12th Birthday Fun

Bobby is 12.  Next year he will be a teenager!!! Doesn't even seem possible.  However, it happened, so we HAD to celebrate!!

He got an early gift last weekend, we were excited, we knew that he was going to love it.  He opened the gift immediately and couldn't wait for Daddy to get it assembled.

Well, that was the last time that he sat on it, once in the garage.  He has zero interest in his new riding toy.  Oh well!!

On his actual birthday, we celebrated at home with a small family party.

Time to blow out the candles!!

We let him have his family gifts instead of waiting for his upcoming party.

He opened them pretty well, however after he would open one, he wanted to go outside and I would prompt him back to open the next one.

New shoes, swim trunks.....ready for summer.

What's in the big bag from Grandma????  A car wash kit of course!!!

Bobby couldn't wait, so we let him go outside and begin washing.  The old bucket was already outside, so he used it.

Last year, one of Bobby's buddies/classmates told everyone that he was going to Bobby's house for his birthday party, causing me to scramble and throw together a party.....which turned out to be a huge success.  I decided to invite the same couple of kids and have similar fun outdoor activities for this year's birthday.

After I invited the guests, the forecast changed from sunny to rainy with thunderstorms.  GREAT!  I went ahead and decorated inside and mentally prepared for a house full of boys!!

When I was planning a menu, Bob said to me, "what is the one food that they will all eat?"  Umm, when you are talking about a group of kids on the spectrum, there is not one food!!!  They are all so picky.  I decided on pizza and french fries and all of the kids were happy.

As soon as the guests arrived, they all sat down to eat because it was lunch time.  Something amazing happened......all of the boys sat down at the kitchen table together and ate.  They sat together wonderfully and got their own seconds!!!!!!!  The adults all ended up sitting in the dining room to eat and left the kids in the kitchen.  I am still in shock.  Of course I had to grab my camera and second amazing thing happened....the ALL looked at the camera!!!!!  Thank you boys!!

After the kids finished eating, the electronics came out.  We let them chill while the adults finished eating.

When everyone was finished eating, we got the kids outside for a silly string battle!!!!!  The pictures speak for themselves.....30 cans of silly sting later..................

Our poor driveway!!!!!!

I bought something else to add to the mess and the boys had no idea what to expect, but they were game for the next activity......confetti canon.......

Since they were already standing in a group, I wanted a group picture and again, they shocked me and I got a super cute one with everyone looking at me, of course I took many to get that one, but I got it!!

 Jacob doesn't realize that Bobby's can of silly string is empty and is prepared for the worst and Bobby doesn't realize that his can is empty.  Sorry bud, the silly string is all gone.

Great picture of this super awesome group of boys!!!!!  Up next??  Airplanes, trampoline jumping, Rhino rides with Bob........just boy fun!

Grandma Carolyn and Aunt Dianna got the airplanes prepared.

OK, this is more impressive if you know where I live, but Michael flew a plane from our house to the side of Rt. 19 at the bottom of our hill!!!!!!  Bob went down on the Rhino to get it and someone from the business across the highway directed him to where it landed!!!  YIKES!!!!!!! The boys were beyond thrilled by this flight!!

Not all of the flights were successful, so even landed in the trees.  These two were right on the job of getting them down.

Joey is a great photobomber!!!!

Bobby had a great time and did a lot of laughing.

Bobby and Sonny playing chase in the trampoline.

After Bobby and Sonny had Rhino rides, Jacob decided to give it a try.

 So proud that he voluntarily got in and went for a short ride!!

 Another airplane stuck in the tree....Joey to the rescue with a rake in hand.

The boys were finally wearing down, so time for some more sugar.......CAKE!!!!

The cute little cake decoration that I got for the cake was way too wide.  So Bob and Mimi decided to hold it for the picture!!!

Bobby wasn't overly interested in opening his gifts, so I let party guests open them.  Score......a Giant Eagle gift card!!!!!!!Yes, the people in our lives KNOW what Bobby likes!!!!  After everyone left, Bobby ripped open a box of magnetic squares that he also received and carried them around all evening and all morning and they even went to the bus stop with us this morning.

The party was perfect!!  The kids all had fun.  The all actually ate.  They all actually played and enjoyed being outside.  Mother Nature cooperated.  NO RAIN THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE PARTY even with thunderstorms forecasted.  No meltdowns, new activities tried.  Party success!! Thanks to all of the guests, Bobby had such a great day!!

