Catching Up...

So last night when I finally got around to update, my post was after midnight and the timestamp ended up being today. It was a long day despite a 2 hour delay for the low temps that graced us last night. I also had two IEPs to finish writing.

Today Ainslee stayed home with her daddy while I worked. Preschool and Autism Academy were cancelled due to the 2 hour delay for Aiken County Schools today. That part sucked because Ainslee loves school and does so well; however, getting to sleep in until 8AM and get ample time to hang out with my daughter was AWESOME before I had to work. It's hard to leave my baby girl after so many days with her. Corey said she did well with him though. Tonight when I got home, she was doing awesome. Not only did she ask me twice this morning to go potty (though she never did), once on the "little potty" and once on the "big potty," she also asked me tonight to go potty. She never went then either but I guess it's still progress and a start. At least now something is telling that sweet little mind of hers to ask to go potty. I'll take it. 

Ainslee was also talking a lot tonight, though not so much functionally, but using longer sentences and saying more. She has a book that I got her memorized but has magnets to fill in pictures as a story is read. She does that independently now because, well, she has the story memorized. Photographic memory at it's finest. She also sang several songs (more than usual since she has figured out more words) and we read several new books that I got in the mail for her today from Amazon. I got her a couple books about teeth and the dentist (she goes to her first appointment next Wednesday) plus some other fun books (such as Bubble Guppies, her favorite.

To catch up on 30 Day Mom Challenge, I didn't give an update yesterday but I have been doing them. On Sunday I mistakenly did #6 instead of #5 so I vowed to still complete #5 yesterday, which I did. #5 was, "say to yourself, he's only __________ years old. He's still a child. Then, treat him that way" though the concrete person in me corrects "she" every time. Every day when Ainslee does some things, I have to tell myself "she's only 3" rather than get annoyed or question it. When I'm about to wipe her mouth because she has spilled food, I tell myself, "leave her alone, she's only three." Or when she's running through the house like a madwoman, singing and crashing in to things" I tell myself, "easy killer, she's only 3." And when I worry that she's not doing some academic things right or she's not portraying hand dominance, I hear Sweet Babs, her teacher, saying, "chill out Kim, she's only 3." 

Number 7 in the 30 Day Mom Challenge was a little tough on a day that my child could not go to school. Turns out she can't go AGAIN tomorrow (insert disappointed face here) due to another 2 hour delay and cancellation of preschool classes. I wrote Ainslee a note for her lunchbox that said "I love (symbolized by a heart) you" for her lunchbox but it's on "hold" to go in until she can go to school. Bums me out but I tried! Does that count? If school is a normal day Thursday, maybe I can FINALLY get it into her lunch box.

So it's after midnight but consider this my Monday post. Not as much to report as in days past. I had to go back to work today and work late finishing 2 IEPs. I feel like I barely got to see Ainslee. :( She sang to Fallout Boy on the drive home, played on the Kindle some, and we read a couple books before her shows and bedtime....

2 hour delay tomorrow. Corey is staying home with Ainslee. I'm jealous. Missed my girl today. :(

Pajama Day

Today was pajama day for Ainslee and me. We have literally been in our pajamas all day. We've been inside all day, and we have both seemed okay with that. I just showered and am back in my pajamas, but a different shirt. Ainslee will bathe tonight and just put on a different nightgown. I love pajama days.

We stayed inside but we had fun. We jammed to a Yo Gabba Gabba CD, read some books, made her valentines already for school (yes it's early, I get this), played with Bubble Guppies, and I let her watch one TV show and one Sesame Street DVD. We'll play some more tonight as we try to get back on track for school. I made her a calendar for January that has the days she has school, the days that Cameron rides to school with us, the day that she'll go to the dentist (her first time), and when Aunt Amy is coming to visit. It's hung on her table by her bed. She doesn't seem to mind when I tell her tomorrow we go to school because she seems to love school. We'll see how happy she is in the morning when I get her up at 6:30AM. Her backpack is already packed, note for her teachers in her folders, her clothes are laid out, and before I go to bed her lunch will be packed (with her favorites) so if it's hard to get her awake in the morning, at least the small things are already out of the way.

