8 Years Already!

Sunday, February 20th was Kassidy's 8th birthday. Wow - where does the time go? Each day feels so long but the years seem so short. Anyhow, Kassidy had her birthday planned and here is what we did.

- Grandma Jeanne came over around 9:15am and Kassidy opened her gifts. She LOVES her Lalaloopsie dolls (now she has 3).

- Then we all went to the planetarium - it was pretty interesting. We checked out the very small museum and then we saw a show called "The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket" and everyone did very well watching it (even Daddy) - it was only 20 min long so that helped. And I learned that the 4 planets closest to the sun are solid and called Rock Midgets. The 4 planets farther from the sun are made up of gases and have no solid land and are called Gas Giants. And then there is little Pluto who is kind of a mutt planet as it is a mixture of rock and gas. And I know that Shane was paying attention to the show because he gives me a quiz every night on this topic.

- Next came McDonalds and we went to Kassidy's favorite one since the play area in an outer space theme.

-Next was Toys-R-Us.  This could have been a complete disaster since we were there for Kassidy to buy a present with the money that Aunty Shell, CJ and Grandmama had sent her. There was a moment when she got overwelmed with all the different choices and then I realized that I was pushing her by saying, "How about that, how about this." So I just followed her lead and we walked up and down the aisles several times  at her pace and eventually she picked out more stuff. And we did it without a meltdown!

- Then we headed to Sears for daddy to pick up his new glasses (getting old daddy) and to get Kassidy some new tennis shoes - thank you so much Grandma Jeanne!

- Next was back home for cake and to enjoy the rest of the day.

8 years seems like a long time but is gone in a blink of the eye!

Different Perspectives

Kassidy (k) is almost 8
Shane (s) is 5 1/2


?: What is something mom always say to you
k:  I dont know.  (she couldn't think of anything.)
s:  Time for bed.

?: What makes mom happy?
k:  I dont know.
s:  No whining or crying.

?:  What makes mom sad?
k:  Whining.
s:   Being allergic to flowers and cats.

?: How does mom make you laugh?
k:  Doing funny stuff.
s:  Doing funny things

?:  What was mom like as a child?
k:  Awesome
s:  Good

?:  How old is mom?
k:  43 (she was right)
s:  16 (gotta love him)

?:  How tall is mom?
k:  I dont know
s:  10 (?)

?:  What is mom's favorite thing to do?
k:  Nap
s:  Nap

?:  What does mom do when you are not around?
k:  Nap
s:  Nap
(Noticing a pattern here!)

?:  If mom was famous what would it be for?
k:  Being awesome.
s:  Being fun

?:  What is mom really good at?
k:  Looking after us.
s:  Sleeping.

?:  What is mom not very good at?
k & s in unison:  cooking

?:  What does mom do for her job?
k:  Lots of paperwork.
s:  Paperwork.

?:  What is moms favorite food?
k:  Apple
s:  Peach
(Yuck!)

?: What makes you proud of mom?
k:  The way she takes care of us.
s:  Not yelling all the time.

?:  If mom was a character in a book, who would she be?
k:  Hazel (the witch in Cinderella?)
s:  The gingerbread man (?)

?:  What do you and mom do together?
k:  Whatever I think is cool.
s:  Cook teri noodles together (just add water and micro)

?:  How are you and mom the same?
k:  We are both girls.
s:  We dont yell all the time

?:  How are you and mom different?
k:  You are an adult, I'm a kid.
s:  You play on Gamehouse, I play on Free Realms

?:  How do you know that mom loves you?
k:  You take care of us.
s:   I don't know, you decide (Ugh - boys)

Autism and Logically Thinking

At the doctors office yesterday:

intern to Kassidy:  What is your name?

Kassidy:  Kassidy

intern: What day of the week is it?

Kassidy:  Thursday

intern: Were are we now?

Kassidy:  Here.

Gotta love logical thinking!