Field Trip Fun

How on earth does time fly by so quickly?????  Here we are, getting close to the end of the school year, that means fun activities are thrown into the mix!!!  Bobby and his special needs buddies were off to the Stepping Stones Arts Festival.

The one great thing about yearly activities.....you can really notice the growth from the previous year.

My friend Shelly and I like to volunteer for this event and we especially like to be in charge of the bouncy house!!  Do Bobby and friends get to jump a little longer because of this perk???  Possibly!!It is fun for us to be there, we can experience some of the fun with our boys, but they also get out with some independence from mom.  They go off and do activities with their teachers and come over to visit with us when it is time to JUMP!!

When Bobby and his teacher first made their way over to the bouncy house to say HI, Ms. Kim said that Bobby had led a horse around and that the horse was wearing shoes.  Well, later when I saw pictures of the horse, these were definitely not the shoes that I was expecting!!

How cute is this little girl with amazing pink shoes??!!!  I would love to know what Bobby thought about this.....after all, the last horses that he saw in person where the wild horses on the beaches of the Outer Banks of NC, and they definitely weren't wearing shoes!!!!!!

The boys, Bobby and Sonny, with their autism teacher from grades Kindergarten through fifth grade, Ms. Kim.  I'm not sure who is sadder that this is their last year together before the boys move on to middle school next year.  Oh Ms. Kim, don't you want to move on to middle school with them??!!!

 Next up, the boys got in line to jump in the bouncy house.  I, of course, wanted to get some group pictures.  If you know much about autism, you know that getting a good picture of 5 children on the spectrum is virtually impossible.  They are not all going to look at the camera or appear to be paying attention at all.  LOL!!!  This is as good as it gets!!

 There was a dance troupe doing a number behind us and they had just finished....Bobby started clapping, which cracked all of the adults up!!  Good job dancers!!  Now, raise your hand if you want to jump.........

Yes, the finally got to go in and jump!!  They had a blast.  Watching Bobby and Sonny together was particularly enjoyable.  The look on Bobby's face shows that he is indeed having fun.

Having fun!!

After they jumped, the boys went off to do some art activities with Ms. Kim while Shelly and I stayed and ran the bouncy house.  Every once in a while I would catch a glimpse of Bobby across the building and I was just so happy to notice that Kim didn't have to keep a death grip on Bobby as was the norm in the past.  She could have her back to Bobby while she was helping another child.  Bobby stayed close by and did some people watching.  PROGRESS!!

 I looked up and noticed the West Virginia University mascot, the Mountaineer.  I told Shelly that I was going to go get our boys and get their picture.  The Mountaineer was very generous and patient while the boys got in position.  Bobby's grabbing the gun, Sonny's getting a hug...pictures success!

Bobby was getting a little restless a little later and I offered to bring him back over to the bouncy house area with me so that Ms. Kim and Sonny could do another art activity before lunch.  We had plenty of chairs for the kids to sit and take off/put on their shoes so Bobby sat for a while, jumped, and went over to another active area and jumped on the trampoline.

 The rest of his crew came over to wait until their time to go to lunch.  Here he is with one of our favorites....Ms. Deb, one of the autism aides.  Yes, leaving these ladies next year is..........ugh!!

 Fun, Cooper the mascot of the West Virginia Black Bears baseball team. Yes, we have to go get a picture!!! Sonny and Bobby.......

 Still had 10 minutes or so until lunch time (the different schools had scheduled times due to limited tables).  Shelly and I were having our lunch break and the high school volunteers who were working with us took over so that we could hang out with our boys.  We sat down for a music activity.  There were different instruments in the middle, so we grabbed one and gave them to the boys.

 Finally, time to go to lunch.  On the way to the tables, we ran into another one of our favorite people, Coach Lorri, their adaptive PE teacher.  Thankfully, Coach will also work with the boys in middle school.

 Cooper was back and the Stepping Stones staff wanted a picture, so the boys obliged and took another one for us!!

 The boys went off to lunch and Shelly and I went back to our station. Later on, the came back for one more jump before they left for the day.

I witnessed a couple of younger boys having meltdowns, which seems to occur most in the bouncy house line.....waiting for something you really, really want to do in autism land is so difficult.  It breaks my heart to witness it, but it also shows me just how far Bobby has come.  He waits now, he doesn't like it, but complies much better than I had ever dreamed when he was younger.  

