Preschool Graduation

Another day cannot go by without me blogginig about Luke's preschool graduation. I guess since this post makes it seem so final I've procrastinated. That and I'm just kinda lazy by nature.



So last Tuesday, May 18, Luke "graduated" from preschool. Thankfully there was no formal program, just a gathering in his classroom on the last day.



As Ms. Jenny called the names of the preschool graduates, Luke anxiously wiggled in his seat, reading the name on each certificate to see if he was next. He was beyond excited when his name was called.




Ms. Jenny's congratulatory hug.




Luke proudly returning to his seat with his "awarded".



The kids presented gifts to Ms. Jenny. With the help of the fabulous aids and therapists, the kids decorated a matte with their hand prints and after several attempts we got a cute group photo of the class. It made a cute gift. They were all excited about the gift.



After snacks and hugs we got a couple more photos.




Luke and the amazing Ms. Jenny. I think Luke's position in this photo speaks volumes about his love for her. He trusts her completely. She is one in a million and we will miss her tremendously.

Luke and his two favorite people, Ms. Jenny and Andrew. Luke is leaning a bit, but Andrew is seriously a head taller than Luke, and he's only about 6 months older. Andrew is a great friend with an amazing mom. Unfortunately the boys are going to different schools for kindergarten, but I'm sure we'll stay in touch. Luke will see to that.

We said our teary good-byes. It is hard to look back at where we were when Luke began preschool. I didn't realize at the time the extent of his delays (I've said that many times, right?). I remember all the tears, his and mine, those first days of preschool. And his teachers skillfully walked us both through so many adjustments and changes. I know he is as ready as he could be for kindergarten, but leaving his preschool staff behind, after the emotional road we've traveled with them, is so very hard, even though I know it is time.

So, we came home from the last day of preschool and we played some hopscotch.

So close to hopping on one foot. He almost has it.

Luke shows off his "awarded".

That afternoon we got a call from Grandpa that he'd be passing through on business and could he stay at our house that night. Luke was thrilled to extend an invitation. It a very nice distraction to keep us from focusing on the end of our preschool era.

He loves Grandpa. There were days when Grandpa would visit and Luke would barely acknowledge him. Melts my heart to see them now.

I'm a little nervous about a summer with no summer school and not much therapy. Are we ready for a pretty "typical" summer? I just don't know. I'm stocked with worksheets and making a list of activities, but I'm also wondering if I should sign Luke up for some more structured, therapy style "social groups."

And then on Friday I got a call from my friend Alison asking if our buddy Cooper could play for a bit on Friday. We of course said yes.

The boys spent most of the day together. We made a trip to ChickFila with more friends, went to a local park, and had lots of playtime at home. They got along famously. Sure there were many "teaching opportunities" throughout the day, like honoring our friend's request and making the right choice regardless of what others are doing. But it was great fun.

Fort building. Cooper is very serious about construction. Luke is really into destruction. But both compromised and enjoyed crashing this poorly constructed fort (which mid construction went from a being a fort to being Florida). I apparently really stink at fort building.

More silliness after baseball and kickball in the backyard.

Buddies.

So I think we can do this summer. I think we need lots of playdates that will probably need more parental involvement than perhaps a typical 5 year olds would. I don't need to oversee everything, but just need to intercede if Luke's headed down the wrong path. It might be kind of tiring, but hey, I'm used to that!

***

Yesterday, before the LOST finale, we completed a little family project. A few weeks ago Aunt Jan gave Luke a blanket and soccer ball bank. Luke loved them both, particularly the blanket. A few days later I was at Target by myself (whoop! whoop!) and found some coordinating wall decorations in the bargin bin on sale! $1.75 each and a $1.75 for the baseball pillow.

So centering these three pictures of the bed was a major task for us. And each one had two hangers on the back. Ugh! There were about 20 marks on the wall before we were done. And Luke frequently held the pictures up on the wall, making a few scuff marks each time.

Luke did enjoy helping with the measuring, hammering, and marking. And carried a bag of oyster crackers with him while working. He's good with the multi-tasking.

Finished product. They look like we hung them a bit high in this picture, but I think it's just the camera angle. Regardless, I'm not moving them.

Luke wanted a picture of him "wiggling" on the bed.

And one of him jumping.

So happy summer faithful (3) readers! Let me know if you want to schedule a playdate!

time goes by

As time slips through my hands, and I somehow accept that Luke has one precious day left in preschool, life goes on. And funny little things happen.



Luke reaches new levels of Wii skills. And my goodness our TV looks like a dinosaur. Luke realized months ago that as he achieved victories in Wii Sport, his opponents got more challenging. So he continually creates new groups of Miis (We are always at our 100 maximum. He has to delete someone to create a new one.) and plays the easiest opponents with them. Then he takes his each new group of Miis through the full circuit of Wii Sports and several other Wii games (Like he plays 4 player golf. He is all 4 players.) The system is complex. I don't pretend to understand it. These are just bits I've gleaned from observing.




