Aditya is hooked on playing with and twisting words... BIG time!
Just yesterday he asked me, "Aai! What is a young sea creature called?"
Hmmm ...
"What?"
"I don't know!"
"Well, it is a ceiling! As in sea-ling! Get it?"
Got it! And he swears it is not borrowed :)
(Even if it were, I wouldn't be any less happy .. this just shows that he is comprehending all the Geronimo Stiltons he has been reading! Yay!)
Another one:
"What do people on Mars do with Oranges?"
"What?"
"Marsmalade!"
Isn't that awesome? He is becoming a natural at this!!
A couple days ago, I was in the garage when he came wincing, with his finger wrapped and crying out as if he was in pain. I dropped whatever I was doing and began rushing toward him. With a smile on his face, he said,"Just kidding, Aai! This is just a crumpled up receipt I found in the house :) Did you think I was really hurt?" Huh!
A couple hours later, I was still working in the garage when he told me that he was hungry. I asked him to give me a few minutes to find a stopping place. Soon after, he came in from the backyard and told me that he had found something "Green" to eat in! I looked up, a little annoyed, to see him holding a (almost) flat ball and pretending to eat from the Green (colored) bowl! "I am just pretending!" LOL!!!
Oh, and green reminds me of something else .. At school, he is a regular at the monthly student leadership meetings and this month, his idea for keeping the school clean and green got approved! He suggested that kids pick trash every Friday afternoon before school lets out so the campus looks good - weekend all the way into the next week!
And last but not the least .. a preview to the next post .. he has a great poster that I sneaked a peek into, for his upcoming country research project, due next Friday! I so wish he would ask us for some help, like the other kids do, so we have an idea of what goes on at school. But he told me that he is big now and does not really need my help :( Deep breath and let go!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, January 17, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Happy New Year!
The twins turned 9 this month!
Just today, we were looking at the very first few blog posts here and it felt so cute... especially this one
Aditya (and indeed Shreya, as well as Aai Baba) have come such a long distance. This has been THE most beautiful 4.5 years of my life personally!
Earlier, over the long Christmas break we mostly stayed home, but took two days off to visit our favorite and sunny climes of South California (San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara).
Our old time program volunteer Adin visited us and he, like us, was pleasantly surprised to hear some typical 9 year old language, e.g. saying "what the...." (without anything after the "what the" :))
In eczema news, we are making another concerted effort at not just rotating but further cleaning up Aditya's already clean diet. Stay tuned to know how that is going.
Aditya is now having regular playdates with A. They both seem to enjoy each other, in fact, A's mom often emails me saying A is asking for another playdate with Aditya!!! They also play a variety of games at these times, like NERF guns, SORRY!, LEGOS, marbles, Mousetrap, Chess (A's favorite), BeyBlades and a lot of outdoor games.
Baba spent 1.5 hours with Aditya after a long long time. We played chess! Aditya clearly has the potential to learn and master anything and chess is no exception. In this almost first game, though, Aditya seemed stuck, displaying signs of nervousness about "will you check mate me?" when there was no check mate in sight! He also seemed to jump over pieces with his queen, move diagonally with a pawn, etc when he got anxious this way. Baba felt this was a sign of not knowing what move to make next... or more accurately, not trusting the moves that came to him. When asked if he was anxious about losing the game or not knowing the next move, he said he was not worried about losing... but just was finding it hard to come up with good moves.
We are excited to find out what the new year holds for all of us! Here is wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Just today, we were looking at the very first few blog posts here and it felt so cute... especially this one
Aditya (and indeed Shreya, as well as Aai Baba) have come such a long distance. This has been THE most beautiful 4.5 years of my life personally!
Earlier, over the long Christmas break we mostly stayed home, but took two days off to visit our favorite and sunny climes of South California (San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara).
Our old time program volunteer Adin visited us and he, like us, was pleasantly surprised to hear some typical 9 year old language, e.g. saying "what the...." (without anything after the "what the" :))
In eczema news, we are making another concerted effort at not just rotating but further cleaning up Aditya's already clean diet. Stay tuned to know how that is going.
Aditya is now having regular playdates with A. They both seem to enjoy each other, in fact, A's mom often emails me saying A is asking for another playdate with Aditya!!! They also play a variety of games at these times, like NERF guns, SORRY!, LEGOS, marbles, Mousetrap, Chess (A's favorite), BeyBlades and a lot of outdoor games.
Baba spent 1.5 hours with Aditya after a long long time. We played chess! Aditya clearly has the potential to learn and master anything and chess is no exception. In this almost first game, though, Aditya seemed stuck, displaying signs of nervousness about "will you check mate me?" when there was no check mate in sight! He also seemed to jump over pieces with his queen, move diagonally with a pawn, etc when he got anxious this way. Baba felt this was a sign of not knowing what move to make next... or more accurately, not trusting the moves that came to him. When asked if he was anxious about losing the game or not knowing the next move, he said he was not worried about losing... but just was finding it hard to come up with good moves.
We are excited to find out what the new year holds for all of us! Here is wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Monday, December 23, 2013
Almost two months later!
We continue to focus on healing Aditya's "dry skin followed by itch followed by scratching" also commonly known as eczema. Oh, you didn't know? We have actually been trying to help him with this for over a year now.
In fact, healing eczema has now taken the center stage, and autism recovery continues to happen at an amazing pace without we even doing anything directly for that reason!
Agreed, we still have our only amazing volunteer Arjun play with Aditya twice a week in and out of the playroom. However Baba has not played for a while. Aai is doing the program the "life style program" way. This also means Aai-Baba-Aditya dual sessions have stopped.
