Back to School

Matty started back to school today! He's back in Miss Dee's class and was happy to see many of his old friends return and some new friends join the class. Should be an exciting year!

If you were to speak to a young adult with Autism, the first thing they would usually tell you is that they don't want to be cured. In fact, they take the notion as an insult. Rather, they would rather see efforts and resources put into therapies and services in order to help the person with ASD to acclimate to the outside world. As a mom of a newly diagnosed toddler, and someone who has advocated for Autism since my cousin Elijah was diagnosed almost 8 years ago, I would say that educating the world around us about ASD so we can break down the walls and live cohesively. People with ASD can be very successful when given the right tools. Many of the world's brightest innovators and scientists are on the spectrum. We are beginning to see more TV characters on the spectrum with shows like Parenthood (although I'm convinced Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory has Asperger's, though that has never been written into the show). The more that is done for these kids and young adults at an early age, the more they will be able to contribute to society and innovation. My dreams are still huge for Matthew. He loves to explore the mechanics of different objects, how they work and is fascinated by numbers. I see something huge and grand in his future and its all because he was born with a brain that works differently than everybody else. Well, not everyone can be brilliant, right?

Celebrating Every Victory

Since Sunny Days started coming 6 weeks ago, we have seen quite a bit of progress. Some of Matthew's vocabulary is coming back, his cognition of letters and numbers is increasing and his willingness to learn is breathtaking. When his teacher comes, he is eager to dig into her bag of "toys" and get started. Now he completes puzzles with ease, whereas a few months ago, I couldn't get him to sit down and do one. He matches numbers and colors and loves to build with blocks.

Tonight we watched his Baby Einstein Numbers DVD for the first time in a few months and although it was always one of his faves, he totally rocked it out tonight. He knew the numbers and would say them (in a way only a Mommy would understand) and was laughing at the puppets and said "oh cool!". We had a couple of months where we didn't hear alot of laughter from Matt and it makes my heart beat with joy to hear him giggle. We still have alot of work to do but he is so bright and is able to express it more and more each day. He has a sense of humor, which is so where with kids on the spectrum. My cup runneth over.

InSan(Nicolas)ity!

The last few months have been crazy for us. For the last year, we have noticed Matthew's eye contact and language regress and diminish, while the tantrums exceeded all expectations. For awhile, we were chalking it up to the Terrible Twos but by October, we were too concerned to let it go any farther. His pediatrician noticed right away and referred us for an evaluation through the Inland Regional Center. It took about a month to get an appointment, and he was having an off day. By "off day" I mean, he took a nap before we left, ate everything we offered him and was in a good mood. Although slow to warm to the evaluators, he would gaze at them, mostly due to the incessant bubble blowing. After about 3 minutes, the token psychologist said he's fine, just speech delayed and left the room. We got our IFSP to get 9 hours a month of in home early start intervention...which took another month to get started thanks to the holidays. Right away, Matthew's teacher noticed something off besides his language. He wasn't responding to his name when called, no eye contact and would line up or stack his toys for what seemed like forever. He was more interested in how the wheels turned on his trains and cars than he was in engaging in imaginary play. I pressed the IRC for another exam.

Anita, Matthew's counselor, came through for us. She was able to get Matthew 26 hours of in home intervention for the month of February and a formal psychological evaluation. The psych eval gave me the diagnosis I was expecting- Autism. Most parents would be taken aback or fearful of this diagnosis, but I was relieved. It meant I wasn't a bad mother, it meant I would get some help. IRC cuts most kids with Developmental Delay off at 3 years old but he will be able to continue IRC and get services like Occupational and Behavioral Therapies. Matthew was also evaluated by the school district and they said by and large, he would qualify for special ed preschool once he surpasses his 3rd birthday. We have our IEP next week and I'm dilligently working on getting my notes and requests together. I know this blog hasn't been used as much over the last year. I had another blog going about breastfeeding and now that Jack is starting to wean himself, it has not been as much of a focus. This blog is our family blog and I intend to use it to record our journeys through everything from milestones, coming of age and our endeavours with Matthew's Autism.

Matty is 2 1/2 Today!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe how big he is getting. He's growing more and more everyday and his personality is so quirky and unique. He loves Curious George, Toy Story, his teddy, puppy dog hat, playing outside and making his baby brother laugh.

