Just keep swimming....

I'm finally sitting down and writing a post. About time, right? Like usual, life got in the way. But that's okay, I'd rather enjoy it anyways.

Michael started school and is officially a Kindergartener. Funny how I started this blog with pregnancy updates and now he's in kindergarten. That's how easy and fast time flies by. Quick! He's doing great in kindergarten. He has even gotten a pair of glasses to help him focus. Yes, we are officially a family of 3 who all wear glasses--dark rimmed ones to be exact, which converse. Somehow the inner geek in me smiles at that statement. 

We have also started Applies Behavioral Analysis Therapy (ABA Therapy) along with Social Group Therapy. The 1:1 started out nice and easy. I could do it! But that was to establish a trusting relationship. Now today, we started the real sessions. It was intense! I felt my heart melt so quickly. I just wanted to jump in there and swoop him out of there--my own home. The therapists weren't being pushy nor aggressive, he just didn't want to try new foods. One day we will get there, one day. 

On a different note, my husband is finally getting his second surgery. After months and months of insurance issues and starting a new job, we can finally say that it's healing time. It turns out that aside from his ACL, PCL, and MCL, he also tore the miniscus. What a doozy! He's been out of the boxing world for a bit over 7 months. He does not like it at all. I'm sure it will take a full year from the point he tore everything until he can fully function as a boxer. He too will get there.

Right now we are mourning another loss. My cousin lost his wife to a tragic car accident. His twin 2yr olds made it but not without one being in a critical state. The 2yr old boy is healing wonderfully though, all while his twin sister had very minimal injuries. I just pray that they can heal so they can move on. ❤️

Our New Normal.

I'm up at about 6am Monday through Friday. I stagger over to the kitchen and grab our coffee grounds to add to the coffee machine. Three times out of five, I clumsily end up with about a third of the grounds on the countertop versus the coffee filter. Six in the morning for most isn't too early, but for some reason my body doesn't like it.

After the wonderful smell of coffee starts to drench our morning air, I can feel my senses start to wake up. This is when I head on over the bathroom and try to deflate the morning mess of a puffy face that I have going on. A shower would do much better, but I'd have to wake up much earlier than that--let's face it, I suck in the mornings. 

After I wake up a wee bit  more and finish my morning ritual in the bathroom, it's time to wake up the 5 year old child. If you think I can't function, ha! I try to wake him up and make sure he's fully awake before we all rush out the door. However, I still have to gather his outfit for the day before heading to my mom's. 

Everyone is up by 6:30 and trying to get themselves in order before the clock hits 7am. Most mornings we just blink and viola--it's 7am is here. Out the door we go!

My mom has started to handle Michael's morning routine since Stevan's injury. I drop Michael off by 7:20am (the school bus picks him up from her home now) and head back into traffic. It's a lot easier getting "there" versus my getting home. By 7:45am, I've already dropped everyone off and I'm starting my route back home--which most days means that I don't get to leave my car in the drive way until after 8:30am. 

This is a new normal for us. It's just temporary since the school year will be ending and then we start a new normal. Since Michael does have Autism, all of these changes will be really hard on him. He's capable of handling daily transitions (random trips to the store, family outings, etc.) just not major shifts in his daily schedule. 

We've already started contacting a plethora of ABA agencies and all of them have wait lists from 1 month to 6months of just waiting. I'm hoping our number one choice calls back soon to say we are next. 

Our daily routine right now is just a temporary one until September, I hope. Hopefully by then Stevan will have mobility in his right knee (so he can drive to work and I can drive Michael more calmly to school as opposed to stressed out for traffic.) and we have started ABA therapies for Michael. But for now, we are hoping we can help Michael with all of these new changes. It's not easy but we will try.

And just for fun, so it's not all texts.

Different, not less.

Hi. My name is Lily and my child has Autism.

I never thought it would be hard to write a sentence that was so simple, yet complex at the same time. That up there is what has been going on for the past several months. That up there is why I haven't been back on this little ole blogger of mine. That up there is what has changed many things for us. So let me start from the beginning, shall I?

Back in October, right before Halloween, I ran into Michael's speech therapist. She had just finished one of the sessions with him in his class. She asked me, "Has anyone ever mention the possibility of Michael being on the spectrum?" My world paused. You know, sort of like when Zack Morris on Saved By The Bell did it time and time again. Yep, just like that. Only this time it wasn't a pause for some funny commentary but this time everything was silent only for the sound of my heart falling into pieces and echoing as they hit the floor. My child on the spectrum? No. I know he was delayed with speech, but to place him there too? I snapped back and I asked her many questions. She answered them the best way she could and said that I would be getting a phone call for another assessment but this time not for speech. I nodded and said "Thank you" without looking too shakey from just receiving the news. How do I mention to my husband about the conversation I just had? How do I even process this? How do I....? (We did have the conservation btw.)

After many IEP meetings, assessments, and evaluations with the school district, it was determined that my little boy, my perfect little boy, does indeed fall in the spectrum. He seems to fall under the "high functioning" category which seems to describe him extremely well. We are in the process of getting him diagnosed medically (in fact, he has an appointment today) to see what our options are and what we can do to help him.

We are still learning what it means to have Autism and what we can do as parents to help him develop a normal functioning life. Our families know and have been the most supportive they have ever been. They too want to help in any way possible. They love him oh so very much, and that is all we ask from them--acceptance.

So, again...

My name is Lily and my child is Autistic. He is different, not less.