Day #135

My little scientist seeing what the world looks like through the lid of her small toy bin. She also likes to look through colored plastic or glass and look at teeny weeny specs of things through her magnifying glass. Now if we could only get her to talk so she could express what she has observed I am certain she would have amazingly profound thoughts coming from that mind of hers, why communication is such a deficit is beyond me!

Day #134

Look at those eyes! Blue as the sky, my Josie girls eyes. Open wide, wondering, watching everything that goes on around her. She is making extreme progress, amazing us every day with the new antics she comes up with. Maybe it is too early in venturing to say this but in a few short years time I see her being undetectable from her peers. I see her in the future being one of the "recovered" ones.

Day #133

I debated on whether I should post this or not but figured if I am really going to show my autism lifestyle I must write about the good, the bad, and the not so appealing. I must say it is never a good thing to find your daughter standing there butt naked peeing on the floor. Yes, that is right, my sweet Maeve took her diaper off and proceeded to tinkle on the floor to her utter delight. She thought it was the funniest thing and is still giggling about it every so often when she thinks of it again. I was in the other room momentarily when I heard the rip of velcro and knew immediately what she was up to but though I tried I could not get to her in time. I told her, as she laughed heartily about it, how NOT funny it was in my most stern (trying not to crack up) voice but I don't think my point was taken seriously.

Day #132

The newest member of our behavior therapy team, Shelley, we love you! She works with both girls on different days of the week while Pam or Ginger is off, and now that Ginger has put on a new hat as our behavior consultant too it is so nice to have a third ABA therapist to draw to. Extensive teaching background as well as being fluent in ASL ( American sign language), what an asset! Here she is getting some love from Maeve, I hope she doesn't mind I just had to share this photograph which I thought was so sweet.

Day #131

Second to last OT session with Aimee for the extended school year, boo! She has been so good with the girls and they get along great! Here she is working with Maeve jumping from the trampoline to the crash pad. She splits the girls and works with them individually for a half hour each on things like the swing, trampoline, crash pad, scooter board, exercise ball, as well as fine motor skills such as pencil grip and cutting. I like how she uses icons to tell them when the activity is changing and a penny board to count down how many more repetitions of an activity they are to do before they move on. She is not a softy and really follows through on what she asks the girls to do even if it needs to be done hand over hand. I have been very impressed with her as an OT and it will be a bummer not to take the girls to her any longer after next Tuesday.

Day #130

Just when I was wondering what I would take a photograph of and write about for today Maeve came over a spit a nice wad of chewed up paper into my coffee cup which gave me a form of inspiration I guess you could say. Lately Maeve has gotten into the very gross habit of spitting on everything. She will chew paper up then throw it against the wall. Take big swigs of milk or juice and spit them into something or on the deck. It may be a protest of some sort or it could just be a momentary fascination with the reactions she gets for doing it. I have tried to ignore it because extinction is better then giving her negative attention for something like this but as of now I feel I have to draw the line somehow. How? Good question. I have no idea, but I know that it is an unacceptable behavior that has to be extinguished before she begins doing it everywhere not only at home. Curious conundrum I have here, to stop a bad habit without ignoring it or giving any sort of attention to her for it, what's left? Redirection. I will let you know if it works.

Day #129

Just had to share my girls favorite stories, it is hilarious to read these particular books to them because either one or the other is cracking up the whole time. The first is Maeve's favorite page from the story "Bumble Bear, Pointing the Way" by James Hoffman, for some reason Maeve finds this illustration extremely funny and giggles about it every time I read it to her. The second is Josie's favorite story, which I have read dozens of times in the past couple days, "Pouch!" by David Ezra Stein. It is a must to read it with abundant enthusiasm and yell "pouch!" when you come to it to ensure very hardy chuckles. Both are very cute stories and I absolutely love the fact that my girls are appreciating books now. Some other authors which are our favorites are Eric Carle, Sandra Boynton, Dr. Seuss, Stephen Cosgrove, and Else Holmelund Minarik. If I have anything to say about it my girls will grow up loving books and realize that they can be transported to other worlds simply by reading or being read to.