20 Months Old

Matty loves to read and play outside with his cars and ride his bike. He has recently discovered Thomas the Train, which has quickly become his favorite show and books. He is feeding himself with a spoon now and can drink from a cup (when Mommy lets him) and talking alot. Mommy and Daddy are still looking forward to the day when all Matty's words are in English but he's making progress. On his 20 month birthday, it was a special day as it was Matty's last day as an only child.

18 Months Old and Counting!

The Mattman is growing so fast! His development is ahead of schedule according to the pediatrician. He's talking alot, most of which is in his own language but he does use more than 30 words at this point. Often times he likes to point out the "airplane" in the sky and if we are inside and he hears one, he runs to the window with his finger pointing toward the sky saying "airplane, airplane". He is also a monkey. This child will climb on just about anything from the couch, the beds, up the side of his crib. Yesterday he got on one of the dining room chairs. This was something that took a little longer for him to develop since he is a short little guy.

We've also started having him sleep in the big boy bed so we can use the crib for the new baby. We can't get him to fall asleep in the bed yet, so at night I let him fall asleep in the crib and then I transfer him to the bed an hour or so later. So far, so good. He'll stay in bed until 7-7:30. quietly get out of bed and run back to my room and wake me up. He thinks this is great and is usually excited to be the one to come to my room for a change.

Potty training hasn't happened yet. Mostly because I stopped trying. Morning sickness really hit me hard with this pregnancy and although my intentions were good, I just didn't have the mental discipline to be consistent. I figure that it is better to wait until the baby comes than to do this half-assed. We also have a urological appointment in early October to check his kidney growth and I will discuss this further with his urologist at that time.

Matty's Birthday Barbecue 3/21/09

Tony works every other weekend and in some months, his Reserve weekend coincides with his weekends off. This happened in March so we had to push Matty's bday party back almost a month past his actual birthday. This was actually a blessing since he ended up with RSV on his actual birthday and was sick for over a week (seriously, I had to nebulize him 3-4 times a day). It was a beautiful day and we reserved the picnic area at a nearby park and had family and close friends join us for a celebration. Grandma and Grandpa Palmer, Grandpa San Nicolas, Sandy and Eric Jensen, Mike Jensen, The Castro Family, The Knauf Family, Auntie Claire, Auntie Katrina and Kylie, Great-Uncle Larry, I hope I'm not leaving anyone out.... Oh yeah, the Eberts came late in the day but at least everybody got to see Zoey for about an hour. Auntie Sylvia and Uncle Rob couldn't make it because Christopher had a baseball game but they had a special dinner for the Mattman later in the week.

Matty had a fun time playing on the playground and just being the center of attention. He made a mess of his cake and got lots of cool presents. Mommy was about 4-6 weeks pregnant and hadn't told anybody yet so she was tired when the day was done.

15 Months Old!

Since we found out we are having another baby, we have stopped referring to Matthew as "the baby" but rather as our "big boy" and that is exactly what he is. His walk has turned into a run and he's saying over 20 words/combination words at last count. He loves Hot Wheels, well anything with wheels and of course his beloved Teddy. He prefers to be outside and we spend a good part of the day on walks or playing on the patio. We've had some warm days this spring so we have been in the pool at least a 1/2 dozen times so far this year. He definitely is enjoying it more and wishes I would just let him go crazy in the pool instead of making him sit in a floatie or being held the whole time. He has a sense of humor and finds it thrilling to make Mommy and Daddy chase him, especially when we are trying to round him up for his bath, diaper change, getting dressed, etc. He likes to hide in corners and behind furniture from us...we always know where he is because we can hear him cracking up from wherever he is hiding from. He also likes to pretend to talk on the phone. He'll take a random toy (usually his baseball bat) and hold it up to his ear and say "hello! yes! what? oh! bye bye!".

Spontaneous Resolution

We've had some great news on Matthew's health in recent weeks. It appears as though his bladder reflux has "spontaneously resolved" itself without medical intervention. There was an 80% chance this would happen by his 5th birthday and we are thrilled and blessed to find out it happened by his 1st birthday. This means we no longer have to give him daily anti-biotics as there is no longer a substantial threat of a urinary tract infection nor will he have to go through any more invasive testing. His kidneys are still 2 different sizes but from the ultrasound images, they are both functioning properly without scarring or damage. He will have another ultrasound in late September to track his progress.

