Is this leather I'm smelling?

Our new electric leather recliners finally arrived. After months of waiting, we are finally sniffing some leather.

It's so comfortable that I could fall asleep on it. Alex loved it and have been going up and down the sofas all day. He can even operate the recliners - wow!

Pictures of my two beloved XY enjoying the recliners.

Tip-toeing in your own house?

Three twitching noses will confirm that Spring's finally here. Alex's been suffering from hay fever and there's nothing much we can do about it except giving him small doses of Piriton.

He's been a light sleeper lately, due to stuffy nose and coughing from post nasal drips. We had to tip-toe around the house when Alex sleeps. He's so sleep deprived that he nap longer in the afternoon. Most mothers will agree that if your child is sleep deprived, so will you.

Like any child, Alex is extremely hyper and naughty when he is tired. I had to physically drag him to his bed and to negotiate fringe benefits with him to persuade him to sleep. Well ... it worked but not for very long though (it's never long enough when you are sleep deprived yourself).

He's demanding more and more of our attention when he's awake and we had to comply ..... because of his past strategy, no attention = pee on the floor

So, when he finally have a shut eye .... we had to do everything we need to do before he wakes again. We just hope that this is just a phase and for not too long ....... please

Rainbow have officially offered Alex a place. He will be joining their afternoon session starting in May for 2.5 hours every day and then, full time in January 2009. The teachers came to visit us last Tuesday (just can't find the energy to update my blog with this good news) and we think they are great with Alex. As usual, Alex is very charming when we have guests and he don't really need to try very hard to get their attention. It's quite assuring hearing from the teachers that Alex would soon talk. They have so much experience with other children similar to Alex's condition. Coming from Speech and Language teachers, it's definitely reassuring.

Our initial plan was to have Alex continue with Teddies and then Rainbow in the afternoon. With much thought and with Alex's current sleeping pattern, we have decided to withdraw Alex from Teddies when he starts Rainbow. Both Jeremy and I feel that it would be too tiring for Alex and he will not be able to concentrate in Rainbow.

We have waited too long to waste this opportunity and something had to give.

Things are getting better.

I think we are back on track with Alex. He stopped pulling his pants down and have been asking for help with toileting again.

Sleeping is now a problem. He has been coming to my bed at 3:30am for two nights now. First night, when he came to my bed, I was too exhausted to get him back into his bed. I let him sleep with me but it was too small for the three of us, Jeremy got up and went to sleep on Alex's bed.

Last night, he came to me again and about the same time. I let him sleep on my bed and I went to sleep on his bed. He woke Jeremy up at 6:00am and he hasn't stopped since.

Where did he get all these energy? Both Jeremy and I are having a tough time keeping up with him.

I would advise anyone who wants to start a family to do it early. I had Alex at 34 and Jeremy at 39. It's hard to keep up with a toddler at our age and way too exhausting to have a child who doesn't sleep enough.

Sometimes we forget.

Alex has been a very difficult child since last Saturday. He has been dry day and night for almost four months but last Saturday, he decided otherwise. Normally, he will come to us and ask us to help him in the toilet but for one whole week, he las been pulling his pants down and pee in the study or kitchen floor - never on the carpet though.

Both Jeremy and I are on our wits end - we tried scolding him, we tried ignoring him and we don't know what else to do. We asked him if he needs to go and he always said no. As soon as we turn our head, he will run to either of the rooms and start pulling his pants down. It's very very exhausting as we can't always watch him 24/7. At first, I thought it was attention seeking but then he had all the attention and still do it.

Last night, he woke up at 12 midnight and started to sing and talk to himself. I waited until 1am before going to his room. He pulled all his toys, blanket and pillow onto the floor and slept there. I decided to let him sleep on the floor. He did not go back to sleep until 3am.

While waiting for him to sleep, I started to analyse his behaviour. After looking back at the events that took place prior to his change, I realised that we took him for granted.

Alex is not like most children with ASD. He is quite versatile and able to accept changes but that does not mean that he don't need sameness. Because of his flexibility, we do things without first considering how it will affect him.