Day #128

Took the girls for a walk this morning and tried "walk with me" after, as you see here, I looped their leads on their backpacks and set them free. 10 feet went by, yay! good job...20 feet, oh how exciting it is working...30 feet, it all went awry. Josie decided to stop dead in her tracks then head the opposite direction. Maeve kept trudging ahead then after another 20 feet made a direct right hand turn and bee lined for the grass. I ran to get Josie moving again and we both ran and caught up with Maeve who was very unhappy about not being allowed on the grass. With both leads firmly in my hand once again I kept trucking forward and they both settled into the walk finishing up fine but it was a scramble there for a minute. Some days I wish some of what we go through could be caught on video because I would assume it looks quite comical.

Day #127

This is what every mother of autistic children needs in their arsenal against household messes, a wet/dry shop vac. I figured I needed to go for the big guns when I killed my second vacuum cleaner in six weeks after trying to clean up the various messes created by my beloved little ones and pets. From bird seed brought in off the deck to beans from the sensory bin, from any number of food messes to kitty litter, it is all too much for the run-of-the-mill vacuum to deal with. The straw that broke the last vacuum cleaners back was nearly a whole sack of flour strewn willy nilly about the house, such a fine powder the motor could not handle. Now I feel the power and have the confidence to clean up any mess, bring it on! (that's just a figure of speech, please don't make any more messes for me)

Day #126

Happy 4th Birthday my sweet Josephine! Mama loves you with ALL her heart! Isn't this the cutest picture?! This was photograph number one of Josie for the day and it really shows her personality. Balloons, cupcakes, friends, lots of excitement, a few meltdowns and I am certain she will sleep very well tonight. :D

Day #125

Here is Josie during session today enthusiastically enjoying her mini m&m re-enforcer for practicing her numbers using wiki stix. It was a rough start for both of the girls but they settled into the day and accomplished a lot during session. Don't you just LOVE the dimples?!! :D

Day #124

(Artwork was a joint effort by: Maeve and Josie)

In My Daughter's Mind

Just for one moment

I'd like to know

What goes on inside their minds?

I would be

On a quest

If only, just one time,

I could find out,

Why they do what they do?

What they want to be?

I'd be opening the door

Locked inside

With a golden key,

This door would open

I can imagine,

Only for a moment, for me.

I can picture a magical land

Full of sparkly dragons,

Polka dotted trees.

A wondrous place

Of heightened senses,

If only I could see.

Touch feels like a punch,

Flowers smell too strong,

Gentle whispers deafen.

They would tell me,

Yes, converse with me,

Share their secrets that lie within.

If only for one moment

Their minds would open

So I could understand...

Day #123

Maeve is an extremely strong and determined young lady! She single-handedly moved Josie's bed to the center of their bedroom then proceeded to try and take the mattress off. Oh, and see how the table is tipped over and the chairs are stacked one on top of the other? I was told by their BTs (behavioral therapist) when I returned home from running errands that Maeve had pulled the table over under the window and was trying to remove the screen to jump out. I know she doesn't realize how high the window is but most times she just acts and doesn't even think about consequences, such is the case for most individuals on the autism spectrum. No wonder I am going gray! :D

Day #122

I guess I shouldn't have stepped away from the artist while she was at work?! Both hands are like this as well as a good portion of the kitchen table and those markers are not as "washable" as they claim to be. I love the look on Josie's face, like "what? what's so wrong with this? they are such a pretty blue!" Such a typically developing event, what almost four year old has not colored on themselves? I LOVE it!

Day #121

"Shake, shake, shake, FREEZE!" We saw a Rachel Coleman "Signing Time" music video this morning about movement so Josie and I created a great new game. I caught her on the "freeze" portion of the game. The music video had all kinds of movements and the ASL (American Sign Language) signs for each such as walk, run, hike, bike, jump, dance, shake and freeze amongst others. So I was signing along while Josie glanced back and forth from video to me with a look on her face like "whoa, I didn't know you knew that mom" and afterward she came up to me and said "shake shake" and hence the game was born. She wanted me to shake (fists at shoulder level and head all shaking back and forth) then freeze ( hands near shoulders with fingers outspread and of course a silly open mouth look on my face) over and over and over and over and over, well you get the picture. The great thing was that she was playing along and doing the movements with me at the same time :D

