Dylan has been a little off kilter lately. We've had a much too busy month full of appointments, therapy sessions, and doctor visits, and quite honestly, if I'M burned out and I'm awesome Kelli, I know my little trooper has been a little over scheduled himself.
Before he can start his pre-k classes, he had to finish up his last round of evaluations, so we've been stretched pretty thin. Thankfully, we knocked them all out now, and we're re cooperating from the March/April busy season.
That being said, he's been a little more sensitive and a lot more "autistic" this past week. He's been more interested in repetitive behavior than imaginative play and more withdrawn than usual. I made a conscious effort to get Lylli to bed on time so Dylan could have some easy going mommy and daddy time.
We sat on the couch and read about Cookie Monster and his numbers, and Dylan deftly showed me all the numbers, out of order (which I LOVE so I know he really recognized the numbers and hasn't just memorized the order,) and we were having a good time! He turned the page and pointed out "seven," then turned back and said "six!" He then took the book and turned it upside down and I internally cringed because he had been doing so well and I just KNEW that he was going to start spinning his book instead of reading it. Resigned not to make a big deal out of it, I kissed his hair and then he shoved the upside down six in my face and said, "a nine!"
Ha!
Freaking brilliant.
Jared and I high fived and would have chest bumped if we weren't sure our old bones would have broken from the effort of getting off of the couch.
His brain is so beautiful - I am trying to get video of him playing piano and humming back the notes in perfect pitch, stay tuned! (get it..tuned!? I'm so fun!)
Happy Saturday!
-Kel
4.10.2010
4.08.2010
And He's Also The Funniest Guy Ever. EVER!!
#5. How Does Your Husband Cope With Everything?
He doesn't.
He excels. ( You see what I did there? I tricked you into thinking he doesn't do well when in fact he DOES do well. Strategic spacing strikes again!!)
Jared, is amazing. Not in the cliché sense, either. I mean that in the most sincere, genuine way; he is awe-inspiring. Some mornings when he's wearing his jammy pants and a clean white t-shirt making me coffee, I could literally faint. I go all lightheaded just looking at him and the way he moves. I don't think I understood the word "palpable" until I fell in love with him. I get dizzy when he kisses the kids goodnight. I still feel those elusive butterflies when he leans in for a snuggle. I still stop breathing for a split second when I hear music that reminds me of him.
As for the children, they completely adore him.
He has a way with Dylan that I can't duplicate when it comes to getting him to stop his repetitive behavior (spinning, flapping his hands, what have you.) which I'm always impressed with. I don't have the touch! He usually simply asks Dylan to stop or removes him from the situation and Dylan is totally chill with that. He taught Dylan how to five and cried with me when he said his first "I wub boo!!!" He had an intense bond with our Dylan from the moment he held him. It was, once again, palpable. I watched Jared turn into father as soon as their skin touched each others' -it was magic.
Lylli has him wrapped all around her adorable fingers, but he tries his best to seem like he's in control. He tells her she's terrible and she smiles at him to let him know who's in charge, and he smiles back, powerless to her daughter charms. He's a grown man weakened by a teeny tiny princess, and it's just SO FREAKING precious.
So, as far as him coping, he makes it look like he's not being made to "cope" with anything. He's Nike about the whole thing - he just does it, with style, might I add :)
We get stressed, totally. We worry about Dylan starting school and Lylli rounding up boys and everything in between, but Jared handles it with the strength and wisdom of someone well beyond his years.
He's truly a remarkable young man.
I should also mention that two Saturdays a month he goes and shoots airsoft guns with his friends in the woods, or something. The details are fuzzy and sometimes people lose teeth. So...maybe he's not that good at this parenting thing and he's just been shot in the head with pellets too many times to put up much of a protest about giving them horsey rides?
::shrug:: Either way, he's really good at Daddy-ing. <3
-Kel
He doesn't.
