It's been awhile since we posted. It's been fairly hectic here but we're slowly starting to slow down.
Nathan is doing very well with his therapy, making good progress on his language and social skills. Alex has also been doing well and seems to be enjoying his therapy.
There's not a whole lot to report. Life continues its grind. We're starting to realize that the trip in November is coming more quickly than we realized and it's time to start making more plans and making sure we have what we need.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Starfield for Nathan
We've always felt bad that Nathan didn't have a special touch to his room the way Alex has with his mural. So Jenn got the idea to put stars up for Nathan. Originally we were going to paint something, based on the color and speckle layout on the back of one of Alex's toys, but getting that together never happened. While out last week, Jenn found some glow-in-the-dark stars and planets, and we figured we would give that a try. To get a reasonable layout, we used his Star Turtle, a light-projector which projects pseudo-constellations and gives a good density (click pictures to enbiggen):
These pictures were taken with our mini camera, which performed way better than I expected it would. Naturally, long-shutter photography inspires play with an available laser pointer:
But one quick trip back to the mall to pick up a small number of stars to fill out the ceiling a bit more, and we get the result:
There are around 120 stars plus some planets up on his walls and ceiling now. We hope he likes it. I think it turned out really well.
These pictures were taken with our mini camera, which performed way better than I expected it would. Naturally, long-shutter photography inspires play with an available laser pointer:
But one quick trip back to the mall to pick up a small number of stars to fill out the ceiling a bit more, and we get the result:
There are around 120 stars plus some planets up on his walls and ceiling now. We hope he likes it. I think it turned out really well.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Roadtrip
Our latest trip to Toronto for the sibling study went quite well. Memee kept Nathan awake through the morning and early afternoon, so he crashed almost as soon as he was strapped into the car. And he woke up about ten minutes before we reached the McDonald's Playplace that I was planning to stop for dinner. It's been a long time since I had McDonald's and I think it'll be a long time again, but Nathan enjoyed it. He very carefully helped himself to all the little ketchup cups and grabbed my milkshake. He still doesn't know how to drink from a straw but he made a good try of it. And he got to have a good run around which made him much happier to get back in the car for the second half of the trip.
Nathan did a lot better staying in the hotel with me. I think he liked having my undivided attention. And being able to fall asleep in front of the TV. Nathan had a grand old time running around the room, playing with his toys. And eventually he climbed up on the bed and snuggled up until he fell asleep.
He woke up bright and early the next morning. Unfortunately, he didn't like the French toast that I ordered him for breakfast so his birthday breakfast was a bottle of milk and a cup full of Cheerios. But he was a real hit with all the hotel staff. They made faces at him and he just lapped up the attention.
His assessment went well. I think having the appointment in the morning and a reasonable night's sleep the night before helped a lot. He still ended up falling asleep in my lap two thirds of the way through. They saw a lot of improvement in his eye contact and verbal skills. His receptive language has gone from an 11 month level to a 15 month level in the last three months.
The trip home went fairly well. Nathan didn't sleep so we took more frequent breaks. He is definitely the darling of the roadside Tim Hortons along the 401. Once they found out it was his birthday, he got a free chocolate chip cookie at one place, a free Timbit in another and a free bag of pretzels in another. All in all, I think he had a good experience. And so did I.
Nathan did a lot better staying in the hotel with me. I think he liked having my undivided attention. And being able to fall asleep in front of the TV. Nathan had a grand old time running around the room, playing with his toys. And eventually he climbed up on the bed and snuggled up until he fell asleep.
He woke up bright and early the next morning. Unfortunately, he didn't like the French toast that I ordered him for breakfast so his birthday breakfast was a bottle of milk and a cup full of Cheerios. But he was a real hit with all the hotel staff. They made faces at him and he just lapped up the attention.
