Busy, busy, bleah

Christmas madness is nearly over, so I can start to post more regularly again. Sam has taken the holidays in stride, but we can tell he is off his routine as he has been having temper tantrums more often. He's also developed something of a nervous fixation on speed bumps and will mention them repeatedly whenever we approach one. He is starting to speak in complete sentences more and more often and it is becoming easier to understand him. Temper tantrums could also be due to that development; whenever he has a "jump" in development he gets cranky and anxious for awhile, I guess until he's integrated it.

Sophie Kinsella sucks.

I knew I'd stolen my blog moniker from someone and finally remembered who a couple of weeks ago. Sophie Kinsella wrote a book called The Undomestic Goddess. I listened to it on cd and the actress who did the voices drove me nuts. Anyway I can wear it proudly or try to find something else. I am undecided. Maybe something to do with Autism. The book itself was fairly frivolous. It's about a high-level exec who messes up, flees to the country and becomes a live-in cook and housekeeper for a wealthy family. In the process of "making it" she discovers herself, finds out what matters in life and falls in love with the gardener. Is this supposed to make SAHMs like me rejoice in our impoverished but meaning-laden lives? Hey, I'm a live-in cook, and (reluctant) housekeeper! And a nanny, too! And I do it for free! In a tiny townhome instead of a mansion! And I never was a high-level executive. Hmph. That last makes me feel a bit better. At least I did something right!
The book (at least on cd) was ok; the title (obviously) worked the best for me.

Stick a dork in me, I'm fun!!!

I don't think I need to elaborate, but it is proof that I'm starting to get a life back!

Sam's first ABA session

Sam had his first ABA session on Friday at Northwest Behavioral Associates. The first four sessions will be evaluation and so it was. Sam's Program Manager sat with him at a table and reviewed flashcards with him. They went over letters, numbers, colors, shapes, common objects, and actions. Whenever he finished a task, she would reward him with an MnM, one of his preferred treats. Every few minutes he would get a break, which she timed with a timer. He also sorted blocks into different colors and completed color sequences. She wrote down the results of the tests at every step. I was impressed with how thorough she was and how adept she was with Sam. We will see what next week holds, but so far, so good.