Day #120

Maeve has now gone from plucking her plush toys to plucking the cat, poor Gilbert! This is the documented amount of fur she has pulled off of his belly but there has been much more. I looked at his tummy today and he is getting very thin in spots. He is so good with her though and actually seems to enjoy it, stretching out right in front of her and letting her have at it. I think the cats know there is something special about Maeve and Josie and do not overreact like you would think a typical cat would and I am happy about that. I would scratch if my fur was being plucked upon but not these cats, they are very gentle kitty beasts who walk away placidly or just sit there and suffer through it. Life in the Keane realm is always interesting!

Day #119

Busy day today! Josie's IPP meeting, ABA session, a bank run, water play, grocery shopping and all of this on very little sleep. Here Maeve has rolled out the small road rug underneath Josie's bed and was just hanging out under there for the longest time this afternoon when we got back from the store. I expected her to go to sleep under there but she didn't, I would have! Just as a side note, the girls LOVE chocolate almond milk and why didn't anyone tell me Betty Crocker made gluten free cake, brownie and cookie mixes? I am so making some gluten free chocolate chip cookies tonight!

Day #118

Today has been such a good day so far! No ABA session today so we eased into the day with a very relaxed morning where we took our time about everything. Decided to go for a walk around the cemetery while it was still cool enough to do so. When we arrived back at the apartment I got the girls a drink then we set down picnic style in the living room and had story time, got through 10 books, thank you very much! I think the girls enjoyed chilling out with a story after their walk. Next was art time, so I lined the kitchen table with paper and poured out some paints and let the girls have at it. By the time they were done they had painted all over the paper, themselves, the chairs, counters and floor but it was so worth it. They played for a bit, after a quick clean up, while I got wrapped up in watching "Autism the Musical" which if you haven't watched is a MUST see, I just love it! Now they are playing with water out on the deck and I can hear Josie quack quack quacking. What comes next? I don't know, it is all up to the imagination :D

Day #117

We had our first session of extended school year occupational therapy today with Aimee. At first the girls were a little reluctant because the room looked different, there were new things to see, things they were used to were out of place and the OT was not who they expected to be there but they warmed up quickly. Maeve loved the fine motor table where she used tongs to pick up puff balls putting them into ice trays and here she is with shaving cream, fun fun fun! Josie was on the platform swing quite a bit on her tummy and Aimee got her to pick up beanie dinosaurs and toss them into a basket while swinging. Half an hour each girl so we were there for an hour so Aimee could work with both girls independently. The walk home afterward was brutal, just a little too hot for us. So we let the girls cool off by playing in some water when we got home. The rest of session was not so productive but it is a no win situation if you try to push these girls when they are stressed so I would rather end on a happy note, am I right? I know I am :D

Day #116

This is what happens during a one hour telephone interview with social services for medi-cal and food stamps! Maeve had way too good of a time on my bed with the baby album as well as my crafts and Josie got into the raspberry jam, not only was she getting messy but eating big spoonfuls of it at the same time and LOVING it. At least they were entertained and quiet so I could concentrate. They are so worth going through everything we go through, how can I be mad at this? I found myself chuckling like a mad woman when I realized what was going on :D

Day #115

Today was not a very productive day, among other things Maeve seemed tired all day after being up and down since 3 a.m., but I was still able to capture a couple photographs. The first, of course, is Maeve sitting like such a little lady, yes I realize her fingers are still in her mouth, believe me we have tried but she seems to know every trick in the book to get those digits in her mouth. The second is Josie's little hand with her "baby sister" all covered up with a witches hat in a small toy bin. She was being so sweet and gentle with this little toy treating it as if it was asleep. My girls are such unique individuals who amaze me and fill me with pride every day and I love them to pieces! :D

Day #114

Josie was drawing lines and counting, she counted from 1-11 then skipped to 23 ("tweefree") said that dozens of times then threw her hands in the air saying 100! When she was done drawing she looked at her picture and said "it's perfect" handed it to me and wanted me to clip it up on our art display :D

Day #113

 

This has become one of Josie's favorite new pass times, stacking blocks higher and higher until she has to kneel on a chair to reach the top and luckily she decided at the last moment not to use that bridge block. It is a mini catastrophe every time they fall but that doesn't deter Josie, if anything she tries harder to stack them higher each time. I love her focus and determination!

