Red, Green, Purple. He RUNS. Mommy runs.

Score: Owen 1 Mommy 0

So, now the grapes are in my cart, and the three of us are off. Owen, his pet Blood Orange, and Me.
We're in the Veggies, and after eating 2 green beans raw, we were on our way. I apologize now to the kid putting out Asparagus how I almost flung the Blood Orange at you as I wrestled my child, the Rumplestiltskin of Hypotonia to the ground for it. He is the only child with Low Tone that can turn that into cement and become 100 pounds. Seriously.

But, in all seriousness, as hard as today was, we're so lucky.  SO many kids on the Spectrum or ANY kid won't eat what Owen will.  He loves all fruit and a lot of veggies.   He loves to go out and eat.  His favorite restaurant is Chili's for the tortilla chips. 

Oh, in case you are wondering.  I bought the Blood Orange, and he ate it for dessert and carried around his bowl as if I was going to rob the child of his food. 

Shame on Mommy

It has been way too long since I have updated Owen's blog and soo much has past. First off, SUMMER! It has come and gone and we had a very busy one. Owen started at his new school with Ms. Susan. I think he's happy there, he gave me NO complaints EVER getting on the bus, and when I went in for a quick meeting, he was totally fine with me leaving him in the classroom. I think this has to do with the fact that Miss Penny is there with him. Owen adores Penny so as long as Penny is with him for anything new, I think he is just fine. As a parent, it's hard to get used to new people in his life. Everyone seems great, but I still keep thinking about things and want to ask Beth or Voula from Village.

Owen has also started with vocal play! This is the next step after babbling according to Sarah, our private Speech Therapist. He's constantly making sounds, and wanting you to repeat them and we've heard lots of spontaneous words! The only thing that has really STUCK is Bye Bye. It's adorable, appropriate and I can't get enough of it.

His outdoor play skills have improved so much. He is swinging on swings alone, using his body to move and it's so great to see it. We've waited a long, long time for it. Today is Kindergarten Orientation, which is so weird. I can't believe he's starting! But, I'm also so sad that he's starting and still non verbal. I hope things change soon. I know he has a voice.

More to come!

The Tee Shirt Photo

I'm late posting this, but this is this year's tee shirt photo! We take one every year, and will continue to do so until the shirt falls apart or he refuses!

Opening Day for #47

Soccer finally started today. Last week was called due to weather so today was the big day. We've been having Owen practice wearing his shin guards at school and he was doing great, today he was a bit resistant in putting them on. I think he thought he had to go to school and associated the two and had a meltdown. Once that crisis was averted it was off the fields.

He got nervous once at the fields and was crying a bit. He followed us on the field and the proceeded to try and leave the field about 100x before the game started. Once his coach, John called for the team, he assigned all the "buddies" to the kids. Sarah is Owen's buddy so Owen we thought would have the upper advantage, but...

He gave Sarah a run for her money.



I noticed that there was a few extra buddies so I asked his coach if we could get some extra help so he assigned a really sweet girl named Jasmine.


Basically, the whole theory behind Just 4 Kixs at this age is to have them do soccer drills, some kicks and just follow directions. Owen with his age is on the 3-4 year old team. Even though he'll be 5 in a few weeks, I'm happy he's with the younger kids, I think he's more in his element. Owen started to "sort of" follow the group. He was running back and forth when the other kids did, but he refused to follow the more specific directions like "run sideways" or things like that. It was a lot of stuff he could do, just chose not to do.






Then they had an obstacle course, which Owen always loves. He needed some prompting though, which I was sort of surprised about. After that, they broke out the giant soccer balls and had a mock bowling game with the kids and the buddies. Then it was over. 1 hour, felt like 3. I'm hoping next week goes a lot smoother. Today wasn't bad, but it could have been better.

The fog is lifitng....

or at least I think so.

Now, I may change my mind today, next week or next year, but right now--
Something is changing.

His vocal sounds are more clear, more purposeful. His attention is great and he is following 2 step directions like a Superstar. Miss Beth at school reported that this week his attention has been better and he is working so great during his 1:1 sessions. For example, each table has something to call it, such as a picture of a Star is the Star Table. Usually she has to prompt him and give him the card, now she just shows him and he goes to the appropriate section. At home, he will get undressed for his bath, put his clothes in the hamper and put his pullup in the garbage. All with little to No prompting on our part. At his private Speech she was working on animal sounds and yesterday Owen said "Woof" for Dog, "Ba" for Sheep and "Puppy" for Fergus. Yesterday he engaged in a rousing game of "Peek a Boo" with the dog. He would hide, Fergus would watch him like he was God, and then he would pop out smiling at the little furball.

Pretty great.

This morning he ate his morning Banana and I told him "Good Job" and clear as a bell he yelled out "Good Job".

Good Job Indeed, O.

50 degrees = Outdoor Fun

It was beautiful out this weekend so we took Owen up to Turtle Back Zoo for the 1st trip of this year. It was, eventful.

Owen's chelating this weekend, on top of him getting used to Chiro adjustments, and he wasn't in the mood. I think sensory wise, it was a tad much. But, we took lots of bench breaks and we made our way around most of the zoo.

We didn't ride the train, O's been super sensitive to alarms and sirens as of late so we skipped. We went into what they call their new "aquarium".


No further explanation needed, I'm sure.

Overall, the trip was OK. He's done much better previously, it was sort of disheartening. BUT, if you think about Autism as a whole body disorder as it effects the entire body, and what O's currently dealing with, He did pretty awesome.



And here's the peacock that let me get super close to take a snap!



And the bears were super active! This was the best photo we could get:



In other news, we're at the 30 minute mark with potty training at school, and Owen said "dog" and "doggie" tonight appropriately. Always exciting! Owen also has been taking Fergus's toys from him every time Fergus takes one of his toys. He then will hold it up so Fergus can't get it.