My Little Riles

We are approaching week 3 on the GFCF Diet for Riley and he is doing great! He has been receptive to eating what I put in front of him and has only inquired about McDonalds, goldfish, and cupcakes 178 times. He is not eating as many things as I would like for him to eat but I think that will come in time. I made homemade crispy chicken strips for him and he looked at me like, “seriously?” So, I am finding out that all I have to say is, “Just take ONE bite” and he will do it. He ate the chicken after that. But, when he took one bite of a carrot, he shook his head and said “no” to the rest of it. Baby steps.

I have been packing a lunch for him and it contains mostly snacks, fruit leathers (which he suddenly loves), and either hot dogs or turkey bacon. Our favorite day is Tuesday because we stay up at Early Class for individual speech therapy. We have an hour in between class and therapy so we eat together and I get lots of time to talk and play with him. Yes, I spend a lot of time with him every other day but we are mostly in the car rushing from one place to another. Not so much fun.

Last Tuesday after class he looked up at me with those big hazel eyes and said, “Early Class is finished. Time for Mcdonalds!” Luckily he was smiling and just said it to see what I would say and if I would cave. I just said, “No, no McDonalds. Let’s eat your lunch here.”

Here’s a couple of cute things he is doing:

☑ He sneezed and said, “Bless You!”

☑ He has picked up, “I’m sorry” and “your welcome”

☑ He says ‘Yea” and claps his hands often when we do something

☑ He is learning to say, “I’m mad” but most of the time it just comes out, “maaaaaaad” like a sheep

☑ He is repeating a LOT of the words we say and looking at us for confirmation

He followed, copied, and played with Kylie at the park on Sunday afternoon

He is getting great at “Who is” and What is this” questions

He is the biggest and loudest singer in Early CLASS and LOVES music!!

Kylie was really great with him at the park, too. These past couple of years have been really hard on her and lately she is either annoyed with him or just tries to stay away from him. Recently, he has been trying to hug her or take her hand and she looks at him like, “why are you doing that? you were never interested in me before?” I totally understand where she is coming from but we are still trying to get her to include him and understand why he acts the way he does. How do you explain that to a six year old, though? We have a great book that she has read and she also made her own book about Autism. It’s called, “Autism’, and here is what she wrote”

Dear Partens (Parents)
Please do not let your child stim. I do not have fun with that. I don’t like when Riley screams. I do not appreciate that. I love when Riley doesn’t stim. I love when Riley plays good. That is great. I watch Riley when he jumps on the trampoline. He jumps good. Sometimes Riley does not like to go to bed early. It is good to have Riley as a special boy. And it is good to have you to.

Alan and I are so proud of her for wanting to understand more about him all the time. She knows that when he “stims” (repetitive behavior) to try to get him involved in something else or just to come tell on him, which she loves to do.

Kylie is really coming along in her reading and writing. She has all the Junie B. Jones books and reads about five at a time. She knows what she is reading and can tell me which chapter she is on in each book. She is constantly drawing and writing books and we are so amazed at how her little mind works. She is doing great in Kindergarten and loves her class and she thinks her teacher hung the moon! She is still in her jeans and t-shirt phase and will not wear her hair up at all. I finally caved and got her bangs cut so her hair looks way better in the morning before school. Although she has changed and is becoming a little woman, I still like to cuddle with her at night and smother her with kisses! How much longer will she let me do that?