Watch this space...

I owe you a post. I have been so busy with life and work, I haven't gotten a chance to do it. I promise later tonight.

Dining out with Autistic Kids

An article I can related to...

More Sesame Place pics...

Dancing with SuperGrover...


What can I say... Jacob likes to boogie!!!

Zoe!!!!

We love Zoe!

An interesting article about IQ tests...

...and autistics. Of particular interest to me as I have to get Jimmy tested to get him on the list for DD Waivers.

Mr. Kirkland Goes to Washington

Jimmy and I are taking a little trip in the AM to Congressman Wolf's office to meet his new healthcare staffer and talk about autism. Pics tomorrow...

Mandy Moore covers Rihanna

I have a mild cover song obsession, so when I tripped across this, I couldn't resist...

Cookie Monster Gallery

Cookie Monster is worthy of his own post...

As I said in an earlier post, he has a Cookie Monster t-shirt. He still "talks" about it - meaning he smiles and says Cookie Monster repeatedly, so we talk about the day.

Thanks Matt.

A few Sesame Place photos!!!!

Jacob with Elmo...



Jacob using the ropes to pull himself up...



Hi from Elmo!



Jimmy (green swim trunks) sliding down...

This surprised me...

Autism Speaks picked up the article on Jimmy and the bathroom...

Wow!!!! Back home, back to work, back to the world...

First off, to finish up the vacation stories. When we returned to Sesame Place on Sunday, I went back to the Welcome Center to get Jimmy's wristband. When I arrived there, I gave the woman working the desk Jimmy's name. She told me she had seen my blog... she was Zoe's mom. We talked for a few minutes - now we know why her daughter was so wonderful and sweet! Clearly genetics! As souveniers, I bought a little stuffed Zoe of my office - I was really touched by the whole experience of meeting Heather (if you are reading, I would love to keep in touch!!!) and I got Jimmy a Cookie Monster shirt. He loves it. We had a wonderful day - we left about 2pm and swung out to Hershey to see Chocolate World. It had been our intention to go to the park for a few hours during their twilight prices, but it was really more than I could do. But the tour was fun!

We got back on Sunday, going to bed early because I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. to get on the road at 6:30 for a 9 a.m. appointment at Jimmy's specialist in Rockville. On a weekend, it's about an hour. I allowed two hours for the drive since it was a Monday morning. I arrived up there at 8... only to find out that the doctor had moved his vacation up a week and canceled my appointment. It would have been nice if they had called or left a message. I made it back to work by 9:30, but I am still steamed. The doctor is very good at what he does, but is not good with follow through with correspondence and so forth. But there aren't enough developmental pediatricians to go around - I have to stick with him because most aren't even taking new patients in D.C.

But that has been the only negative in the past several days. My first day back at work was great... I got a great deal of unpacking done today and will likely have a decent handle on the workroom and my office stuff by the end of tomorrow. I also won't have furniture until next week, but I am just going to roll with it and bring my laptop to work.

The photos are on the upstairs computer, so I will post those later.

Day 2 of Sesame Place and a side trip to Chocolate World...

More on this tomorrow, as I have to get some overly excited boys down for the night. Suffices to say that today was amazing as well!!!

Greetings from Sesame Place... and special greetings to Zoe and Cookie

I will update with a ton of photos when I get home, but we are at Sesame Place, our last blast before I head back to school to ready the new library on Monday. We went all out this time, including the Dine With Me character lunch for the boys. They loved it, especially Jimmy. But that would be an understatement of what really happened...

The moment we walked in, Jimmy said "Cookie Monster" in his tiny little voice. We knew that we had to be sure that Jimmy got a minute with Cookie. The characters all floated around the room - it was a great experience. At times Jimmy found it a little overwhelming, but he really enjoyed his visits with Ernie and Zoe. Actually, Zoe hung out for a while. I always tell the characters about Jimmy - it often makes a difference in their approach to him - and Zoe took a lot of time. I was babbling on about him and Zoe pointed at me and then made muscles with her arms. "Your strong." I was so touched. So I told her about him and my other kids at my school and she actually pointed at herself, crossing her arms, and then point at me. "I love you." Eventually she said goodbye to the boys and moved on, but Zoe was just so sweet.

Jimmy told the character handler of Jimmy's desire to see Cookie Monster - he had to, because Cookie had been hanging out on the other side of the room. Right after he finished his song, he cruised over to our table. Up until this point, Jimmy greeted the characters warily at first. When Cookie Monster arrives, he smiled a bit. He was excited to see him. Cookie hung out for a few minutes too. We told him about Jimmy saying his name when he arrived, that Jimmy loved Cookie Monster on Sesame Street, even that the first time I realized Jimmy understood spoken language was when Jimmy laughed at one of Cookie Monsters jokes on the show.