The Cat Is Out Of The Bag

Well, on Wednesday I explained to Kassidy that she has autism. When I got home from work she was in the bath so I sat down next to tub and asked her how her day went and she said, "Fine, the same." So for some reason I just jumped right into the conversation and I asked her if she ever felt a little different then the other kids at her school and she looked at me and said, "a little". So then I told her "Remember how your legs feel funny when you wear pants and sometimes you feel like you are losing it or you have meltdowns because you can't handle whatever is happening at the time? Well you have a condtion called autism. (I figured it would be too much info to explain PDD or Aspergers so I just generalized it as autism.) Kassidy asked me what autism is and I told her that it meant that her brain is wired differently then other people and it makes her think in different ways then other people. Then she said with wide eyes open, "I have to get my brain rewired!?!" (Duh mommy, did you forget she thinks logically!) So I told her, "No, nothing is wrong with your brain. You were just born with a brain that chooses a different way of thinking then most people and sometimes that can make things a little harder for you. But the good thing is that it sometimes means you think better then other people. There are a lot of very important and intelligent people who have autism." Kassidy (who will be 8 in a few days) said, "Does that mean I am going to be one of the smartest people in the world?" I told her it was possible if she worked really hard. Then we talked about how mommy has a condition (Fibromyalgia) and I do fine and live a good life. Then she asked me if she was gonna die young and I told her, "No way. Do you know that we think Daddy has some type of autism too and he is 45 and he lives just fine." (Her reply to that was "sometimes".) Then I explained to her that she had a doctors appointment the next day because we want to get the ball rolling as far as getting her social/motor skill help and she said, " Is it with a therapist again?" I told her "No, just a regular doctor I think" and she said "Good because only crazy people go to therapist." Just as I was gonna address that subject (note to self - will have to address the crazy people/therapist issue) Kassidy said, "Ok, can I get out of the tub now? (Which is her way of saying the conversation is over). Then before bed she asked me what did she have again and I told her it is called autism and she went to sleep. Now with Kassidy, it usually takes a few weeks for something to sink in (usually when you least expect it) and then we find out her true feelings about the situation. But at her doctors appt yesterday she actually did pretty good. She was nervous and said a few times in the waiting room that she wanted to go home but it was said with a calm voice and no meltdown. She wouldn't look at the nurse at all but she did do moderate eye contact with the intern and doc. She was able to follow most of the directions given to her and only asked calmly a few times to go home but when I told her we had to wait until the appt was over she didn't throw a fit. She was obsessing over the fact that there was no windows in the office and that she couldn't see outside but she handled it pretty well. Although when the doc announce we were done and could go, she was out the door before the doctor!  It just seemed like although she still did not want to be there, she now knows why she is there and that seemed to relax her a little. Next we move on to a neurologist/autism specialist to see what additional help we can get for her. So far, it has gone better then I expect. Or is it the calm before the storm?
No school today due to snow so she is HAPPY as can be today anyways.

More MISC

- I think I am running out of time when it comes to having to explain to Kassidy that she is "different" and why. Last night she asked me why did her skin itch all the time and why did her body get weird feelings sometimes, especially her legs. Just knowing how Kassidy can obsess on something if she thinks it is wrong or bad makes me really wonder how I am going to do this. So I have started to tell her every time my body or muscles act up due to my Fibromyalgia by telling her how I feel and what is causing it and that I am still ok, just different. So last night when Kassidy asked me that question I told her it was because she has a condition like mommy that makes her just a little different then other people. She looked at me with huge eyes and said, "I have cancer?" (I completely forgot that she knows about my skin cancer and I completely forgot that she doesn't forget.) I told her NO, she didn't have cancer, just something kind of like my Fibromyalgia that makes her skin and legs feel funny sometimes. Thank goodness she was satisfied with that because I am not ready for this conversation yet!

-We were watching the new NICK show called Bubble Guppies and they showed a castle and a dragon during the episode. Shane proclaimed loudly that there was no such things as castles. So I corrected him and told him that there is such a thing but not in our neighborhood. Kassidy looked at him with this "what planet are YOU from" look and said, "Ya, duh." So then Shane said he knew that dragons did not exsist anymore but he thought they did once upon a time, probably after the dinosaurs all died. So I told him to ask Grandma Jeanne, maybe they were around when she was small (bad mommy). Then Shane said did I know that Grandma had said that TV's came out when Grandma Jeanne was little. So I answered yes and did they know that there was no such thing as a remote for the TV, that you had to actually get up and walk to the TV to change the channel and then there was only 4 different channels to watch, no cable or satellite. I swear you thought I was telling them a scary bedtime story just by the looks on their faces. Shane asked me what channels (of course he wants details) so I said CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS(?) and Kassidy said, "What, no cartoon channels, how did you survive?"  And then I told them that you couldn't record your favorite shows to watch whenever you wanted to later because there was no such thing as DVR or VCR's and Shane said, "What the beep" and Kassidy said, "Boy, I am glad I wasn't born back then." Then I said that the only time cartoons came on was Saturday morning and one of them said, "Ugh, I would die." So I guess this is the 21st century version of - "I walked to school, barefoot in the snow for 2 miles up hill both ways"!

MISC

- This morning I told Kassidy that she had to wear tennis shoes to school today because she was having PE. Shane asked me what does PE mean and I answered physical education. Kassidy said and I quote, "I thought it meant paranormal experience."  I REALLY need to pay more attention to what she is doing on the internet!

- Last night when I was laying down with Kassidy to go to sleep, a commercial came on for the medicine that you can get from your doctor to help you stop smoking. This commercial had a mom who was talking about her boys begging her to stop smoking before something bad happened to her. The next voice I hear is Kassidy saying, "Mommy, we need to get Daddy those pills before something happens to him." Crack - crack - crack (the sound of my heart breaking).