It rained again. We were ready. And I'm posting this horrid shot of me because I appreciate the humor enough to endure the embarrassment. The pose was all Luke's idea.



We went to our friend Meredith's birthday party on Saturday. Bubbles were the highlight. I can't believe how much he still loves bubbles. I remember our first speech therapist used to have to hide bubbles til the end of the session. Because once she got bubbles out, it was all he wanted to do.

This cool giant bubble blower actually worked. The kids loved it.

And while I'm so reflective and thankful this week as we wrap up preschool, a meltdown in Publix over a cookie makes me realize the war wages on. And I still have days that I'm discouraged. And days I still think autism is terribly unfair.

But then at dinner the other night as a fellow diner walked by Luke announced, "THAT is a lady. She has eye shadow." On the way home he renamed himself John, me Amanda, and Lamar Ursula. Then he decided Ursula was a girl name so Lamar was Miguel. We had to refer to each other by these names for the rest of the ride home.

Back in the ABA days, we used initial sound prompting a lot. For example, he wanted bubbles and pointed at them. We would hold the bubbles up and wait for him to say "bubbles". If he didn't, we would say, "Buh buh" and most of the time he would say, "Buh bubbles". So Luke now prompts me all the time with initial sounds. 6 a.m. this morning Luke comes to our room and tells me he is sick. He said, "Um, I am done with my nasty medicine?" Yes. He says, "We are all done with . . . " looks at me, "Puh puh . . . penicillin. So now when you're sick you get . . . muh muh . . . Motrin!!!!" (He loves some children's Motrin. All a ploy to get a little I'm pretty sure.)

God is good and life is full.

Bowlarama

Luke and his buddy from social/speech group headed to the bowling alley for a little "graduation" celebration and to put into practice all the things they've been learning.

Luke absolutely loved it. I feel like a terrible mother for not taking him sooner. It is all he has talked about for the past 36 hours.

The boys get a final review of how to be a good friend at the bowling alley.

Luke is so incredibly excited.

We head to the children's lanes. The lanes are shorter and there are small wooden pens and balls. Luke was in awe, like he was seeing a Wii game come to life. Reminded me of how he used to act when I found a toy from a Teach2Play video. Kind of like he was meeting a movie star.

Serious concentration. And it looks like that wall has been in the path of a few stray balls.

Posing with the scoreboard after his first bowling game. Luke's buddy wasn't quite the bowling enthusiast Luke was, so just one game. But I promised a return trip soon. And I suspect he'll hold me to that. He is so frustrated with me that we haven't been back today.

Luke poses with Ms. Kristin. We are finishing up 3 years of speech therapy with her. It's surreal to imagine this era coming to an end. She walked us through teaching Luke to communicate. 3 years ago he had such a limited vocabulary that he rarely chose to use. I didn't realize just how severe things were at the time, and that's probably good. But now that I can more fully digest how great his language deficits were, it's just so amazing where he is today. A gift from God.

So after bowling both boys were in complete agreement that we should head to the arcade. I was just completely shocked (*sarcasm*) this was the first game Luke selected to play.

Deal or No Deal. It cost a dollar every time you play. Wow, inflation.

Next Luke chose skeeball. One more thing he's learned from the Wii. I remember skeeball from the Show Biz pizza we frequented in my childhood. I remember the lanes being really long. Either skeeball shrunk or my memory is distorted. Another big hit with Luke.

What form.

The boys had a grand time and of course didn't want to leave. Luke is now making plans to take every one of his friends to the bowling alley for more fun times. I suspect we'll be there quite a bit this summer.

this and that

So life's continued another week and I haven't blogged.

We had some major flooding around here.


This is the end of our street. Normally you walk through those trees and down a short path to see the river.



The playground at Luke's school. Those are standard height (I'd say "regulation" but I really don't know if what regulation is and if these quality) basketball goals.

I took those pictures last Monday. Kids were back in school the next day and the water had receded. Where did 8 feet of water go? The playground is off limits for the rest of the school year til it can be cleaned.

***

Luke paused for a photo before we went for a walk one evening. So glad I haven't killed the azaleas . . . yet.

***

We had a nice mother's day, even though Lamar had to work. I think he works every Mother's Day. Hard to argue when all your co-workers are moms.

I helped Luke make a card for Mimi.

He did lots of writing all by himself.

Look at that concentration. And my goodness he needed a haircut. He got one tonight. Haircuts are so much easier these days. He loves going. Still can't handle the clippers, but just a few months ago Mimi was still his hair dresser.

