Update on Ethan

The kids are on Christmas break for 15 days, but I had to take Ethan into his school today for a speech therapy evaluation. I was worried that he wouldn't understand that he wasn't going to do his regular school routine and that it would be difficult for him. But he went right in with his speech therapist and did all four parts of the evaluation seamlessly. He sat the whole time without getting up, answering the questions and participating in the activities. It was just 7 short weeks ago that I took him for his initial evaluation for school, and that was a giant challenge for everyone. Ethan wouldn't participate, he wouldn't sit still, and he threw a huge fit. What a difference 7 weeks of preschool has made! Believe it or not, the evaluation is not the point of this blog, though I was really proud of Ethan for doing so well with it this morning.

The real point of today's blog is that I got to talk with Ethan's teachers one-on-one (well, two-on-one, I suppose) the whole time he was having his evaluation in the other room. I was so happy to get to ask them all the questions I had been saving up. You know, the ones I always forget to ask when I'm dropping him off and picking him up since my focus is just getting him where he needs to be. Anyway, Mrs. Linda and Mrs. Colleen told me how well Ethan has been doing in school. He walks in the door in the morning, takes his coat off and hangs it in his cubby by himself, finds his name tag on the roll list and moves it to the "present" list, washes his hands, and sits down to eat breakfast with the other kids. He eats his breakfast, drinks his water bottle, and cleans up when he's done. He moves through all the different activities and games on his own and puts them away when the buzzer goes off. He happily participates in speech therapy. He uses the potty and washes his hands afterwards all day on his own (and he's one of the only ones out of the ten students in his class that is potty-trained). And...here is the big one...Ethan has a friend. Mrs. Colleen told me that he and a little boy named Austin are good buddies and play together all day. I had noticed one day when I picked him up last week that Ethan was sitting at a table with another little boy playing the peg game and taking turns (wow!!!). I found out they play on the computer together a lot, too, and that Ethan has been typing words and numbers. I am SO HAPPY Ethan has made a friend at school. I can't even tell you how good it makes me feel to know he has another little boy to play with and that enjoys playing with him. What a blessing this school has been for Ethan already.

I guess Ethan has just started using the computer at school, instead of just watching other kids use it. He likes using the word pad and typing the words he knows. Travis and I had noticed that he had been typing on his Nintendo DS a lot lately. Yesterday he typed, "102030405060708090100," and came up to me and told me, "Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred!" I had no idea he could count by tens, and his teachers told me he hadn't learned it at school. He does like sequences, so I'm not surprised that he figured it out, but the typing is new! I'm just so proud of my sweet boy. He is doing so well. School has been great for him, and I am so happy he has two great teachers who love him. I never knew I would feel this good about everything in such a short amount of time. Whew.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel...

My little autistic biscuit does not like to have his hair cut. Ethan has always been this way, since he was a baby. He doesn't seem to have sensory issues otherwise, but haircuts (and often hair brushing) are out of the question. He has to suffer through having his hair brushed before school every day, and he isn't happy about it. He runs away, and when I catch him he throws his head back and forth as wildly as he can. The good news is he has a lovely, thick head of hair that is curly. It always looks a little wild, and a LOT cute, even though 95% of the time he looks shaggier than Shaggy from Scooby Doo.

Ethan has his 4th birthday coming up, and Sunday is his birthday party. I wanted him to have his hair cut for the party, and for Christmas, and so my mom could attempt to take a picture of my three kids together in some pretty Christmas outfits. He hasn't had his hair cut since maybe...September? And it grows fast and furious like mine does. Anyway, Travis took Ethan to get a haircut today at my urging. It didn't go well. Ethan had a huge meltdown. I mean HUGE. So all we ended up with was a majorly unhappy child, a stressed-out Daddy, and no haircut. I looked it up, and just as I suspected it is VERY common for autistic kids to hate haircuts. (Do you watch Parenthood on NBC? Well you should, because it's great. There is a character with Aspberger's on the show who is 9 years old and has very shaggy hair. I always thought that must be on purpose and must be extremely accurate, based on my own experience.) Travis and I were talking about it afterwards and we decided Ethan just may be one of those kids that has long, curly, fabulous, shaggy hair for a while, until this issue resolves or we can figure out how to make it better. He will be the redheaded, male version of Rapunzel. And that's okay with me. So if you notice my very shaggy child, DON'T tell me he needs a haircut. He doesn't need a haircut as much as he needs to feel happy and safe. I will figure this out. I just haven't yet.

A couple of pictures from Rapunzel's shaggier (and cute-as-can-be) moments:

Oh, my precious boy. I love him! <3

My favorite Christmas movies

Watching Christmas movies is one of my favorite things to do this time of the year! I like the classic movies and the not-so-classic movies that aren't explicitly about Christmas, but somehow it figures into the story-line. I've compiled a list of my must-see Christmas movies. Let me know if there are any I need to add to the list!

Elf (Elijah's favorite!)

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

A Christmas Story

It's a Wonderful Life (I actually watched this movie in the hospital during my labor with Ethan!)

The Preacher's Wife

White Christmas (This movie still reminds me of my first college roommate, who absolutely loves it.)

The Nativity Story

The Family Stone (One of my favorite movies, Christmas or not. What a great cast.)

The Holiday

Four Christmases

Home Alone (Elijah's other favorite!)

The heart of life

I <3 John Mayer. I used to refer to him as my boyfriend until my husband said he didn't like it. :)  Travis still took me to see him in Memphis this year, which was one of my favorite things I've ever done! I've posted the video of one of his songs above, called The Heart of Life. The lyrics and and the melody speak right to my own heart. Listen for these lyrics:

Pain throws your heart to the ground

Love turns the whole thing around

No, it won't all go the way it should

But I know the heart of life is good

Fear is a friend who's misunderstood

But I know the heart of life is good

<3