Turkey Day...........


Sugarplumb Fairy....

You know your kid has autism when they use the Christmas tree as another opportunity to line things up.....! :)




A week off...and it was good! We did great with the break from school/services. Yeah, there we had our moments...but nothing related to being on break. Super cool!

We did some art projects, went to the park with Heather and her niece Liz, hit Lowe's, and even went to Big Lot's and spent Thanksgiving money that grandpa and grandma Seifert and our Omi sent us! We celebrated Thanksgiving, dad was home for 4 days straight, and we ended the week with putting up our new Christmas tree! Such a neat week.

Ok, so the park and hanging out with Liz was AWESOME! We met her first when she started coming to our summer school to help out. She's almost 9 and she's the coolest big kid EVER! When we were at the park she played lots of games with me and tried her darnedest to help Safi conquer her fear of the pitfall slide. She took me down it bunch of times and each time Safi got less and less upset...mom calls it habituation...whatever that is. Then it came time for us to leave and Safi asked to go down the slide, just like she had last time. She got up there and started to freak out...just like last time. Liz just sat next to her and offered silent support. Well, I decided that I needed to replay the last time we went to the park and freaked out getting into the car. We left Safi up there to work it out on her own. While everyone was focused on my meltdown, nobody noticed that Safi had quietly gotten off the play structure by herself and come to the car. She was so proud of herself...I was a screaming mess. So, a tremendous success for Safi...now we have to work on getting me out of my loop. I do that, I get into loops where I have to do things the same way every time...even if it means melting down.

Thanksgiving was ok...I love turkey. Safi had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We both had our moments of freaking out but all in all an ok day.

We went to Bog Lot's with our money, save for the dollar we each took to the bank...check out the video. It was cool...lots of stuff, also lots of people. Turns out I kinda get freaked out by new stores now. I was doing pretty well until I realized where I was then I started screaming and wanting to imitate what people around me where doing. We got outta dodge fast...but not before buying out treats with our money. We gave it to the cashier ourselves and everything. Even got some change! So cool.

The icing on the cake...putting up our Christmas tree. You know how we feel about Christmas...L-O-V-E!!!!

So, great week...now back to the grind!

Peace
Nixi

When mom asked Safi what she was going to do with her Turkey Day money she said, "I takin' it to the bank" without skipping a beat...mom wasn't able to get that on video but she was able to bait us into a half-hearted replay on our way there!


We made up this tree decorating song as we decorated...what can we say, Christmas moves us!

Hat season is upon us.....Woohoo!

It was a long week, not a bad week, but it seemed to drag on forever! Was an even longer weekend and we're all a little drained.

Nixi had school on Monday and Tuesday, culminating in a pre-Thanksgiving feast! Mom and the other grown-ups did a potluck thing, so I got to eat a cookie! Nixi's teachers set up a holiday table with fake candles and everything. They had cheese and crackers, apples slices, and pumpkin pie. Nix wasn't into anything but the crackers...asking for seconds and thirds! She did pretty good in class both days (Heather was there), but the fallout later at home was pretty epic.

I had a short week and I'm off until the 28th. Bummer!! We made cool turkey hats, though...and I used the school toilet at least once each day. Teacher Mel asked us all what we were thankful for and I said, "mommy kisses and daddy hugs." Mom had my first parent-teacher conference and Teacher Mel had nothing but great things to say. I'm meeting all of my goals from my IEP (individualized education plan). Pretty exciting.

I think Nixi told you about our weird visit with the OT last week. So, mom cancelled her for awhile, asking that she check in on Nixi when she's in class instead of coming to the house. Mom's instincts were dead on for this one...when Thursday rolled around and teacher Lorene showed up both Nixi and I said "No teacher Jo today, all done teacher Jo." Mom hadn't mentioned anything to us about not seeing her at the house for awhile, nor had she talked about it to anyone else in front of us. So, that was just our way of saying that we weren't wanting a home visit.

We hit Lowe's a few times during the week...as well as the park. Turned out I didn't get sick, but Nixi got a nasty cold. So, we hung out around the house until she didn't have a fever again. Saturday we had a pretty hairy day, from start to finish.