Two weeks ago, we decided that Alex should sleep in his own room - Jeremy did some minor changes in order to make his room tidier and calmer. After sleeping with Mummy for almost more than a year, it's hard to adjust to sleeping alone. He managed to make that change in a week.

Last Sunday, my friend Amelia and her son Anson came to stay for two nights. Alex was so excited that he woke up very early in the morning. And of course, when Alex wakes at 4am, the whole house wakes up at 4am too. Poor Amelia and Anson, I think this would be their last stay here - ha ha ha

Wednesday, Alex went to nursery and came home to a completely changed living room. Jeremy did some decorating, preparing for our new recliners to arrive next week.

Thursday, the buyer for my Ford Focus C-Max came to collect the car and I went to the dealership to collect my Toyota RAV4 (and very nice too).

Friday, we changed all the pictures around in the lounge and put a mirror above the fireplace. The lounge looked really nice now.

All in all, it's sensory overload for Alex. All his life, the lounge has been how it was, mummy's car has always been a C-Max. It has always been just Mummy, Daddy and Alex sleeping in the house and Alex always sleeps with mummy.

These changes may not be felt by a neuro-typical person but to Alex, his world is upside down. I cannot imagine what it's like in his head and how afraid he must be.

We are so sorry darling, next time mummy and daddy will think first before we make too many changes at the same time.

Oh no no no ..... I can't accept that!

Alex has been sleeping well since Thursday - through the night until 5:30am. I could hear him playing in his room and as soon as it's five minutes to six, he would  come into my bed for a five minutes hug and then off he go again.

He came back from nursery with a nasty fall on Friday. I went to pick him up at 1:15pm, as usual ...... entered his room ready for a big smile and hug. What I saw almost brought tears to my eyes. His forehead and nose were grazed from a fall from his bike. This is not the first time but second time in two weeks and third time in two months. I heard my own voice quivered when I spoke to his carer and signed the paper she produced to explain how it happened and what they did.

Got home. Jeremy opened the door to say hello to his son and saw Alex's face. I told him what happened and he was very angry. He picked the phone up to call the manager of the nursery but he wasn't around. Left a message instead. 

We were angry not because of the fall but because they didn't call us to let us know. If they have done that, I would be prepared and not had a shock. 

An hour later, still no call from the nursery, Jeremy called again and finally he got hold of him. The manager quickly passed the call to the team leader to explain. The explanation was that she didn't think it was serious enough to call us. 

That is not the point! They have been so good with Alex but this incident made me think twice about leaving Alex there full time when I get a job.

I think, I will be a stay at home mum for awhile until he goes to school full-time and settled. 

Maybe this fall made me see what is important at the moment. 

My poor baby. Is this not serious enough to deserve a phone call?

Keeping my fingers crossed.

I had a good night sleep on Tuesday night. I prayed that Alex would sleep through the night as I was scheduled to attend a job interview in the morning. My prayer was answered and he slept through and in his own bed. Looks like perseverance paid as I was about to give up. 

Jeremy was working night shift and I told him that I might let Alex come into my bed if he cries in the middle of the night. I can't afford to have another sleepless night - not when I need to be fresh for my interview. Thank god!

He went to bed last night at 7pm. 

At 4am, I heard "Ma Ma" 

I went to his room and consoled him and then told him that mummy's going back to bed. Surprisingly, he let me and went back to sleep until 6:30 this morning.

Well, that's really great but (there's always a but) I could not get back to sleep. I drifted in and out of dreams and was totally knackered when I heard my boy singing his heart out.

The last 7 nights were exhausting and it would be impossible for me to leave his side until he get back to sleep. I am hoping this is not a one-off and that he will start to sleep through.

He went to bed at 7:30 tonight and I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

Temper tantrums is definitely a pain in the butt.

Alex has been really difficult lately - nothing pleases my dear prince. We have not experienced such bad tantrums for a long long time and I know what brought this on.

