Proud Mummy Moments

I am the proudest Mummy!

The last few weeks have been particularly filled with proud Mummy moments. This post is an unashamed boasting session about my biggest Tiny Tornadoe.

Attending Early Intervention full time is certainly helping T1 to steam ahead with is progress. Being an Autism Mummy is often not an easy job, but for the moment at least I am releasing a sigh of relief and enjoying seeing my little boy grow up and achieve things that we once wondered if he would ever do. Most of all my sweet, happy boy is back, since learning to communicate more effectively the are very few meltdowns from T1 or Mummy.

Meal times are when T1 is really showing off many of his new skills. He will get his own bowl/plate, cup and utensils out of the cupboard at meal times and sets himself up at the table. He is communicating well using PECS  to ask for a drink, another sandwich or other specific foods. Sometime he says “water” when he wants a drink, not yet distinguishing a different word for juice or milk everything is water. If you are to slow getting him a drink he will get the juice out of the fridge himself and hand it to you with his cup. In the last couple of weeks I have seen him bitting his sandwich instead of pulling it all apart and shredding it before he eats it. This is one skill that I know the staff at kindy have been working on all year. It is so exciting to see it really happen. Finally after years of trying to get T1 to wipe his own hands and face after a meal he is making an attempt. One of the most exciting things for me is he is signing, and is and attempting to say finished when he has finished his meal. He has always resisted using sign language so this is special.

Listening and following instructions has always been a struggle with T1, but lately he has been been doing both very well. All of a sudden his concentration and behaviour have improved so much. It is also such a joy to see more cuddles and less hitting of his little brother and initiating play with cars or the ball. He seems very excited that he can say “ball” uses it correctly in relation to the object. Hat is another object that he can recognise and loves to say a lot. 

There are many more little gems that T1 has shown us in the last few weeks. He is progressing so well. God has blessed us greatly. We are so appreciative of the hard work of the staff at his early intervention centre and very proud of our little boy. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for T1 and our little family!

Good Kind of Crazy

Well I guess I have gotten off to a slow start, but better late than never right?

Things have been a little crazy around here... mostly the good kind of crazy.

Our family has been pretty much MIA for the last month or so with one sickness after another, but I think we have finally beaten them.

Amongst the usual chaos that is our life we have had a few extra blessings, one being looking after my friends little girl on and off for a few weeks. It is certainly a different world having a VERY verbal child in my house, especially a girl. The boys and I have enjoyed many a tea party and the baby dolls were never short of attention. It has been wonderful to see T1 interacting with a peer in ways I have never seen before, and at times actually wanting to play with another child. Little Miss set up a tea party one day and T1 just came along and started serving out the pretend food and drinks like a pro. They even played a game together throwing and catching to ball to each other. To many parents something like this is no big deal but for our T1 who is on the Autism Spectrum it is just amazing.

T1 has recently started attending his early intervention centre full time instead of part time and has  been making great progress.  We have been hearing many attempts at words. His “Iruvroo” totally melted my heart.  These are words that many special needs parents can only ever dream of hearing from their children. I feel incredibly blessed to hear my son say these words no matter how far they are from perfect pronunciation. 

T2 on the other hand has been rather more challenging. Teething and sickness have caused him to become a grumpy, snotty, clingy, non sleeping child. Far from his usual happy smiley self. Finally with the emergence of his first tooth closely followed by a second his mood has brightened a little but I suspect there are more teeth to come shortly. As a result of being permanently attached to a baby very little has been achieved on my “to do” list. Living in a house that looks like it is occupied by squatters is really getting me down. I am so very grateful for a husband who is understanding and helps out when he can. 

Each day has its new challenges but life as a Mum of two Tiny Tornadoes is certainly never dull. Even on the worst of days, my boys still always manage to make me smile. I guess if I have to deal with crazy I am glad it is the good kind of crazy.

Introducing Tiny Tornadoes

Let’s start off with an introduction… I am a Christian, saved by Grace, through faith on account of Christ. Trying to be a Godly wife and mother. Praying that God will mould me into a Proverbs 31 woman.

I am married to the love of my life and together we have two gorgeous little boys who have well and truly turned my world upside down and daily turn my house inside out. They are my Tiny Tornadoes “T1” three and a half years old & “T2” nine months old. My life will never be the same and I wouldn’t change it for anything!

Parenting has dealt its fair share of challenges and blessings. T1 has always been challenging but seemed to be meeting his developmental milestones. At 12 months old he had above average verbal communication but by 14 months had stopped verbally communicating all together. Meltdowns and severe behaviour became the norm. Around the time he turned two and a half years old, and I was pregnant with T2, T1 had a confirmed diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Throughout this time I was suffering with anxiety, postnatal depression and what I call post diagnosis depression. I was not coping but did not get professional help, to the detriment of myself and of my family. Once T2 was born I was again hit with postnatal depression and “not coping” hit a whole new level. The difference was that this time I was ready for it and prepared to seek help. Now the cloud has lifted and I feel like a whole new person, wishing I had not been so stubborn and sought help much earlier.

So here I am now starting a new chapter of life and parenting. T1 is now attending part time at an Early Intervention Centre for Children with Autism and it is almost as if I have a different child. He is still Non-verbal with only 6 words in his vocabulary that he uses sparingly, but a few months ago he had none. With the help of early intervention we now have other methods of communication and providing him with an environment in which he can thrive not struggle. T2, although not showing any signs of Autism at this stage, is a reflux baby and also a challenge. This one is certainly strong willed and determined to have things his way. In spite of it all, I have been blessed to two boys that are extremely affectionate. My days are filled with endless cuddles, kisses and smiles. Right now I could not ask for anything better.

We had decided to homeschool our children before we had them. Now with T1’s learning and communication challenges there are no second thoughts when it comes to home education. He would most certainly be left behind in the schooling system. The purpose of this blog is to share the journey and the learning with you. The learning will no doubt take place in me just us much in me as my Tiny Tornadoes.