Youngerese/Elderese of the Week
I actually have pictures and video this time (though not the video I promised a month ago…)
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We love clementines. Not only are they sweet and seedless (for the most part), but they are easy enough to peel that the kids can help themselves. Regular oranges, on the other hand, have a million seeds and are almost impossible to peel. So I just cut them into wedges and pick out the seeds. The first time I did this with The Younger (because the Elder is high maintenance and wants ALL of the skin removed before he will touch it, so he ops for orange juice instead) he would leave a lot of “orange” pulp on the skins. So I showed him how to eat everything but the rind so there is no waste. So this time (the second time) he was so proud of himself for remembering the “rule” (remember he is The Enforcer), and showed me his orange peel.
Y: Look, Mommy. It’s s’pose to be naked. Just like [E] was naked last night.
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Y: Orange starts with what?
Me: O
Y: Good, and octopus starts with what?
Me: O
Y: Correct! You are a genius!
I think HE is the genius. Except it comes out more like “genus.” So I wondered just which particular genus I am…
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The Elder and I went to see Madagascar II (actually we went to see Beverly Hills Chiuahua, but he wouldn’t hear of it since Madagascar II was playing in the same theatre, despite the fact he saw it just last week, and it started 20 minutes before BHC, AND there was no heat in the theatre playing Madagascar II).
Anyhoo, when it was over, we were going to go shop at the Burlington Coat Factory. Well not really, we were going to go play with the toys. That place is so messy and the toys are so well-tested, it’s like a playground. Recalling that the store has locked bathrooms, I urged him to pee before we left the theatre. Which he did.
10 minutes after entering the store he needs to go to the bathroom, of course. Luckily you no longer need a key to pee (I’m a poet and didn’t know it), but they have a buzzer. You know, like the kind they have in secure places like schools, apartment buildings, etc.
For.the.bathroom.
I digress. The Elder finishes up and we continue to “shop.” He did want some Sketchers and I found some really nice ones that were his size at a good price. However we couldn’t find the left shoe. Yeah…it’s THAT kind of store. 10 minutes after the last potty break, he complains that he has to go to the bathroom again.
Me: You just went!
E: (in his best oh-so-loud voice as we weave through the other shoppers) The first time I just had to pee. The second time I have to poo.
Me: Ok, but you don’t have to announce it. (trying not to make eye contact with the other shoppers)
I didn’t have any hand sanitizer with me so I showed him how to use the seat covers.
E: But how will I poo? (I punch out the center) Oooohhh! I didn’t know.
After he was done, he hops off the commode and the liner falls inside just like it’s suppose to.
E: Oh no! My poo is too heavy.
Me: That’s ok. Just flush it.
E: (with much concern) Will it tangle up? And make the water come back out?
Me: No, you’re suppose to flush it.
E: (confident that I misunderstood him) No… I mean inside the tube.
Me: It’s made for that.
E: Oooohhh. I didn’t know.
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It was late in the afternoon last Saturday after I showered so I didn’t want to get all dressed again, but I didn’t want to put on PJs and I wanted to be comfy. So I put on a little sundress (in the middle of winter) just to wear around the house. The Younger comes running in the closet telling me something and he stop dead in his tracks and in mid-sentence said:
Y: You look like a princess.
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The Elder still doesn’t have the total concept of the structure of jokes. But he’s nailed the purpose of jokes because I couldn’t stop laughing.
E: Knock knock .
Y: Who’s there?
E: Why did the chicken cross the kitchen?
because it was scrambled eggs!
Y: Ok, it’s MY turn. Knock knock.
E: Who’s there?
Y: Why did the…..thinking and the seeing Skip)…dog cross the kitchen?(
because it was scrambled eggs!
Yeah…OK.
E: Knock knock.
Y: Who’s there?
E: Banana.
Y: Banana who?
E: Knock knock.
Y: Who’s there?
E: Banana.
Y: Banana who?
E: Knock knock.
Y: Hey, it’s MY turn
E: Banana.
Y: (getting angry and fake crying) IT’S MY TURN!
E: One more. Knock knock.
Y: (through pitiful sobs) Who’s there? (that’s was hilarious)
E: Banana. Ok that’s four times. This is the last time. Knock Knock.
Y: Who’s there?
E: Orange.
Y: Orange who?
E: Why didn’t I say Orange?
Then he started “fake” cracking up at himself. No, I didn’t get it either.
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The Kiddos playing football during the Super Bowl. In case you can’t understand what is going on: The Elder is wearing his “pads” and The Younger is wearing his “helmet” which they each picked out themselves (what imagination). The Elder is keeping up with the “rounds” which I kept explaining to him they are “downs” and that there are only 4 of them. The non-active moments are the Time Outs between plays.
See if you can pick out the moment that The Younger “blows the whistle.” Enjoy.
Y: The game is over.
E: When I get to 20, it’s back to the game. (the play clock?)
E: Dad, you can be the coach. You can blow the whistle.
E: …because when he doesn’t see he doesn’t see where he is going.
Y: The game is over.
Y: Let’s take a break.
Youngerese of the Day
On Wednesday, while I was working, The AP and The Younger were playing with, but of course, his newest fire engine.
The AP: What do you want to be when you grow up?
The Younger: (puzzled trying to search his database for the definition of 'grow up') I don't know.
The AP: (trying to think of an alternative) What do you want to be when you are the same size as mommy and daddy?
The Younger: I'm going to be….a firefighter!
The AP: Nice!
The next day (yesterday), The Younger was playing with his fire engine again but with just me.
The Younger: Mommy, when I grow up, I'm going to be a firefighter!
Me: Wow! You'd be a great firefighter!
The Younger: (pointing to his fire engine) And, Mommy, when this grows up, I'm going to be a firefighter!
