Rule #156: School is cool

Preschool was so good for Evan. It pushed him out of his comfort zone. It gave him the opportunity to socialize with kids that weren't related to him. He learned a ton (because he had some amazing teachers). I'm so grateful for the chance he had to go to two different schools. He loved both of them.

He had one program from each preschool last year that I never documented. There was a Christmas Program held at a Senior Center. This group was Mrs Butters and Mrs Everett. (They are also Evan's swim teachers)

This is when he saw Grandpa Doug! So cute!

He was fairly uncomfortable during this program. But I was proud of him because he stayed up there with the rest of the kids. Smiled...sometimes. He didn't say his line, but that was okay. It's all about the progress and the baby steps.

At the end of the year his preschool at Hannah Holbrook Elementary had a program. This was six months after the Christmas Program and he did AMAZING! He did all of the actions, with a big grin the whole time. Shame on me for not remembering more clearly, but I think he at least said his name. It was in a whisper, but I think words were said. :)

His best friend in school was Tyann. She LOVED Evan, and he was fond of her as well. :)

Miss Jessie and Miss Amanda. Two of the best teachers. Ever. They left gigantic shoes to fill. I am so grateful for how much they loved my son!

Fast forward to last week. It was our Primary Program in church. That morning I had a talk with Evan, trying to prep him for the day. I bribed him and I'm proud of it. :) He has been working on a sticker chart to earn Eyebrawl, a skylander. I told him that if he stayed up on the stand all by himself he would earn 4 stickers. (Last year I had to go up with him halfway through. I squatted on the floor, trying not to block the view of the other little Sunbeams). Then I told him that if he said his part, loud enough for people to hear, he would earn Eyebrawl. That was 16 stickers!

He seemed excited about it, but I still didn't expect him to say his part. I really was just hoping that he would stay up on the stand. :)

And he did. But then he rocked my world.

It came time for his part. And I was nervous. It seems so silly to me now, he should have been nervous, he was the one speaking in public. But I was really nervous.

And then he spoke! Spoke! Out LOUD! He said his entire part!!! There are not enough exclamation points in the world to express how I felt. I. was. shocked.

And then I cried.

Like, sobbed.

I was SO unbelievably proud of him! And surprised. I think I would have cried anyway, but he took me by such surprise that my emotions overwhelmed me.

It turns out that one of the primary teachers had turned to Evan before it was his turn to speak. She said "I bet if you say your part, and say it loud, you're mom will fall off her chair." It must have been motivation enough, because he said it. Then when he was done he said to the teacher. "She didn't fall off her chair." Ha! She told him that he got a much better reaction than falling off my chair.

My boy has come so far. When we started the ABA therapy I had to fill out page after page of assessments and history. Good thing I started my blog, I wouldn't have been able to remember when he hit his milestones. Reading back on his young life shocked me. He was SO delayed! There were so many things he didn't do. It made me sad. It was really hard to look back at how he used to be.

But when I think back on the child he used to be, and place him side by side the child he is now.....well, it's amazing to think about. He has come so far, and I am so proud of him!

To say that I am no longer worried about him and his future would be a lie. Of course I am. I think all mothers worry about their children, and I just have a few additional worries. :) But I have such HOPE for Evan. We have been so lucky in the therapist that have come into his life. Blessed to be picked for the Autism Waiver Program so that we have an ABA therapist for a year. That is something we would never be able to afford on our own and has proven to help children with ASD.

Evan is a great kid. He is super smart, and extremely literal. He loves his brother and sister. He wants to teach Rory all that he knows. He changes more and more every day.

I'm very proud to say that he is my son. I feel lucky to be called his mother.

Rule #155: It's who you know

The day after Aurora was born a photographer came by the room offering her services for newborn photos. It turns out since I am employed by Intermountain Healthcare, that I could get a CD for free!! Sign me up! I wish I had known that these were going to turn out so cute, or that I would be IN these pictures. I would have brought different clothes and tried to get ready for the day. Regardless, Aurora looks darling in them, and that's all that really matters!

Enjoy the cuteness overload!

 I love this one!

 Yawning pictures are so cute!

 Love!

Rule #154: Smaller is better

Graham had a neurosurgery appointment today. It's been a year since his last one, and this time was a LOT harder to get the CT done. Graham was so much younger for all his previous CT scans, easily distracted, and he had fewer opinions back then too. :)

I have been mildly anxious about this scan, not because I thought something would be wrong with his shunt. But because I KNEW he was going to hate every minute of it and I wasn't sure how we were going to help him lay still. Since I'm massively pregnant I didn't want (nor do I know if I would have been allowed) to stay during the scan. But I could hear him through the walls. :( The x-ray tech did a great job trying to get Graham excited and informed, but once we laid him down on the table it was over. Poor kid. I'm sure both she and Alex did everything they could. A CT scan usually only takes 3-5 minutes. It was longer than that, but less than 10. Since this is a children's hospital I'm positive they see this all the time, and know how to manage to get the pictures they need, regardless of the cooperation of the child. He was happy when it was all over, and happily went to go meet with the doctor. He's so quick to recover once he gets what he wants.