"UH OH"

We are finally getting into our new routine of Grandma Carolyn's surgery recovery.  Her sister, my aunt Mimi, is staying with her and as soon as I get Bobby on the bus for school, I go to her house to give Mimi a break to run her errands and do the things that she needs to do.  I've been cooking meals while I'm there for them to have, doing laundry and helping do whatever I can.

Saturday (yesterday), Bob and Bobby accompanied me to Grandma's house.  I was making a roast beef dinner while we were there, so we were planning to be there for a few hours.  

Bob and Mimi ran an errand and then went up to Mimi's house so that Bob could get her lawn mower out and ready for the season.  Meanwhile, Grandma got her shower, I had dinner going, and was doing some laundry.  I had put the towels into the dryer and come back into the living room and sat down to relax for a few minutes and watch tv with my mom.

Bobby was upstairs watching Elmo movies in one of the bedrooms and being a really good boy. We then heard a crash that caused my mom and me to jump.  Bobby then yelled "UH OH" and began whimpering.  I knew that he was scared and not hurt from the crash because he wasn't in a full cry.  I ran upstairs where an older coffee table was sitting with a shattered glass top and broken wooden supports under the glass.  

"It's OK, you're OK, we're not mad."  I kept telling Bobby these things to calm him down.  I noticed a couple of drops of blood on his feet so I took him down to the bathroom and had him take off his pants so I could look at him.  

I yelled to my mom, "call them (Bob and Mimi) and tell them to get back here, Bobby needs stitches."

There was no doubt in my mind that his knee needed stitched since I could see things that I definitely shouldn't be able to see.  The one benefit to my mom just having surgery......there was gauze, bandages and tape all within reach.  I got Bobby's knee bandaged as well as I could with one hand and got him dressed to go.

Mimi's phone was laying on the table.  CRAP!!  I knew that Bob didn't have his phone with him either and they would be outside working on the lawn mower and not hear the inside phone ringing. DOUBLE CRAP, Bob took our vehicle with my purse inside.  I didn't have our insurance cards or my license.

I put Bobby in Grandma's car and started off to Mimi's to get my purse from Bob.  My mom had texted Mimi's daughter-in-law who lives close by to run over and get Bob.  So on my way to Mimi's house, I pass Bob and start honking the horn!!!!!  Oh Lord, help me get this kid to the ER!!!!

Bob pulled over, I turned around and we were walking in the ER within 10 minutes after this.....and it was pretty empty!!  Thank you Lord!

They have little check in rooms where you go over why you need to be seen, etc.  It was obvious from the blood soaked gauze taped to Bobby's knee why we were there.  One of the first sentences out of my mouth was, "he is on the more severe end of the autism spectrum so his compliance isn't going to be great."  

The woman who checked us in kept us in her little office until the triage nurse was ready for us.  Bob said to her, "should be go to the waiting room?"  She said, "you can stay in here if it is easier for you since it is a much smaller room."  "YES, thank you!!" was my reply. 

A few minutes later the triage nurse took us to get his vitals and medical history.  His nurse came in to take us back to a bed before we were finished in triage so that we didn't have to wait to go back, she even brought some tape with her because I was sitting on my knees in triage holding Bobby's bandage on because he had pulled it off by this point.  I looked at her and said "THANK YOU!!"  In my head I had been thinking, "what I wouldn't give for some tape right now!"

It was only 2 or 3 minutes before they ushered us back to x-ray.  They wanted to make sure that there was no glass in the wound and that he didn't fracture anything.  I held him for 4 x-rays, and we were back to the bed and thankfully the other family that was in there a few minutes before was gone.  We were alone in the area.

The doctor came in.  I said, "he's going to need to be sedated.  He is very strong and is not going to comply."  Funny, as an autism mom, I've pretty much been in control of situations pertaining to Bobby because I've had to tell everyone the best way to work with Bobby.  The doctor said "NO!!"  

He said that he didn't want to sedate unless it was absolutely necessary.  No need to risk sedation. Bobby needed three staples because it was the quickest, easiest way to proceed. We would move him to "the other side" (surgery area I'm guessing) as the last resort.   He said we will hold him and do it as quickly as possible and men with gloves on started coming in.