His assessment went well. I think having the appointment in the morning and a reasonable night's sleep the night before helped a lot. He still ended up falling asleep in my lap two thirds of the way through. They saw a lot of improvement in his eye contact and verbal skills. His receptive language has gone from an 11 month level to a 15 month level in the last three months.
The trip home went fairly well. Nathan didn't sleep so we took more frequent breaks. He is definitely the darling of the roadside Tim Hortons along the 401. Once they found out it was his birthday, he got a free chocolate chip cookie at one place, a free Timbit in another and a free bag of pretzels in another. All in all, I think he had a good experience. And so did I.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Pictures From The Road
Two photos from Nathan's Birthday roadtrip to Toronto:
Click the photos to see the larger version.
Click the photos to see the larger version.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Troubling news
Alex had an appointment with a neurologist at CHEO and it turns out that there is something going on in that little brain. Alex has always been prone to "tuning out" periodically, which we've chalked up to the autism or even just thinking. However, there is a chance that what we've been seeing is in fact something called "absence seizures" where the brain simply stops talking to the body for a brief period. However, they can't say for certain because he fought the EEG so much that most of the scan ended up simply being noise. They did see enough to say that there is something unusual going on though.
The plan now is to try a sleep-deprived EEG, which is where we keep Alex up the night before in the hopes that he'll fall asleep with the apparatus on so that we don't get any movement problems. If that doesn't work, they would need to move to an MRI, which would require a general anesthetic. They don't seem to be in a hurry to book the next EEG, which I'm taking as a good sign of lack of concern.
We'll keep everyone posted as we know more.
The plan now is to try a sleep-deprived EEG, which is where we keep Alex up the night before in the hopes that he'll fall asleep with the apparatus on so that we don't get any movement problems. If that doesn't work, they would need to move to an MRI, which would require a general anesthetic. They don't seem to be in a hurry to book the next EEG, which I'm taking as a good sign of lack of concern.
We'll keep everyone posted as we know more.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Birthday Madness Wish Lists
Hey everyone,
Birthday month is almost here and we have a few unusual requests for this year. We've been looking over the accumulation of toys and such, trying to come up with a wish list and we've come to a surprising conclusion.
There's nothing that the boys would really want.
The stuff that they play with, they have plenty of (blocks, cars, lego). So we don't really need any more of it. But what we could use are some opportunities to get out of the house and do things as a family. So we're asking for gift certificates or donations towards a couple of specific goals:
- a membership to Cosmic Adventures
- memberships to the Museum of Civilization or Science and Technology
I'll be blunt with all of you and admit that money is really tight, so we can't afford to go out as often as we'd like. So this would be really helpful. If you'd like to get them a little something, then a Hot Wheels car or a bouncy ball would be popular (the balls shouldn't be smaller than a golf ball, or else they're a choking hazard for Nathan).
For Dave and I, here are some suggestions:
Gift cards:
HBC, Sears
Addition Elle
Chapters
DVDs:
V for Vendetta
Ironman
Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (this one is just for me, I'm missing one of the disks)
Titus, Season 1 and 2
Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog
Birthday month is almost here and we have a few unusual requests for this year. We've been looking over the accumulation of toys and such, trying to come up with a wish list and we've come to a surprising conclusion.
There's nothing that the boys would really want.
The stuff that they play with, they have plenty of (blocks, cars, lego). So we don't really need any more of it. But what we could use are some opportunities to get out of the house and do things as a family. So we're asking for gift certificates or donations towards a couple of specific goals:
- a membership to Cosmic Adventures
- memberships to the Museum of Civilization or Science and Technology
I'll be blunt with all of you and admit that money is really tight, so we can't afford to go out as often as we'd like. So this would be really helpful. If you'd like to get them a little something, then a Hot Wheels car or a bouncy ball would be popular (the balls shouldn't be smaller than a golf ball, or else they're a choking hazard for Nathan).
