Japan

We're doing Japan at the moment. Today the boys made/drew Japanese flags, we read and discussed a couple of library books about Japan, and we folded little origami cats and 'talking' dogs. Then for dinner we had miso soup, and chicken katsu served with rice, cabbage and tonkatsu sauce. The boys had little Japanese chocolate coated biscuit sticks for dessert. And the OH and I have been munching on wasabi peas

 

We've been discussing advertising a lot lately. This morning Shmoo designed his own vacuum brand: 'Zip Zap'. We then discussed logos, symbols and trademarks, and Shmoo designed a symbol for the Zip Zap brand. He loves Dyson vacuums but aspires to one day create the Zip Zap. He hasn't decided yet whether the Zip Zap will be it's own brand or if he'll work for Dyson and design a model called the Zip Zap. Today he also designed a small vacuum cleaner that's only for beds - he said that it vacuums up wee LOL!!

Sunny Daze

A warm, sunny day... a perfect morning for drawing and writing on the concrete outside with chalk, cuddling kitties, making puddy muddles muddy puddles, mud pies topped with grass for the cats' lunch, watching Daddy mow the grass, sword (stick) fighting, nearly dying (or so it sounded like) from a slightly stick-grazed finger, unearthing nature's hidden treasures, and so much more.

 

Some days learning happens like this. Other days Shmoo wants to know how to add 3-digit numbers together, or to count the syllables in words, or he just wants to sit and read one (or a dozen) of the 40-odd library books that we've borrowed for the fortnight. And some days, like today, he just wants to sit at the activity table all afternoon and carefully draw all the vacuums out of a treasured Harvey Norman catalogue that came in the day's newspaper

An Exhausting Day in India

It's been one of those days.


We've been researching India lately... reading books on India from the library, watching travel documentaries, listening to Bollywood music. Today the plan was to have fun dressing up in saris and turbans, find out about Hinduism and have an India themed dinner.


Things didn't quite go to plan. Small but important things got us sidetracked during the day and then Shmoo had a major meltdown in the afternoon. Major meltdown. As in close to 3 hours of shrieking, screaming, crying, hypochondria, slamming doors, threatening his brothers, calling me names (hideous, stupid, idiot etc), and throwing things around. Somehow I managed to stay calm despite having heaps to do, 2 other kids to look after and dinner to make (with the OH in Burnie for the afternoon). Mostly calm anyway. The only time I yelled at him was when Beanie was in immediate danger of being injured.


The OH was home for the last half hour or so of the meltdown. The only way we could get Shmoo to snap out of it was to bribe him with the Dyson vacuum catalogue that the OH had picked up for him at Harvey Norman. Shmoo has a bit of a love/hate relationship with vacuums. He is absolutely terrified of them, panics if the vacuum comes near him at home, screams if we try and walk past a display at the shops. But he is also intensely fascinated with them, I think it's his way of trying to work through his fear of them. He will analyse them in catalogues, compare the different types and their parts, and try and figure out how they work and what each part does. And then he goes through phases of drawing vacuums. He can sit at the table for hours every day, for days at a time, drawing page after page of vacuums in great detail. So the vacuum catalogue was a good distraction for him.


Funnily enough, in the middle of Shmoo's meltdown the phone rang. I nearly laughed when the woman on the other end said that she was from the Tasmanian Autism Spectrum Diagnostic Service. I was trying to focus on what she was saying but it was kinda hard with Shmoo screaming in the next room and the loud thuds as hard objects hit the bedroom wall. Actually I did laugh when she asked if I felt the assessments were urgent. She could hear Shmoo's meltdown. I said "Um, at the moment it feels very urgent."


I don't know what to do with him when he has such intense meltdowns. It goes so far beyond a typical tantrum. I'm much better at putting on an calm outward appearance myself these days but it takes it's toll. I feel so frustrated and so helpless. It's so physically and emotionally exhausting. Why is it so hard to get any kind of help once they're over 6?!

Indulgence

Vanilla cake with lemon cream cheese icing. Extra icing. Gluten, dairy and egg! Mmm. The OH's birthday cake

The OH's taking Shmoo and Loo to a Slipstream Circus show tomorrow. Part of our homeschool group's programme. Poor Shmoo couldn't get to sleep tonight. He called me into his room to tell me he was scared. After chatting to him for a bit I managed to work out what it was about - he was worried that it was going to be like last time, overwhelming, lots of kids, and a class that he would be expected to participate in. I reassured him that it would just be a show, that other people would be performing and all he had to do was watch, like at the Playschool Concert. He must have been reassured as he happily went to sleep. A 2 hour show is a bit beyond the attention span of an 18 month old so Beanie and I are looking forward to some quiet time whilst they're out.

ECIS Update

We had the visit with SJ from the Early Childhood Intervention Service a couple of days ago. It was just the initial contact so she could meet the Bean and discuss where we go from here.


No surprises in the way Beanie reacted to her. He buried his face into my chest and refused to look at her.


SJ is going to talk to the other people she works with and come up with a plan for us.


Funny coincidence: one of the people that SJ works with is F... who organises the homeschool group meets.

