Big shocker....we're sick, AGAIN!

I have hives all over my face because it would appear I am allergic to , like, EVERYTHING!

Saf sporting her "I got a fluoride wash" sticker from the dentist!

So, in light of the whole fam feeling like crud...I'll cut straight to the chase.

Saf's dentist appointment went amazing. She sat in the big kid dental chair, wore the bib, the whole nine yards. The dentist counted her teeth, brushed them, and did a fluoride wash on them. She sat there the whole time...no screaming, nothing! Afterwards she got to pick two treasures from the treasure chest. She could have picked fairy wands, rings, necklaces. She picked two orange wind up motorcycles! They are SO COOL! I even got to have one of them! My sister, and the dentist office, are the BEST!

School was pretty good for Saf...until she got sick. Had a rough time leaving school on Wednesday because she was feeling sick and out of sorts. Teacher Jenn helped mom load her up into the car. Mom knew she must be sick because she only pulled her hair twice and didn't punch her in the head or kick her...as is pretty typical when Saf has to be forcibly removed from somewhere and put in her carseat. Those are the days mom really hates a 5 point safety harness.

Mom kept Saf home Thursday because her cold was in full swing. So, my meeting with the early interventionist, OT, and Regional Center case manager was cancelled. By afternoon I was feeling it, too. It was an all around rough day for us everyone.

Friday was pretty cool. We were both still feeling pretty sick...but we needed to get out of the house and we weren't contagious anymore. So, mom took us to the pet store and we got to pick out a toy for Winston. Saf even carried it up to the register. That's a huge deal because its been 1 year and 2 months since we've been able to go somewhere and actually go up to a check out and buy something without Saf melting down. So, it was fun and momentous! Winnie loved his toy!

Had a great weekend, again at the pet store. This time we got to pet a lizard and pick out another toy for Win. It was fun.

Sunday it rained, even hailed, so we got to watch a movie in the afternoon! That was a fun treat!

So, a week with rough patches and lots of runny noses. Hoping this week will be a little better on all fronts.

It's going to be a different week for us all. Dad is going to Minnesota early Thursday before we wake up and wont be back until Sunday after we're already in bed. He's going to help celebrate Grandpa Seifert's 80th birthday! We so wish we could be there, too, to help you blow out the candles grandpa. We love you so much and hope we can meet you somewhere half way when the weather gets better and we can get our RV out on the open road. I wish you knew how very much we wish we could just pack a bag, jump on a plane, and join the festivities. Most of the time its ok and feels good for us to be in our little insulated world. However, its times like these when we wish with all our hearts that we didn't need the "bubble" to be ok. We just wish we could be a little spontaneous, a little flexible, a little more like other kids. We're working on it one step at a time. We just really wish we could be there. So, enjoy our daddy and make sure he gets back to us safely! We love you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Peace
Nixi

Rah Rah..Sis Boom Bah!

So, as you can see, mom got us some pom pom's. We think their pretty cool! Just in case that's not our thing...we also got a basketball hoop(check out the video!). Mom and dad figure its best to cast the net wide, know what I mean? Either way, we're having a blast with both.

We had a pretty great week. I have to say, I'm a little bit "off". I'm about due for a "cycle", so that in combination with coming off of winter break is proving to be a bit rough. See, kiddo's living with autism have periods where symptoms sort of spike and get worse. Some kids cycle more, some less...but we all do it. Its just part of autism. I cycle about every 3 to 3.5 months. My cycles usually last about a week or two...but can be shorter or longer depending on a bunch of things. Stress, overstimulation (even from really great stuff), sickness, etc are all things that usually make my cycle longer. Mom and dad have been keeping track of my cycles since I was 19 months...to look for patterns so they'll know when one is coming. Generally, when I'm due for one, they try to make sure we do activities that are less stimulating, sometimes I take probiotics, etc. Even though I've been like clock work with my cycling, its always a scary time for mom and dad. Autism seems to sort of plateu at about age 5 or so. So, while people with autism are always growing and changing just like everyone else, you kind of know what you're gonna get after 5. Until then, things can still change. Some kids lose skills they already had like talking, reading, running, social stuff, coping skills, etc. Some kids' anxiety gets worse, rituals more intense, and/or sensory stuff changes and gets scary. So, you can see why it scares mom and dad. They're always a little afraid I wont come out of a cycle and that what I'm experiencing will be my new "normal". When I cycle nothing is right. Everything seems to upset me. I scream and cry a lot. I get really physical with mom...its an all around miserable time. So far, I've come out of it each time with no changes. I literally wake up one morning and everything is back the way it was before the cycle. Pretty wacky stuff! So, this cycle mom and dad weren't able to insulate me...what, with coming off of break and changes in schedule and stuff. So its to be expected that it might take me a longer to come out of this one...but I'm on my way.