While the challenges are still many, I'm amazed by how many things are coming easily these days. Like making a card without complaining. Enjoying writing words and his name. Still struggles with drawing pictures, but it's coming.

Last week the only time I could get a hair appointment for myself was when Luke was with me. He sat on the bench beside us and waited beautifully. He played a little DS, ate a lollipop, and chatted with us, and waited patiently. A year ago I would have never dreamed that possible. Not even close. He was also intrigued that I had a picture of how I wanted my haircut. When we went into Great Clips tonight he asked if I had a picture for his haircut too.

We enjoyed lunch together after the haircut with silly, easy conversation the whole time. I take for granted how easy it is these days. As Luke was finishing up his lunch I took out the picture and held it up beside my face and asked, "Hey Luke, do I look like this picture?" He touched my hair, looked at the picture, back at me, and laughed really loud and said (with what I'm sure was sarcasm) "Oh yeah, you look like the picture!"

***

Last year when Luke went for his 4 year old check up, we were back at the doctor's a week later with a strange rash that was strep. This year I waited til later in the spring to schedule his check up, hopefully to avoid catching anything. But a few days after this year's visit, Luke began complaining about an itchy bottom. We unsuccessfully treated the red rash at home with topicals and it continued to get worse. We headed back to the doctor's office last Wednesday. Strep again. Could be total coincidence. Luke is not happy about swallowing his "nasty medicine" but he is being a real trooper.

***

And Luke went to kindergarten sneak-a-peek last week. Of course he'd already snuck a few peeks thanks to the fabulous teachers at his school. He was a little nervous about going in the cafeteria, but warmed up as soon as he saw his friend Durham. He seems pretty excited about next year. I forgot my camera, but Durham's mom came through with hers. I'll post some photos when I get them from her.

I feel like I'm kind of sleep-walking through life the past few days, numb to the fact the preschool will be over in one week, summer will be here, and then in the blink of an eye Luke will start kindergarten.

weathering the storm

What a weekend. Many of our close neighbors have water in their homes tonight. I personally know of three of families who have totally lost their homes this weekend. Scary and heartbreaking weekend for so many.

So I wonder how Luke spent his weekend stuck in the house? Guess. Anyone?




Wii.


And very excited about it.

For about the past, oh, 7 years I've wanted to paint our living room/dining room. I've collected about 657 paint chips. My latest whim was blue. But apparently there are 29,000 shades of light blue and every single one was too gray, too green, or believe it or not, too blue. I finally, out of frustration, just went with a yellowy creamy beige on the same color card as our kitchen and bonus room colors. What? No one reads this blog for decorating advice? Shocking.

So Lamar and I finally committed to paint this weekend. And though Mother Nature conspire against us, we did it. Or perhaps we had to be completely trapped in our home (seriously the roads exiting our subdivision are flooded) to actually complete this task. Oh I hate to paint.

And here's Luke early Saturday morning in midst of all our pushed together furniture, playing Wii.

I didn't realize this would be the final picture of our beastly entertainment center. The feet buckled as we pushed it back into place today. We removed the feet and are now using just the bottom piece until I decide what to do. This put television at Luke's exact eye level. Pure joy.

Luke spent Saturday with Mimi and Papa so we could get really serious about our work. We couldn't believe how quiet the house was without him. Praise God he fills our house with chatter!

While at Mimi's house we had tornado warnings. They moved into their "safe place" and prayed about the weather. Luke prayed, "Dear God, thank you for the tornado. Please don't let it come." Then Luke instructed on proper tornado drill "be a turtle" posture.

We successfully transferred Luke back to our care Saturday evening after changing routes due to some flooded roads. We thankfully stopped by the grocery on the way home. Luke really wanted some watermelon. A large wedge of watermelon.

And this is the only way he wanted to eat it.

After helping Luke with his bath I did a little more painting. Luke was playing Wii baseball. My back was to the TV but I noticed he lost. He hasn't lost in months. I turn to check on him and find this.

I knew this was bound to happen one day.

Today was the day of major flooding. When the rain let up this evening we went for a little walk to explore. Luke was still in the pajamas seen above, a raincoat and shoes. Despite the Wii euphoria, he was very excited to leave the house.

A little background: Luke is very into hearing stories about himself as a baby. And he frequently makes up stories about things that "happened" to him as a baby. Just the other day he told, "One day when I was a baby I was playing swordplay . . . "

So today on our walk we came across a bench on one of our neighborhood paths. Luke said, "Oh, we can sit down here and talk." We did and he said, "Or we could play a game." The bench was pretty wet so I said, "Oh, I'd really like to get back home." Luke said, "OK, we can just talk. OK, I'm going to tell you a story. One day God hit me."

Praying for sunshine tomorrow (and no hitting)!