Our son has been sleeping with me for more than a year. It started with moving him into a bigger room and waking me up at 2am every day. Due to lack of sleep, we decided sleeping with me temporarily (say a week or so) to enable me catching up with my sleeps. A week gradually turned to months and then year. It seemed easier but Jeremy and I have been sleeping in separate rooms - not healthy.

Last Wednesday, we decided to put him in his own bed. We were surprised that he took it well .... he went to sleep at 7pm - almost instantly (he did not have his afternoon nap). Because he went to bed early, we could catch up with our tv programmes - enjoyed ourselves and went to bed at midnight.

Came 3am .... I was in dreamland ..... "Ma ma .... ma ma (sob)" and I went to check on him and managed to get him back to sleep. 4am .... "MA MA (SOB)" went to him and this time ... I was too tired to get back to my own bed. I slept with him on a 3 foot bed and by 6am I was numb on the side.

Thursday night. Went to bed again at 7pm. 3am "MA MA (SOB)" and then 5am "Ma ma (sob)" and then 6am - I might as well get up.

Friday - I felt drained by mid-day and promised myself that I will have an early night. Alex fell asleep on my lap at 6pm. I put him to bed and went downstairs for a quiet night with Jem. At 10pm, I went to check on Alex just before having an early night - he wet himself big time. (He has been dry at night for sometime but because he fell asleep on my lap, I did not let him have his last pee.) We had to change him and it broke our heart to see him cry. Well, he woke up alright and didn't go to sleep until 1am. I was too tired to sit with him and Jeremy offered to read him a story - it's fair to say that I have a great partner.

I slept like a baby and didn't get up until 7am. I was all refreshed and had a great day.

Last night, he slept at 7pm and called for me at 4am. I went to him and back to my bed in 5 minutes. He woke up at 6am this morning and came to me looking rather excited. Pull the curtain aside and there it was ..... snow, snow and snow.

So, for the past 5 days, he had been teary, difficult and a total pain in the butt. After doing my iceberg analysis .... I think his tantrums came from change and insecurity. The room is still too big for a toddler but he had to get used to it.

We have to persevere and hope he'll get the message that he's not coming to mummy's bed anymore.

Taken this morning when we woke up to an inch of snow. Didn't last very long though as the snow started to melt away in the mid-morning. Alex and I had some fun - I tried to make a snowman but gave up in the end. Threw some snowball at Alex but he didn't know how to respond. He enjoyed himself so much that he refused to go into the house despite freezing his cotton socks off ;-)

Could it be fated?

The best part about our relationship (Jeremy and me) is that we can talk about anything to each other. No matter how busy our day had been, we always find time to talk. We wind each other up for fun but we almost always end up agreeing with each other.

I said I wanted a red Toyota RAV4 some time ago and Jeremy said that I could have one if I can find one that is less that 10 miles from us, automatic and diesel. I said "OK ... you better not regret what you said, coz if I found one .... you better get it for me." He said OK and laughed.

I didn't know why he laughed until I went online searching for all the requirements: Red, automatic, diesel and guess what? Toyota don't do a diesel automatic for RAV4 only for their bigger models. Now I know why he laughed and so confident.

This morning, as I was about to get out of bed, he said ... "you know what? if you really want a RAV4, it doesn't matter if it's not diesel as you don't use the car that much anyway. I think you can get one if you find one that you liked." I could not believe my ears ....

I took Alex to nursery ... came home ... went online to Toyota website and put in all the requirements .... RAV4, red, automatic .... and ......

RAV4, red, automatic, 2 miles from RGxx xxx (I could not believe my eyes) I told Jeremy and asked him to call the dealership. He did ... we arranged for a test drive and then .... after 2 hours from my search on Toyota website .....

We bought the CAR. I have my red RAV4 automatic!

Was it fated?

Could it be any better?

I applied for a job last week - not a long term job but just to cover for someone going to have a baby. I didn't think much of it as I have been out of the work market for sometime and if I don't hear from them, that's fine.

