Quinn did great again at horseback riding! He is really starting to get it! He is getting so good at handing the PEC to "go" that he might be ready to add "stop". He loves riding the horse and I don't know much about horseback riding, but his form looks good to me. He must be a natural :) He especially likes it when they put his feet in the stirrups so he can stand up a little...I think it is called posting. He just likes it because it is even more bouncy that way. Cooper goes for his evaluation for riding on June 17th and then he is going to start going regularly too. The woman who runs the center told me that the Autistic kids just can't resist talking to the horses...I hope she is right!

I made one last ditch effort today and called Social Security to try and get help for the kids financially. Nope, we make too much money..even when you factor in two kids with disabilities. More bad news, I was supposed to go look at the afternoon class for Cooper but the teacher had her baby so there will be a substitute...I knew I shouldn't have waited! And Cooper's infants and toddlers teacher is going to be on vacation when they scheduled his next IEP....she was going to be the only friendly face there!!!

Good news, Matt fixed the ice maker....it's a freaking miracle!

This morning I watched Cooper's class, from what I saw he did pretty well. He was verbalizing more than usual and in a really good mood. He was so glad to be back at school after the long break that he went right in and gave his teacher a big hug :) I also spent some time on my cell phone with the insurance company this morning. That didn't go too well. Apparently they got the pre-determination but they said it takes "at least" 30 days to get a response...which means it could take even longer! We need to know by June 15 for him to get in the summer program at KKI, so that isn't too likely to happen :(

Since it was pouring all day we went to Baskin Robbins instead of the playground. Cooper remembered that this is where they have ice cream so he was really happy when we walked in. We went up to order and I had to let go of Cooper's hand so I could pay. The next thing I know the man behind me in line starts laughing. I turn around and there is Cooper, holding this man's hand and standing there like he belonged to him! Luckily it was a nice man who found it amusing (if not a little weird) that this little boy came up to him and grabbed his hand. Cooper is really big on holding someones hand when we are out, I guess since mine was no longer available he found one that was. I see lots of working on boundries in our future.

Today was a pretty good day!

This morning Cooper and I had our in-center meeting at KKI with Kerry. Kerry tells me how to play with Cooper the "right way". Whatever helps I guess :) Cooper loves it because he loves Kerry and we get to go to one of the Achievements classrooms downstairs, which he also loves. The best thing is that he verbalizes like crazy whenever we go down there. Today I was showing him how to pull the screws out of the toy workbench and I was saying "pull" (because that is what Kerry taught me to do), and he pops out with a perfect "pull" in response! Wow! Kerry heard it too so I am not nuts.

Then I took Quinn to horseback riding this afternoon and he had a great time. Apparently they have a nice riding path through the woods that they like to use when it is sunny. Quinn really enjoyed it, he even got to ride through a stream! When Cooper starts there I will have to warn them, because he will totally jump off the horse and into the stream. He also did an excellent job of handing the "go" PEC to his therapist each time to make the horse go. He has never really gotten it before but today he was an expert! When the lesson was over she untied the holder from the horse and gave the whole thing to him. She said "give it to Mommy" and instead of handing me the whole thing (or ignoring her which is more likely), he pulled the "go" off and handed it to me. It was so cute and awefully smart :)

The best thing that happened today is that it looks like our insurace will start paying for diapers! They will pay 70% for as many as we need for Quinn (good thing Cooper wears the same size). This is really great and will save us sooo much money! We spend a fortune around here on diapers :(

Cooper's new favorite number is eighteen and it totally cracks me up! He is always running around the house saying "18, 18, 18!" He sounds just like I did when I was a teenager :) I want to get it on video so I can show him when he is 17, for some reason I think he is going to be looking forward to his independence at that point. He also really likes the number sixteen, yup I looked forward to that one too. Yesterday he was having trouble saying it though, it would come out either as a plain "six" or a strange "sheesh". I tried to help him figure out the pronounciation last night and today he finally got it! It isn't as good as 18 but it is close, sounds like "six.....teen", he leaves a cute little pause in the middle :)

Quinn had a great day! He got picked up at school by Grandpa Don and then they went out to lunch at Burger King and then to the playground. He was in a fantastic mood when he got home. And Grandpa Don said that if it is nice out tommorow they can do it all over again! This morning I brought Quinn downstairs and got his morning banana. I put it on the table in front of him while I helped him into his highchair and he looked right at it and said "eat"! Good Job Quinny!

The kids are going back to school tommorow whether they are healthy enough or not! I think they are healthy enought though. Cooper is doing much better and I think Quinn has been on antibiotics long enough now.

I got the most annoying email on one of my "typical kid" listserves. It was someone recommending the tutor they had just hired for their child....their 4 year old child! No, this child was not showing delays. From the sound of it the mom just wanted her to learn enough to be smarter than all the other kindergarteners come fall. Give me a break! I wish I had the luxury of being obnoxious enough to do something like that. All our "tutors" are still focusing on the most basic basics. Ugg, just uggg.