He excels. ( You see what I did there? I tricked you into thinking he doesn't do well when in fact he DOES do well. Strategic spacing strikes again!!)
Jared, is amazing. Not in the cliché sense, either. I mean that in the most sincere, genuine way; he is awe-inspiring. Some mornings when he's wearing his jammy pants and a clean white t-shirt making me coffee, I could literally faint. I go all lightheaded just looking at him and the way he moves. I don't think I understood the word "palpable" until I fell in love with him. I get dizzy when he kisses the kids goodnight. I still feel those elusive butterflies when he leans in for a snuggle. I still stop breathing for a split second when I hear music that reminds me of him.
As for the children, they completely adore him.
He has a way with Dylan that I can't duplicate when it comes to getting him to stop his repetitive behavior (spinning, flapping his hands, what have you.) which I'm always impressed with. I don't have the touch! He usually simply asks Dylan to stop or removes him from the situation and Dylan is totally chill with that. He taught Dylan how to five and cried with me when he said his first "I wub boo!!!" He had an intense bond with our Dylan from the moment he held him. It was, once again, palpable. I watched Jared turn into father as soon as their skin touched each others' -it was magic.
Lylli has him wrapped all around her adorable fingers, but he tries his best to seem like he's in control. He tells her she's terrible and she smiles at him to let him know who's in charge, and he smiles back, powerless to her daughter charms. He's a grown man weakened by a teeny tiny princess, and it's just SO FREAKING precious.
So, as far as him coping, he makes it look like he's not being made to "cope" with anything. He's Nike about the whole thing - he just does it, with style, might I add :)
We get stressed, totally. We worry about Dylan starting school and Lylli rounding up boys and everything in between, but Jared handles it with the strength and wisdom of someone well beyond his years.
He's truly a remarkable young man.
I should also mention that two Saturdays a month he goes and shoots airsoft guns with his friends in the woods, or something. The details are fuzzy and sometimes people lose teeth. So...maybe he's not that good at this parenting thing and he's just been shot in the head with pellets too many times to put up much of a protest about giving them horsey rides?
::shrug:: Either way, he's really good at Daddy-ing. <3
-Kel
4.07.2010
Question #4. What about Lylli?!
Lylli. She is one of the most inspiring people in my life... She's spring time and snowflakes and the middle part of an oatmeal pie that makes you squeal with delight. She's the epitome of a teeny tiny person that's "going on twenty," and I know she's already smarter than me, which makes me extremely jealous. I'm practically wrinkling and graying with envy.
I have nightmares about her turning five and suddenly realizing that I make up some of the answers as I go, and I will turn into a sobbing mess knowing full well that her teen-aged-evil years will start before she hits double digits in which she will think that I, naturally, have no freaking idea what she's going through. I clearly see her sitting in the bathroom painting her nails on the sink just like I did as a kid, thinking that I'm lame, emotional, and most concerning, out of touch and wrong.
Yeeps!
I give her a lot of grief because she's spicier than habaneros and she's feistier than Ricky Martin, but she's also extremely compassionate and overwhelmingly intelligent, and even though those traits are enough to make her excel in life, they both pale in comparison to her twisted and hilarious sense of humor.
She helps me do therapy with Dylan, and rubs his back while I put on his jammies, and knows how to give "knuckles" to people and say "PSH!!!" while you do it!
Without turning into an emotionally unstable cry machine while talking about how I lean on my 18 month old for love, support, encouragement, fun and giggles, I'll just say that I thought my heart was totally full when I had Dylan and I couldn't imagine any more room for another child. When I found out I was pregnant with Lylli, I loved her as soon as the line turned blue. I needed her before the pang of nausea. I don't know what I ever did without her to balance my life - she's teaching me how to be fearless!
