In So Many Words

Michael with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Last Sunday, we took some time out of our day of rest to go to the annual Autism Society Christmas Party. Every child receives a present from Santa, and Mrs. Claus is there as well to greet each family and get a photo op.

Although it is loud and crazy, I enjoy getting to see some of the parents and kids I don’t see all the time. Bob and Michael don’t care for it as much as I do, though, as both of them hate sitting and waiting our turn in the noisy, chaotic environment. After we had been there about an hour, Michael asked why we hadn’t gotten on the VIP list!!

Michael did enjoy doing some karaoke and getting to select a small prize for that. This year, I was also successful in distracting him when they were drawing raffle prizes, so he wasn’t aware that we didn’t win anything. He loved seeing and talking to Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Once we got back to our table and opened his present (a Lego Hero Factory item that had been at the top of his list only a couple of weeks earlier), he declared that he was tired of them and didn’t want it. Now after we got the present home and started playing with it, he was happy to have it. Also, we talked about he could use some of the money from his grandmother to buy a toy related to his newest interest, and then he admitted that he still liked Hero Factory but had thought that meant he couldn’t get anything else.

I’m guessing this might be the last year we go as a family as both Bob and Michael were completely stressed out once it was over. Maybe next year I will sign up to help in some way so I still get to see everybody and hear what’s been going on over the last year or so.

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A Bit Loopy Before Surgery

Sleeping Peacefully After the Procedure

Last Friday, Michael had four baby teeth pulled to make room for some adult teeth that are really wanting to come in but can’t. The procedure went very well and he bounced back remarkably well.

I’m so proud of him!

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I was blessed with a couple of hours at home this morning due to the snow causing a two-hour delay. At one point, I was working on selecting pictures to order online for a couple of Christmas gifts, and Michael came in to the room and wanted to take some pictures with the camera.

Of course, the first thing he did was turn it towards himself and take a shot. I say “of course” because my husband is notorious for taking lots of pictures of himself at weird angles and zoom levels. Speaking of which, the zoom was the next thing he found and he had a great time with that – he thought it was so funny to see things close up like that.

Michael's Self Portrait

Discovering the Zoom

And no photo session at our house is complete without at least one of the cats!

As I rarely take many photos and usually don’t do a very good job when I try, it is nice to have another budding photographer in the house!

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Pictures of decorating the tree seems to be the theme for today (and a lovely theme it is!), so I’ll share ours as well. I am just so happy that it is done! It didn’t seem to take as long this year, possibly because Michael is so much more helpful now.

Michael helping to decorate the tree

The finished tree before we pushed it into the corner and moved the furniture back around it

Wallace resting on the soft tree skirt

Willow trying to attack whatever she thinks is underneath the tree skirt!

My son recently completed his first swim class, called Angel Fish I, which was eight sessions at one of the local community centers. The teachers were great, especially the main teacher, Ryan. He was very comfortable with Michael and got a lot out of him. The only thing that Michael was too scared to do was jump in the pool, and Ryan ended up jumping in the pool holding Michael, which was so sweet of him.

The T-Position, His Favorite

Scoops - Swimming All On His Own!

Passing the Test - You Did It!

I was hoping Michael would be willing to continue with the next class, but he feels like he has had enough swimming. When I consider that my main goal was for him to stop clinging desperately to the nearest adult whenever he was in a pool, I am blown away by how much progress he actually made. By the end he was willingly doing everything they asked except for the jumping in.

And here's where we finally convinced him to jump in after class - one time- into two feet of water. I think it barely covers his knees!

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I finally downloaded the pictures from last week, and I didn’t really get any good ones from Trick or Treat. But I took a bunch of shots at the Halloween party at school and thought these turned out pretty well.

For Halloween at my son’s school, the students and teachers dress up in their costumes and go on a parade through the neighborhood. After walking about six blocks, they make their way back to the school playground and dance to some fun songs before going inside to their class parties. These were taken during The Hokey Pokey.

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You all are probably already tired of seeing pictures of our cats, but I wanted to show off the first purchase we made with money from selling stuff on Craigslist! (That’s Willow lying on top of the little cave, and Wallace coming over to see if she wants to play.)

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He really has started his Christmas list, although he didn’t actually put “a new front tooth” on it.

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So, Prince Wallace has been experimenting with different relaxation spots around the house (right now he is laying on my lap between me and the computer), and here are a couple he seems to have enjoyed:

The Backpack

The Circle of Webkinz

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