The x-rays showed no glass and no fracture.  I laid over Bobby's chest so that I was face to face with him and talking to him.  Bob, nurses and the men held his legs and the staples went in.  Another man walked in and grabbed his arms for me because they had gotten out from under me.  Before I knew it he was bandaged up and Bob took him to the car.  

After they walked out two more men in gloves came in to assist and turned around and walked out when they realized we were finished.  I stayed to complete his paperwork and insurance information. They whole time I was just STUNNED at how quickly this process went!!  I just kept thanking everyone, I just couldn't believe it.  The nurse finally said, "Oh honey, you were fast tracked."  I said, "THANK YOU SO MUCH."  I'm standing there answering questions for the intake, the doctor was handing me extra guaze, bandages, and an ace bandage to put over top of everything.  I was just stunned that this was over and Bobby was out in the car!!!  

They could not have been any nicer to us!!!!  I'm not exactly sure how long we were in the hospital, but it couldn't have been more than half an hour if that long.  We left to go back to Grandma's.  I had to drop Grandma's car off.  After I pulled it into the garage, I went to check the laundry, the dryer was still running!!!!!  I had put the towels in the dryer, then all of this happened and we were back home before the dryer cycle was over!!

The staples don't seem to be bothering him other than itching a little.  He has to have them for 12 days before removal. Praying that the next 12 days go smoothly with no staple issues!!!  He slept 9 hours last night, he doesn't seem to be in any pain. 

I'm so thankful that hospitals are preparing themselves for patients like Bobby.  It means so much to our families!!  I literally couldn't thank everyone enough.....they were probably tired of hearing me!!! LOL!!

This is hard to believe......this all happened so fast that I don't have ANY pictures!! I know, so unlike me!!!!!!!!

  

"Your Mom's Sick....Call Me!!"

It's amazing how our lives revolve around the weather, especially in a region where you experience all four seasons.  It's been a long winter and our moods all improved when the forecast was a week of warm weather.  I decided to get Bobby out walking on the rail trails everyday after school.  After we got home Monday, I let him rest a little while and then we headed out for the first walk of the week. Approximately three-quarter miles into our walk I received a text from my aunt, my mom's sister, that said, "your mom's sick, call me."

Well, I knew that couldn't be good news, she's never texted me like that before!!

This picture was literally taken seconds before the text!!  When we were on the other side of the bridge, I moved Bobby over to the side and called my aunt.

"We are at the ER and a surgeon is on the way."

It takes a minute for your brain to wrap itself around this information.  She then gave me the quick version of their day.......

She had stopped in at my mom's house that morning and my mom was complaining from severe stomach pain and a sinus infection.  Mimi, my aunt, made her get up and took her to the doctor.  The doctor did an x-ray, blood test (which showed that her white count was extremely high) and then sent them to the Emergency Room and a CT scan showed that she needed surgery ASAP and her white count was continuing to elevate.  She had a perforated diverticulitis causing the infection and pain.

Now, to get Bobby back the three-quarter mile back to the car, get him home and meet Daddy and then drive to the hospital all during the 5:00 rush hour time frame. Yeah, Bobby had ZERO urgency about getting himself back to the car.....

About 9:30ish pm, the surgeon came out and talked with Mimi and me....he removed about a 10 inch section of her bowel and that the surgery went well.  She would be in the hospital for 5 days or so and be in a good deal of pain.

Bobby and one of his most favorite people, Grandma hadn't seen each other for 3 weeks, which hasn't happened since he was born.  Bobby had a stomach bug for a week so we kept him away, didn't want Grandma to catch the bug. The next week Grandma was at church everyday working on their chocolate Easter egg fundraiser, and for the last week she was in the hospital.  Grandma was missing her Bobby!!!

Friday after school and therapy, we decided to take Bobby to the hospital to say hi and pick up some dinner to go....it had been a long week!

Bobby had never been to this particular hospital and just wasn't sure about this at all!!

We walked right into the room and then realized that Grandma was on the bed with tubes and such and was ready to go NOW!!  We had to prompt him back in the room to give Grandma a kiss. Daddy got a medical glove as a distraction. It worked for a minute....

And then we left.  Funny thing, he played with the blown up glove for two days before it finally burst!!

It looked like Grandma was going to be released this weekend, now it's pushed back to Monday. Hopefully soon!!