Ainslee did a little better today on the potty by about afternoon. We set the timer for every 20 minutes as usual and Corey bought her a sticker book (Sesame Street) from the dollar section of Target. She looks through them and picks out a sticker but we won't actually give her the sticker until she pees. It worked a bit today. I hope it'll continue. Since nap she hasn't had much luck (back to peeing in pull-ups) but hopefully we can turn that around. Our goal tonight, too, is to be in bed by 9PM at the latest. After research on the internet and emailing her pediatrician on Facebook AND getting a response already, I'm going to give her a little dose of melatonin tonight to help her get to sleep. I'm hoping that once she's back to her school schedule and refusal to nap after school at her Gigi's house, she'll go to bed without the need for melatonin.

In the 30 Day Mom Challenge today, I goofed and did #6 instead of #5 so today what I did was, Bake, make, or buy them their favorite food. I hope what I did isn't cheating but it's truly her favorite food: Spaghetti O's. I bought her a small can AND I even let her eat it without being laced with veggies. She ate the ENTIRE can and did good feeding herself as long as I scooped for her. I also noticed that she eats way better with her right hand than her left. I'll reverse and do #5 tomorrow.

The valentines that we already made for Ainslee's friends at school. Fun and free!

She ate the entire can of Spaghetti O's!

Cooooold!

Today was another good day but a very COLD day! We stayed indoors as much as we could outside of a trip to Sam's Club just to get out of the house. Ainslee pushed the buggy some (though it was harder than the Petsmart buggy because it was taller and wider) and did back bends on the cafe benches. ;)

I went to get a haircut and visit Books-A-Million while she napped but Corey got her up while I was gone since the haircut took longer than I expected. I used my gift cards, as is typical, to buy Ainslee two books and a puzzle. When I got home, she was fussy and not wanting to come out of her bed. I assumed it was because her routine was different; Mommy wasn't home to get her up from nap. As soon as I gave her the new puzzle, which had numbers on it, she perked up and was herself. She let me read her one of new books followed by the other book which is a magnetic book where certain words are highlighted and we have to put the highlighted words' pictures on the page to illustrate the story. She liked it. She also particularly loved the firetruck and ladder magnets because they reminded her of one of her favorite Bubble Guppy episodes about firetrucks. So she didn't lose the small magnets, I quickly got on Google Images and pasted a picture of a firetruck and ladder into Word, made them bigger, printed and laminated, and gave them to her. She was delighted and carried them around the house for a good 45 minutes before she decided she wanted my phone. ;) Once again, the free gifts trumped the store bought (though she likes them too, especially the puzzle).

Randomly today on the potty also, I sat Ainslee down and realized her pull-up was wet. I said, "oohhhhh Ainslee, you peed in your pull-up instead of the potty" and she promptly replied with, "it's okay, Mommy!" I don't know where it came from but the spontaneity and appropriateness of it made me happy (despite being slightly discouraged that she yet again didn't pee in the potty).

Today was day 3 of the 30 Day Mom Challenge I'm doing. Today was, Hug your child three times today." Again, this is easy. I hug her as much as I can every day. I hugged her more times than I could count and not just because of the challenge. She's a sweet girl who, thankfully, loves her mommy (she's my shadow most of the time) and squeezes. :) So, another successful completion of the challenge. 3 days down, 27 to go. Piece of cake.

A great day...

Today, simply put, was a great day. Ainslee and I did nothing until after she got up from nap at 5PM. Nothing as in, nothing worth leaving pj's or the house. During the day we played, read books, watched a little tv, played some more and then, the highlight of my day.... attempted finger painting with ear-to-ear-grinning success! She did really well and to think I had put her finger paints in a pile in her closet to give away. She did well! She needed my help to hand-over-hand finger paint with her but when I laid q-tips in front of her, she did some painting on her own. I promptly posted pictures and two videos on Facebook and texted pictures to family and friends! She hates to get her fingers dirty but she did it with no whimpering, no crying, no fuss- she was actually really happy about it and she sang to the tubes of paint afterwards (hello, she loves colors). I am so proud of her! This was her first successful painting experience at home but I give a lot of credit for it's inception to her teachers and therapists at school! They do painting and crafts with her almost constantly it seems (which I also love)!