I got a call last Friday and was asked some preliminary questions and was told that they might call me this week for an interview date. My heart went racing and thousand and one things going in my mind. There was one thing that kept bugging me - my Jury Duty on April 14th.

It's a tricky situation as ..... if I get the job, I will have to be excused to perform my Jury Duty and god knows how long the trial will last? It won't be fair to my employer or if I mentioned this during my interview, I may be jeopardising my chances of getting the job.

All weekend, I was edgy and the jury duty going on and on in my mind. Came this morning, I decided to forget about it and let things go naturally. I may not hear from them for the interview date anyway.

I decided to bake some cakes to take my mind off the situation but I ran out of eggs and flour. I had to go to Sainsburys and took Alex with me. It was a rather gloomy day and I thought 'yuck' what a day and it was windy as well.

As we enter Sainsburys .... oh my GOD! I hate it .... they changed the entire layout of the supermarket. They have been renovating for some time and I knew there were going to be changes but it was beyond recognition. It's like 'Bloody Tesco", I like Sainsburys because they put the fruits and vegetables aisle at the entrance and it's such a cheerful and healthy place. You felt like you want to be healthy and it makes you happy. But they turned the place to somewhat Tesco with all the shampoos and baby stuffs at the entrance. They push the fruits and vegetables to the middle and I could not find anything I wanted.

Thank God Alex was as good as gold. He brought his toy duck with him and was so happy. OK ... if my son is happy and not make a fuss .... I am happy.

As we got out of the supermarket .... the sun suddenly shone so brightly and the breeze as gentle as can be. Half way home, my mobile rang and it was the lady from the job I applied. She called to arrange an interview date and we will meet next Wednesday. I got home feeling like I could fly but there is one other thing .... the Jury Duty.

An hour later, my phone rang and Jeremy passed me the phone.

"Hello .... is that Christine?" I said yes and he said "I am calling from the Jury Services and was wondering if you are excited about your Jury Duty in two weeks time?"

I said "I am not sure what to expect".

"The reason for my call is that we have too many Juries on the day that you are supposed to attend, would you mind if we excuse you from Jury Duty?" he said.

I said "Yes, please!"

and yadee yahda ..... he will send me a letter to confirm that I will be excused. Oh my GOD ! I could see myself jumping up and down with joy and gave Jeremy a big hug.

What a day .... I felt that the burden on my shoulder suddenly lifted.

The sun is shinning, my son is happy, I got an interview date and I won't have to perform my Jury Duty.

What a day ..... thought I'll share this with you dear diary ....

An interesting article arrived on my doorstep this morning and thought I'll share with you.

What works? with individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorders by Geoff Evans

http://www.optionsgroup.co.uk/pdfs/Options_Inst_Info_Sheet_3.pdf

I have created a new blog about NAS EarlyBird Programme. This blog is to share what we learned from the programme. The contents are from Parent Book and I will also elaborate further and include some tips from what we've done with Alex.

Dear Diary is about our day to day life and EarlyBirds - our experience is all about the course and hopefully will benefit those with interest in this topic.

I know for a fact that when Alex was first diagnosed, I was searching high and low for tips to work with Alex and all I found were information about what autism is, changing of diet but nothing about behaviour and helping our child to gain independence.

I don't know if I have helped anyone reading my blog but if it's just one person I helped, I have done my job.

To go to EarlyBirds - our experience, follow link from the left hand bar

Could he be the next X Factor winner?

Went to Toys'r'us today. Alex's grandma and auntie Sue gave him some money for Easter. Grandma wanted to buy him a guitar and we used the money from Sue to get him Thomas and Jeremy airport set.

Jeremy saw the ad in Daily Mail today that the airport set he had his eyes on is on half price. Great, looks like patience paid .... wait for a couple of months and you save money.

We know Alex likes music and hopefully, he'll like the guitar.

A performance for Julia.

It's home visit week again and Julia, our Earlybird trainer came with her video camera. We don't have an assignment this week and we can choose to do anything we like with Alex.

