Social Steps

Well, we're week one into the period of transitions and all is well. The Monkey has definitely had some crazy days, but all in all is doing great. As much as I love Sonshine School and all, it is clear after a week of just the PPCD class that Tripp even prefers the services he gets at the school district. He is thriving. One more week of that and then we swtich to summer. The first week of June will not be our true schedule - but it will be close and then the week after we start our new routine. Pray for smooth transitions.

Now for the fun stuff...Our precious Monkey has been taking some major social steps the last few weeks. I've seen him playing with his baby sister! That's right, he's not just tolerating her presence, and telling her "No, Vivie!" He is playing with her! He came running out of her room the other day squealing and then stopped at the end of the hall. He looked back and here came the Bug after him. He waited until she got close enough to touch his back and then he took off again with a squeal. They repeated this process for about 10 minutes. Beautiful!

He's also been making progress with our sweet dog Cowboy. He has let Cowboy give him kisses a few time. This used to send him into a fit - I'm guessing it was sensory overload or something. As of late, however he has allowed it and even said "Thank you kisses." To top it off I saw Tripp give Cowboy a kiss on top of the head. WooHoo - he's bonding with real living creatures!! That sounds bad - he's always been bonded to some of us, but his circle is a growin'!

Let's see, what else can I tell you about the Monkey.....oh, yesterday at church when it was time to pray during the worship service he actually got it. He stopped what he was doing, folded his little hands, closed his eyes, and put his head down. He waited for the amen and then went on about his busy business. It was awesome!

And one last funny thing he's done lately......While on the potty recently he was, um, examining his most male part and proclaims "It's a big (fill in anatomically correct word here)!" "Do you see the big -----?" "It's a very tall -----!" My response? Trying to not laugh or be mortified I said "Yes, I see the -----, now use it to put your TT in the potty." I'm glad he's learning to use some adjectives, but seriously do we have to talk about THAT?!?!?!

Funny Goose

Last night I sat down with Paris and read her the book All Cats Have Aperger Syndrome. We started off by talking a little about how Tripp's brain doesn't work like ours. She saw the book and asked if it was about kitties. I said it was about kitties and Bubba too. We read it and made lots of comparisons/connections. After we were done I asked if she had any questions and she says:

"Yes I do. Why does Assboogers make Tripp and kittens crazy?"

I nearly fell off the bed laughing. I held it together and explained that Aspergers is just what you call it when your brain works like Tripp's. She didn't have any other questions and I left feeling like it went very well. Though I couldn't help but think as I walked out that a** boogers might make me crazy too if I had them!

Transitions

We have a lot of those coming. I don't know if our Monkey is already sensing them or what , but he has been spending more time Monkey Dancin' than usual lately. We've had lots of tippy-toe dancing and nose huffing and quite a few tantrums, and can I just say that I am TIRED of changing wet undies!! Three steps forward, two steps back............

So, it's May and that means change. T has two more weeks of Sonshine School. That's a little bit sad for me. SSS has been so great to us, but we know that the school district can help him more so next year that is where he will be. I just know how much he is loved at SSS and it makes me a little bit sad to know he won't be there next year. Anyway, the last two weeks of May he will go all 5 days to his PPCD class with the school district. I just love the smile he gets when he sees his teacher. Clearly Miss Devine is at the top of his list! Throw in a few doctor appointments (one in Temple) and a first trip to the dentist and we have one busy month.

Once that's all done the big transition hits.........summer! I know I mentioned in my last post that he will not be with the school district at all this summer. I do think that was the best decision. We prayed a lot and worked very hard to find what we think will be the best arrangement for him. So here's his basic schedule:

Monday - stay home day!

Tuesday - Summer Camp at Sonshine School (9:30-1:30) Vivie will be gonig as well so that Paris and I can have some time together!

Wednesday - Play with friends at church while Mommy goes to Ladies' Class

Thursday - Miss Erika's house (this is all day so Mommy can go to work. Paris and Vivie will be with him) Erika is doing MDO-type childcare from her home. She is very proactive when it comes to structuring the schedule to best help Tripper and is even planning to only offer gluten-free snacks to keep it simple! We LOVE Miss Erika!

Friday - Miss Erika's house (probably just 9-2 ish)

On hopefully either Monday or Wednesday we will also have speech therapy with Miss Tessa. I plan to do lots of activities from the book on RDI Therapy that our In-home parent trainer from the district brought me to go through. There are lots of thing that I could do to involve Paris and still be helping the little man. I think that is our biggest challenge right now - learning how to handle the sibling dynamic. Paris is really starting to show signs that all this attention on T is bothering her. Since we have an appt. in Temple this week I think it will be a good time to sit down with her and talk again about what's going on with Bubba. Maybe it's even time to give her a label - she's so literal I think that would help.

So - that's us in a nutshell. I heard Tripp running around the house singing Hallelujah yesterday. It was beautiful. He is such a sweet spirit! I'll do my best to start posting the fun stories again. I'm sure that remembering and writing them out will help me get through what has the potential to be one booger of a month!