Category Archives: Quirks

February 1, 2012

Virtual Money

By Bobbie

See this adorable boy petting his service dog?

Such an cute, bright, and amazing little 4-year-old.  Let me now tell you a story about this smart little man and how he started yesterday off with a bang!

In the morning as I was getting ready for the day I noticed that I had missed a couple of calls from Jeremy.  Since it was only 7:30am I was a bit worried why he kept trying to call me.  Fearing it was something like a car accident I started to try to call him back, but was not able to reach him.  Before totally panicking I noticed I had a couple emails from him. I stared at the phone in shock as I read the first one:

“JD put $150.00 from our bank account into the PS3 account.”

I felt like I was in slow motion as I started to try and decode what he was talking about, my brain just hadn’t woken up yet.  Then it hit me, and boy was I wide awake then.  While I sprinted downstairs, where Deeds was playing Little Big Planet 2 on the PlayStation I got this next email from Jeremy who was sitting in a  work meeting:

“Just got a notice that a purchase for $5.99 has been made.”

Yes, our little genius had not only figured out how to transfer a considerable amount of money into the PlayStation’s virtual “wallet” but he then went on a little shopping spree buying add-on levels for his game.  By the time I got downstairs (literally minutes after the initial email) he had them all downloaded and was playing the new levels!

I asked him to show me how to get into the store and sure enough he flipped through all the screens at lightening speed and showed me how to put things in the cart before you “go pay for it.” I made him go back and do it again since I couldn’t even see how he got in the first time he went so fast!

I then spent 30 minutes on the phone with customer support filing an (I kid you not) “friendly fraud” report to try and get our money out of the virtual world.  The agent was saying that kids do it often if parents unsuspectingly kept a credit card on file and the like.  He asked how old my son was who did it, guessing around 8-10.  I said no, that JUST turned 4 years old and is too smart for his own good.  He could not stop laughing while Deeds was gleefully playing the game in the background, squealing with delight at the new levels he had.  Here is a little video with the levels he got:

Once I got off the phone I went to our account settings and set up the password protect so that he can’t make any future purchases and then tested it to make sure it worked.  We’ve got parental controls on it (info how here if you don’t know) but apparently I missed the whole online store option while Deeds proofing the PS3.

I then sat down with Deeds to have a little chat.  I explained to him multiple times till I was sure he got it that he can’t put things in the cart and pay for them, and that if he did so again I would take away the entire game to which the started to freak out till he realized I said “happens again”.  I then just asked him why he did it.  He looked at me with this incredulous face that seems to say, why would you ask such a question and said “I earned 10 stickers, dad said!” He kept repeating it over and over.

We have a behavior reward system we started to implement involving tokens and a sticker chart.  The system has actually been working pretty well to help curb behaviors at times and the rewards he works toward vary.  The most recent goal he had was the exact expansion pack he purchased.  Apparently daddy wasn’t fast enough on his rewarding once Deeds believed he had earned all 10 stickers…. In his literal brain he had earned the stickers therefore there was nothing wrong with him getting the reward.  It took a lot of talking for me to try and get him to understand that he still had to wait till we gave him the reward and even now I don’t think he understands that.  He earned it, it is his…

Heaven help me when he figures out how to hack the passwords to things and finds where we hide the wallets!

Son I love you, but that’s not really virtual money you are spending.  Genius in so many ways and yet we can’t get him fully potty trained.  Sometimes you just have to hang on for the ride and laugh.

I'll keep an eye on him mom!

1 comment | posted in Autism, Fun, Quirks

January 27, 2012

William Tell

By Bobbie

Last year we really wanted to make it to the special needs night at the Capital Theater but we couldn’t because it was right after Deeds burn.  This time we were ready to go and counted down the days!

We met daddy up in Salt Lake, all of us dressed up.  Even Magpie got a good brushing before we headed out.  When we arrived we were early so we had our pick of seats but with Magpie and us being unsure how Deeds would react to the music we sat in the back.  Ended up being a good choice since anytime there was clapping Deeds would complain about the sound.