I am all bunked up (yes .... I am afraid so ...) my voice's barely there, I have dehydrated skin and I know I'll look awful on camera, well .... it's about time Jeremy appear on tele.

He sat on the floor with Alex and played with his bus and taxi (Julia had her camera on them), taking turns pushing back and forth .... yes, I am afraid it's not very interesting but it shows that Alex is capable of concentrating and able to take turns. As soon as Julia put the video camera away, Alex started to sing his little songs. It's such a funny sight to see Julia quickly aiming her camera at Alex again (it's true what they say, never work with a child or animal) trying to catch his act. I must admit, Alex is rather cute when he sings.

After the videoing, we sat down to talk about Alex's progress and what we learnt from Earlybird and if we benefited from the course.

One of the things we learned from Earlybirds is The 5 Ps (Planning and Perseverance will Produce Progress and preventing Problems) and Alex's visit to the dentist on Tuesday proved that the method worked for us.

Our last visit to the dentist was in January and the dentist could not do anything with Alex because he refused to sit on the chair and open his mouth. Alex has been grinding his teeth and we were afraid that it would eventually wear out his teeth. The dentist Dr. Kouskoura decided that we should make another appointment to put a layer of fluoride paste on his teeth. When Alex grinds his teeth, he will wear out the fluoride layer instead of his teeth. That sounded good but will Alex co-operate?

I used the 5 Ps method and prepared Alex for the appointment the night before. I told him what to expect (the bright lights, there maybe another person in the room etc), what to do when he sees the doctor (open his mouth and say ahhh) and that he must sit on the chair to have his teeth checked.

When it was our turn to see the dentist, Alex walked in with confidence and when the doctor asked him to sit on the chair, he sat on the chair. I then asked him if he remembered what I said and he said yes. In less than 15 minutes, he had his teeth checked, the fluoride paste in placed and no problem and no tantrum. All went well and I was so proud of him.

I told Julia of our experience and she was so happy for us. We have been very lucky so far ... to have met the nicest people and they obviously cared very much for us.

Julia left an hour later not before she tasted my Raspberry and blueberry lime drizzle cake ... straight out from the oven.

A visit to the A & E

We've had a scare this afternoon and rushed Alex to Wexham Park Hospital Accident and Emergency Unit.

Alex's been coughing for the past few days and as usual, cough and cold will just away. We did what we usually do, gave him lots of fluid and rest.

This afternoon, as we got home from my friend Jane's house at around 3:00pm, Alex suddenly had a coughing fit and then when I asked him to spit, there were blood on my tissue. I quickly checked his mouth to see if there's any cut or something else but couldn't see anything. As it's Easter Monday Bank Holiday today, our GP's not available.

Jeremy rang NHS Direct to find out if we should seek immediate medical attention. After 15 minutes on the phone talking to two different people, we were told to take Alex to the A & E immediately as they don't like the sound of it. They get really concerned about a child's well being especially toddlers and wouldn't want to risk wasting time.

Within 30 minutes from hanging up, we were sitting in the Children's A & E waiting room and seen by a doctor in less that 20 minutes - that's how fast things were .... I'm impressed.

The doctor looked at Alex's throat and ears, listened to his lungs and checked his temperatures. We were told that we should not worry too much and it may be a one off incident as he has been coughing and may have injured the lining of his throat. We were given a test tube and told to monitor his progress - should he cough out blood again, we need to send the blood sample to our GP for test.

What a day! I am glad it's nothing serious but at least it gave us confidence in our national health service.

I'm not giving in ..... you first!

It's battle of the will with Alex lately. Everything starts with a "No" whether he wants it or not. It drives me up the wall sometimes .......