Matthew's urologist, Dr Walker, praised me for breastfeeding Matthew for the entire first year of his life. He said that made all the difference because Matthew never came down with one UTI in that first year. Apparently, the anti-biotic properties in breast milk were a major factor. There is 1000 times less bacteria in the dirty diapers of breastfed babies than in babies who are formula fed (which is what causes UTIs). I know I got more flack than praise for breastfeeding Matthew for 12.5 months, especially because I never forced him to take a bottle when he refused it all those months (its not like I was going back to work, it would have been out of convenience more than anything). However, I feel like my intuition was spot on because my son's health was more important to me than anything.

Matty's 1st Birthday 2-25-09

I know I am behind on blogging. Its been a busy year with lots of distractions. Having a walking talking toddler sometimes prevents me from getting on the computer other than to check email or facebook because he likes to type on the keyboards or steal the cordless mouse from me while I'm working. Matty was sick with RSV on his 1st birthday as you can tell from the pics. He had a fever and was really tired but he mustered up enough energy to devour a piece of cake. A week later, we went to Big Bear to see Grandma and Grandpa Palmer and they got him a special cupcake from the bakery that he annihilated. He also got a new quad that he keeps up at their house. Stay tuned for pics from the birthday BBQ.

10 Months Old!

On Christmas Day, Matthew turned 10 months old. At that point he had 4 teeth, crawling like a champ and would take as many as 6 steps at a time before panicking on dropping on to his bottom. As of today, Matthew has 5 teeth, about to break a sixth and is walking across the room! He says "Mama" "Dada" and "hi" with discrimination. He is waving and when its nap time and I carry him back to his crib he will wave to whoever is in the living room and say "ba ba" like bye bye (he's never had a bottle so he wouldn't even know to ask for one). He also says "heh dat" which I think is "hi there" because I say that quite a bit. He says that to his toys and my parents dog.

We shall post pics soon, we're still having technical difficulties but I'm working on an alternative way to get the pics on here.

Strollin' to the Park Today

Matty and I get out for a 2-3 mile walk several days a week. Often times its to the mall or to Starbucks for a coffee or just through the neighborhood. Today we went to the park that's about a mile from our house and the orginial plan was to just do a few laps around the park and walk home but Matthew saw some kids and he started shrieking with delight so we had to stop. I helped him play on the jungle gym. There was a mini slide that I guided him down on and I let him crawl on the steps and just play. He had so much fun getting dirty and just being a boy! Please excuse the photo quality- I took them on my phone.

Such a Little Man

Matthew is looking less like a baby and more like a big boy. He's growing and developing so fast! He's starting to mumble "da da da da" and he even attempted to take steps today. He did about one and a half steps and then toppled face first but he tried nonetheless. He was even playing peek a boo with me today. He was on the floor and he'd crawl out from behind the chair, giggle and then crawl back behind it. He did this over and over for about 15 minutes. It was hilarious and he was definitely cracking himself up.

Look Who's 9 Months Old Today!!!!!

Wow, time is really flying by. Matthew is so close to walking and talking. He can stand by himself for quite awhile but then when he wants to move, he sits down and starts to crawl. He is definitely mimicking speech patterns and rhythms. Anyday now we are going to reach one of these big milestones. When Matty is really distressed, he will whine something like "mum mum" but its almost unintelligible. He does occasionally say something close to "hi" or "hey". He's mastering feeding himself finger foods, he loves Cheerios and Gerber Puffs but will also eat peas and carrots when I put them on his tray. He also has 3 teeth as of today. The 2 front bottom teeth have been there for about a month or so but one of his top teeth popped through this morning. We went to see Dr Du for his 9 month appointment today and since his kidneys have remained healthy, he was able to start meats today! Just in time for Thanksgiving on Thursday. He had sweet potatoes with a touch of ground turkey stirred in and he loved it. He weighed in today at 18 lbs 13 oz and measured 27.25 inches tall. He's on the small side for his age but he's still in a healthy range. His head is still going strong in the 90th percentile. Yeah baby.