To be honest it wasn’t exactly Deeds cup of tea.  I think he enjoyed the music as background noise but within minutes we had the iPad out to keep him calm.  Little sister on the other hand was in HEAVEN.  Who would think a 2 year old would love the symphony and opera so much.  She loved conducting the music and all the singing.  Magpie was fantastic and even got recognized from TV by a couple of employees that asked how she was doing.  We spoke to a few other families about her and she got a lot of love from the kids that were there.  By the time we got back out to the car she was worn out and thrilled to just lay down and relax.  She and Deeds both snored all the way home.

The best part of the evening was one of the last numbers.  I’ve heard the William Tell overture many times.  I think I’ve even preformed it before in some band.  In case you need a refresher here it is:

A little while into the song in the center of the Theater a young man stood up and started conducting the song, waving his arms haphazardly through the air.  His enthusiasm was contagious and soon the room was filled with flapping hands and dancing with yells of joy following.  All these amazing spirits that had done so well during the performances were able to really act out how the music was touching them.  As I looked around at them all I couldn’t help but let the tears just slide down my face.  Even Deeds was laughing at this point.  The conductor turned around at one point smiling and it was such a wonderful moment.  No dirty looks or scolding from those behind the revelers, just smiling and happiness.  It was truly heaven on earth.

The evening ended in pure joy.

A HUGE thank you to the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera.  We will be back next year!

4 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Autism, Epilepsy, In Public, Mild Cerebral palsy (CP), Quirks, Service Dog

November 30, 2011

M-A-G-P-I-E

By Bobbie

Daddy picking up Deeds after his first day at the new school

Deeds has been able to write his name “JD” for a couple of months now.  It’s getting more and more recognizable.  Yesterday after he got home from his first full day of school he was playing with daddy and Magpie in his room.  They decided to color and next thing I know Jeremy comes down stairs and shows me this:

I told Jer that he could work on improving his handwriting and then he told me that Deeds did it.  I chuckled and asked if he held his hand and helped him and he said no.  Beaming with pride my sweet husband then explained how Deeds just started to write it.  He got stuck on the G, and Jeremy had to help him sound it out and then he forgot the E at first but other than that he did it all on his own.  I didn’t even know he could write all those letters let alone put them together!

When Deeds was in early intervention one of his terapists (we love you Kimber!) told us not to work too much on letters and numbers with him but to focus on other things he needed help with, that he would probably figure it all out on his own because of his love of shapes and puzzles.  I am glad we listened to her and helped him with other areas because she was right.  He isn’t even 4 years old yet and he is sure putting things together.  To go from a kid we had to teach how to color to this brings tears to my eyes.  I also love that the first word he chose to write other than his name was Magpie’s, so sweet.

I should probably credit some of this spelling love to Super Why!  a show on PBS Kids that Deeds discovered on his iPad while we were in Ohio.  It’s one of those shows I don’t feel guilty about letting him watch a few in a row because I can tell he is really picking up what they are teaching during the show.

We are excited about the extra help and structure being in school full time will bring to him.  Little sister sure missed him today but I’m sure it won’t take her long to realize she has mommy all to herself for the first time ever.

1 comment | posted in Autism, Quirks, School

October 6, 2011

Green Toe Nails?

By Bobbie

Once upon a time I painted ONE of Deeds toe nails pink.  I was painting mine and his little sisters and he begged to be included.  Since he doesn’t always want to be included I decided to tell him I would paint one.  I went for the pinky toe and he said, “No?  You can’t see that one.”

That night Jeremy asked me what to possessed me to paint Deeds big toe nail pink.  I laughed but Jeremy said no more colors.  I finally convinced daddy that clear is ok.