I was not aware of the first conversation until late last night. When The AP told me that it made it even cuter.
The last post of my blog
for 2008, that is. No I haven’t given up blogging, though it may appear that I have compared to what I started 18 months ago or so. But I need to force myself to blog. Not because I owe anyone a narrative of my life but because this blog does serve as a journal, and besides, it’s very therapeutic. I haven’t blogged since this post leading up to the IEP meeting on the 18th.
So there’s great news, and good news. The good news was that The Elder did not qualify for OT services. Ok if you read my last post, you might remember me hoping that he gets the services based on some of the triggers that led to “behavior reports.” But when the OT showed up some of his work, I was really floored by the amount of progress he has made with his motor skills. I was really floored by the amount of progress he has made with his motor skills.(I have video to support this too, but won’t be posted until next year. lol) When she showed us a piece of paper (one piece of paper) that was smooth (not crumpled), in one piece, with no “frustration” stripes all over the page of his ALPHABET, my mouth hung open. Yeah, sure he could recite his abc’s both forwards and backwards, by letter and by phonetics, by age 2.5, BUT at 4 years old, he couldn’t draw a consistent circle. About a year ago his circles, triangles, squares, and rectangles were pretty much indistinguishable. And don’t even DARE give him a pair of scissors to cut more than a 1/4in thick straight line (large zig-zags were ok though), without expecting a meltdown.**Thank goodness that his implusive glasses/shoe/food-throwing hadn’t migrated to scissors. It couldn’t have been pretty scary, tho I’ve gotten hit by a fork once or twice. Yay for plasticware. We’ve been recycling them from parties (our own parties…not other people’s. That’s just weird.) so we have a good supply in stock when they get lost in flight, snapped in two, or eaten by the disposal (oops). They are pretty darn sturdy. So seeing a perfect letter O made me giddy, but seeing a perfect S and a perfect number 8 put me in a bit of shock. I think me and The Hub blurted out at the same time, “HE did this?”
–wow–
She even showed us a picture of where he drew a person. It is all in pencil and has hands, feet (and stilts “like at the circus”), eyes (big circles), nose, mouth, ears, etc etc. Then in orange crayon there is a line drawn straight down the middle of his body (a), and then a line crossing it at the person’s waist (b) so that it looks like a cross. (Boy I wish I had a scanned version of it) He had explained to the OT that:
a) This is his spine, and
b) This is his belt.
–HI-larious–
So, his fine motor skills were no longer in question. And at home (and at school, as witnessed with my own personal eyeballs) his gross motor skills have improved as well (re: video that I have yet to post). His proprioceptive sense is maturing OR he is just getting braver/trusting more. Because he is starting to climb (I’m sure as taught by The Younger, expert monkey boy) and The Hub has a picture of him swinging on the HIGH “fireman” pole on the playground at his Fall Festival.
So…no OT. yay!
However The OT did recommend that he attend a handwriting class because he has an aversion to lowercase letters (especially the ones that “sink” below the line: g,j,y,p,q) and the d’nealian style in general. The OT is worried that if we “program” his chip to learn it this way that he will not be able to change it later. I’m not 100% sure that that is true because he does really well with a slowly communicated, very logical, self-motivating explanation to changes in routine, rules, etc.
So that was the big outcome. There were some other changes made in his IEP so that he wasn’t taken out of the classroom for any additional time than he already has been. He’s been having a “social group” session 2 days a week, and his reading group. But he is so accelerated that in his 15 minutes session 2 days a week, he would read a book and then take the test with a perfect score with time to spare and The Resource Teacher would have to provide him with an extra activity just so the others in his group could “catch up” (not that they were slow or anything). he was finished before she even got back to her deskShe said that the first time he took the comprehension test on the computer that he was finished before she even got back to her desk which is literally less than 5 steps away. Her classroom is about the size of a college apartment’s kitchen(nette). She said that at first she thought he was just clicking any ole answer just to get done as if it were a non-preferred activity. However, after multiple sessions of perfect scores she realized that not only was he reading the five questions on the test that fast, but he comprehended the book (that he just read) and could recall the answer at the same lightning speed.
–wow–
I also got to meet The Behavior Analyst who will begin her observations in January. She has a good reputation. We are SO BLESSED. Again, The Resource Teacher bragged on The Elder to her about how sweet and funny and smart he is.
“I just wanna eat him up with a spoon.”
were her exact words. Giddy Me! I could have kissed her on the lips. But I didn’t. Probably not very appropriate or socially acceptable.
So needless to say, I enjoyed my time and I didn’t need a kleenex unless you count tears of joy/shock.
Since then we experienced a FIVE DAY SMILEY FACE WEEK!!!!!! It was a first. He was SO proud of himself!
The Elder: I know.
So he definitely earned his Batter Batter Baseball.
We also had a successful trip to SC and back. A 7hr trip, that takes 10hrs with 2 kids who are potty trained and a dog. You can check out my tweets for an idea of what went down that week. Other than my ear/sinus infection and The Elder missing out on the presents, it was a very successful trip, only a few minor behaviors (like hitting and pseudo-biting) that I’m sure were triggered by the changes in routine and the excitement of seeing their cousins.
We are on the last week of Winter Break and I must say that I have really enjoyed having the boys to myself (The AP is on vacation too).
Stay-tuned for the following topics in (near-) future posts:
- Timeline – so what exactly happened during the last 6 months hiatus? cliff notes version.
- Video – shocking video of a hidden athletic talent. Goooooooo gross motor skills and coordination! Well, he still has the “Phoebe Run.” (soooo cute)
- Photo Album – Jesus was a carpenter so why can’t we?
- Christmas Quips – to be echolalic, to not to be…that is the question.
Happy New Year folks!
