Is a rushed day at work and I take off at half day.
We drive to Indianapolis- go non-stop.
I want to stop at Mc Donalds.
However DH insist that we should have a proper meal . So we get McNuggets at a drive thru for R for dinner . He LOVES them.
We have a really nice dinner as the hotel has a nice restaurant in the lobby.
We bring a laptop with a computer game with Big Bird on it and we have a lovely time.
Really we go everywhere with R - we just make sure to make it enjoyable for him
It turns out that they have a nice warm water pool and so we make a quick trip to Target so DH and R can get swimming trunks for the next day! while I am at the conference.
We are very tired so it takes me ages to get us ready to sleep
Friday
Is the conference which I wrote about in my previous post!
DH and R swim in the morning and then go to Children museum
While I know this is junk food - its such a relief to have something that R will eat outside and eat happily. He sometimes turns the container upside down to make sure that its all gone.. This really really makes my heart sing as he is a very fussy eater and its a constant source of stress for me when we travel )
Because of this junk he says "Chukun" ( chicken ) so well
I have not been watching what I eat as carefully as I need to and I will have to do the walk of shame at the LA weightless center next week
It takes us REALLY long to get back home and R is sooo thrilled when we are back home
( and so am I ).
I love my home
Saturday
Is a glorious sunny perfect Fall day!
DH chops and I cook in the morning ( but lazily ) .
Its amazing to me how many beans we use
Since trying to read about nutrition - beans are really the perfect food - So I puree chili beans into a tomatillo soup , make a bean salad with chopped peppers red onions and black beans and chick peas and also make a kidney bean soup ( Rajma ).
I make chicken curries and potato dishes for DH - for I am bean-mad and he is meat-mad
We go to the Expo center which turns out to have an entrance fee.
We see people turning away with outraged expressions "Walmart does not charge you money to shop" an old lady is saying - puffing away at her smoke self righteously.
She is right but we go in anyway!
Inside is an ALARMING display of poor taste - wall hangings displaying impossibly bosomy women, paintings that are lit from inside, pictures of benign deers and religious devotion in every art form you could imagine- like lamp shades etc.
There is especially an abundance of gaudy jewelery - the kind you see in gangster movies
All this is very funny and we enjoy ourselves tremendously .
I buy a camera for my mum .
R runs hither tither like a crazy bug - its too stimulating a place - we literally have to take turns- one looks at things the other looks at R.
I don't know how single mums and single dads do it!
Back home I lose my temper at R as he does not want to go on the stroller for a walk with me.
He wants to do the wii Fit .
I say to him First Stroller then Wii Fit .
But he he keeps saying Wii FIt
I yell - No Wii FIT if no stroller
He is my son and has a lot of Self respect - so he climbs on his high horse and goes away to the computer
I go away and spend some time on my computer
Later on I go back and apologize to him.I tell him that I try to be a good mum but sometimes it does not work out.Mollified, he backs into me and then hugs me tight.
Sunday
Promised to be a glorious sunny day but dawns greyglumgloomy
I loll around a bit with R and then also stim on the computer - Facebooking and blogging
Then in the afternoon we go to Miss Heidi's - she is just adorable - 5 kids and skinny as a rail and looks about 16
They are trying out some new moves .. where he has to move to the music - its really VERY hard for him and its more evidence of the global apraxia that plagues him
But I am soooo proud of the way he goes on a really high balance beam - bending down to press the horns and then rising up again .
Since he has gravitational insecurity and a mild bit of vertigo - its really an act of courage.
We come back home and it starts to rain in the afternoon - DH and I plan to loll around in front of the TV
But R has different plans.He comes down and tries to shape my hands.I cannot quite make out what he is trying to say
So I open word on my laptop and type in "BUTTERFLY?"
He writes FISH
As I start moving my hands like a fish
He then quickly he types JUMP
While its raining, we go out to jump and jump on the trampoline like mad crickets and then he wants to swing.
The rain is very wet and now its somewhat chilly so I bribe him with the Wii Fit after swinging 200 times
Once inside I change his wet shirt with a shirt of DH that has somehow missed completing the cycle of the laundry .( ie it was washed and folded but somehow missed being put in the closet - every time I see it I remember that I must put it away but I keep forgetting ) He is sooo adorable in this giant shirt
And we do Wii Fit - I make him say everything - he is getting so good - he almost says "Soccer Heading" clear as bell !( it does not have any of the sounds he cannot make - even the "Ruh" is silent !)
Monday
In the evening I quickly make R's dinner-
I make the batter for R's Gluten Free cookies and then ask DH to come and drop them with a spoon on the oven tray.
DH is very dextrous and his I know will come out better than mine . He instead finds and alphabet cookie cutter and patiently spends ages makes ABCD shapes for the cookies - really he is such a good daddy !
Hopefully R will notice1
Its interesting that parents usually are trying to teach their kids the alphabet by shaping treats into them
We try to get R to eat stuff by turning treats into academic thing.
Such is the topsy turvy world of Autism parenting
As the evening is whizzing past I tell him he must choose between WiiFit and Computer - this is a hard one for him and he spends ages deliberating.Finally he chooses Wii FIt - he finishes it one game early -hoping to get some computer in . But I am firm - he does a little fake cry-to negotiate - But I am too smart for it ( bitter experience has taught me to be careful - if you give in once this will quickly mean that you will give in always and the power of the visual written schedule will be gone )
I tell him C's mum said he looked cute - he looks startled at this -I can see the wheels turning in his head( where did she see me .. what was I wearing ?) . I tell him in the bus and he looks reassured
Tuesday
VERY busy time at work and the evening passed by maddeningly quickly
Its a dreary rainy evening and DH's golf is also canceled which sucks. We cannot play outside and I am getting really frustrated with the way my time with my baby passes by so fast. It seems like whatever free time I have with him - I am fighting with the screens or doing logistics .
Further I want him to be able to have some time to do just what he wants as he works sooo hard. Which is why playing outside is perfect - he loves it - I get time with him - AND its good for him
But the rain is killing my fun ...
Go away - horrible sucky rain .. you are ruining my life
Waaaah waaah waaaaaah
5 comments:
My boys sat in that very same race car at the Indy Children's Museum(at the end of August). You can see the same picture that you have of R in my Facebook album.
Meg
Don't feel bad. Those nuggets are made with all white meat now. I remember years ago the meat was very questionable and you were never quite sure what you were biting into, lol.
So nice that your hubby makes those alphabet cookies for R!
I hope the rain leaves and you have wonderful weather soon!
I am wondering how the piano lessons are going...
Sounds like a busy time at the conference but looks like you all had a good time. What is the magnetic attraction to McDonalds? My son still picks that as his restaurant of choice. So how do you like the Wii Fit? is it worth the money and is it a good workout. I really need to get moving.
I love the way R communicates and I love the way you and DH go out of your way to help enjoy and learn from his surroundings.
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