Last night we went to grab some nail clippers since ours keep disappearing.  It was just Deeds and I and he begged for some polish too.  I don’t blame him, they make them look like crayons all lined up in beautiful colored bottles.  I told him he could pick mommy a pink or red one.  He picked a sparkly pink and then grabbed a bottle of BRIGHT green apple polish.   I told him that he already picked my color and he informed me that it was for him.  I said no, and he asked why.  I told him daddy said no more colors so we finally settled one of the many clear bottles for him.  (WHY are there so many clear ones?)

When we got home he showed Jeremy both the bottles.  Jer asked what the clear one was for and I told him it was Deeds.  Jeremy asked why he needed clear polish for his toe nails to which our bright little boy replied, “Dad, you said no more colors.”

It caught Jeremy and I both off guard but we loved the little banter he was having with his dad.  Little moments like these are happening more often and it makes me optimistic about his bright future.  His bright, and possibly green apple, future.

Leave a comment | posted in Family, Funny, Quirks

October 5, 2011

Glowstick Madness

By Bobbie

Tonight it took forever to get Deeds to relax and go to bed.  This lovely video was him bouncing around after we gave him glow sticks to coax him into his room.

These lovely photos he was showing off his guns (bracelets).  He even went BAM when posing  Ha ha, I love my kid.

How do you like these?

 

Welcome to the gun show ladies!

1 comment | posted in Autism, Funny, Quirks

March 17, 2011

Growing out of Nap time

By Bobbie

Deeds is starting to grow out of nap time.  Some days he will still nap for hours, other days he won’t fall asleep at all.  Today was one of the days he refused to sleep.  He started chanting and didn’t stop for about 20 minutes.  From the way he was repeating it over and over I’m sure he is echoing something he has heard.  I’m just not sure from where.

I had to video tape it, so even though it is dark, it still makes me chuckle hearing him talk.  At one point he was talking about pigs, and birds that were angry.  I love my funny kid.

Deeds favorite part of the day now is to mail the thank you post cards we send out anytime he gets a donation.

4 comments | posted in Autism, Fund Raising, Quirks

March 3, 2011

Regression?

By Bobbie

At home recently we have seen some regression from Deeds with his Autism.  Meltdowns that had all but disappeared are happening multiple times a day and stimming repetitive motions are running amuck again.  Yesterday we had parent teacher conference with his teacher.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I wasn’t expecting her to tell me how perfect he has been at school.  I only guessed that as bad as he has been at home, school would be worse.

She reassured us that he was in the “honeymoon” stage of pre-k, and it was normal for behaviors at home to get worse since they can be on their best behavior at school.  It’s good to know that he is enjoying school.

Today we had a check up at the burn clinic in Salt Lake.  The drive is just under an hour but by the time we get to the hospital, find somewhere to park and get into register we are all very tired.  Today Deeds screamed at the doctor anytime he tried to get a good look or feel of the burn and was just bursting with energy, stimming and jumping all over the place.   Jeremy had to make a quick stop and we were going to meet him in the lobby.  Deeds, Gwen and I sat in what I thought was a little alcove.  I didn’t know it opened up on one side, just enough that Deeds could slip through while I was putting a shoe on Gwen and take off.  After grabbing Gwen with one arm and the stroller with the other I sprinted after him.  Only to have him bolt less than a minute later.  This time it took longer to find him and he was almost out the door.  I finally wrangled him into a corner and blocked his way with my leg and a chair.  He started to hit his head on the wall.  A behavior that was common when he was a baby but we haven’t seen in a long time.  I absent-mindedly commented to Gwen that “Autism is not our friend today.” and a woman across from me gasped like I had stabbed someone.

Lucky for all of us Daddy showed up right then and took charge of Deeds.  The only other incident we had on the way out was when he wasn’t paying attention and walked into the revolving door.  Situations just like today are why we are getting the service dog.  The hospital lobby was very crowded today and with Deeds getting so much faster as he grows up it scares me more than I can express that he will get hurt or lost.  October and the service dog training can’t get here soon enough.