I need to focus more on my Lyls in this blog, because though we can learn a lot from Dylan handling his autism, we can learn just as much from Lylli, who doesn't give one hoot that her brother has a "disorder." He's simply "Boy!" to her :)
Lylli - I hope one day you read this and are horribly embarrassed and type me some acidic response with you beautiful long fingers (with dark polish, no doubt) and know that even though I'm out of touch and my music is whack, that I love you to itty bitty sparkly peicedsand you realize that I'm a pretty good mom.
-Kel
I have nightmares about her turning five and suddenly realizing that I make up some of the answers as I go, and I will turn into a sobbing mess knowing full well that her teen-aged-evil years will start before she hits double digits in which she will think that I, naturally, have no freaking idea what she's going through. I clearly see her sitting in the bathroom painting her nails on the sink just like I did as a kid, thinking that I'm lame, emotional, and most concerning, out of touch and wrong.
Yeeps!
I give her a lot of grief because she's spicier than habaneros and she's feistier than Ricky Martin, but she's also extremely compassionate and overwhelmingly intelligent, and even though those traits are enough to make her excel in life, they both pale in comparison to her twisted and hilarious sense of humor.
She helps me do therapy with Dylan, and rubs his back while I put on his jammies, and knows how to give "knuckles" to people and say "PSH!!!" while you do it!
Without turning into an emotionally unstable cry machine while talking about how I lean on my 18 month old for love, support, encouragement, fun and giggles, I'll just say that I thought my heart was totally full when I had Dylan and I couldn't imagine any more room for another child. When I found out I was pregnant with Lylli, I loved her as soon as the line turned blue. I needed her before the pang of nausea. I don't know what I ever did without her to balance my life - she's teaching me how to be fearless!
I need to focus more on my Lyls in this blog, because though we can learn a lot from Dylan handling his autism, we can learn just as much from Lylli, who doesn't give one hoot that her brother has a "disorder." He's simply "Boy!" to her :)
Lylli - I hope one day you read this and are horribly embarrassed and type me some acidic response with you beautiful long fingers (with dark polish, no doubt) and know that even though I'm out of touch and my music is whack, that I love you to itty bitty sparkly peicedsand you realize that I'm a pretty good mom.
-Kel
4.05.2010
Ausome? Awetistic? It's Awareness Month!
This is the first year that I have celebrated Autism Awareness month as it's the first year that I've known about it - having a new diagnosis in your home will suddenly reveal to you endless charity events, fundraisers, books, websites and in my case, the most brilliant awareness ribbon on the market. Helloooo? A multi-colored ribbon with a jigsaw theme to show the complexity of this puzzling disorder...it's practically the new black!
To show my support I have created an "April is Autism Awareness Month, I wear my ribbon for my son!" email signature for my work correspondence. I interact with members of the Chamber of Commerce as well as leaders in the Florida construction market, people who talk and are respected in our community, and I've had a chance to explain Dylan's differences to people whom I would normally never be able to have that conversation with. We usually talk purchase orders, retention schedules and the upcoming Marketing Monday seminar, and now I get to talk about how beautiful my son is. It's extremely refreshing!
Additionally, I'm rocking my sweet ribbon, which I think I may continue to rock well after April is over, and have invested several dollars at Cafe Press for bumper stickers which proudly proclaim that my son has autism, and that I see the potential.
And lastly, I am blogging my ever loving heart out to spread the world about how I don't care if people understand the disorder, I don't care if they are pro-vaccine or anti-gluten, I just want them to accept Dylan and expect from him the same thing that I do: That he will have a full, satisfying life, filled with hilarious twists and turns, surrounded by friends and family whom he loves. I want him to do what he wants to do with his life and I want him to possibly be a musical genius who makes Jared and I millions of dollars. In short - I expect him to have a beautiful and brilliant life.
So, in our very first celebrated Autism Awareness month, I make these promises to my son:
I vow to never underestimate your ability. You have proven me wrong too many times to count.