Secondly, tonight we went to Petsmart to get the dogs new beds and some dog food. We let Ainslee walk instead of ride in the buggy. She did AWESOME and while it's second nature for her to reach for our hands when she's walking, we did let her go some and she stayed with us. If we told her to "come here" or "stay here" she listened well. She had moments of happy hopping and jogging away (particularly when she saw the different colors amongst the dog beds). She also had her first moment of pushing the shopping cart (and I must add that it had two dog beds and a 20 pound bag of dog food on it). She was over the moon with happiness doing it! I had to help her steer, but she did it! :) My awesome girl. There are also pictures of THAT on Facebook.

Also, day two into the 30 Day Mom Challenge was completed. Today was easy: Go the whole day without yelling. In general, I don't yell at Ainslee. I don't think it's productive and what kid wants to be yelled at? So, I was successful in today's task. :)

Overall, a fantastic day. It also ended after bath time with her curling up in my lap and letting me hug her. When I told her she could go tell her daddy goodnight, she said "no," remained curled up to me, and then just said "goodnight." I had to call Corey and he came into her room to get his kiss, poor fella. On the inside though, I was elated. I love that girl so much and even though her kisses are prompted and she doesn't say, "I love you," I know that she does love me.

30 Day Mom Challenge

I'm going to attempt to do this. I did number 1 today, "Ask: what is one thing we can do together this month?" I asked my Ainslee but, alas, all she did was repeat the question two times and then run happily off to get her Bubble Guppies. If it's an attempt, it still counts right?

Background and such....

So, as a smart request from my sister, I thought I'd share a little background on Ainslee and her diagnosis:

As an infant, Ainslee was, in my opinion, a very easy baby. She slept great, ate great, and seemed happy and healthy. We started to worry when she wasn't crawling or walking at a normal age; she crawled and 11 months and walked at 14 months (October 12, 2011 to be exact). We chalked up the delay being due to her eyesight; she got glasses on February 6, 2010 after her then pediatrician, Dr. Collins, noticed her left eye turning in). At about 15 months, Corey and I started to notice that the few words that she did had started to diminish. We hung pictures around the house and tried to encourage her to say more but she didn't really. Still though, she seemed happy and healthy so we didn't venture into testing or early intervention services. I had my suspicions for autism, based on my background and the symptoms she was showing. In addition to her loss of language, she didn't really show an interest in others around her nor did she play with or respond to kids. She rarely played with toys. In January of 2013, I finally applied for BabyNet and had her evaluated. She was then tested and picked up and began receiving speech, OT, and PT which all took a long time coming due to the need for evaluations first. Speech came the quickest as a service. About 3-4 months in to her BabyNet services, I asked her early interventionist for a referral for an autism evaluation which she submitted. This also took FOREVER but on April 8, 2013, we drove to Columbia, Shmamma and I, to the C.A.R.E. Center for her autism evaluation. At this time, Shmamma and I knew it was autism but we had to go through the formalities for medical reasons. 2 days after the evaluation, I got the call and her diagnosis: autism. From that point on, her BabyNet services continued and her EI also started working on getting her on the fast-track PDD waiver to get ABA services when she turned 3. Long story short, ABA began after her 3rd birthday but I was not impressed. The lead therapist was bossy, pushy, and manipulative and clearly only wanted hours (hence, pay) for her and her therapists. Her therapist was sweet and meant well but had not been properly trained. Ainslee was her first kid with autism. A month in on her ABA services, it was almost time for her to start school and Shmamma had to keep her 2 weeks while I went to work and before her preschool services started so I cancelled the ABA. She did fine. August 26, 2013 was her first day of preschool and since then she has been making GREAT progress, gained important social skills, and slowly learning that she has to follow commands instead of her own agenda. ;) She is in her preschool Special Education class for half day morning, and for halfday PM, she goes to Autism Academy for ABA type discrete trial instruction (with also social skills training). We're also working potty training; she's doing AWESOME at school but is hit or miss at home.Since her time at Chukker Creek, inklings of very basic imaginative play are coming out and she is giving kisses and blossoming into a very silly little girl. On December 18, 2013 we went to our first appointment with a fantastic developmental pediatrician, Dr. Dibattisto, and she did AWESOME! She was also given a swab to send off for genetic testing, a new thing that is done for children diagnosed with ASD. The lab is supposed to contact us and let us know if we'll have to pay anything out of pocket before they do the genetic testing. If it's not too high a price, we'll surely do it.

