Tea Party

Early in the morning ..... yes ... at 6:45am, my son sent an invitation to his Tea Party.

In a cup, was two GI Joes carefully placed on my chest .... while I was still asleep. It's nothing new that my son bear gifts .... I didn't bat an eyelid ... so to speak - LOL

Drifting in and out of sleep, I heard the bathroom tap turned on and then off again. Instinctively, I jumped out of bed to see what was my son doing?

He was already in his playroom, around him ..... he placed all his cups and saucers next to each other and when he saw me, he said "Mama hur" asking me to sit down. In his jar, now filled with water, he looked at me with the loveliest smile. Mummy being the joy killer, quickly empty the jar of water in the sink.

He then made me a cup of tea but half way through, he said "oh oh no milk" and then he said "go Tesco buy milk" I was really surprised with his development overnight. Although what he said wasn't very clear, I knew what he was saying to me. He also used the word "another" when previously, he would say "more".

The pretend play went on with making me toast and then ran out of butter andBovril. He kept saying that he wants to go Tesco to get butter and Bovril. He walked to our room and came back with milk, butter and Bovril .... pretending that he went to Tesco.

It was the best breakfast ever ..... I'm still hungry though

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Alex went to his Occupational Therapy treatment yesterday and did very well. I managed to video his session but I need to wait for clearance from Ann's Boss before I could upload the video. However, if anyone would like to watch it, please leave me your email address and I will send it to you directly.

Oh Oh

"Oh Oh" and he ran out of the dining room.

We came down to make him juice this morning and while I was in the kitchen, Alex said "Oh Oh" and I said "I don't like the sound of that .... what did you do?"

He held my hand and led me to the dining room and there it was ....... my beautiful lilies are droopy.

Well duh Mummy .... cut flowers do need water you know! 

After six years of not having cut flowers in the house, I totally forgotten that you have to constantly check if there's water in the vase.

No it wasn't for Valentines. My friend came for lunch last Sunday and she brought me Lilies. They are lovely and filled the house with it's beautiful fragrance. I may consider having cut flowers in the house again .... since I bought a lovely vase earlier this week.

So .... oh oh is not always ... I did something mummy but more like you didn't do anything.

Be careful of what you wish for

I shouldn't be complaining as I have wish for this day to come.

Alex talking ..... and he can't stop!

He repeats, he tried to talk, he sings, he hums and he never stops until he goes to bed.

For the past few days, he has been using "ermmm" for everything you ask him. A few examples here that cracks me up. It may not sound that funny to parents with neuro typical children but it works for me.

We went to see my in-laws a few days ago because the family dog had to be put down because of old age. My in-laws were devastated and we took Alex to see them before school. Our little bod is a back seat driver and a very bossy one too. He tells me where to go by pointing at the direction and say "that way". On this occasion, we asked him which way to go .... and he said "ermmmm .... that way" all the way until we reached out destination.

He came to my bed this morning and gave me a kiss. He then said "mama go make apple juice" (this .... he has mastered and anyone could understand what he's saying) I played a trick on him and said "give me a very good reason why I should get out of my warm bed to the cold kitchen to get you a drink?" He looked confused ..... think for a bit and then he answered "ermmmmmm .... dada go make apple juice" I could not stop laughing and it was hilarious.

Well, since he asked nicely, Jeremy had to get up to make him juice. Well done mummy, another way to dodge responsibility and confuse your five year old.

Too many words Mummy .... but it was funny!

I'm all grown up and getting good at talking

I don't think I am like ordinary people when it comes to waking up in the morning .... that is until Alex came along.

In a perfect situation, your hear the birds singing, you open your eyes slowly and with a smile .... a little yawn and then a stretch.

OK ... mine is like #####Mummmmmmm ###### Click Clack Clock ######## Bang ##### Eyes popped opened and jump out of bed and run downstairs!

Well ... lucky for me it's not a typical morning but today sure is one that I just described. My son decided to grow up overnight making his own juice and breakfast.

When I came into the kitchen (I was still groggy), he already took the juice carton out of the fridge, and  trying to fill his bottle with it. He looked at me with a smile and said "elp".

I helped him with the juice and he said "Bar" mean breakfast bar. I gave him the bar and the juice, he went upstairs with them. I followed and then he sat on the floor and said "mama hur" means mama sit and pointing on the chair. He then hand me the bar and said "bar". I said .... "what do you say?"  He said "Mama (very carefully) ooo ppe (pause) pish open bar" He made sure that he said please and I was delighted and over the moon (smile). 

Alex is getting better at talking, although not very clear but he made a good attempt every time. When he watch tele, he will repeat what is said .... not very clearly but he did a great job. I am so proud of him.

Happy Birthday Mum

Alex's finally back to school after two days of school closure. 

The taxi was late to pick him up and while I was trying to contact the driver, my phone rang and it was Adrinna on the other end. I had to call her back as the taxi arrived immediately afters. 