Day #112

Add another food to Maeve's repertoire, monkey bread! I decided to make some from a very simple recipe I found and it was an instant hit, both girls loved it. It is made from tube biscuits and a syrupy caramel sauce and Maeve nearly ate a whole biscuit on her own. Not the healthiest but at least it is something new and I am always ecstatic about that!!! Now if I could only hide a vegetable in it and still have Maeve eat it, that would be a bonus :D

Day #111

 

Another two picture kind of day because some days just call for it. The first incredibly lovely photograph is of the dollhouse bathtub which Maeve decided to create a mixture in, a concoction if you will. She poured some water into it then added some crackers and a teddy graham or two and when I poured it out I found that she added a few PECs to it as well. I was watching her just to see what she was up to and she was so happy, smiling and giggling the whole time. It is a good thing that I am not one of those "eek you're going to make a mess!" kind of moms. The second photograph I call "The Doll Amongst the Toys", Josie was having a quiet moment after session decompressing from all the brain stimulus. She works so hard during therapy that she needs moments to just chill.

Day #110

Yes, that is stuffing in Maeve's hand. She had gotten way too happy and I just had to find out why, so here is the answer. She nearly chewed the hoof off of her unicorn plushy and was having the utmost of a great time with the interior contents.

Thoughts for the day: ALWAYS help a friend no matter what. Nothing cleans a house like company coming. Flour is incredibly fun to play with. My girls will make anything non-edible edible and everything edible non-edible. Last but not least, I am never, repeat NEVER bored :D

Day #109

Ice cream treat after being so good at the store! I know it is kind of a cold, rainy day for it but they LOVED their ice cream. Maeve even said "i-keem" when I asked them if they wanted some, YAY! It is so exciting to finally hear words come from Maeve. Last week she said "purple" and "ubbles" for bubbles, "key" and she has been saying "daddy" quite a bit lately. I can't describe how good it is to hear :D

Day #108

Here Josie is trying to jump rope with a sparkly silver ribbon. She has the concept down but the coordination just isn't there yet. So she was really just jumping up and down, thumping into the floor rather heavily and probably driving my next door neighbor bonkers :D

Day #107

 Today has been a really mellow day with nothing particularly eventful happening. Started the day as usual then decided to go for a walk while it was still cool. Upon arrival back home I let the girls play in water for nearly an hour then Maeve fouled the tub of water with teddy grahams so I poured that muddy concoction out. About that time it was getting warm so we turned on the AC and chilled out for a while before Daddy made an unexpected drop-in visit which made the girls so extremely happy. By the time Gerard left it was cooling off so we decided to go for walk number two, that's when these photographs were taken. Maeve was teasing me and wanting me to carry her and when I wouldn't pick her up she giggled and would run around me in the rag doll way she does. Josie was looking for fairies, she would peek into each bush as we passed by. When we got back it was bath time and after shampooing and scrubbing I let the girls play in the sudsy water. Josie startled me when she came streaking butt naked and soapy out of the bathroom screaming "surprise happy birthday" then turned around just as quickly and went back to the tub. I LOVE MY GIRLS!!! :D

Day #106

NEVER leave a full coffee mug unattended it will quickly be slurped up by either Maeve or Josie or sometimes shared between them as they giggle with delight! Might not be the best thing for them but it is definitely not the worst and I have actually given them sips of coffee since they were teensy tiny little things. I recall Josie being about 1 year old and a barista at Starbucks seeing me give Josie a sip of my caramel macchiato and jokingly (I hope) say "what's wrong with you?!" LOL! :D

Day #105

This toy box which I found Josie all cozy in has been used for other purposes more often then for toys. Usually the plush toys are dumped out all over the girls bedroom floor and the toy box is used as a bed, a step stool to reach things that are purposefully put out of reach, a table for tea parties, a seat, a turtle shell, and a hide away among other things. NO single use items with these girls, if it can't multitask it doesn't belong in the Keane household :D