Can't come soon enough, 'cuz I have to go to the dentist tomorrow! Seems one of my top teeth is bothering me. We're gonna go to a dentist here in town...hey, if I'm gonna have a meltdown I may as well be local! My BIA consultant, Heather, is going with us...so mom will have an extra set of hands to help with Nixi. That's good! I'm sure it'll be ok. We'll see.

School last week was pretty darn good. I walked in on my own two feet all 3 days, and had a blast sliding down the slide with my friend Alex. She's cool.

Nixi had a great meeting with Heather and her Early Intervention case manager Susan. It was super fun and mom got a chance to brainstorm with both Heather and Susan at the same time...all in all a great thing. This week Susan will be back with the occupational therapist (OT) Jo and Nixi's Regional Center case manager Janie. I think they're all gonna brainstorm about Nixi's services. Mom is still trying to get Heather "official" with Nixi, and Nixi needs a regular OT schedule. She's supposed to getting OT twice a week and she's only had two times...ever. Its hard, we don't have a lot of free space in our schedule and the OT has even less free spots. Hopefully they'll come up with something.

Nixi got to go to the pet store while I was in school and pick out a toy for Winston. He's always there to give us a hand....

...or even a back. Nixi likes to show her appreciation and thanks...

..with small tokens, like some flowers or maybe a graham cracker! He's a really good dog, and a really good friend...even if he did eat one of our basketballs already!

So, that's that! Hope you all have a great week, and make sure to check back in next week to see how the dentist went!

xoxo
Saf

Pom Pom rule!


Basketball poses a number of challenges, particularly if you're too short for the hoop. You'll notice at the end of the video that Nixi came up with a solution..note her little "victory" boogie....


Having fun dancing with my 1st Easter bunny...still sings like crazy years later!

Monkeys swinging.............

We're back! Everyone is feeling great and we had a jam packed week.

Saf is back in school. The first two days were a bit of a struggle, but by Thursday she was ready to roll. She walked in on her own two feet and had a great day! She was even super supportive of her friends during puzzle time telling them, "Great job, friends!"

I got to go to my early intervention appointment up at the therapy center. It was a little rocky. Saf was having some bowel issues, and I was trying to get back into the groove of things. All in all, it went pretty ok.

Looks like Saf's bowel issues are getting a little better under the new regimen. She pooped twice during the week....much better than once every 2 weeks! Mom's hopeful that we're on the right track.

I've started doing this horribly annoying thing where I "faux share". I go over to Saf, hold out a toy, say "share"...when she goes to take it, I pull it away and yell "no, no, no!" It confuses Saf, but she's pretty nice to me and doesn't just grab it or push me or anything. See, I want to engage Saf and show her what I'm doing but I'm not so sure how to do it. I understand the context in which the word "share" is used in a really general way...i.e. I usually hear the word said when kids are playing together having fun. So, I've been using it to try to initiate play. Unfortunately, though, it usually ends with me screaming and Saf not wanting to be around me. I'm missing some pieces of the social puzzle. I do the same thing with mom and dad. I bring something to them and either say "help" or "all done". When they put their hand out to take it I scream and get upset. Again, I really want to share things with them, I'm just not sure how to do it. Something we'll have to work on. Saf does something very similar. A lot of times when she wants to continue interacting with mom and dad she comes up with all of the nutty things to say or do to keep them near. The bummer, she drives them and herself nuts. She usually doesn't get the type of interaction she was wanting because she doesn't know how to ask for it, so mom and dad are hit and miss in meeting her needs. That's a lot of what makes her cry and feel sad...mom and dad, too. A lot of times people think that kiddos with autism don't want interaction and aren't social. Truth is, no matter how much they want it...if you try and try and fail over and over again you may eventually just give up trying. Hope Saf never does that...and I hope I don't either.

Today we got to go to the park with our friends Arlo, Flyn, and Greer. It was really fun. I had the best time watching Arlo and Flyn chasing their daddy and separating tiny rocks from dirt. Saf had a blast playing with these pea pod things off of some trees. It was a great afternoon.