- Kassidy has been having a lot of anxiety/panic attacks lately, they are more frequent but don't last as long. I have been trying to find an "autism" doctor to take her to so we can get an offically diag but I have been having a difficult time finding one in Reno that will take the insurance we have.  A few weeks ago I appealed the SSI decision that although their pysch evaluator feels Kassidy does have PDD, she is too high functioning for extra help (do you know any 8 year olds that can't button/zip their clothes or tie their shoes or ride a bike with training wheels or even skip / run? I don't.)  and I received a letter from SSI the other day that they want Kassidy to be officially diagnosed by a doctor and they set up an appt for her at no charge to me - it is Feb 17 so hopefully she will do bad at it (bad mommy) and then she can get more of the motor skills help she needs since the school already has her going great academically. I am seeing a night in the future, probably Feb 16 where Kassidy is going to stay up REALLY late and then have to go to school the next day and then get pulled out of school around noon unexpectedly (since she does not like surprises) to go to the doctors. I love seeing into the future!

Memories suck

This morning out of the blue Kassidy asked me if teenagers have to get blood drawn - ? I told her sometimes, why? And then she told me "Remember when I had to get blood taken? The shot hurt and they took my blood and wouldn't give it back. Why did they need my blood?" (Back story: when Kassidy was 5 she had to have blood test to check her lead levels and some other stuff. This is when we were first started trying to figure her out right before Kindergarten. The first option was to make sure all her levels were normal because she liked to eat dirt and other stuff alot when she was younger, something called Pica. And when Kassidy was small, it took her dad and I to hold her down just to give her medicine when she was sick. The day they took her blood, it took me and 3 other people to hold her down so that another person could stick her and then she was upset for hours after not so much about the needle but because they took HER blood and she wanted it back. FYI, Kassidy will be 8 this month!) So I explained to her that they needed her blood to test it to make sure she didn't have lead in her body because she ate some weird things when she was a toddler. Kassidy then said, "But it was my blood and if they keep taking it, I wont have any." (Another back story: last night Shane asked me what does our blood do in our body. My short answer to this question was that our blood carries oxygen and other things that we need to different parts of our body - probably why Kassidy is remembering this incident from 3 years ago.) So I expained to her that our body makes more blood to replace what was taken out of us and she seemed relieved and the subject was closed.  Gee - I can't wait until she gets her period!

And when I was brushing her hair this morning I found a grey hair on her head - need to come up with a good explaination for that one before she notices!

Say What?

The other night we were all in the living room together (a rare occasion) and for some reason Shane asked us why his nickname is Bud. Daddy explained to him that it was in honor of his great grandfather. Then Shane asked why Kassidys nickname was Punkin and daddy again explained that it was just something he had always called her from the day she was born. Although Kassidy appeared to be totally involved in the TV she blurted out that she wanted to change her nickname. Daddy told her ok, to what. And our precious almost 8 year old girl, who when she was born daddy could hold in one hand because she was so small said, "I want to change it to the angel of darkness but you can still call me Punkin."

Oh Crap! Puberty Is On It's Way!

A few weeks ago, one night after Kassidy got out of the tub and was drying off she just started grinning from ear to ear with no reason that I knew of. I asked her why she was grinning and she said really fast, "I have a boyfriend." Jump back! Wait a minute, she doesn't usually interact with anyone much in her class, how did she get a boyfriend? So I said, "Oh, you mean you have a new friend and he is a boy?" and she said, "I don't want to talk about it. Never mind. I never said nothing."  And then like magic this boyfriend disappeared.....or so it seemed.

Last night I was going through the kids backpacks and I found a letter from the kindergarten class that said they were sponsoring a fundraiser on Valentines Day where the kids could do a Valentine gram to send to someone else in school for $1 with a box of candy hearts. So I ask Shane and Kassidy together if there was anyone they wanted to send a special VDay gram to  - here is the conversation that followed:

Shane: (with his nose all crinkled up and a look of disgust on his face) NO!

Kassidy:  Can't we just hand out cards?

Mom: Yes, we will do that for everyone in your classes but is there someone special at school, like a teacher or aide that you would like to send one to?

Shane: (with the same expression as above) NO!

Kassidy: Yes but it is top secret.

Mom: Top secret?

Kassidy: Yes, I can't tell you.

Mom: So if you can't tell me, how will I know what name to right down on the paperwork?

Kassidy: (after a few thought-filled seconds) Just write N.I.C.K.

Mom: ? Just right Mick?

Kassidy: NO - N.I.C.K.!

As far as I know there is not a teacher named Mrs. Nick or and aide named Nick. It is the first time I have ever heard the name NICK said - ever! The plot thinkens - maybe I should see if her brother knows anything.

Or maybe she just meant St. Nick.....you think?