In the morning dad took us to get fancy donuts from the donut shop. We left a little late and when we got there it was crowded. I kinda lost it and started hitting Nix and screaming...of course, she started screaming and we were off and running for the rest of the day. We went to the park, it was fun at first. Some older kids were helping the little kids play hide and seek. The big girl, in particular, was carrying Nixi around and hiding her and I wanted her to do it with me too. So, I started getting a little screechy and upset with Nixi. Mom helped facilitate play between us all and it was ok. I rode my trike and Nixi road her scoot and zoom around. Then I went to swing before we left, and the park quickly filled up...I mean really packed. I thought I saw Nixi on a particular slide that I really want to go down, but am afraid to go down and I flipped. I asked to go on the slide, mom said ok. I got up there and began to scream that I was scared...I mean really scream. Everyone stopped and stared and the other kids were scared. Mom had to climb up there and get me. Nixi freaked out because dad was holding her and carried her to the car...she needs to walk. Basically, we both totally lost it. We had to be forcibly put in our car seats, and I ended up giving mom a pretty intense pounding. It was awful. Mom says we're going back to the park Monday and either a)conquering the slide or b) at least going to leave on our own two feet!

So, that was the week....this coming week will be interesting between rainy weather and no school for us both. I guess Thursday is Thanksgiving...boy am I gonna miffed if the day doesn't end with me snuggled up next to a fluffy, feathery turkey!!!

xoxo
Safi

Safi's drawing of Tom and Jerry...note she even wrote "cat"!

Someone left this supportive sticky note on mom's rear windshield when she was out shopping...


I apologize in advance...this blog entry is gonna be a short one. We're getting sick...AGAIN! Safi woke up with a fever Sunday morning and I started to get one later in the day. Good grief! We plan on getting flu shots at some point, but seems we keep getting random viruses.

Either way, mom has a bunch of crafts for us to do, 'cuz Safi's gonna be super bummed about missing school. Should be fun!

I had an ok couple of days at school. Teacher Shannon was back and Lorene and others were there to give me support. I did some fun art projects and got to eat cheerios! Good enough for me!

Safi had some great days at school...even getting to call home and tell mom when she went on the school potty 3 times!! So cool!

We had a weird home visit with my OT, teacher Jo and Lorene. Turns out teacher Jo is afraid of dogs due to a past experience. In the year she's been coming here she hasn't said a word, but she kind a freaked on Thurs. Winny licked her ear and she said she couldn't do this anymore and wouldn't come out to the house again if he wasn't kenneled. Mom, of course, put Winny in the kennel immediately...but also reminded teacher Jo that had she EVER said previously that she wasn't comfortable with him milling around she would have always had him in there. Weird. Mom's wondering is maybe she wasn't annoyed with something else. Specifically, she kinda seems bugged by Safi's presence during our sessions sometimes. Mom's gonna address this with her next week. Teacher Lorene also made some comments that she thought I was leery of Safi. Mom couldn't take it and kind of unloaded on her. See, mom and dad are frustrated because the early intervention folks still don't seem to know Nixi. Of course this is due to the time constraints placed on them by the way the services are set up. Never the less, it still doesn't help us any if they don't know me...and they don't. I could go on about it, but we're just all drained. So, look forward to future rants! :)

This week should be interesting, sickies and all. Check back in next week to see how we all pulled through it!

Peace
Nixi

Sisterly love!!! I just think its hysterical when Safi blinks!

Let the good time flow..............

Ok, its just too exciting to save for last....so I'm gonna go backwards this week. I USED THE TOILET!!!! Sunday morning mom outfitted our toilet with this cool attachable seat me and Nixi's size. So rad. She downloaded some potty time apps on the iphone, got a cool book, and we were off to the races! The whole deal started off pretty dicey. We were intrigued, but anxious because it was a big a change to the bathroom. Also, the potty seat was really wobbly and just didn't feel very secure. So, both Nix and I had a few bouts of screaming and such...but after we chilled out at nap time, and mom went our and got a different and better potty seat it was on like donkey kong! Turns out Nixi really can't pull her pants down on her own and she's having a hard time getting on the potty and feeling secure. She likes to get up there, hang out in a very tense manner for a second, then say "I did it" and hop right off. I, however, am determined to pee in the toilet. In my quest to go pee, I went poop....three separate times!! And I was totally cool with it! Didn't bother me one bit, only I really want to pee. Oh well. Mom has this cool thing, if we go to the toilet and do something we get to pick a color of food dye which is then dropped into the toilet when we flush so we get to make cool colors in the water! So much better than a sticker!! Ok, stickers rule....but we really like this, too. Its unique and special and we only get to do it in the toilet! So, we're heading towards a really cool milestone....potty learning! WooHooo!