Dad has the day off tomorrow so we're going to see the animals at Bravo Farms. Arlo, FLyn, and Greer are gonna meet us there and mom said we can get ice cream from their dairy shop. I CAN'T WAIT! It's gonna be GREAT!

So, here's to a nice 3 day weekend and a great short week!

Peace
Nixi

Mom made us a HUGE batch of playdough.........I like how it feels on my face!

Sick....AGAIN!

I don't know what it is this season, but we are a sickly bunch! The week started out ok, but Wednesday morning I threw up. It was awful. By the afternoon mom felt sick, and by the evening Nixi seemed a little off. I'm feeling a lot better now, but Nixi and dad seem to feeling a little cruddy. We can't seem to catch a break. So, no pictures or video this week......we'll make up for it next week.

We spent a lot of time at home playing because we weren't feeling well and it is
C-O-L-D! Sunday was our first day out of the house in 4 days. That's the longest we've ever been cooped up. Because we weren't feeling great, we didn't complain.

Heather, my BIA came on Wednesday and Friday. She's really fun. When she came on Friday Nixi greeted her with a big "Hi Heeouu. How are you?!" She's so silly. I got to do a picture matching game on Friday and I was awesome at it. It was really fun, too.

This week we start up our crazy schedule again. I'm back in school and Nixi is back to her Early Intervention stuff. Its gonna be great to be back in the swing of things. I'm thinking this first week back may be a little rough. Since we were sick this last week, we slept in some. The past few mornings mom has tried to get us up and moving by 7:30am (15 minutes later than our norm), and the best she was able to get out of us was out of bed at 8am. We have a really specific morning routine: wake up, watch a 30 min cartoon/eat, diaper and dress, take Winston on a walk, brush teeth/comb hair, shoes, car. All of this has to be done, with us in the car(or ready for Heather), by 8:50am all days but Monday. We are a well oiled machine! Hopefully we can get back in the groove without too much drama.

So, should be an interesting and busy week. Hope you're all doing great and can't wait to tell you all about it next week!

xoxo
Saf

Happy 2011!!!

Ok, so we didn't really stay up for the whole New Year thing...but low and behold, 2011 came anyways! Saf and I are looking forward to a great 2011. We spent the last week of 2010 doing tons of fun stuff.

We're having a lot of rain up here, but that hasn't stopped us. We hung out in the Lowe's garden center, the jungle, on days that rained. We love it there. We can run around without getting too wet. Mom calls out colors and we scour the aisles to find flowers in that color. We play with the fountains...its an all around good time. They know us there,and everyone says hi to us. It's just a lot of fun.

We got to hang out with kids from Saf's school on days with no rain. The park was wet, COLD, and super fun! We even got to spend some time with our friends Flyn, Arlo,and Greer! I've figured out how to go on the swing on my tummy...its so AWESOME! Saf is having fun testing mom and dad. We're supposed to hold hands when we are walking to the car and Saf is doing this smile and run thing. What a pre-schooler! All in all, we had a lot of fun days playing around our friends. I say around because when the park is full of kids we both prefer to play on the periphery. Saf likes to watch the other kids, I like to look for treasures. Mom calls them trash, but what does she know! Someone needs to keep our parks clean...may as well be me!

Saf's appointment with the nutritionist went great! She made through the full two hours with hardly any problems. The lady had some cool toys! She helped mom come up with a game plan to try to help with the bowel problem. She told mom that once Saf gets back to a regular stooling pattern, her colon will shrink back to its normal size and she'll forget she was ever holding it. Saf will take a laxative daily, and she'll start taking formula instead of milk. It might take some time, but the nutritionist assured mom that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Mom left feeling very hopeful and super proud of Saf.

I got to hang out with dad...always a good time. He was on vacation all week so we got to do lots of neat stuff with him.

One more week of vacation then Saf is back in school and I'm back to my appointments. We've had fun, but I think we're both ready to get back into our regular routine.

We got our last Christmas present this weekend, a HUGE piano that you can play with your feet like in that movie "BIG". Its really fun. We're still getting the hang of it, and what fun its been figuring it out! We had a really great Christmakka.

Hope you all had a great week and a fun New Year. I made a resolution to try and scream a little less, maybe even sleep through the night. Saf made a resolution to try to accept help a little more often, and to be a little more patient with me when I scream. Fair enough!

Peace
Nixi

BIG fun............