It was such a great experience, I could not have imagined it getting any better. But it did. As we were walking over to the big play area to let them run around, three college aged kids were coming my direction. This very petite and pretty girl walked up to me and started with "You don't know me..." It was Zoe out of costume. She told me that I was amazing and just kind of told me what she was trying to express to me when we were at the event, when she couldn't talk. Then the guy with her spoke - he was Cookie Monster. He said was very touched that Jimmy was so pleased to see him. I am just sorry that Jimmy wasn't with me. He had gone ahead to the playground. I told them about the blog, so I am hoping they will visit. I don't think I told them enough how amazing they made our day.

Two pics of Jimmy that are sort of amazing...

We flew American Eagle from Nashville to National on a small jet. There were two seats on one side of the aisle and one on the other. It was a configuration that simply wasn't going to work for takeoff. Fortunately, there was an amazing compassionate family who let Jacob sit next to them during takeoff so I could focus on getting Jimmy settled. Actually, he did amazing well during take off... no meltdowns or anything. We were seated however in the back of the aircraft. The noise was so unbearable, he went half the flight with his fingers in his ears.

Eventually, Jacob rejoined us and sat in the single seat. Then I sat there as the boys played. Then Jacob moved back. On approach he started freaking because his ears were bothering him. He want to lie across my lap, so I had to move Jimmy to the single seat. What happened next brought tears to my eyes for the sheer normalcy of it.



He sat there, quietly. He looked out the window happily, watching the world go by beneath the wings.



He pulled the emergency card out and read it. It was cute. Then, when they made the annoucement that the seats had to go upright... he pressed the button to do just that. I think he understood what was being asked and he did it. It is so simple, yet completely blew me away.

I am so proud of my boy.

We are back...

After Jimmy's recovering and another day in the pool at my dad's, we are back from Texas. We made our arrival in dramatic fashion as our bags went to Dulles, we went to National, and then we were rear ended on 28 on our way home. Don't worry, we are all okay. Such drama for six days away. I hope our weekend trip away is less eventful.

So, since it's the middle of the night and I am tired, storytelling will be limited. Here are a few photos...





Jacob eating ice cream at Braum's on Sunday.



My dad's Braum's selection.



To my left...



and my right on the flight from DFW to Nashville on the way home...

Read this...

From the opinion's page on the Manassas Journal-Messenger...

Pimp My Ride

Best. Cart. Ever. For a dollar, your kids can ride around in a character themed cart that plays videos. Why don't they have these in our Wal-marts at home?

CareNow cares not...

I took Jimmy to see a doctor today at an urgent care place called CareNow in Denton. It is a misnomer.

When I checked in, I let the nurse know that Jimmy was autistic and could be difficult in addition to all his other symptoms - fever, throwing up, etc... When we saw the doctor, I asked if he had gotten the heads up. He said yes, but that "this is an urgent care facility and we don't have time..." and then trailed off. We don't have time for kids like yours. Patients with special needs. He didn't finish, but you can tell from the start that it was going nowhere good. Those words should never have been formed in his brain. I told him until developmental pediatricians open up their own urgent care facilities, that kids like my son would need medical care when they are sick and come.

I gutted it through because my kid was sick and needed a doctor, but there was so much more I wanted to say. I was angry, insulted, crushed. I felt like he didn't want to take care of my son because he wasn't normal. And my son was sick. Like he didn't deserve care. I know more than likely, what he was thinking was that I have to crank through these patients, I don't have time for checking this combative kid out. But that's not what I heard and it certainly doesn't excuse his rudeness and thoughtlessness.

A doctor doesn't get to pick his patients. Certainly not in an urgent center. Unless CareNow has a policy of not providing medical care for people with disabilities. I didn't see one posted on the door. I filled out and mailed a comment card after the appointment, but I will be writing and calling the home office this week as well (apparently this place is a chain.) I will see to it that no CareNow patient with a disability is treated so rudely again.

Jimmy has strep. They gave him a shot of antibiotics. I am hoping he will be fever free in the morning.

No trip to Texas is complete...

...without a visit to the ER. That's where Jimmy will be headed in the morning. He is still feverish. I am betting ears - it seems to happen every time we fly.

Day three

Jimmy is still sick. He had a brief burst of energy this morning and went back into the pool, but he is asleep as is Jacob, who has had a busy couple of days playing in the pool with his cousin Katie and with the various animals around here.

From Jimmy's birthday party...