"Exciting Action in a Bottle"

These are called tornado tubes. You can find the special connectors (you provide the 2 liter plastic soda bottles) in most educational product stores or online from various vendors. They're actually pretty neat. Alex, here, illustrating how to make the vortex. Keep the bottom steady and quickly swirl the top half. Stop moving and whaalaa. You can add glitter and food coloring. Though the glitter eventually disintegrates and makes the water cloudy.

Alex got his first dose of secretin via IV this morning. There are many articles on this hormone treatment that affects the gut and the brain. We're hoping to see more language from him. Connectedness is already coming along. At home and one to one in school anyway... there are still too many distractions in the outside world his eyes seem to glaze over, shutting the informational overload out.

Some things he's been doing lately...

He so funny the other morning. I was waking them to get ready for school. A bleary eyed Alex said, "Sleeping. Go away" and pulled his blanket over his head. Before he would have just shrieked. When he finally came out from under the blanket and I said, "Good morning, Alex" he goes, "Good morning, Mommy."
"Let's go to the bathroom. You can flush the potty."
He smiled, said, "Hold hands" and he grabbed my hand as he made his way out of the room. When he saw I was going to take him to the bathroom downstairs, he stopped me in front of the second floor bathroom, "This one!"
"No, Alex. We're going to use the one downstairs."
There was a soft "Ok" then he stopped me again before we went down and climbed on to my back. "Piggyback!" He earned that one so I caved. When he hits 50 pounds though he's doodoo out of luck no matter how much he talks!

I was looking for something in the spice cabinet one afternoon. I felt him tugging at my shirt. "Mommy?"
"Hmm?" (distracted)
"MOMMY!"
"What?"
"Upstairs computer."

When I was on the phone and he wanted my attention because he needed help getting something out of reach.
"Mommy!"
"What is it?"
(pointed to the cabinet with the dishes) "Bowl."

The best part is he loves to play with Dana. They toss the Jack Skellington head from his costume back and forth, especially in a dark room. He runs up to his sister with it when he wants to play. "Dana!" gives her the head. "This is Halloween!"

"Boys & ghouls of every age..."

From left to right behind Alex... Kara, Alyssa and Linda (his teachers at the school).

I spotted the Jack Skellington costume at the Disney Store when we picked up Dana's Snow White costume. Jack from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" has been Alex's all-time favorite character EVER. And he's watched the movie so many times I think I've memorized all the lines myself. So, when I spotted it, I was not going to leave the store without it. I wasn't sure if Alex would wear the head... it's kind of clunky and looks absolutely ridiculous sitting on top of the wearer's head... but I figured Jack takes his head off in the movie so it should be fine even if Alex carried it around in his arms. Note: when Alex was about 3 years old, Dana had a Jack Skellington doll and Alex (after having watched that scene in the movie) promptly tore the head off. He now has 18 inch tall plush Jack and Sally dolls he goes to bed with... and having learned that Jack can only reattach his head in the movie, has not tried to take off his doll's head.

I wish you could have seen the look on his face when he was sitting on the couch watching the movie and I put the Jack doll next to him. I tapped his shoulder, he turned his head... and JUMPED. He grabbed Jack and gave him and kiss. I waited a few minutes then I put the Sally doll next to him and tapped his shoulder. *laugh* He jumped again. This time though after grabbing Sally he looked past me and around the couch to make sure no other movie characters would pop up to surprise him. :)

Anyway, soon as he saw Dana trying on her costume, he went up to me holding Jack and said, "On. Help. On." :D He completely understood the idea of a "costume."

Well, he understood part of it. While "trick or treating" when people would yell "Jack!" "Jack Skellington!" "The Pumpkin King!" Alex's eyes would widen and he'd look around like, "WHERE?!?!"

I (and his teachers at school) didn't think he would tolerate the head piece since he is still a bit defensive about anything on his head or being touched there. But he insisted (and his teachers
finally had to pin it to his costume because it kept falling over his face). And the first time we got it on him and Alex saw himself in the mirror... he totally cracked up.

He now carries Jack's head around with him at home.

If it's in my room at night, however, I move it to where I can't see it. The thing glows in the dark.

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall...

('Told you I was playing catch-up).

Dana makes a very convincing Snow White. So much so that, at the school's Halloween parade, a little girl yelled, "SNOW WHITE!!!" and ran up to Dana to hug her. Grandma picked this one out from the Disney Store. When Dana came home and we said we had a surprise for her... she put her arms out and closed her eyes. I plopped the costume in her arms and she screamed (in delight). I guess she'll be Bat Girl (who she was supposed to be) next year.

She had a fantastic time Trick or Treat-ing with her friends Elena, Adam and Alexis in the next town. There isn't anywhere to do that here where the houses are so far apart and there are no sidewalks. Big thank you to to Gladys and Jerry for letting us borrow their street :D.

Waaaaay behind

There's no denying it. I've been lax keeping up the blog. Lots of catching up to do but this is a start.

We've discovered that Ani and Alex have a lot in common. For one thing, they are both fascinated with the treadmill. So much so that I have to lock them out of the room while I'm using it to avoid serious injury. They are also fascinated with water and flushing toilets. And finally, both are mesmerized by the construction toy called Marble Run. When they're in another room and they hear the clicking of the marbles going through the little course they both come running to watch!

We've just sort of taken it for granted that Alex dreams. I'd read an article once about autistic people dreaming differently than neurotypicals.

We're now one step closer to finding out what my little guy at least dreams about.

And it seems (so far) like something any child his age would dream about.

For the first time ever, one morning this week, he tried to communicate to me what he dreamed that night. I came up to get them up for school and found Alex awake and crying in bed.

"Alex, what is it? What's wrong?"

He grabbed my hand, "PUPPY! PUPPY!"

"There's no puppy here (he calls every dog 'puppy')."

He sat up, alarmed. "Ani... Nicky!!!"

I pointed over to Dana's bed where she was petting the cat as he stretched out next to her. "Ani's right there, Alex."

He sat up to see for himself then sank back down in relief, looking rather like a balloon losing air.

I do believe he had a bad dream about a "dog" getting Ani. We suspected that the old black cat Nicky met his demise ala coyote and we'd said as much several times to Dana... but could Alex have actually understood what he heard?