It got pretty cold this week, and we even had some rain. Mom, Heather, Nixi and me went to Lowe's to check out the Christmas decorations...AWESOME...and to get a big box. Why a box? Rainy day playhouse! We made a super awesome house...I even figured out how to make it a mobile home! We colored on it with markers and decorated it with stickers and it was just so much fun!

I had a great week at school. I was bummed that I didn't have school Monday...but Halloween made up for that! Halloween was great! We had a mini pumpkin treasure hunt (think Easter egg hunt, but with little plastic pumpkins with goodies inside)played Monster Mash musical chairs, ghost bean bag "no hands", and we went trick or treating for the very first time! It was so coooool! We went to two houses, our next door neighbors...then we politely asked to go home. We had a really great Halloween.

Nixi had a rough two days at school. Heather was sick, and so was the normal teacher for her class...so two MAJOR changes in the normal routine. Nixi didn't handle it very well. By the middle of class on Monday mom had to go into the class because Nixi was in a full blown meltdown. She asked that they call Nixi's home visit teacher Lorene to come and offer Nixi some support and she was able to pull it back together for the rest of class. On Tuesday Nix barely made it through the front gate to the classroom before looking around and seeing her teacher was still absent and dropping to the floor screaming, kicking, etc. Her OT, teacher Jo came the rescue and her and Lorene helped her get through class. She got to make a really cool picture of an owl, complete with real feathers! Pretty neat. Hopefully this week is easier for her. Heather wont be there Monday, but she'll be there Tues. We shall see.

So, for the most part, that was our week. Some awesome greats, and some sad lows...but we're all still here! So, take a peek next week to see if we remain! :)

xoxo
Safi

Check out our rainy day play house/mobile home!


Lowe's fun day............

Sickies, sickies...a house of sickies. The week was all about being sick! Safi was sick, as you'll recall...then I got it. Boy howdy, did I get it. Safi didn't get a runny nose but I was an ooey mess.

We got to go to the doctor, and dad got to go with us. It was a really big deal because he hasn't been to the doctor with us since we've been doing so amazing there. Last time dad went we both had nuclears and had to be restrained, carried out, etc. He was so proud to see us walk in with a smile, hop on the scale, get measured, and do everything our doctor needed us to do...no screaming, a few tears from me, but pretty great. Safi got some antibiotics for a possible ear infection and we both got stickers and lollipops again! We LOVE the doctor.

I missed school on both days and Safi missed two days, too. She was super bummed because she loves school so much, but she handled the disappointment pretty well and was able to get some much needed rest.

Nana Cummings came up mid week and got stuck with two crabby grandkids. She didn't seem to mind, even though we were pretty rough on her. Heather came the second day she was here and facilitated some play with us all and that was cool. Each day got a hair better than the one before and by the time we were feeling better about the whole thing, she had to go. We just have a really hard time with changes and company in our house, no matter how much we love the company, is a huge change. So, we get a little more withdrawn, a little more rigid, a little more controlling, and little more anxious. Safi did get to have a great time showing Nana what she can do on mom's iphone and I got to play hide and seek behind the slide on our swing set with her...that was really fun. We also got to take her to Burger King! She brought us some neat goodies...Safi is in love with a Toy Story 2 book Nana brought, so much so she's been sleeping with it! So, in general an ok visit...I'm just in a funky place right now, have been for some weeks now and we all know that puts Safi in a funky space too...so, the visit went as well as it was gonna..sick or not.