Graham's old Neurosurgeon, Dr Kestle, has moved back to Canada. We had to pick a new surgeon for Graham, and I really don't like any of the others that I have worked with, so we decided to give the new guy they hired a try. His name is Dr Bollo. He seems fine, but luckily we won't have to see him very frequently.

The nurse, Kathy, was the friendliest I've ever seen her. Maybe we caught her on a bad day the other 6 times we've seen her. :P

They pulled up the CT scan from today and from last year. Check this out!

Do you see how good that looks?!? Last years is on the right, with today's picture of the left. His brain has nearly recovered all of the lost space!! Something that we were told would never happen. I. am. thrilled. (to say the least)

Let's remind everyone what it looked like two years ago, right after the shunt was placed.  Nov 2011 on the left. May 2011 on the right.

Scroll back up to today's picture......

Amazing, right!?!?!

I asked if this means he will still need his shunt forever. They said yes. He still probably needs it. It is clearly doing it's job. But even if he DIDN'T need it, it wouldn't be worth the risk of another surgery, and all the potential complications that come with it. So, we'll keep it. And really I'm okay with that. As much as I hated the thought of a shunt, we have had a perfect run with it so far, and it's not that bad in the long run.

Do you want to hear even more good news? No more CT scans! Hooray! Just yearly visits with neurology to have a routine follow up. Awesome.

I am so grateful Graham is doing so well. He is smart as a whip and no one ever knows that he had this scary moment in his first year of life. He's such a rock star!

Rule #153: There is no age limit for childhood memories

 I found these pictures while looking through my phone and realized that I never blogged about it. Months and months ago we took the boys to a small circus. I had never been to a circus in my life. As a child my family all went to the circus. We were living with my grandparents at the time, and for some reason my five year old self thought that my Grandma would be lonely and feel left out. So I opted to stay home with her, and miss the circus with the rest of my family.

Years later, when I was a teenager, my boyfriend at the time had found out that I had never been to the circus. Ringling Brothers was coming in a few months so he bought tickets for us. Naturally, as fate would have it, we broke up before that time. He promised me that he would still take me to the circus, we were supposed to stay friends after all (and still lived in the same ward mind you)...but he didn't. I was sad I missed my chance again. Why I didn't just buy my OWN ticket I have no idea.

Fast forward to my married life. Alex found out I had never been to the circus before. And while he didn't really think it was a childhood tragedy, he recognized that I thought it was. :) While driving to California we stopped in Las Vegas for the night. He took me to see a Cirque Du Soleil show. And I love him for it. But it still wasn't a REAL circus. There were no animals. Lots of talented people, but no animals.

So in January I found a groupon for a Circus. I decided that even though it wasn't a BIG circus, it could still be my gift to my children. Making sure they experienced this childhood memory. Besides, having it be a smaller scale probably would be more fitting for Evan's enjoyment. Luckily my mom was able to come with us.

If I'm going to be completely honest, it was.....okay. Nothing really that amazing. We did leave before it ended, it took forever to start in the first place. They had stations where you could ride elephants, ponies, or a camel. But then they had to take it all down before the show could start. Unbelievably they set it all up again during intermission! Once we realized it was going to be another 30 minutes minimum before the show started again, and it was already 9:00 we decided to call it a night.

My boys seemed to enjoy themselves. And that's really what the night was about in the first place. They liked seeing the tigers and the little dog that climbed a ladder. Evan enjoyed seeing the acrobats do swings and flips.

I've never understood why the people in charge of a show think that eardrum bursting music = the best time of your life. It doesn't. If they would just turn it down a notch, I think everyone would enjoy themselves MORE. But maybe that's just me.

We brought some headphones for Evan. A nurse that I work with, whose son doesn't have Autism wears headphones to sporting events. I thought it would be a good idea given Evan's sensitivity to sound. It works perfectly. They didn't fit properly and we have since bought some child size headphones for future outings.

Graham got his first taste of Cotton Candy. At first he refused to eat it, because it was my suggestion (sigh) but once he gave it a try he loved it!

This is our attempt at getting a family picture. It's always such a challenge, especially when there are ANIMALS to look at. Graham was in heaven. :)  

 Daddy and his boys! Love the men in my life!

 Doesn't this face just say it all?

 This is a picture that captures Evan's Self-Stimulating behavior. If you've ever been around him, you know that when he gets excited he clasps his hands together, wrings them back and forth, and most assuredly jumps up and down. Before his diagnosis I didn't know this was a "thing" It wasn't the "hand flapping" I had been taught to look for. This was one of the red flags that Dr Goldsmith saw immediately the first time he met Evan. But when I look at this picture, even knowing all of this and what it means, I can just see my little boy who is excited and happy. And that makes me happy.

I'm glad that I can finally say I've been to the circus, and I'm even happier to have shared the experience with my family!