Our usual morning starts with ....... at 6:00am .... "Mummmmmm" two seconds later "Mummmmmmmmmmm" and then silent. 6:30am ... "Mum" and I will turn around and we will have our nice hug in bed. He is quiet considerate sometimes but as soon as he sees the clock turned 6:45am, he will get out of bed and run into his own room and start pulling drawers out and pouring it's contents all over the floor. I would normally let him play on his own until I hear nothing and knows that he is up to no good. By then, I will get out of bed (he knows that if he goes quiet, I will get out of bed - what a cheeky devil) and he will then have his shower, brush his teeth, change into his day clothes and then go downstairs for breakfast. He will choose his own breakfast and help me to prepare them. That's how it's always been but lately, he is one pain in the you know where.

The morning started as always but this time, when I ask him what he wanted for breakfast, he would say "No". I'll give him a few choices and he will say no to everyone of them. I had to choose one and as soon as he saw what I got him .... he'll say "No" and then look again and say "hmmm" and ate the whole thing. What a contrary boy .....

From asking him if he needed the toilet to what he wanted for dinner is always a "no" and then a "hmmmm" except when I ask him if he wanted a bath and if he wanted cake.

I forget that my son is getting older and that sometimes, he has his own mind ... but because he is not talking .... it makes it harder to change the way I treat him.

I have always thought that when he starts talking, everything would be OK but now I am not sure. We will have new sets of problems to deal with and mostly because we won't know how to treat him.

His cognitive ability is at 3.5 years old, his speech is at 18 -22 months, his fine motor abilities at the level of a 24 - 26 months child. So .... the question is

Should we treat him as a four year old or should we treat him as a 2 year old?

It would have been a very different tone if I have written this three hours ago.

A soak in the bath can really make a difference to one's well-being. I haven't had such a bad day with Alex since ..... May/June last year?

I really believe that we need to set some "Me" time even if it's only for half and hour. An understanding partner is essential to any family. If I hadn't had my half and hour "Me" time, I know I would be threading in dangerous water ..... I might get back to my depression mode. I have been there and WILL NOT let myself go in there again.

Anyway, I assumed we have passed the public toilet phobia stage but today proved my assumptions wrong.

I took Alex to Legoland. I thought it would be nice to take Alex out while Jeremy get some sleep after two night shifts.

We had a great time going on a few rides and then .... Alex said he wanted to pee. I took him to the toilet but as soon as he saw the toilet, he refused to go in. So, I took him to the disabled toilet next door as it's quieter and cleaner. We got in and I closed the door, he started screaming and crying inconsolably .... what was two minutes seemed like a life time in there. Meanwhile, he wet his pants and I had to take him out of the toilet. I looked at the toilet and try to do the "Iceberg" metaphor mentally but it's quiet a different story when you are all alone with a screaming child.

I can't think of anything at that moment and took him to the customer service area where there are changing facilities. I can't change him into his clean clothes when I am not sure if he had finished his business, so I asked the Customer Service Assistant if there's a quieter toilet. I told her that my son is autistic and needed some space. You cannot believe how helpful she was ..... she took us to the first aid room with a clean toilet and asked us to stay as long as we liked. Meanwhile, she came back to help console Alex bringing "Hero" badges and saying that if he uses the toilet, he'll be a "Hero". It took three people including myself to convince Alex to go sit on the toilet but we all failed miserably. I had no choice but to nip it on the butt and scooped him off the floor .... sit him on the toilet despite his screaming .... he did it and then stopped crying instantly.

We all clapped our hands and said how good he was and he was really pleased with himself. I cannot thank them enough and I must write a thank you letter to Legoland to tell them how great their employees are and how well informed they are about Autism.

After the Episode, we continued to go round the park and left an hour later. I cannot help feeling down as it's been such a long time since Alex experienced any distress or having tantrums.

I guess my feeling down escalated from Sunday when I took Alex trampolining. They changed the coach again and this time it's a young girl and I don't think she has any experience with special need children.

All the other children are much older than Alex and they have been doing this for a long time. This is only the fourth time we've been and each time a different person teaching Alex. As usual, Alex is a playful child obsess with signs and doors. He jump around looking at signs above the doors and point at them. It's quite dangerous as he was jumping all over the place and the trampolines were placed next to each other. The instructor kept asking Alex to pay attention and jump in the middle but she couldn't get his attention. I had to do something .... I got Alex's attention and managed to get him to jump in the middle for a few seconds and off he went into his own zone again. The place is echoey and I could hear my own voice kept asking Alex to "listen" and "jump". I felt like a control freak and it's not a very nice feeling.