Nana also got to go with us to Safi's school Halloween carnival on Friday. Oy vey! What a mess! Great idea in theory, but without any degree of structure it just wasn't very fun at all. I had the most fun in the beginning when all the kids left the classroom to hit the carnival and I stayed inside by myself (with Nana close by) and got to play with all of the stuff I've always wanted to play with! I also liked getting funky with the musical chairs! It was just too loud, too chaotic, too much. Safi seemed to enjoy the beginning. Remember how mom asked last week if the kids could have a little structure? Well, it did happen. Mom had to just yell, "Line up"...and the aid, teacher Joanne, helped get everyone semi organized. Teacher Mel didn't coordinate with any of the other teachers so when the costume parade started she just began plugging her kids into the the line as it went by...so they weren't all together. Mom saw Safi and a couple of other kids panic and asked Joanne to hold their hands...which she was delighted to do. It was just nuts and it ended with us both in tears. I will say this much, we LOVED showing off our costumes and we got lollipops...and you know how we feel about lollipops. So, chalking that up to another life experience.

Mom went to my transition planning meeting and went fine. Her and dad will be touring Maple Special Services Preschool for me next year, because I'm just not gonna do with at Lincoln with the lack of structure. Other than that, nothing too exciting. I'll get to go to a speech group one day a week before I go to actual class...that's kind of cool.

We're super pumped for Halloween. Can't wait to wear our costumes all day and mom has some funthings planned for us. Should be spooktacular! :)

So, that was the week in a disjointed nutshell!

Peace
Nixi

Halloween carnival.......note me feeling the groove with the musical chairs!


Nothing like a quiet Sunday morning...playing with pots!

Two peas in deep pressure pods!

Its been a week of sickies! Mom got sick...then I got sick...then dad got sick...now it seems Nixi's got it.

Luckily, I didn't get sick until Friday so I didn't have to miss any school...which was awesome! I had a blast hanging with my friends and dancing to cool blues during circle time. I'm quite the hep cat, you know! Mom and Nixi even got in on the action a few times when they came to pick me up! Super fun. Mom also got to talk to teacher Mel about the field trips and she agreed that they need to be more structured...but something tells me its gonna be mom and Kameron's mom who bring the structure. Either way, it doesn't matter, as long as its there and we are all able to relax more! Wanna know something super cool? I'm someone's best friend!! Kameron, one of my friends from school, told his sister on the way home from school that I am his best friend. It was totally unsolicited...out the blue he just told her "Safi's my best friend." Makes me feel pretty special! All in all, a really great week at school.

Nixi had a decent time at her school on Monday. Heather is still fading and going to fade even more by kinda hiding in an attached room where she can close the door. Nixi did a pretty good job of hanging without looking for her too much. She got pretty anxious when the teacher moved a pumpkin and she wanted it to be moved back to where it was...ok, she NEEDED it to be moved back. So, after a little yelling at some hernia inducing attempts to live the huge thing...they helped her put it back in its place. She did pretty well after class...but started falling apart the next day. She's been a little crazed ever since...but I don't think its because of school...I think its because she's just struggling a lot lately.

You know, I feel bad for the kid. I know what its like to scared, mad, confused, overstimulated, understimulated, the whole ball of wax. Even though I can empathize, its still rough to be around her when she's not doing well. Lately she wants to take things from me...all the time. If she can't, 'cuz I don't let her or mom steps in, she has a meltdown. Sunday morning was like the movie Midnight Express in our house. I was finished with my diaper change and it was her turn so I went to sit in the chair we sit in while we wait. She leaned down, grabbed my head and bit my cheek. She didn't let go until mom startled her by yelling out of shock. When she let go I was in so much pain, she bit me so hard it left marks and it just hurt so bad. She had to go into the bedroom and proceeded to go wild, hitting and kicking the door. When mom went to let her out after her 4 minutes were up she was on a rampage, clawing at mom and kicking her. She ended up getting so out of control that mom had to restrain her...and in the process, she bit onto mom's thumb and wouldn't let go. Mom yelled and tried to pull her hand away but she wouldn't let go. Mom finally shook her off and it was horrifying. Eventually dad went into the room with her monitored her from a distance. Start to finish it was an hour of madness. Mom played with me in the living room and we both nursed our wounds. Once Nixi came out of the room she just collapsed on mom's chest and fell asleep. Eventually we were able to all get out of the house and go to the arcade and have a great time! We're all hoping this biting thing doesn't become a routine happening. Just another new thing that makes it tough on us all, Nixi included. I sure hope she catches a break soon here and starts an upswing.