For Dave and I, here are some suggestions:
Gift cards:
HBC, Sears
Addition Elle
Chapters
DVDs:
V for Vendetta
Ironman
Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (this one is just for me, I'm missing one of the disks)
Titus, Season 1 and 2
Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog
Monday, April 13, 2009
Let him eat cake!
Sometimes my boys are just too cute for words.
We were having dinner over at my folks and Nathan dutifully ate his steak and broccoli and baked potato, without much enthusiasm but without much of a protest either. But clearly it wasn't quite enough. My mom got up to get something else from the kitchen and in a movement worthy of one of the cats, Nathan stands up on his high chair and grabs the half finished steak off her plate and crams it all into his mouth. It was over almost before any of us realized what had happened. He gave us a great big grin full of meat.
We have a bit of a chuckle over that and my mom offers to give him a piece of cake for dessert. "Since he's obviously still hungry."
Nathan gets a small slice of chocolate cake and his eyes light up. He digs into it with real enthusiasm and it vanishes almost instantaneously. He gets a second small slice and it vanishes a little slower but still fairly promptly. I, being the mean mother that I am, call a halt on the refills and conversation continues around the table. Nathan is despondently picking through the crumbs of chocolate and dabs of icing on his plate and casting longing glances at the cake across the room.
About now, my father, who is sitting next to Nathan, finishes up his dinner and puts aside his plate for the dessert one with a large slice of cake already there and waiting.
Nathan's eyes light up and his mouth forms a tiny "o" of surprise. He very carefully lifts up his plate and places it on top of my mother's empty dessert plate. Then he reaches over and slides Dad's plate in front of him. Dad takes it back with a bemused grin and Nathan reaches right back on over and takes it again. This time, he takes the precaution of grabbing a big handful out of it and cramming it into his mouth. I am trying desperately not to laugh and encourage him but he's staring up at Dad with huge eyes and a mouth full of chocolate with an expression that says "Am I really going to get away with this?"
Dad starts to laugh and that's enough for Nathan to relax and grin. The two of them share the piece of cake amid many shared giggles.
I know it's not good that my son is a food-thief and it's something I'll have to work on. But as far as I'm concerned, it's still an adorable story.
We were having dinner over at my folks and Nathan dutifully ate his steak and broccoli and baked potato, without much enthusiasm but without much of a protest either. But clearly it wasn't quite enough. My mom got up to get something else from the kitchen and in a movement worthy of one of the cats, Nathan stands up on his high chair and grabs the half finished steak off her plate and crams it all into his mouth. It was over almost before any of us realized what had happened. He gave us a great big grin full of meat.
We have a bit of a chuckle over that and my mom offers to give him a piece of cake for dessert. "Since he's obviously still hungry."
Nathan gets a small slice of chocolate cake and his eyes light up. He digs into it with real enthusiasm and it vanishes almost instantaneously. He gets a second small slice and it vanishes a little slower but still fairly promptly. I, being the mean mother that I am, call a halt on the refills and conversation continues around the table. Nathan is despondently picking through the crumbs of chocolate and dabs of icing on his plate and casting longing glances at the cake across the room.
About now, my father, who is sitting next to Nathan, finishes up his dinner and puts aside his plate for the dessert one with a large slice of cake already there and waiting.
Nathan's eyes light up and his mouth forms a tiny "o" of surprise. He very carefully lifts up his plate and places it on top of my mother's empty dessert plate. Then he reaches over and slides Dad's plate in front of him. Dad takes it back with a bemused grin and Nathan reaches right back on over and takes it again. This time, he takes the precaution of grabbing a big handful out of it and cramming it into his mouth. I am trying desperately not to laugh and encourage him but he's staring up at Dad with huge eyes and a mouth full of chocolate with an expression that says "Am I really going to get away with this?"
Dad starts to laugh and that's enough for Nathan to relax and grin. The two of them share the piece of cake amid many shared giggles.
I know it's not good that my son is a food-thief and it's something I'll have to work on. But as far as I'm concerned, it's still an adorable story.
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