Living the Mosaic

Hello Everybody!

I recently have been assisting with a book (as a co-editor)...it is finally being released! Here's the letter of release from the author...please let me know if you would be interested in purchasing a copy! I'm so excited!!! It's such an inspiring book (and my name is inside the front cover!! :)

Even if you don't have a child with autism, it's very relatable to mothers everywhere...If you're not interested, please pass along the word to others! Everyone these days knows someone that is affected by autism, and support and inspiration are hard to come by!


----------------------------------------------------------------------------

We are so excited to announce that A Long Way from Shattered Glass to Mosaic--Living with Autism Spectrum Disorder is now available on our website Living the Mosaic and will be in other on-line bookstores, such as Amazon. com, and local bookstores soon.





We have been invited to speak at the Autism Society of America's Georgia Autism 101 Conferences about the Emotional Life of Families dealing with Autism and are also giving presentations to church groups, parent support groups, teachers, and therapist groups around Georgia. The Autism Society of America will be video taping our presentation to use in outreach seminars for parents all over Georgia. It is such rewarding work to be helping parents cope with feelings that took us years to sort through.





The book and the presentation surrounding it are the beginning of our efforts to raise money to offer seminars and weekend retreats to parents of children diagnosed with autism. This is a sorely needed service as it is no small task to hold up under all the churning emotions of disappointment, grief, confusion, and fear that face families of autism. In addition to our personal battle as parents, there is also the ever present trauma of disapproving glances and comments from on-lookers in grocery stores and other public places when our autistic children have sensory meltdowns or behave in other socially inappropriate ways. All of this internal and external turmoil makes a once comparatively picture perfect life shatter into millions of hopeless pieces. Our goal is to help families pick up those pieces and build something new yet equally beautiful out of that shattered glass.





At our last presentation, one father in particular found great relief in sharing his feelings of overwhelmed nausea, dread, and even sometimes wishing this whole thing, including his newly diagnosed son, would just disappear. We have all felt this way, it can be hard to admit it out loud but in doing so in a supportive environment we realize we are not alone, not horrible people for harboring these thoughts. Admitting them let's us move past them and regain our resolve to persevere. We want to let parents know that there is support and they can move past those initial feelings of doom.





Please share what we are doing with anyone you think would be interested in our work. A portion of all book sales goes toward creating educational programs for families of autism.





Thanks!
Warmly,
Elizabeth

ONE YEAR OLD!

Is now 29.25" approx. (hard to get the booger to stand still!) and weight is somewhere around 25 pounds...we still don't have an accurate scale (working on that!). I was reading height measurements will appear to have gone down when you switch to standing, and the child is walking, as joints compress...so for the record, this is the first month standing measurements apply!

Wow, this month has seen so much growth...emotionally, physically, and socially! There are so many new things Ian does, and his personality is coming out more and more. Now that he is such a good walker, you can see he is becoming increasingly independent through activities and preferences. It's hard to believe in one year he's gone from a helpless infant to an active toddler! I'm looking forward to all of the exciting things still to come...this has truly been an amazing experience! Thank you, God! :)

-Walking around with ease and increased speed!
-Climbing up into child-sized chairs!
-Imitating many activities adults are doing.
-Recognizes the difference between "baby" food and "adult" food - and demands the latter!
-Pulls off his socks constantly (especially in the car seat).
-Chases the dog and cat around with toys...and now they are really scared because he can catch them!
-Squinches his face in a overly dramatic smile...he has a "fake" smile!
-Can stand up from a squatting position (although still most often likes to use something to pull himself up).
-Knows the function of certain objects and attempts to use them appropriately (example: using a pen to draw; holding phone to side of head to talk).
-Can stack up to 3 lego-type blocks together! (Even though he mostly tries putting them together upside-down)
-We can read paper books together without him ripping them. (Sometimes.)
-Starting to hide when he is having a BM!
-Will scooch off the couch or bed by turning and doing a "controlled" fall feet first!
-Recognizes and requests food by pointing and saying "more mmm" to its location in the kitchen.
-Is becoming more preferential with food consumption (doesn't alway want to eat foods we know he likes).
-Initiated self-feeding with a spoon!
-First cake...hahaha!
-Points in the direction he wants you to go when you're holding him (using people to get to things he wants!)
-Started becoming interested in a wider variety of toys, and playing with them correctly (not just trying to eat them)...stuffed animals, electronic toys, shape sorter, puzzles.
-Now not only dumps things, but puts them back!
-Favorite foods are all things he can feed himself...raisins, prunes, toast (or any kind of bread for that matter!), hamburger.
-Losing interest in...peas, eggs, carrots (boiled/steamed), potatoes (unless mixed with someting).
-Has become a little bit more of a clutz...sustaining more injuries with his increased mobility! (But is still extremely tough, rarely cries at an injury!)
-Is upset he can no longer stand up under the kitchen table! (BONK! BONK!)
-Retrieves and opens the lid on his sippy cup when he's thirsty...he knows where it is in the diaper bag.
-Puts basketball in the hoop (shower toy!).
-Will bring you what he wants if he needs help to open it.

WORDS/PHRASES
This section is here since I know he's said so many things throughout the month, it warrants it's own list! They range in frequency from daily to perhaps hearing only a few times. All of the words I have listed he has said spontaneously (nobody said it first), and appropriately! :)

-No! (ALL THE TIME!)
-More
-Dadda
-Nana (what he calls his drink cup too)
-Mine (oh yes, he did already!)
-All done
-Up
-Where'd it go?
-Bye
-Hey
-Hi
-Here go
-Dog (and when prompted to answer, "What does a dog say?", he will go "ooo-ooof")
-Names of some favorite people: Alice (awwiss), Royce (ss), Luke (ook!)
-Wow, cool! (Last week, that was an ALL DAY thing!)
-Down
-Bird (bud)
-Oh no!
-Num, num
-Peek-a-boo (ba-ba-ba)

-and attempts to repeat many other words after we say them!

This list feels like it's just scratching the surface now! He is doing so much, I feel like I can't keep up with him sometimes! So, of course, he's doing more than what I could possibly capture here. But, as you can see, even that is quite a bit! :)

Child Labor

How about that, not even walking that long and already the child labor begins!

As you can see, Ian was observing daddy working and decided to imitate him with his own version!

But the fun didn't stop there...next step was pulling the grass clumps out of the dirt, shaking the dirt off, and throwing them in the bucket. Ian joined in that too! He's so unbelievably smart! (And helpful!!)



I am SO READY for him to help with the dishes! :)

Light Show

As most of you know, we had some really bad storms come through over the weekend. Along with those storms was plenty of lightning, and a tornado that knocked out our power for about an hour (boy, were we blessed!).

During that time, we had the bright idea to give Ian some of Matt's chem lights (non-toxic and nearly indestructible, folks). From the pictures, you can tell he really enjoyed playing with them! He was walking all over the house waving his sticks around, jabbering away, and initiating games of chase. He had us both laughing so hard!

He enjoyed the light sticks so much, that when the power went back on, he waved them around frantically screaming, "NO! NO!" and stopped when Matt turned the lights off again!

We agreed, having the power off was worth it to watch his childish excitement...and a free light show! :)