Life with Lachlan

I have been told that I should be blogging about being the parent of a child with ASD, therefore, here I am. Instead of starting a new blog I thought I'd continue with this one that I started years ago. If you go back there are some posts about Lachlan when he was a toddler.
So. Where do I start? First of all for those reading who don't know what ASD is let me explain. ASD is Autism Spectrum Disorder. The spectrum is wide and most people picture Rain Man when they hear autism. Lachlan is the opposite of non-verbal and is near the higher end of the autism spectrum (some people call it High Functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome). My son is an Aspie and he is amazing. Every person with autism is different. There are no two alike in symptoms and traits. He also has ADHD (which most of the time overshadows the autism), DCD (Developmental Coordination Disorder) - he has low core muscle tone and has trouble with some gross and fine motor skills, also Sensory Integration Disorder (which is part of the autism but he is overly sensitive to certain sounds, sights, smells and textures).

One of the latest obsessions is The Lion King. We had Lion King 1 1/2 and Lion King 2 on DVD and he watched them over and over. For grading this year we bought him The Lion King (he calls it The Original Lion King'). He watches it no less than 6 times per week. In "Stewiacke" (what Lachlan calls our lowest basement level in the house), I found my old Lion King Soundtrack CD. I haven't decided if this was a mistake or not because although listening to it over and over being blasted all over the house constantly isn't enough, at least he entertains us with his rendition of the songs with the occasional dance move a la broadway. Yesterday morning he must have done 50 laps around the kitchen island repeating the lyrics "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight", over and over and over. Mike and I laughed because we knew that the poor daycare teachers were in for it but figured they'd be happy that it wasn't another 'Hakuna Matata' day.

The things my toddler says

I don't know where my 2.5yr old comes up with half the things he says.
Lately he has been greeting every morning with "it's a great day!".
Yesterday morning he told me it was a great day (looking out the window at the darkness of 6am) and when the sun came up, added, "Good morning sun. How are you doing today? Are you ready to go?"
Last night as I was trying to put him to bed, he kept referring to the window and talking about the moon and the stars. At one point he looked out the window and said "I'll help you move the stars out of the sky" (as if he was talking to the sky).
After that we counted to 5 in Spanish....................................... :O (Mom in awe)

Lachlan has also taken to warming up his voice. We sing "la la la la la la la" and then move to "me me me me me me me" and finally "you you you you you you you". He's getting pretty good at being in tune!
I guess I can take credit for that since I have been singing to him daily and nightly since he was born. At bedtime we sing as we listen to instrumental lullabies (a CD he has been listening to since he was 7 months old). His favorite songs are tunes I have made up for nursery rhymes and stories (Jack and Jill, Hey Diddle Diddle, Love You Forever, Mortimer's chant).

Of course Lach also has some favorite "saucy" sayings (for which he gets time outs for). If he is mad he might say "No you BE QUIET!" or "No you STAY HERE!" (and then closes the door leaving you in the room alone), "No I don't like it!"......................... the other day I arrived to pick him up from the sitter and when he saw me proceeded to scold me for being there and said "Momma, you go in a time out!" The sitter and I laughed in our shirts so he wouldn't see our reactions. There was also the time he sat on the couch and randomly started yelling "shit! shit! shit! shit! shit!". They really are like little sponges and pick up everything!

It's Christmas! (Eve)

Merry Christmas everyone! Am at work until 4pm then off to pick Mike up from work, stop to pick up a few last minute groceries (mostly bread and milk) and then we'll head to Mom and Dad's. Lach has been there all day playing.

This morning I woke him up and told him Santa was coming tonight and he said to me "Santa brings train" HAHA that kid is too smart for his own good. His train table has been under our bed for months, picture face down and he's never seen it but every time he notices the big, heavy box he says "train! put it together!" WTF?? We have no idea how he knows what it is.

I LOVE being a parent! I can't wait to see the look on his face tomorrow morning. I may cry.

Yesterday I was home with him and, all before noon, I:

changed his bedding twice
gave him 2 baths
scrubbed the floors on my hands and knees
scrubbed the bathtub
had a shower
vacuumed

He had a poop after breakfast and decided he'd take his diaper off by himself. I was in the basement changing his sheets and blankets from the washer to the dryer and he greeted me at the top of the stairs, butt naked, with poop all over his legs, feet and hands. Talk about shock! I marched him back into the bathroom for bubby #2. There was poop all over his bed and clean sheet I had just put on, spots randomly on the floors from his bedroom down to the main level of the house. Oh man what a day. As Lach would say (in my sarcastic tone), it was an 'umsome' day (awesome). Ha! Priceless for sure.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

My Hero, My Mom

Sunday is the CIBC Run for the Cure. My Mom works for CIBC so I have always done the walk with her every year.

This year has new meaning as she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June.

The day she told me I was driving home from my best friend's house, having just celebrated her birthday with her, when my husband called me and asked if I had spoken to my Mom. I told him I hadn't and he suggested I call her since she had apparently been trying to reach me and even called my husband at work to find out where I was. I called her on my cell and she told me to pull over on the side of the road and I had to convince her to tell me what was going on then instead of waiting until I got home. I bawled and bawled until I couldn't see anymore and she begged me to wait until I had calmed down to get back on the road, so I did.

She asked me to be strong and positive for her because she needed nothing less.

On August 4th, the day before my 29th birthday, my Mom had a lumpectomy. We were so incredibly lucky that the cancer was found so early. It could have been so much worse (which is why I still cry thinking about it).

Now 8.5 weeks after the surgery, Mom is doing great! We found out the cancer was Stage 1. (I almost typed "only Stage 1" but realised that cancer is cancer and no Stage of it is unimportant).

Mom will undergo partial breast radiation in 3-4 weeks instead of a full breast radiation (which would take 5-6 weeks). A team of specialists reviewed Mom's case and agreed that the partial radiation was her best option.

On Sunday morning we will walk together; Mom, my sister, my sister's fiance, my neice, my husband, my son and I. We may cry because this time it hits closer to home and are so lucky and grateful that Mom is ok. I can't tell you how many times I prayed and cried and prayed. Thank you God for listening.

The Castle!

On Sunday (Sept 20) we (Mike, Kristin and I) took Lachlan and Norah to the most awesome playground I have ever been to, in Upper Musquodoboit.

It's built next to the United Church (which is pretty grand itself) but the playground isn't lacking. It was built through donations from various companies and is considered the largest wooden playground in the Atlantic Provinces.

The playground is approx. a 40 min drive from our house (or approx. 1hr 25mins from Halifax) so a somewhat long drive but oh so worth it! The kids ran and screamed and played (so did Mike) LOL We had a snack and then they ran off and played some more. Lachlan fell asleep on the way home.

Lachlan driving the truck

Mike

You can see the beautiful United Church next door

Lachlan and Norah on the tire swing

Cute General Store and School

I sent Mike back to school

Lachlan having a blast in the tunnel

Sisters <3>

This is my fav pic of Norah. She looks so happy :)

We can't wait to go back!!!