 

8 comments | posted in Autism, Burn, Doctor, Hospital, In Public, Quirks, School

March 1, 2011

Anxiety and still having a good day…

By Bobbie

Stop everything, mom did her hair!

Mommy has had a lot of anxiety today but for some reason I’ve still been having a good day.  Maybe because I got up early enough to actually do my hair and not just pull it back into a pony tail?  Granted doing it I realized it’s gotten WAY to long and it’s time to chop it off and donate to Locks of Love.  I’m not sure if doing my hair was what kept me so sunny today but wowzer if I wasn’t so happy it would have been a tough one.

I booked our hotel room today.  I was happy that we were able to get one 2 bedroom extended stay rather than 2 normal hotel rooms.  It ended up being cheaper.  I had budgeted for the room, but I forgot about taxes and fee’s.  It totalled $600 more than I had thought.

When I was setting our goal for fund-raising for the trip I didn’t realize how expensive it would be to fly.  Not just the fares from Utah to Ohio, but then the fact that everyone but Southwest charges for checked bags.  I normally don’t check bags when I fly, however 2 weeks, 3 adults, 2 small children and a service dog.  A bag or three will need to be checked.  There is a non-stop from Salt Lake to Cincinnati on Delta and then we could drive the hour to training.  However it might be worth it to take a stop in Denver (hopefully Deeds is ok flying) and then fly Southwest so that we don’t have to pay to check bags.  We’d still have to drive an hour but we’d save.

While I was calculating since I was obviously off on every other total I’d planned I looked at rental cars.  Whew that was the price I thought… till I realized all 5 of us and the dog wouldn’t fit in a normal car!  So sure enough the price for the rental car almost doubled as well.  I told Jeremy that we will all just have to live on ramen noodles while we are there because it’ll take every last penny, plus some to get out there.  He finally convinced me to raise the goal we had.  I cried about it.  I was so excited to be over the half way mark.  Realistically we are trying to save up still to cover what ever we can’t raise.  I should have done a better job calculating my original figure then I wouldn’t be in this situation.

Good news is the room is booked.  It’s all becoming so real!  We got our packet of what to do as far as trying to get the seizure sent out to 4 Paws.  He will be wearing white undershirts from now till we go to training.  If he has a seizure we are supposed to take it off and immediately double ziplock it then get it mailed to Ohio ASAP, then in the next day or so mail a shirt that he didn’t have a seizure in.  It’s quite the process, and there is a chance we won’t catch him having one to be able to do it all but we need to try!  I will be buying a bunch of little white shirts tomorrow.

Ok this post is getting way too long.  So we’ll cut it short.  Deeds had a rough day today.  It was meltdown central before school, after school, after naps… you get it.  Mommy was still happy, I think that made it worse for him.  You know when you aren’t happy and someone else is all perky… I’m assuming it’s annoying to Deeds too.  Anyway we ended the night at the play place so Deeds could get some much-needed stimulation and he actually interacted with a little girl.  It didn’t go well but I was excited he actually showed any interest at all.  Here is the conversation I overheard.

Deeds – Screaming “Hey you guy.  HEY YOU GUY WAIT!”

Little Girl (LG) – Looks back with a look on her face like “Oh I KNOW he isn’t talking to me like that”

Deeds – Catches up to her “Hey guy, I’m 3.”

LG – “Um…I’m 6.”

Deeds – “No you are 5!”

LG – “NO I am 6!”

Deeds – “I’m 3″

LG – “uh, ok. You said that already.” Then she runs off.

Deeds – “GUY WAIT!”

LG – “I’m a girl, not guy.”

Deeds – “Your 5!”

LG – “You’re a meanie.”

Poor little girl managed to avoid him the rest of the time but Deeds was oblivious to his error.  If only that little girl knew how much she would one day appreciate someone thinking she was younger.  Deeds was just really trying to be nice.  HA HA, aw my little man.