So, it has been a journey and, yes, though I knew she had autism before the medical world knew it, hearing the diagnosis did make me cry after I hung up the phone. I'm okay with it though and, thankfully, know how to handle it seeing that my job was working with and coordinating ABT (similar to ABA) services for kids with autism for 6 years prior to me going to school to be a Special Education teacher, graduating, and having my own kid. I read every book that I can because it's my passion- I find autism fascinating. I had a full shelf off books on autism before I ever had a kid. I have probably almost filled up another shelf since Ainslee's diagnosis. To this day, me and everyone who interact with Ainslee believe her to be on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum. She's briliiant, fascinated (and obsessed) by letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. She loves music and books. She has gone from being a great eater as a baby to a picky eater now which is due mostly to sensory issues and texture. She has a few foods that she'll only eat and some foods that she loved as a baby, she won't eat now because of how they look to her. I get fruits in her no problems and I've gotten to where she'll eat sweet potatoes without them having to be stage 3 baby foods. Other veggies (to give variety), I have to give every now and then as stage 3 baby food or I can mix veggies (corn, green beans, peas, carrots) in with her favorite tomato-based pastas. She drinks V8 Fusion as her juice so that also gives her extra helpings of fruits and veggies. She won't drink from an open-top cup but does drink from a straw (though she still wants her milk WARM and in a sippy cup). She doesn't eat candy (texture thing) or ice cream (it's cold). Her utensil use is hit or miss. If she's focused and I set the food up for her either by scooping or stabbing, she'll feed herself but then hands the utensils to me rather than trying to stab or scoop herself. With prompts, she'll try, but she has really weak fine motor skills. She won't bite food so I still have to cut foods up for her (chicken nuggets, corn dog nuggets, fish sticks, PBJ sandwiches, etc) and break up some cookies or rice cakes for her in fear that she'll choke or gag when she just tries to shove the large bites into her mouth. She knows all of her alphabet, all of the letter sounds, and can count to 100, including by 10s. Some instances by 5s, and she knows the name of family members, her address, and phone number. She's also starting to read words. So, cognitively, despite what her IEP evaluation revealed due to her non-compliance or lack of participation with the testing, she is not intellectually disabled.

As I wrote yesterday, it was a bit of a frustrating day because Ainslee was such a whackadoodle and not like herself. Today she's much better and being silly. Before nap she began making her jokes and laughing about her Bubble Guppy figures. 2 of the 7 are named Nonny and Deema. She randomly held up Nonny and said "Nonny." Then she looked at me, grinned, and said "Deemy" and giggled. She did this several times, clearly amused with herself. It was super cute. This goes back to her first "joking" at dinner on Christmas Day at Gigi and Peepeyes house. She naming all of us at the table and when she got to Peepeye (Bruce), she grinned and said "Pee pee." Of course we all laughed and she did it every time. She was proud of herself and, quite frankly, we were proud of her too. Now, calling her grandpa "Pee pee" may not be the BEST thing but making a joke was a big deal for her and we knew it. She calls him Peepeye still, don't worry, but today after her "Deemy" jokings before her nap she did say "Gigi", look at me, grin, and then said "Pee pee" and fake laughed really loudly. Such a silly girl. :)

Another big thing is as she was in her room and I in the office, I heard her yell for me by name. She will usually yell for me but it's usually "Mommy! Oh, Mommy, where are you!? I don't know where Mommy is" or she'll cry, whimper, and repeat until she finds me or I call out to her. Sometimes she'll just chant, "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" like she's at a football game. Today I heard her yell "Mommy!" and wait for me to respond to her. It's the small things. I sure love the small things because as far as she goes, they're big things! :)

Last night Corey tried to light a couple small fireworks for Ainslee thinking that seeing the colors would make her happy. It was the ones that look like small cigarette-sized cylinders that you lay on the ground and light and then watch as they spin and change colors for a few seconds. The colors were not impressive to Ainslee. Nor was the loud whirring noise. Ainslee hated them and demanded to go inside. I felt bad for Corey, but at least he tried. It's okay Ainslee, Mommy hates fireworks too.