The kids are both sick. I took Quinn to the doctor today and he has an ear infection, the first since he got tubes! Cooper just seems to have a really runny nose and is coughing a bit. I am not feeling so hot myself. So we are all taking one more day off to get better. The good news is that Quinn has been in a great mood even though he is sick, and Cooper is handling it better than expected. When he woke up from his really long nap today he came downstairs, curled up on the sofa, and pointed to the TV. Message recieved :)

Quinn said "eat" today, at least I think he did. He actually said it a bunch of times today all appropriately because there was food involved each time. I am not sure if I can believe it or not, but it sure seemed like the real thing. Maybe all that expensive speech therapy is finally starting to kick in! He has also been in an exceptionally good mood today, especially considering he is as sick as a dog :)

Cooper did something great tonight! He took all of his letters and lined them up on the chair like he has been doing lately. Then he took his "G" (his favorite letter) and started running around with is saying "G, G, G". That's pretty normal for him too. What came next was just awesome! Quinn saw his opening and went over and started messing with Cooper's letters. Cooper realized what was happening and ran over and started pushing Quinn away. While he was pushing he was saying "ma, ma, ma" which is really unusual. As I was listening the "ma" turned into something that sounded just like "mine"!!! Cooper was busy grabbing all his letters away from his brother and a word just slipped out...."mine"! What a great word for Cooper to be able to say! The best part was that he kept saying it over and over, "mine, mine, mine!" Yay Cooper!

Weekend at Grandma's!

Quinn and Cooper spent the weekend at Grandma Donna and Grandpop Bill's house. They had a great time!
See more pictures and some videos at:
http://208.106.129.210/familyphotos/PhotoAlbum.asp?Folder=%5FWeekend%5FAt%5FGrandma%5FDonna%27s

I am 85% sure that Cooper said "bye" this morning. We were in the elevator on the way to his class and one of the therapists from the program downstairs was also in there. Everyone at KKI knows everyone else so she was talking to Cooper (she even knew his name) and for some reason he found this very exciting. He started making his happy sounds at her while we were still in the elevator, then we got off and she said "Bye Cooper" and he looked right at her and said under his breath something that sounded very much like "bye"! She heard it too but she didn't realize what a big deal it was :) His teacher told me that in general over the last week he has been much more verbal, not really words but lots more sounds.

Since it was rainy today they did an extra art project at school. They were painting and apparently Cooper was really into it. While the other kids were just slapping paint on the paper he was paying close attention to every stroke. Apparently he was doing so great and having such a good time that the teacher let him paint for an extra ten minutes when all the other kids were done and already running around. My little artist!! Also since it was rainy we didn't go to the playground between schools today. Instead we went to Baskin Robins which now thankfully has soft serve ice cream (Cooper isn't so sure about the hard stuff). He was a little angel the whole time. When he saw that ice cream cone he started jumping up and down and making sounds. We sat at a table and he ate the whole cone all by himself and was so happy and well behaved. It was great!

Quinn had a rough day at school. His stomach was apparently upset and I think it was due to constipation. Sometimes the medicine doesn't work as well for some reason and he gets a little backed up. He had a nice full diaper today before we left for horseback riding so he should be all good. He got a special treat today because Grandpa Don got him off the bus. Grandpa Don spoils Quinn so much, first he carried him into the house (that's a no-no because it is very important that Quinn not expect Grandma Berta to carry him into the house), then he fed him two hot dogs and a banana for lunch! Usually hot dogs are only for dinner and bananas are only for breakfast around here. That's okay though, Quinn is such a good little boy, he deserves to be spoiled!

We went to horse back riding and the weather held out so Quinn could ride outside. He did a really good job today and is starting to get the hang of using PECS to tell the horse to go. I am going to ask about signing up Cooper for riding over the summer, I think it would be really good for him too.

I can't believe the weekend is over already! The kids are good. Quinn has been extra cuddly all weekend, which we love. Cooper has been Cooper :) We love that too though. Tonight he was very upset at dinner and didn't want any of the food on the table and didn't want to get down. Here is where being able to talk would have come in handy. I finally got out the PECS and he wanted bacon. Once he had his bacon he was just fine...sigh...why can't this kid just say "bacon"??!!!!!

After dinner we videoed him for school. They needed a video of me playing with him before I have my training tomorrow on how to play with him. Oy! I hate being videoed but Cooper didn't mind. It was so cute, in the middle he looked over at Matt and pointed like he was saying "Look Mommy, Daddy has a camera". We played it on the TV afterwards to make sure it worked and he was interested, but not impressed. The video was of him swinging so it must have reminded him that he wanted to swing some more because he ran downstairs in the middle of it.