Homeschool Group Fire Station Visit

I wanted to get some better pics of the boys but it was really hard to get far enough away from Shmoo. He was very curious about the fire station but was a bit freaked at the new environment and loud, sudden noises. He clung to my side for a good deal of the visit. But both he and Loo enjoyed the visit.


Beanie spent the visit on my back in the Ergo, desperately trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone. Kinda hard when standing in the middle of the big group with people all around so, for the most part, he buried his face into my back.

So Proud of My Boys

- I am so impressed with how Shmoo's and Loo's reading and comprehension skills are coming along. They absolutely love books (and so does Beanie, for that matter). Shmoo and Loo usually wake about 1-1.5 hours before the rest of us and we often find find them drawing or reading (still in their PJs and night nappy no matter how many times I tell them to get changed first LOL). But I'm so glad that they all have a love of reading, especially as boys aren't supposed to as good at or as interested in reading as girls. Yesterday we went to the library and Shmoo chose about a dozen books on astronomy, the ocean and inventions. Loo chose a few books about robots and cleared the entire junior non-fiction section of dinosaur books (of course!). They are in heaven with all the new reading material (plus the 15-odd fiction books that I chose for them to read).


- Loo has been able to write his name for a while and now he is attempting to write other words. He is so proud of himself when he shows us the words that he's written.


- Beanie always amazes me with how advanced he seems in a lot of areas compared with the other two at the same age. He is clumsy as anything but geez he's clever! I've done baby signing (Auslan) with all the boys and they've all picked up on the signs relatively quickly and easily. But Beanie's just awesome at it, he's even started putting 2 signs together. Like this morning in bed I was doing up my PJ top and he started tugging at it, obviously wanting booby. I wanted to get up so I did the signs for 'finished' and 'breastfeed'. Beanie then shook his head, put on a really cute expression and did the sign for 'please' and 'breastfeed'. Adorable!

Random

- Now that Shmoo looks older we often get people asking him if he's at school. When I tell them that we homeschool we inevitably get some comment like 'wow, you're brave', like it's something incredibly difficult. I guess they probably picture something like school-at-home rather than natural learning. I reckon it would be a lot more difficult juggling all the kids' different needs whilst doing school drop-offs and pick-ups, worrying about getting the kids up/dressed/breakfasted in time, uniforms, lunches, homework etc :)


- The boys are doing pretty well at swimming, especially Shmoo. Today the other 2 kids weren't there so it was just our 2. The instructor stayed out of the pool so that she could see and guide what they were doing better. And the boys did great, doing laps of the entire length of the pool holding on to a kickboard, practicing their freestyle arm strokes and backstroke.


- I had to use my hand to clean the invisible dirt off the shower floor at the pool today so that Shmoo would get in. He didn't want to touch any dirt and he was worried that any dirt would feel rough on his feet. Part of the changeroom floor was too cold apparently so I had to hold his hand and help him jump over it into the shower. And he didn't like the feel of the towel again. *sigh*


- Beanie worries me sometimes. I don't know if there's something genuinely there or if I'm just reading too much into it because of the other ASD stuff. But... he freaks out over people he doesn't know, even kids and babies. He's very particular about things being clean and flat/straight/smooth (I am sooo not like that, a bit of mess doesn't bother me!). If a poster has slipped a little he insists it's straightened. If one of the other boys drops food on the floor during a meal Beanie will point and get upset if I don't pick it up straight away. If little droplets of milk from his sippy cup get onto the table he wants it wiped up ASAP. He gets upset if something he's unsure of gets on his hands. He got upset today at the pool because he saw a few little bits of something on the floor near where we were sitting and I kept telling him it didn't matter and they could stay there. He goes around the house and points out all the bits of fluff etc on the floor and sooks until someone comes and picks it up or gets him to pick it up and takes him to the bin. He cleans (yes, at 17 months!). He will grab a face washer or hanky off the bench or clothes airer and wipe down the floor/tables/walls. And the face washer/hanky must be flat and not folded over. He gets very distressed if it doesn't sit perfectly flat or if it bumps up against anything and a corner folds over. Same with books/magazines/paper. If a book or page won't sit flat he gets really upset. Same if he crumples a page when he turns it. And if he's drawing and we fold the piece of paper in half he will try to smooth the crease out and cry when he realises that it's not working. Things like clothing tags and zippers also bother him. Tonight he kept whinging and tugging at one of his sleeves like there was something hurting him. Couldn't see anything but it was probably a seam or thread annoying him. He was only happy when the shirt was taken off. And he doesn't like changes in routine. Even small things bother him. Like, when putting him into his sleeping bag for naps, I always used to put his arms in first but he would then kick me with his legs. I figured out a month or 2 ago that if I put his legs in first he doesn't kick me. But he gets really upset that his arms haven't gone in first! I think I'll mention it next time he has a health check. I feel bad that I never thought Shmoo's issues were anything serious and that he has potentially missed out on some critical early intervention. I don't want to make the same mistake with Beanie.

Look What Arrived in the Mail Today...

Our official card!!