We talked for awhile about calling my mum today ... singing the same birthday song to her - ha ha ha .... what are the odds? Well ... I only knew two and that would be 50/50 but having two siblings singing the same song? Hmmmmm 

After talking to my sister, I feel a bit melancholic and homesick. I haven't seen my mum for three years and that is a long time for a daughter to do. I hate it when I can't give her a hug on her special day or take her out for lunch or dinner or spend the day with her doing nothing. I missed my mum!

Jem and I decided that I should take Alex home with me this summer but I told him I cannot arrange for anything until we have confirmation that Meath is offering him a place in September. 

As a mum now, I realised how much we sacrifice for our children and never once thought that we needed anything in return. I know that my mum wouldn't want anything from us but having all her children by her side. She didn't say so .... she knew it would be selfish for her to ask.

I do hope that everything will fall into place with no obstacles and I can go home to see my mum and dad and my sisters and brother and nieces and nephews. For once, I craved for a noisy house where all the people that matters to me are together.

I pray ..... 

The wait is over!

Well .... the wait is finally over ... Alex's Occupational Therapy is finally happening. 

He is now officially in the system and will have a weekly appointment to see an OT for treatment. We waited 22 months for this and it's finally happening. 

Twelve months wait to see an OT for assessment and another 10 months wait to see an Occupational Therapist an hour a week ..... I don't know for how long. The country is short of OT and twenty two months wait is considered on target. At least that's one less thing to worry for now.

Alex had his first OT appointment today with Sam and Ann. 

Sam gave Alex a few exercises to do and he impressed the both of them. The last time Sam assessed Alex, he was way behind with his fine motor skills, not able to write or follow through with his assignment and a very short attention span. 

Alex is able to sit through the whole 45 minutes of the appointment this morning and performed every single task with good listening, talking and concentration.

He started with colouring, and we noticed that he used two hands but preferred the left one. Sam commented that ... since he preferred the left hand, we should encourage him to use the left one every time he picks up a pencil. This is to help the brain to concentrate on one hand to perform that particular task. He was then asked to copy what Sam was doing, drawing a line from top to bottom which he did brilliantly, and then across .... needed some help and then drawing a circle which he did a wonderful job.

He was also asked to draw a head with eyes, nose and mouth. Alex wanted Sam to draw the ears, body and leg as well .... Sam and Ann was really impressed with him. Ann commented that she can't wait to work with him. Both Jem and I was so proud of him .... we sat through the whole thing watching our son work his magic on these women.

Then came beading ... big beads and small beads ..... he sat there doing marvelously and his face was full of concentration. Both Jem and I could not help but gave a small chuckle as he look so cute with his serious face. He looked like a surgeon performing brain surgery - ha ha ha

After that came a few more dexterity test i.e using a scissor, picking small items, holding it in his palm etc. Finally physical movements starting with catching and throwing a ball and star jumps.

Conclusion: They need to concentrate on these areas - holding a pencil, holding a scissor and body awareness/balancing.

I think I missed out a few things as they did so much with him in such a short time. I guess we will get a report on today's assessment. His next appointment is on the 18th of this month and I hope to be able to video his session to share with anyone whose interested.

We cannot be prouder parents!

It's snowing and he's not going to school

(Picture 4 .... uploaded in wrong order) 

After much convincing and made a deal with Alex, he stood still and let me take a decent photo of him and his dad. 

(Picture 3) 

No Camera Please!

(Picture 2)

Look at Mummy, Alex!

(Picture 1)

This is the first decent photo of 2009. I had a hard time trying to get Alex

to look at the camera and smile. It's pure luck I got this one :-)

It's been snowing all of last night and this morning. We woke up to six inches of snow and this is the first time I have seen so much snow in 10 years of my life in UK.

Looking out the window, we saw neighbours' children playing outside with their sled and building snowman. I was a bit lazy and not so enthusiastic as Alex woke up at 5:30am and been coming in and out of our room between 5:30 and 8:00am. 

By the time I decided to get out of my comfy, warm duvet .... it was about 10:30am and thought I'll ring the school to find out if school's open. Alex had the day off!

Soon after, a text came to Jem's mobile phone .... it's from the school to inform us that schools close and to listen to local radio to find out if school's still close tomorrow. I thought that was a very good idea from school ... to inform parents of school's closure. Unfortunately, it was a bit too late as most parents would have found out the hard way ... showing up at school with children and found out that they had to take the kids home again. Not so easy for working parents as they had to find last minute sitters or had to call in sick or work from home.

Find it hard to understand how can life pause when it snowed in this day and age? What about people living in countries that snow all year? There had to be a way!

Anyway, decided to wrap Alex up in layer after layers of warm clothing (I could send him to Alaska) and let him play in the backyard .... by now, it's around 7 to 8 inches of snow. He loved it!

He spent a good hour outside playing with his dad and dragging the broom around the garden making a path to walk on. He was so adorable and I could just scoop him up and eat him alive .... hmmm that didn't sound right ..... anyway, mums know what I mean :-)

I love snow!