ABA Workshop

We signed up for an ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Workshop for parents.  Hilary didn't feel like going, so I gladly went.  The local school district hosted and presented it. The teacher was one of the district's specialists that works with the students in the district. When I got to the address, I went inside the building and followed everyone else and sat down.  The presentation started and I quickly deduced I was in the wrong room - I didn't need to know about superintendents and stuff about the district board!  So I left, and followed another group of people, this group was also in the wrong room looking for the ABA workshop.  Before leaving, though, I was sure to grab some cocoa and cookies!  We went up a couple floors and found the right room. The instructors introduced themselves and started talking about meltdowns and ABA. Wahoo! I was in the right place, and I had my cookies too. :)

facial hair and school

In honor of Movember, I've been growing out my facial hair. Conlan has absolutely loved it. He likes to run his hands, arms, and face along my beard. He just laughs and giggles and squeals. He is definitely very tactile. So if I start to look like a bum, know it's for a couple good causes.

Yesterday, in Conlan's daily report we got a notice that his day was a very tough one. Not only did he bite some of the aides, but he also pulled the fire alarm. I've always wondered what would happen if I pulled the alarm. I can only imagine what must have been going through his mind. Here's for hoping that tomorrow will be better!

Doorbells

From downstairs, we were having trouble hearing the doorbell. So at Lowe's we purchased a doorbell extender. It cost almost $30, a lot more than what I remember my parents paying for such a device a few years ago (okay, it was about 15 years ago, so with inflation...). Anyway, I installed it yesterday and almost immediately knew I'd have to adjust the sensitivity or maybe turn it off altogether. After setting it up and testing it, I went back downstairs on my merry way. Then Conlan, playing on the main floor got excited about his show. When he's either silly tired or super excited, he likes to scream. You guessed it, his screaming set off the doorbell downstairs. I wonder if Hilary's tired of it yet or not.

Parent teacher conference

Conlan had fall break this week. With the hurricane last week and fall break this week, that's two weeks in a row that he hasn't had school on Monday and Tuesday. As part of fall break, his school held parent teach conferences on Monday, and we met with his teacher that morning. I was amazed at how quickly his teacher and the aides have gotten to know Conlan. They know he likes to play with the water. They know he likes hugs and is touchy, very affectionate.  He doesn't like wearing shoes or socks.  He's a picky eater.  He's sneaky: when he thinks you're not watching he'll make his escape or start playing with water.  He's very aware of when he can get away with things.  They put up a gate so he couldn't go out the door - he's a very fast runner (another characteristic inherited from his dad ;) ).  One time he went to leave, saw the gate after opening the door, and gave up even though he often climbs the gate.  He just didn't feel like expending the extra energy to scale up and over the gate.

Halloween, dog food, and pancakes

I realize those three items in the title don’t normally go together, but with Conlan who knows!

This last weekend I made pancakes for the family.  Conlan was famished and really wanted his pancakes.  So he tried to help dad with the pancakes to somehow speed up the process.  The first pancake was almost ready to flip over. He must have wanted a bigger pancake, for he grabbed the cup, filled it with batter and proceeded to pour it onto the the half-cooked pancake already in the pan.  Of course some of it dribbled onto the counter on its way to the pan.  I had turned around or been working on something else and didn’t catch him.  The first-pancake-of-the-batch-never-turns-out-right” rule definitely applied here.  He still ate it for leftovers the next day though.  On my guard and ready this time, I helped him pour the next pancake. For this, my ears received screams of glee.  He loves pouring just about anything, not just water, and pancake batter is no exception.  He got real good at it and didn’t need much help by the time the batter ran out, though I did catch him a few times trying to add extra batter to pancakes that were still cooking.  Sure it was a little messier letting him pour the batter, but the pancakes still tasted the same and cleanup didn’t take that much longer.  Ever since he was about 1 year old, he has always loved eating pancakes, waffles, french toast and the like.  If you can put syrup on it, he’ll eat it (or just plain syrup too).