So, this week is a busy one. Tues mom goes to Nixi's transition planning meeting...'cuz she's 2.5 now and everyone gets together to talk about what will happen for her, service wise, when she turns 3. Nana Cummings is coming up for a visit on Wednesday and we all get to go to my school Halloween carnival on Friday. I'm not used to going to school on Friday, so hopeful its just a really great time and not too stressful. Should be a fun, stressful, exciting week!

Make sure to check back in next week and see how it all goes...and if Nixi is still biting!

xoxo
Safi

Our deep pressure pea pods arrived! Of course, we quickly figured out how to make then a vestibular extravaganza...but we also realized how groovy and chill they were as time went on!


When you're feeling the music...why hide it?! Monopoly jams RULE! You should've seen me before mom was able to start filming....I was on fire!

Ok, so it was an interesting week. As you can tell by our swimsuit shots, its still HOT...and its the middle of October! We had some fun, a lot of drama, and a lot of tears this week.

Heather, my BIA, progressed the "fading" this week in my school...so she was still there, but she asked the staff to be my direct supports. That went, well, weird. I went through the motions and by snack time I checked out and stayed out. At the very end when they do bubbles, mom was watching through some goofy 2-way mirror and noticed by spatial awareness was gone. I ran up, and into, the lady blowing the bubbles and was very "hands on"...a sign that I'm overstimulated and disorganized. Got home and mom was actually surprised that I seemed to be ok. As the day went on I went downhill. It seemed like every half an hour I was feeling a million times worse. I just wanted to be squeezed constantly and I was really disoriented and confused. After we took Safi to school and were driving back home, I started screaming for her and didn't seem to remember that we'd just dropped her off. When mom finally got me down for my nap...sort of, a lot of screaming going on, she went on line and rush ordered a deep pressure pea pod because she was so horrified by how badly I fell apart (http://store.schoolspecialty.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=93671&minisite=10206). Unfortunately, this is just the way its got to be 'cuz I need to start getting ready to go to big kid school next year. See, I can't hide from the world...even if its not "my" world. Much as I'd like to, mom and dad wont let me because if they did I'd never get to really live. So, we work on building up my tolerance and simultaneously try to find things that I can do that will negate the negative parts that are sure to be there...to one extent or another. The hope is that eventually the negative aspects of the world will lessen and my coping bag of tricks will expand. Tough work, but I think I can do it...trick is not to shut down completely. If that were to begin to occur, mom and dad would just say I'm not ready YET and we stop and try again later. I don't know if I'm ready for all of this yet. We shall see.

Safi had some great days at school...and then the pumpkin patch field trip debacle. Oy ve! Totally unorganized, much like the fair, and we all felt it. Mom, dad, Heather and Safi's classmate Kameron's mom did their best to try and give us some structure so we could enjoy ourselves, but it was rough. We managed to have fun loading a wheel barrel full of pumpkins..that's about all the fun we had. Safi was anxious because of the loosey-goosey nature so she had to impose structure on the rest of us. I just started screaming, and Kameron just wanted to "walk" and "go". Mom's gonna talk to teacher Mel about it, but who knows. Its definitely giving mom pause when it comes to me going to Lincoln next year and having Mel as my teacher. Safi's doing her best to be flexible..and she's actually doing a great job, even if its causing her a ton of anxiety. Hopefully teacher Mel will understand and work on making the next field trip a little more thought out so we can all relax and enjoy it!

I had my 2 year check up at the doctor...a half a year late! Better late than never. I was scared and Safi cheered me on and comforted me through it all. I got a shot, a sticker and a sugar-free lollipop at the end...and a big sister who really loves me. Could have been worse.

With that, I'm gonna go because I'm still not feeling 100% groovy. Below is a video mom made to show you what a true "ritual" looks like. I don't think most people really get how specific and binding they are. Its a compilation of videos taking over several night of the first part of my 11 part bedtime ritual. Its the only part that doesn't directly involve mom, so its the only part she could tape. I have a number of rituals that I do throughout the day, and if they aren't done right I need to do them over and over until it feels ok...growing more and more anxious every moment until it is. Its scratching an itch...you don't stop until you got it.

So, check back next week to see how my school goes this week.

Peace
Nixi

Listen for "big hug" when I hug my doll and "look mommy, I swimming in the ocean..wheee"...also look for when I have to repeat something because I didn't say it the way I needed to or didn't touch something the way it needed to be touched.