Home Graduation Portraits

I convinced Thane that he loves me enough to put his cap and gown back on for some pictures. He tried the judge approach and wasn't wearing anything under the robe! He was trying to figure out if there was a way to peel the diploma open, but his thoughtful looks are just as cute as his smiles.

Thane's Preschool Graduation

Thane graduated from Coastal Kids Preschool this morning. He was cheerful, but overwhelmed. I felt kind of bad for him since he was really excited and proud, but lots of people, lots of noise, lots of flashes going off. He needed support, but he did pretty well considering . . . and he looked cute!

Walking in . . .


Getting nervous, starting to hide behind sleeve.


Needing support from Miss Laurie.


Off with his hat and trying to be calm.


Getting his diploma from Miss Priscilla.


The diploma made him look proud!


And happy!


It's hard to capture in a still image, but he was waving it around and then doing visual stims with his diploma.


Here's the diploma!

Braeden as Milo

Photos of Braeden and friends on stage at The Waldo Theatre in "The Phantom Tollbooth." Braeden played Milo and is below in the red shirt and jeans.

Asperger's

I am trying to upload photos, but satellite internet is not cooperating (for the record, HughesNet is awful). So since I am trying to update my blog a bit, probably the biggest news around here is that Thane's place on the autism spectrum has been refined to Asperger's Syndrome.

It's nice to have a more targeted diagnosis than PDD-NOS, and Asperger's is something we've wondered about for awhile now. When he was 2 years and 8 months, he was moderately speech delayed and that generally rules out an Aspie diagnosis. When re-evaluated at 5 years and 5 months, his language is no longer delayed other than as it relates to social speech. He continues to be very concrete, and will still say, "No, I'm Thaney," if you refer to him by anything other than Thane, Thaney, or if I call him Lovey.

The team suggested that he attend public school. He does require extra support, which generally isn't available in private schools nearby, unless the school is specifically for special needs children. The problem with a special needs school is the lack of typical peers.

One of the reason's I haven't posted here in awhile is that I couldn't think of much positive to say about the thought of transitioning Thane to Kindergarten. I don't think Child Development Services nor the school district prepare parents well (though, in fairness, it is more the job of a case manager, which we don't have because we don't have MaineCare and can't get one without it. This is something I find really stupid because it means I have to accept subsidizing in order to get services, rather than allowing me to pay out of pocket.)

Thane visited the school where Braeden goes and that was a bad fit. I really should have known beforehand that it was a bad idea, but the thought of both children in the same place was so appealing. It was a bad experience for Thane, and one that has left me feeling guilty and questioning whether he was even safe there. Obviously he survived, but I want more for my little guy.

So it looks like as much as I dislike public school and it's factory mentality, our district seems to be offering the right things. He'll have a one-on-one, he'll be allowed to arrive late after the crowds. A one-on-one will meet us out front to walk him in from the car. He'll get speech and occupational therapy. We will keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. It has taken a long time to reach this decision because there are so many pros and cons related to the various schools around here. I just hope we've made the right choice!

Catching Up - 1st the Award

I was given this award by a friend who is also one of Thane's former teachers. She has a son with an autism spectrum disorder as well and I like reading her blog when I am not spending my life in my car. I have found I can read email and check Facebook from my Blackberry, but blogs are harder to do.


In turn, I will pass this award along to my friends . . .

Alicia, Jettison Junk
Ginger, Adventures in Autism
Kimberly, Altering Life by Holding It Still
Michelle, Welcome to O-Ville
Liz, One Silly Mama

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It may sound silly, but I am very proud of Braeden today . . . he went to school today dressed like this. It takes a very fun-loving person to be confident enough to pull this off. He's made me smile a bunch of times today while he isn't even home.

It was cute, he got out of the car at school and put on his stove-pipe hat. There is always a teacher outside at the driveway at school as a greeter. Today it was Sarah, someone who thoroughly enjoys Braeden's humor. She totally lit up when she saw him, so it was fun to see that.

I think he is adorable. He tells me I am not supposed to say that anymore!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Especially from Braeden!

10-10-10

Ten years, 10 months, and 10 days . . . that's how long I have been a mom. It is hard to believe that Braeden will be eleven soon, and that Thane is the same age Braeden was when we told him there was going to going to a baby brother. I really worried about the age difference between them, but they are pretty close and genuinely love each other, and even like each other too.