As soon as he started to jump nicely, we had to get down again to let another child go. It's so frustrating as we had to start all over again with Alex. I know the reason why we had to keep changing as it allows the children to learn turn-taking but with Alex, he needs time to warm-up.

The final straw came when he jumped onto the next trampoline. It was so dangerous and I could see an accident waiting to happen as the boy using the next trampoline was an 8 year old boy with ADHD - when this boy starts jumping, he couldn't stop. I told Alex to jump properly or we go home. He thought I was joking with him and when he jumped onto the next trampoline, I saw myself calling him over and scooping him off the trampoline and took him to the corner and put his shoes on. I said nothing and pull him along and left the centre. I did not look back to see what the others were doing but I need Alex to learn consequences and to take my threats seriously.

I came home feeling down and tired. After putting Alex to bed, I went downstairs to unwind, watching some CSI and organising all the Lego pieces into colours and shapes (One might say I have a little OCD -Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and then went to bed feeling really tired.

What went wrong? Could it be his fever? He had a mild fever tonight and I sent him to bed with a little Calpol.

I am so happy I could fly ....

I've just had a call from Rainbow Resources Centre. We have been waiting for this call for what seemed like forever.

Two weeks ago, I contacted TASS to find out if they have heard anything from Rainbow - if they will offer Alex a place or we have to find an alternative . We've heard nothing from anyone since our visit to the school in November. Neel called me the following week to explain that they are not in any position to offer Alex a place as there were two other pupils who were not ready to move on to the next level. She felt that they might offer Alex a place in September and asked us to continue to request for Rainbow towards the end of the Statementing process.

Liz the head of the unit called this afternoon and asked if we are still interested to place Alex at Rainbow - I said "Yes, please" (the call was a surprise and I just reacted like a silly school girl as I didn't know what else to say - I guess she could hear the excitement in my voice).

I was told that they may be in the position to offer Alex a place after Easter break as there may be a child moving up to the next level and waiting for placement. It's quite tricky as if the school, that the child is waiting cannot take him in, Alex may not get in then. The next possible placement would be Summer Term and that would be around May/June. Well, it's way better than September.

They will have to see Alex at nursery and at home. We've scheduled a date for the home visit in April and from then, they may be in a position to tell us when they can take Alex.

Looks like everything is may be and we won't get a definite answer until the very last minute. It's quite frustrating but I could understand why - they do not want to give parents hope and then had to turn around and say "I am sorry but we cannot ....."

Anyhow, it's still good news as we have set a date for the home visit. Can't wait .....

Legoland here we come.

We received a postcard from Legoland thru the mail today. They are opening this weekend in time for the Easter break in two weeks time. The last time Alex and I went there was in October last year and we came back with wet jeans.

Now that it's opening again, I can take Alex there on Mondays or Tuesdays when we have nothing better to do - ha hah a

We bought the Annual Pass last year and I can honestly say, it's one useful pass to have when you have a toddler. Not just for the rides but it's also a beautiful, clean and safe place to have a good walk.

Alex benefited a lot from going to Legoland last year. For a start, he learned to queue and take turns. Because of our regular visit to the park, he is a happier child (in the past, he seldom show emotion on his face, we find it difficult to judge whether he enjoyed himself or not) and at about the same time, he started to hug and cuddle me more compared to the last three years of his life. I am not sure whether it's a coincidence or spending time going to the park together brought out the happy Alex.

His gross motor movement improved because of the walking. Prior to Legoland, he goes every where in a stroller and when he runs, he looked very clumsy. Since dumping the strollers, Alex walked everywhere and he gradually became a very sociable child (he likes the attention from adults and he liked visitors).

I truly believe that walking makes Alex a very different child.