Easter Morning

The Easter Bunny found us in Grand Isle.  He left a trail of eggs from one end of the hall to the other.  My kids have been dealing me some pretty early mornings lately.  Easter morn Emma woke up to eat around 5:00 AM, and since our family bunked together, Noah woke up just as Emma was getting back down.  Daddy was able to keep him quiet until about 6:30 AM.  I then decided to let Emma and Daddy sleep, and Noah and I headed to the front to check out the Easter loot.

Noah coming down the hall.  Check the trophy and army men are still in hand. 

The Easter loot

I'm not really sure if we reminded Noah or not about the Easter bunny coming, but he sure was excited to see all his treats.  Inside the Lorax lunch box was a leap frog alphabet toy, and reinforcements were called when Noah requested assembly of his Trio Shark Boat. 

Emma loved her surprises too.  An IPhone like Momma and a Snow White baby doll.

Happy Easter!

From our two little beach bunnies!

Noah's Got Talent

We are spending Easter in Grand Isle with family. Tonight was the customary GI talent show followed by awards coined the "Grand Isle Grammys" by Uncle D.  Noah was paired with Blake for the talent show. Blake has gotten really good at playing guitar, so he asked me what song Noah knew. I suggested "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley. Blake googled it and in a couple hours was ready to perform.

Noah was super pumped for the talent show. Excited hands and feet were in full force. I bribed him with a piece of gum to sit next to Blake and perform.  He did awesome. He sang most of the words somewhat clearly and only changed songs once.  And, when the performance was finished everyone burst into applause. I so loved his face when everyone started cheering for him. It. Was. Awesome. I was so busy watching his reaction that I didn't snap a picture, but here's a freeze frame of the iPhone video. No scripting or acting just real and true emotion. My heart is so full.

 

 

Thanks Blake for being such an awesome big cousin. I love being surrounded by people who without question love and accept our sweet boy for exactly who he is and who most importantly are some of his biggest cheerleaders. He and Blake won the talent show, and Uncle D awarded him with a gold statue and a box of sixteen parachute men. He fell asleep tonight holding both in his hands.

Egg Hunter Extraordinaire

The week leading up to Easter holiday, Noah's social skills class did lots of Easter egg hunt practicing.  Notes home from school stated Noah was a "egg hunter pro!"  We had a few hunts with some friends, and Noah had a blast.

Hunt #1 with our neighborhood playgroup

Sampling the spoils

Hunt #2 Our backyard with friends

Finding some shade to "hatch" the eggs.

Emma is ready for some egg hunt action.

Hunt #3 The real deal - school Easter party 

Check out all the eggs in his basket. Yay Noah!

  Noah went up to a friend, "Hey, look at all my eggs."

What He Says - A Beautiful Mind

Can I just tell you how much I love this article. My little guy's mind is such an amazing thing, and I honestly see so much for him in the future.

- The Upside of Autism For too long, we've assumed that there is a single template for human nature, which is why we diagnose most deviations as disorders. But the reality is that there are many different kinds of minds. And that's a very good thing.

Noah fingering the necklace I was wearing. "what is this?" he asks. "What is it?" I respond. "A cross," he says. "Who lives on the cross?" I ask. "Jesus," he says (pause) "It looks like a 't.'" Yes it does, sweet boy.
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Noah's been into watching Fraggle Rock. A few mornings ago Noah grabbed Emma and said, "look Mom, I caught a Fraggle."
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He reaches out to touch my face while I'm next to him in bed, "Mom, you have cold on your cheeks."
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Letters are his thing. Tonight he was playing Dr. Seuss's Super Stretchy Alphabet game. After he put each lettered chip on a square, he would go through this huge dissertation that went something like, "oh yes. This is my favorite letter. Do you know what letter it could be? The letter S. The S makes the sss sound. Can you name a clothes that starts with the letter S? Socks. Yes you're right. Socks. S is for silly socks." Seriously, every letter went something like this. T was "can you name a vehicle? Train. A tired train."
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Tonight I was bathing both kids in my bathtub.  I was promoting Noah to give me opposites, and I said, "Emma is little, and Noah is..."  His response, "Medium."  "And, what about Momma?" I ask.  "Big."  He replies.  "And, Daddy?"  "Daddy is more bigger," he says.  I continue on asking about Grammy and PaPa and finally the boys and girls.  He informs me that the boys and girls are medium like Noah.  "But not Blake," he says. "Blake is big."  There you have it B, according to Noah, you are officially an adult.

April is Autism Awareness Month

Noah (18 months) and Mrs. Silvia, February 2009

April is autism awareness month. The Internet and news media is buzzing about the latest CDC numbers concerning autism. 1 in 88 kids and 1 in 54 boys. According to the CDC, that's a 78% increase in incidence since 2008. Wow!

I don't usually get into the politics of autism too much. My concern is my son. What are we doing for him? How is he progressing? What's our current challenge? I know that autism is a spectrum and in those regards, we have it pretty good. Noah is verbal and smart. Happy. Loving. He's funny. He's in a good school, and our family can afford to be choosy about the care he receives whether insurance covers it or not. We are so blessed in many ways.

I found this article on the Internet this week.

- Could My Child Have Autism?' Ten Signs of Possible Autism-Related Delays in 6 To 12-Month-Old Children  "If parents suspect something is wrong with their child's development, or that their child is losing skills, they should talk to their pediatrician or another developmental expert," says Dr. Landa. "Don't adopt a 'wait and see' perspective. We want to identify delays early in development so that intervention can begin when children's brains are more malleable and still developing their circuitry."

This is what I think is so important. Early intervention. What would we have done without it? Dr. Meyers, Noah's pediatrician in Miami who suggested a speech evaluation at age 15 months.

Sweet Ms. Silvia, Noah's very first speech therapist at 18 months, who with a unique style of play therapy quickly coaxed words like "go" and "meow" out of my babbling little ones mouth. With such optimism, she taught me what I needed to know about autism and how to be a better mother to Noah. She is the litmus for every other therapist he's had.

Mrs. Veronica, Noah's very first occupational therapist at 18 months who was able to get his attention through play. She taught me all about floor time and the natural approach for engaging my child, and she led us to Mer.

Ms. Mer, Noah's OT for over two years, who gets Noah better than anyone and who has been and continues to be a constant supporter and cheerleader for him. We have a standing offer for her to move in with us.

A friend of mine forwarded this email to me today, so if you're reading this and want to do something for autism this month. Say a prayer for Noah, my family and all the kids and families affected by it. Love, Sarah

Dear Lord,
I come to you today on behalf of all the parents of children with autism. I thank you that you understand all that the families are dealing with. Today, I thank you for your word that says the parents of children with autism can do everything God asks them to with the help of Christ who gives them the strength and power. I pray that you would fill all of these parents with your strength and power. I pray that the strength and power you have for them would drive all weariness, weakness and negativity from our bodies, souls and our spirits. I ask that you would continuously remind the parents of your word and your promises. And I ask that you would guard their hearts from being bitter or negative. I pray that you would minister to all the parents with your healing, encouragement, hope and wisdom. I also ask that you would protect and nurture all marriages of the parents. We know that the divorce rate is very high in the autism community. I ask that you would strengthen these marriages with your strength and power to overcome in very difficult circumstances.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

I'm Still Standing

So the squat has naturally turned into a full on stand.  I am happy to report that as of today no walking has begun just yet, but she sure is standing tall!  Here are some shots of Em in action.

Oh look... it's one of brothers toys with small pieces.  Let me hurry up and play with it before Momma sees me. 

Down.

And up.

And down.

And up.