I think I should have stepped up to the plate and moved away from carpooling to school awhile ago. It is so much better for Braeden, and when things are better for him they are generally better for me as well. He is just so much more relaxed and upbeat. He often sleeps in the car, but he has always been like that. It just seems like there is much less time until he is relaxed and ready to go about the things he needs to do to help out around here.

I laughed this morning because there are some frost heaves from which it really feel like the minivan is going to take flight.

Braeden said, “That was fun! Let’s do it again!”

Thane had a different response yesterday to the same frost heave,“¡Cuidado, Mama! ¡CUIDADO! That means WATCH OUT!” he went on to tell me that he would keep an eye out and yell “¡Cuidado!” when he saw heaves coming. He did it for about 10 minutes, then relaxed and fell asleep in the car. I picked up Braeden, who also went to sleep in the car, and we had a very quiet ride home (where I fell asleep in a recliner!).

More Snow

I am adding two more photos from today. The first one I took off the side of our turnaround thinking it might show the depth of the snow better. The stonewall is the edge of an old foundation. It looks like there is 3 feet of snow there, and it is someplace where I would expect some of the snow to drift from, not to.


This image was taken at Dave's request. After all the plowing, climbing on the roof, etc., he wondered if the tree was telling the sky something. Forgive me for this one, but it is kind of humorous!

Got Snow?

Posing

I just think this is cute. I gave Thane a photo book with family pictures in it. When the book was bound, the last page was left blank. He didn't like that, so he asked Dave to take his picture so he could add it to his photo albook (that's what he calls them).

Manners

School vacation week is drawing to a close . . . and once again I am not really looking forward to the children going back to school. The only bright side is that Braeden likes to do some online gaming and our only high-speed access here in the Styx is Hughes.Net. We have exceeded fair access (they limit downloading to 425MB) twice in the past 10 days and have been watching like hawks since and we teeter pretty close on a regular basis).

I found myself frustrated and making calls again for other options. It seems that Facebook is a very download-intensive website, but it has been positive for Braeden to be able to chat with friends that way. His friends are spread out, and some of the phone calls are long-distance depending on a family’s calling plan. I also see him chatting with friends online that he might not think of calling, so it seems positive so far. He’s needed a few manners checks – like don’t name the friend you’re glad has gone home because someone might tell him what you said!

Manners have been a big topic here this week. I’m starting to wonder if carpooling might be worse than riding the bus – not that a bus is an option in our case. Putting up to 6 boys between 9 and 12 in a tin can for 45 minutes just seems like more than they can tolerate. Friday was a bad one. We also have a situation where one child’s family tends to think the kid’s behavior is worse than it is, while another family feels their beautiful specimen of perfection can do no wrong. The latter child is the one dealing out words like “racist” or “Christians are dumb” or maybe it was “Christians are bad.” So I have been talking to people until I am blue in the face about these things because manners do matter, and powerful words should be understood but rarely, if ever, spoken.

I got Braeden a book on manners which is supposed to be geared toward the 9-12 crowd. In reality, it seems a bit too young for him, but some of the other titles discussed topics like who should bring the condom on a date and that seemed a bit beyond where he is (or where I want him to be!). Amazon had the book on its 4-for-3 promotion and I was so tempted to buy a copy for all the boys in the carpool!

Dressing Funny

Anyone who reads this blog probably realizes that I find Thane rather charming. Last night I decided to change into my nightgown, but decided I was too cold to remove my pants after I made the upper half switch. I figured it was no big deal. I walked into the living room where Thane was playing on his Nintendo DS and he looks at me and says “Something’s not right! You’re wearing pants, but that’s not a shirt!” I had to agree with him.

You know what is really wonderful? He can make a statement like that, laugh about how silly I am, and not let it really rock his world the way it might have in the past. A year ago I bet I would have given in about the pants and grabbed a blanket instead because he would cry and tantrum because what I was doing was “wrong.” Now he is starting to just laugh at my silliness and enjoy the fact that Mama’s goofy.

Facebook Eggs

I have to say that I find myself strangely intrigued by hunting for eggs on Facebook. I think it reduces my online window shopping (and buying) so it can't be that bad, right? I am posting this just to get some extra egg shells, though, which does seem silly, but . . .