Hi, My Name is Emily

At the park the other day, a girl the same age as Conlan came up to him. She introduced herself and asked his name. I don't think he even noticed her as he continued spinning rocks and babbled, possibly in response to her query.  Not receiving a response, she continued on her way a little perplexed that he didn't want to play with her. Talking with her mom later, I found out they are both in first grade at the same elementary. I'm surprised Emily didn't already recognize him. Supposedly Conlan's class does interact with the neurotypical kids his age on a regular basis. Maybe we should push for more integration.

Lights and action

Last night we made the trip to go see the Christmas lights at the temple.  The drive was an hour long because of traffic and only one missed turn. Gavin fell asleep not long after we left, but Conlan fought sleep the whole way there. He loves car rides.  We thought that he would fall asleep, especially after eating his cheeseburger.  But he didn’t eat much of the cheeseburger. A few months ago, he finally started eating cheeseburgers; until then it was usually only chicken nuggets that he would eat from the fast food joints. He was definitely hungry – I hope he’s not feeling depressed.  Anyway, back to the drive. Conlan has always loved car rides. Not the car ride itself necessarily, but sitting in his car seat. We noticed this a while ago, and have often put him in his car seat (either still in the car or in the living room) to calm him down.  It has prevented or disrupted many a meltdown.  He’s kind-of like our Pookie that liked enclosed, tight spaces.  Conlan often hides behind us on the couch or under a pillow.  He likes when I lay on him – I’m careful not to put my whole weight on him, though.

Anyway, we made it to the temple grounds. Elders were directing the traffic to available parking spots. We put the kids in the double stroller and were on our way.  We walked around, took some pictures. Most of the time, Conlan was on my shoulders making it difficult to get a picture that wasn’t blurry.  He jabbered quite a bit while we were there. We try to make it a point every Christmas season to let him see a lot of Christmas lights. They seem to mesmerize him, just as lights outside the car when we are driving in the dark. After a while, he decided to take off his hoodie.  We had brought him a coat, but he wouldn’t keep that on and we had to settle for the hoodie. We had seen everything and had been there about a half hour, so we decided it was time to go, since he wouldn’t keep his jacket on.

Back in their seats, we headed home.  This time Conlan fell asleep and it took only about 40 minutes to drive the 25-ish miles home.  Once home, Conlan woke up but climbed in bed and fell asleep. He went to bed without melatonin!  I hope he had a good night’s rest.

 

 

So anyway, that was the ‘lights’ portion of the post.  The action part involves his latest behavior. He doesn’t like wearing clothes. Definitely not at Church.  We’ve tried getting him clothes that don’t bother or irritate him. That has helped, but it’s so difficult to find clothes warm enough that he’ll wear, and with a decent price tag. Every time he does strip, I take a step back and consider whether or not I am reinforcing the behavior. It’s been helpful to get out of myself and my emotions whenever he acts out.

We are very grateful for all the progress he has recently shown.  He has really started helping Hilary in many ways. A while ago, I posted how he was helping me with pancakes. He continues to help with pancakes, whether Hilary is ready for the extra batter on the pan or not. He’s also been real good for us when he needs a diaper change. Sometimes he does take off the diaper himself.  That is sometimes a good thing, except when it’s a messy one and he smears the waste on the wall, blankets, clothes, bed, etc. He has been doing real well and learning a lot. Much of his progress, we contribute to full-day attendance at school.  His teacher and aides are great and very patient.

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!

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.

School

Well it was Conlan's first week of Kindergarten. Dropping him off and picking him up has been very frustrating for Hilary. It is such a big school, there isn't any economical way to get all the students to and from school. It will be so nice when his bus starts picking him up.

Today (Monday 10 Sep), the bus picked him up.  He and Gavin were so excited to see the bus.  Conlan had the biggest grin on his face when he got home, and of course, he had taken off his shoes on the bus.