I will learn to let go and watch you develop without me holding your hand through every encounter because I am terrified that you are going to be scared or confused or overwhelmed. You're always fine. Unless your not...and then I'll step in! ;)
I will protect you without impeding your progress. Unless you start to date a girl who's too sassy and doesn't like my cooking. Then...I will hardcore protect and impede you from her. She's probably stupid and I'm doing you a favor.
I will never be ashamed or uncomfortable talking about your ASD. You and Lylli are my angels, nothing you are could ever stop be from beaming. Who you are is what makes my heart sing.
When you are older and you can tell me how all of this makes you feel, I will tell the world that story, and I will encourage YOU to tell that story, so that other mothers and fathers and sisters and grandparents will be able to hear your wonderful journey. Maybe you could tell tell everyone at the Grammy's while your thanking your father and I for giving you the gift of music...unless that fishstick lovin' Kanye interjects. Clown shoes.
And I promise to love you unconditionally, but that has nothing to do with any disorder. That's every mothers' promise to a child they would do anything for. You and Lylli are the world to me and your father.
I'm off to go put a defiantly sleepy Dylan Bear to bed, you go off an tell someone how you know a fantastic little monkey who was diagnosed with ASD who totally rocks. Open up some minds for us, 1 in 100 kids will need you to bust some knowledge and throw down some science.
Night!
-Kel
To show my support I have created an "April is Autism Awareness Month, I wear my ribbon for my son!" email signature for my work correspondence. I interact with members of the Chamber of Commerce as well as leaders in the Florida construction market, people who talk and are respected in our community, and I've had a chance to explain Dylan's differences to people whom I would normally never be able to have that conversation with. We usually talk purchase orders, retention schedules and the upcoming Marketing Monday seminar, and now I get to talk about how beautiful my son is. It's extremely refreshing!
Additionally, I'm rocking my sweet ribbon, which I think I may continue to rock well after April is over, and have invested several dollars at Cafe Press for bumper stickers which proudly proclaim that my son has autism, and that I see the potential.
And lastly, I am blogging my ever loving heart out to spread the world about how I don't care if people understand the disorder, I don't care if they are pro-vaccine or anti-gluten, I just want them to accept Dylan and expect from him the same thing that I do: That he will have a full, satisfying life, filled with hilarious twists and turns, surrounded by friends and family whom he loves. I want him to do what he wants to do with his life and I want him to possibly be a musical genius who makes Jared and I millions of dollars. In short - I expect him to have a beautiful and brilliant life.
So, in our very first celebrated Autism Awareness month, I make these promises to my son:
I vow to never underestimate your ability. You have proven me wrong too many times to count.
I will learn to let go and watch you develop without me holding your hand through every encounter because I am terrified that you are going to be scared or confused or overwhelmed. You're always fine. Unless your not...and then I'll step in! ;)
I will protect you without impeding your progress. Unless you start to date a girl who's too sassy and doesn't like my cooking. Then...I will hardcore protect and impede you from her. She's probably stupid and I'm doing you a favor.
I will never be ashamed or uncomfortable talking about your ASD. You and Lylli are my angels, nothing you are could ever stop be from beaming. Who you are is what makes my heart sing.
When you are older and you can tell me how all of this makes you feel, I will tell the world that story, and I will encourage YOU to tell that story, so that other mothers and fathers and sisters and grandparents will be able to hear your wonderful journey. Maybe you could tell tell everyone at the Grammy's while your thanking your father and I for giving you the gift of music...unless that fishstick lovin' Kanye interjects. Clown shoes.
And I promise to love you unconditionally, but that has nothing to do with any disorder. That's every mothers' promise to a child they would do anything for. You and Lylli are the world to me and your father.
I'm off to go put a defiantly sleepy Dylan Bear to bed, you go off an tell someone how you know a fantastic little monkey who was diagnosed with ASD who totally rocks. Open up some minds for us, 1 in 100 kids will need you to bust some knowledge and throw down some science.
Night!
-Kel
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