A little boost :)

When I was at work today I was commenting to Jenny that I had noticed a big drop in Henry's enthusiasm lately. He's guessing at answers, making up answers, and just not trying. It's so frustrating, especially when I KNOW that he is capable of so much more (man, what parent/Teacher hasn't said that!?). We discussed the possible reasons for awhile, and decided to increase his iron, and start giving his fish oils again. And I'm going to take him out more, rather than keep him at the table so much. Yay, Fun! I was wondering if the new programs + learning every day + new teaching strategies have tossed him for a loop, and tired him out.

So then, after we figured all that out, Jenny gave me a great boost. She said that her and Scott (dad) had both noticed that Henry is more conversational with me then anyone else they know. Including family that he see frequently...including his own parents. I was so shocked to hear that. He is a chatty kid at times, but I don't get to see him around others very often. But then, when I got to thinking about it, I had to admit that it's probably true. I'm often surprised that a story Henry told me a couple hours before loses about 75-90% of it's steam when he tells it to someone else. Like today, he was telling me about how he went somewhere with a friend this weekend, they walked horses and got to pet a donkey, and then when he was walking away, the donkey started braying(LOL, not his word!!), because the donkey didn't want him to leave! So funny. But then, when I dropped him off at school this weekend, the only part of the story I could coax out of him for his EA was that the donkey didn't want him to leave.

Anyway, it was a nice boost that I could take a boy from wanting to scratch my face off, from telling me I was too Expensive and needed to leave, to being willing to tell me so much about his world.

I'm on top of the world today :)

~Lisa~

So far so good!

Well, I've had a couple days with the new programs. I'm liking them! I'm pretty sure that I am taking down the data in a completely asinine way, but I'll meet with my boss on Monday to talk about any kinks like that. Henry is a little off, but that's to be expected. He and I have been doing some of the same programs for almost 2 years now. And the programs have always been run the same way. Now that it's completely different, and I am probably acting a little like a fish out of water, he's a bit confused by it all.

Any ideas on how to make reciprocating social questions fun!? LOL...he needs a little help making conversation, and the natural, basic way to encourage that skill is to ask social questions (Name, age, address, parents names etc.) He can do all of that, answer tonnes of questions, but what he can't grasp is how to ask them back. I tried to do a mock-up today where he and I were just meeting in the park, but he didn't quite understand what I was asking him, and ran around like a hooligan :) I guess I'll be needing some more thought on this one :)

I love my job you know. I love teaching, and seeing the changes in Henry. I love discovering the world of Autism with him. I cry at the same frustrations his parents cry at. I cheer when they cheer. I swear, he's like my fourth child.

On the weightloss side of things! WOOHOO!!! As of yesterday I've lost 7.5 pounds!! I can't believe how fast it's coming off! And I am having such an easy time of it! I'm still counting some points, but now that I've been doing it for almost 3 weeks, it's become second nature. I don't snack on heavy calorie filled crap anymore, I am loving the healthy stuff, and I have the BEST inspiration :) Al has been AWESOME!! He too is always looking to loose weight, and has always complained that I never help him enough to be successful. Which, for a long time I thought was crazy, since I figured it was Him that made the decisions to eat what he as eating. Well! Now that I see how helpful he is in making me healthy, low point meals, and keeping me on track, I can see how easy it was for me to sabbotage his progress all these years. I feel really awful for it. It's easy to see that he is losing weight too! He's wearing size 46 pants comfortably. When we met he was in a 44! And the year I got pregnant, when he was at his heaviest, I am pretty sure that his size 54 pants were getting tight. I am soooo proud of his progress, which definitely gives me the motivation to keep going.

Of course, I have my period this week, and the Easter bunny was pretty generous, so chances are my weight will go up a bit, but I'm honestly not too worried about it! The day after I started on my way to eating healthier, I tried on a pair of jeans I got last September. I could barely pull them up over my bum, and the button and button hole were a good 3-4 inches away from meeting. Well! On a whim this morning I tried them on again. Not only could I pull them up, but I did them up too!! button, Zipper! All of it!! I even sat down, and climbed stairs! now, there's no way in hell they are decent enough to be wearing in public yet, but man! What a good feeling it was when that button slid through the hole :)

So, that's where we're at. All is good in Dodge.

This is it!

I start full(ish) time today. I'll be home by 1:00, so I guess it's not too bad. But I am still kinda dreading it. And I am really going to miss the kids :( Really Really. Even Jenna said this morning that she was sad that she wasn't going to get to spend time with me anymore. I'll have to dream up something fun for when I get home. I can't wait for the weather to turn back into spring so that we can go to the park when I get home in the afternoons.

I'm also going to miss doing laundry! How crazy is that!? I used to be able to spread it out over the two or three whole days that I was home a week, with a couple loads on Saturday. Now I'll probably have to do some every afternoon to keep up. Blah. Oh well, I guess it's a fair trade for the fewer diapers I'll be changing. :)

I am really excited about the new programs I get to run with Henry!! There's some really fun ones. I was SO bored with the old stuff. Now I just have to learn the new style (Totally different teaching method than I have ever used before) and we'll be good to go!

Guess I'd better get back in gear so I'm not late! have a great one! If you're reading this, wish me luck :) I am going to be soo tired by the end of the week :)

~Lisa~