Where DOES the time go??????

Well here it is, AUGUST, already and it has been ages since I last blogged. Where do I begin?

Let's begin with our boy, Wyatt. Wow. That child has grown so much! He is now officially a "tween" at eleven and a half. Many of his original -ahem- issues have been replaced with new ones. I guess that is the paradox of parenthood for all of us. It seems that as soon as we think one particular issue is tamed another rears its head. Sometimes growing up is hard on both the parents and the tween.

Wyatt begins middle school this fall. Just thinking about it makes me a little sick. It's not that we don't love his school. We do. We love that he will be nurtured body, brain and spirit. We love that the majority of his classmates are SUCH incredible kids who accept Wyatt for the way he is made. What concerns me is the schedules that change every day. I am concerned about social interactions (always!) Wyatt has the social graces of about a third grader. That is NOT going to fly in a middle school setting. I am concerned that he will begin to view himself more and more as an outcast. It is kind of inevitable, and it is so sad from where we sit.

We are attempting to involve Wyatt in activities that interest him. There is a Jr. Swim Team in our district that has worked with kids who have autism. He will try out for the team on Monday. I hope he has a better experience than his camp experience this summer... you know, the "special needs" camp that SENT HIM HOME for not following directions. Imagine that! WHO would have imagined that a kid on the spectrum might be non-compliant? And what kind of "special needs camp" sends a child home for non-compliance? Ugh...when he returned from the camp he said, "I even failed at THAT, Mom." It just about ripped out my heart and stomped on it. May those people's houses be infested with bed bugs. Okay, I know that's not very nice, but sometimes I just get so frustrated. I just need to hand it over to God. I know. Of course, maybe He has some unemployed bed bugs.... lol.

I will try to get back to the blog more regularly. I need to update on our Rexie...

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Kids are so darn precious...
What you don't see in this particular little family shot is the 24 pictures that we had to take to get this good shot. You don't hear mom and dad letting the kids know that NO presents would be opened until we got a picture of the kids, so they had better smile and stop making bunny ears! Rexie was the easiest one to get pictures of, although she was yawning with her LOOOONG tongue out in two of the shots. We had just returned from Christmas Eve mass.

I hate to be a humbug, but Christmas eve mass is the WORST mass of the year. Many, many people who don't attend church all year are there. We attended mass in the gym this year, as the sanctuary was full, the cry room was full and the vestibule was full. There were 5 masses offered this year. I really wish that the people who go to only one mass a year would spread out their attendance instead of all coming on one day. Usually mass is a positive experience with kiddie care for the 1-3 year olds, Early Childhood Faith class for the 4-5 year olds and it is not as crowded, more serene and more spiritual. All in all, the CEO "Christmas-Easter Only" people are not getting a very positive view of what mass and the parish have to offer them. CEOs are getting a rushed, crowded, loud experience. It's sad.


In any case, Christmas morning was a hit. The three kids were really "in to" Christmas morning this year. Santa visited our children and Rexie too. Wyatt was thrilled with his Legos, K'nex and a fishing rod. Levi received an identical rod, tackle box and board games. Alysse received a dress-up outfit, a tent, and an Ariel DVD. The kids were excited to try out their new games! Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Den gave the family a Wii system. WOW! It is very interesting to see how the kids vary in their physical coordination. We have been playing Wii play and Wii sports. It is really fun. This might even help Wyatt with his bilateral coordination and balance. I would like to get a Wii Fit, as I understand it has yoga and balance activities. I think Wyatt would benefit from it. It will wait though... we have more than enough to bribe our kids with right now!

We hope you all have a wonderfully blessed Christmas season.
REMEMBER - ALL THINGS ARE "PAWS"SIBLE WITH GOD!

You've got a friend in me...

To some people, this image may not seem particularly miraculous. To us, it is nothing short of a gift from God. This is a picture of Wyatt with a friend from school. He has a real friend. A friend who likes him for who he is and wants to hang out with him. Wyatt was invited over to this friend's house to play. That would be his first invitation to a friend's house. Moreover, this friend spent the night at our house. Another first.

Mom called her best friend on the way home from dropping Wyatt off and cried. Sometimes people don't understand what it feels like for your child to be shunned, ignored, and basically treated like a thing. It costs millions of hidden tears. The only comfort is that I know God counts those tears. I talked with another mom who has a child on the spectrum about this recently. We tried to figure how to approach parents of neurotypical kids to invite kids on the spectrum to play with their kids. Our kids need the interaction and modeling of kids who are not on the spectrum to figure out how to act. Ironically, that would be the hardest thing to obtain...people willing to go out on a limb and have a kid who is an "oval" over to play. If you are a parent of neurotypical kids and want to give a really amazing gift this season, maybe you could consider having the oval you know in your child's class over to play. It is certainly a challenge, but one that might change a child's life.

DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW!!!

Dashing through the snow
Goes Rexie Doodle Doo
Bounding up so high
Just like a kangaroo!

She loves the snow so much
She whines to go outside
Rexie brings his coat so Wyatt
can cover his hide.

"Go outside? Go outside?"
Dashing to the door
Running like the wind and then she'll go and run some mo-ore!
"Go outside? Go outside?
Wyatt take me out!
I'll run and slide and pounce and show what fun is all about!"

GUESS WHO IS THE NEWEST MEMBER AT WYATT'S SCHOOL?

I'll give you a hint. She is whiteish/beige, has soulful amber eyes, is well behaved and is Wyatt's best friend. Emily would be a really good guess, but this friend has much more hair!


Meet the newest member of fourth grade...our very own Rexie! She starts tomorrow during lunch recess to have all the kids familiarize themselves with our furry family member. She will be attending lunch recess for the first week, then the second week will include lunch recess and an hour of class. The third week, Rexie will find herself in class all afternoon, supporting her boy through his toughest part of the school day. There are a few people who were wonderful facilitators to the integration process. Both the principal and the paster were really good with the problem solving pieces. The classroom aide is the one person who has no vested interest in this, and yet she is the one who came forward and volunteered to help Wyatt "handle" Rexie while they are at school! God bless Amy! Rexie will follow Wyatt's commands without a problem. Wyatt has the issue of not using good judgement (big surprise -kind of goes with is impulsivity issues). As a result, Rexie may follow him down the path that "rocks" as opposed to the path of rightousness! Amy will help by acting as the Jiminy Cricket of the pair. The other people who helped us get this far were YOU!! All of the wonderful praying people who realize that our W is an amazing kid with some extra challenges! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

How we see our son...

You know, there are people out there who believe that our son was built "incorrectly" and there is something "wrong" with him. He is definitely fearfully and wonderfully made, however, we also realize that he is built differently. He does not see the world in the same grids and matrices that we categorize everything into.

When we started to discuss Halloween costumes for our kids, Wyatt initially said that we should all go as dogs, and Rexie should dress as a dog catcher. I think that is pretty darn clever! Eventually Wyatt came to the conclusion that he should dress as a scientist - since he is going to be one anyway! The picture above shows part of his costume for Halloween. Rexie will be dressed as his faithful assistant, complete with bow tie and lab coat!

We are still working at getting Rexie to attend school with Wyatt. It seems there is NOT ONE other service dog in the county, nor the surrounding counties, so the principal and school board are attempting to find some sort of "service dog protocol" to follow to integrate her into the classroom. She really hasn't been "denied" access, she has been "stalled" in her classroom integration at this point. We have another meeting on Tuesday. I am so thankful for the legion of praying people who are helping us out with this. We cannot thank you enough!

Family portraits

Another day, another pair of eyes opened....

Some of you with families may know that it is a BIT (haha) difficult to get a family portrait. Now, factor in a couple of children who cannot sit still and are rather non-compliant at any given time. Mix well with WHITE shirts and throw in a dog for good measure. I was pretty pleased with the result that was obtained. Keep in mind that the photographer was NOT going to photograph Rexie under any circumstances. Rexie couldn't be on the rug, she was not allowed in the picture, they do not photograph animals, she was too big, etc. etc. etc. There were numerous excuses. I was ready to report the company to the attorney general for non-compliance of ADA law, so I asked very politely for the name and number of the regional director. Amazingly, they kind of changed their tune. Steve suggested that we grab a rug that was in the store and set it on TOP of the rug that they normally photograph on. The photographer turned up her nose and sniffed, "It's filthy." I replied, "We're in jeans, it's really okay. We don't mind." She shot back, "Well I do." Yikes! Anyway, after the filthy rug was in place to protect their filthy rug, she was very nice. We talked about Rexie and her very important jobs she performs. We talked about tracking and behavior disruption along with the calming influence she provides. The photographer said she wouldn't have even known that Wyatt is an oval (my word.) I informed her that's because we have a furry angel who helps him out and an entire fleet of praying people! The end result of the photo session was beautiful. The photos turned out well and one more person is educated of the value of a service dog.