What a cute window display that store has!

Leave a comment | posted in Autism, Fund Raising, In Public, Quirks

February 18, 2011

A Cure?

By Bobbie

I’ve contemplated this post for quite a few weeks.  This topic can quickly turn into a heated debate so I just wanted to say, this is how I feel about Deeds.  I’m not judging or condemning anyone, these are just my/our feelings.

The topic of a cure for autism seems to come up quite often in the different autism circles I roam.  I tend to keep my mouth shut because once when venting to a friend about my feelings on the subject I got schooled a bit, so I’ve kept pretty quiet about it since then.

Well I just wanted to get it off my chest… Jeremy and I don’t think Deeds needs to be cured.

There I said it, the cat is out of the bag.  Now let me explain.  Deeds is high functioning in his autism.  When he was diagnosed he was pretty midline in the spectrum but he has since gotten higher and higher functioning.  He never developed normally and then regressed, he was different since birth.  I can understand those with children that might regress, never talk or potty train really craving a cure for their children.

Are there behaviors I would love to see go away, yes.  Do I love the meltdowns that get more awkward the older he gets, or the flapping and jumping?  The picky eating/ not eating and sensory issues?  The lack of sleep at night or the struggles he has socially…No I don’t love these things.  I could do without them and especially without the dangerous wandering that scares me so badly.  All that being said, would curing him of these things  change the other things about him that we love and that make him, well, him.  I would assume yes.

I was once in an abusive relationship and I will have people ask me if I would do it again knowing what I know now.  The answer is a tricky one.  You see going through that made me who I am now, and I kind of like who I am.  You take away that trial and you change me.  I feel a little like that with Deeds.

The quirks are part of what makes him so endearing.  I wouldn’t want to take away his amazing gift for shapes, letters and numbers.  While the mild cerebral palsy makes him clumsy at times, it also makes him one of the best little jumpers I know on the little trampoline.  Jumping truly brings him joy, I wouldn’t want to take that away from him.

Deeds shows us a world that we wouldn’t normally slow down to see.  He often points things out to us in a new light that we hadn’t even contemplated before and he makes his daddy and I smile daily.  I wouldn’t cure him.  He is who he is, and I love him.  I know he will have challenges in life, but don’t we all.  The best lessons I have learned come from my failures and challenges.  He is one special soul to come to this earth with the challenge of Autism and I am honored to be his mommy.  True there are days that are a struggle, but the beauty in a homemade quilt comes from looking at the final product, not a single thread.

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12 comments | posted in Autism, Quirks

February 14, 2011

Music Class

By Bobbie

In January we signed Deeds up for an autism music class that is once a week.  We figured with all his therapies ending it would be good for his routine.  Then the burn happened and he wasn’t able to go back, until today!

Jeremy took him and says he was very excited to be there.  He is a big fan of the cymbals and cleaning things up.  He also kept echoing another little boy there.  Anytime the other little guy would do something Deeds would do the same thing.  Most of his repetitive motions are things he has picked up from other people so it wasn’t a surprise to hear he was copying other kids.  He actually followed the instructions very well but does not like to wave, no matter how hard daddy tried to help him.

He still remembered the only other time he went, in January.  He was excited when they read the same “PJ” book that they read last time.  They played in water with little boats.  During rest time he rested, instead of screaming and crying like he did before.  He even walked up to all the kids and said “Good bye, good bye, good bye, good bye”.  Jeremy is happy about how smoothly things went and I think it’s great that he and Deeds get to do this together.

Tomorrow he gets to take his Valentines pencils to class with him.  Hopefully riding the bus goes more smoothly than it did last time.  We are making sure to send a hat with him just incase they go outside.  His face is healing so well and I’m really hoping the pigment will go back to normal and not permanently stay 2 toned.  Time will tell.  All that matters really is that Deeds is happy, and despite the occasional meltdowns he really is.

Leave a comment | posted in Autism, Quirks

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