WW: Sea World

He figured it out

Jackson has a bit of OCD.  Everyone is always joking that my house must be spotless because he is such a little neat freak.  I try to use this to my advantage.  For instance, if I am already sitting in  the floor with a new diaper/clothes for him and he refuses to come get his diaper changed, I have figured out that instead of getting up and chasing him around the house, all I have to do is throw his (clean) diaper on the floor near him.  He will pick it up and bring it to me and when he gets near enough all I have to do it grab him!

I'm also trying to get Jackson to respond to more commands.  I have to physically take his hands and walk him through whatever I am trying to teach him, and once it is taught it must ALWAYS be that way (in his mind). So even if he doesn't want to do it, he will if I make a mess of it.  For instance, I taught him to take his leftover bread crusts/ pancake scraps to the dog's bowl. Some days he decides he doesn't want to do it, so I just throw the scraps on the kitchen floor because I know his OCD will win out and he will go pick them up and put them back where they belong.

Last night after dinner I was cleaning. Jason and Jackson were in the kitchen with me, so I tried to give Jackson his banana peel and told him to put it in the trash.  He just ignored me, so I threw the banana peel on the floor and Jackson immediately scooped it up and took it to the trash.  After a few minutes we had this conversation....

Jason: "Huh. You use that same tactic on me, don't you?"
Me (hiding my face a little bit):  "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Jason: "Yeah right.  You just don't bother to dust or vacuum because you know I can't stand to look at it and eventually I'll do those things for you."

BUSTED!

Easter Egg Hunt!

Last week Jackson's preschool had a Easter egg hunt at a local park.  Jackson had so much fun!! He played for hours, got lots of eggs, and flirted with his teachers :)

WW: 22 weeks

These are from about 2 weeks ago.  I think I've "popped" a little more since then! Oh...and yes those are Jackson's hand prints all over the bottom of my mirror!

Jackson's letter obsession

Last summer I did a Tot School unit on Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  Since then, Jackson has been obsessed with letters.  He loved the story (so much so that we have worn through 3 copies of it, I have the entire thing memorized, and I eventually had to buy a CD of it because I was so sick of reading it 20 times a day!) and he loves letters.

From there, we made him a poster of his ABCs and have bought him more ABC puzzles, books, etc. This all later extended to numbers too.  He points out numbers and letters in the most random places.  I have lots of tee shirts that say "Auburn" or "Navy" and when I'm wearing them he comes up to me and points to all of the letters. In parking lots, he will go up to other people's cars to point to the letters & numbers on their license plates. In dressing rooms, he becomes obsessed with the number tags that hang on the door. Etc, etc. 

And yet I was still completely shocked the day we sat down at his easel and he just started to spell his name! I know he has seen it everywhere of course, but I had no idea he could spell it. Especially without much prompting.  The first time he did it, my MIL and I just watched in complete amazement and kept saying, "I didn't know he could do that!" haha.  This might all seem like overkill, but you have to remember that he can't talk and he can't write yet.  So sometimes when he finds a way to show us that he knows something, it seems to come out of no where. 

Here's a short (30 second) video of it. Feel free to watch it on mute, I know I sound ridiculous at the end :)

Oh yeah...Did I mention...?

We are having a GIRL!! 

I know many of you saw that on facebook, but we are so excited!! Her name will be Jillian Claire and she is due August 9th.

I have a list a mile long of things that I want to make her (a tutu dress, some pillowcase dresses, some wall hangings, etc) and people have already given us so many cute outfits for her. I almost cried when we got her first dress! Can you tell I'm excited about dresses? and pink things? You should see her room already!!

How far along? 21 weeks 5 days
Total weight gain/loss: maybe 5 pounds? 
Sleep: I sleep pretty well if I don't nap during the day. 
Food cravings: I'm having less cravings and more food aversions. It sucks!
Best moment this week: We were home visiting family this week so we had lots of good moments!
Movement:  She is moving A TON but I want her to start kicking so Jason & Jackson can feel her!
Gender: girl!
Stretchies: no new ones yet.
Belly Button in or out? still in, for now.
What I miss: Medium rare steaks, queso & margaritas
What I am looking forward to: getting the nursery ready
Symptoms: lots of headaches, food aversions
Milestones: Finding out the sex, being past the halfway point :)

Never Give Up (Autism Awareness)

Tomorrow is World Autism Awareness Day, so I figured, what better time to start blogging again?

I was thinking the other day of the story of David and Goliath.  You probably all know the story: one little boy, 5 stones, and a giant.  Though it seemed impossible, the giant was defeated for the glory of God.

In our house, Autism is the Giant we face each and every day.  We take our meager "weapons" - our love, therapies, and as much patience as we can muster- and we ask God to bless us in our battles.  We ask Him to lead the way, to help us find therapists and educators that can truly connect with Jackson and help him to learn, and we ask Him to heal our son.

If I have learned anything from this battle so far, it is to never give up.  God is continuously working, even when we can't see it.  Even when the information doesn't seem to be sinking in, it is. Even when we feel like what we are doing is pointless, we keep trying.

For about 8 months, we worked with Jackson on signing.  He worked on it at school, in therapy, and at home but he only knew 2 signs- more and please.  The rest just did not seem to sink in.  Then, just a few weeks ago, my grandmother was in town and she was feeding him some peanut butter crackers. I don't know if a light bulb just turned on in his little head or if he was just trying to show off for her, but out of no where he started signing "cracker." Then a few minutes later (after seeing how much praise he was getting), he signed "banana" and "dog."  It has been maybe 6 weeks since then and he knows about 30 signs now, and he's learning more and more every day.  He is even making up little signs for things he likes, like a signal for us to tickle him and one for us to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider."  Since he still isn't speaking, this is a HUGE blessing for us.  

I've learned to appreciate the small things. When we were spending day after day listening to teachers, therapists, etc. describe his deficiencies (during his evaluations), it was heartbreaking and devastating. It made us wonder if he would ever catch up.  But now we know that every new sign is a victory and every new skill is a small miracle. And trust me, we treat them that way.

Jackson has improved so much over the last year.  I have plenty more to share with you, but I will spread it out over a few days.  I'm finally back!