On the other hand, Aditya went on his first 1:1 playdate at someone else's house! This seemed like an impossibility until last year. He also used to check out very early last year, suggesting his social stamina was relatively low.
In his last play date with "A", however, he (per A's mom) had a blast. He carried his own snack to the play date and had no hesitation eating it while A sipped tea. When he heard A was going to drink tea, he also expressed concern to A's mom that kids should not be drinking tea as it has caffeine. He must have been relieved to know it was a non-caffeinated tea!
Speaking of snacks, socialization and food are closely associated in pretty much every culture. He got an invite to another friend E's birthday party. E's mom, knowing Aditya's special diet, told him about the things he could eat. (We need to speak to the parents and request them not do this, as the stuff did have something we would rather Aditya did not eat.) Aditya's facial expression at this time was pricessless. He also seemed to open up like a social butterfly for a while right after this!
Healing eczema naturally (i.e. without conventional anti-histamines or cortisone creams) means sticking to a specific eating plan that most definitely excludes processed foods, but also has a constant need for rotation. Who thinks about this at a birthday party? We do. And I have to say, I think Aditya does too, thereby not being fully "available" to his friends in the making.
So when he got to eat SOMETHING at the party that was offered to him by the host (vs his own special box of snacks) he probably felt on top of the world.
We are at a strange place where we have never been. His dietary restrictions are no longer designed with autism recovery in mind. We actually think it will have a positive effect on his socialization if we removed the restrictions. However, dietary modifications is the safest way to treat eczema. (Other than option-provess-dialoguing to help Aditya get in touch with his beliefs. If he is like Baba, his eczema has nothing to do with the stimulus (the food) and everything to do with what he believes about himself and his present and his future.
The third friend we must talk about is S, also from his class like E and A. S loves teaching gymnastics and is super-patient and enthusiastic with her satudents. (I wish all my teachers were like this 7 year old.) Her student is none other than Aditya, who is equally patient and responsive. The two have been practicing various things gymnastics during recess. Aditya seems to be really enjoying this, class and like we said, S is one patient and enthusiastic teacher:)
Another very important update is about the Dad-And-Son group Y guides that Aditya and Baba joined in October. We have so far gone overnight beach-camping, bowling, and finally, a special all-family ice-skating event along with Shreya and Aai. The camping was fun, and Aditya seemed to really start connecting with the other sons during bowling. But it was ice-skating that had me completely "bowled over". Aditya not only showed enthusiasm to learn ice skating, he did extremely well, and IN THE END chose to finish multiple rounds of the skating rink on his own, without supervision from parents! Shreya did too, but the two kids were doing it all separately, and sometimes each with one of their own personal friends!
That last bit about we not supervising him requires another mention. It was our own recovery in one way. It was a "let go" experience. Especially when we watched him fall on his bottom, then look for help, and then get back up on his own!
Aditya has also finished one more round of basketball lessons, and earned his coaches' appreciation for being one of the most sincere students!
Last but not the least, Aditya also took a 3 day badminton camp over the thanksgiving break!
We recognize that we did not write a special thanksgiving post this year. But then we have never stopped feeling thankful to our kids!
In fact, healing eczema has now taken the center stage, and autism recovery continues to happen at an amazing pace without we even doing anything directly for that reason!
Agreed, we still have our only amazing volunteer Arjun play with Aditya twice a week in and out of the playroom. However Baba has not played for a while. Aai is doing the program the "life style program" way. This also means Aai-Baba-Aditya dual sessions have stopped.
On the other hand, Aditya went on his first 1:1 playdate at someone else's house! This seemed like an impossibility until last year. He also used to check out very early last year, suggesting his social stamina was relatively low.
In his last play date with "A", however, he (per A's mom) had a blast. He carried his own snack to the play date and had no hesitation eating it while A sipped tea. When he heard A was going to drink tea, he also expressed concern to A's mom that kids should not be drinking tea as it has caffeine. He must have been relieved to know it was a non-caffeinated tea!
Speaking of snacks, socialization and food are closely associated in pretty much every culture. He got an invite to another friend E's birthday party. E's mom, knowing Aditya's special diet, told him about the things he could eat. (We need to speak to the parents and request them not do this, as the stuff did have something we would rather Aditya did not eat.) Aditya's facial expression at this time was pricessless. He also seemed to open up like a social butterfly for a while right after this!
Healing eczema naturally (i.e. without conventional anti-histamines or cortisone creams) means sticking to a specific eating plan that most definitely excludes processed foods, but also has a constant need for rotation. Who thinks about this at a birthday party? We do. And I have to say, I think Aditya does too, thereby not being fully "available" to his friends in the making.
So when he got to eat SOMETHING at the party that was offered to him by the host (vs his own special box of snacks) he probably felt on top of the world.
We are at a strange place where we have never been. His dietary restrictions are no longer designed with autism recovery in mind. We actually think it will have a positive effect on his socialization if we removed the restrictions. However, dietary modifications is the safest way to treat eczema. (Other than option-provess-dialoguing to help Aditya get in touch with his beliefs. If he is like Baba, his eczema has nothing to do with the stimulus (the food) and everything to do with what he believes about himself and his present and his future.
The third friend we must talk about is S, also from his class like E and A. S loves teaching gymnastics and is super-patient and enthusiastic with her satudents. (I wish all my teachers were like this 7 year old.) Her student is none other than Aditya, who is equally patient and responsive. The two have been practicing various things gymnastics during recess. Aditya seems to be really enjoying this, class and like we said, S is one patient and enthusiastic teacher:)
Another very important update is about the Dad-And-Son group Y guides that Aditya and Baba joined in October. We have so far gone overnight beach-camping, bowling, and finally, a special all-family ice-skating event along with Shreya and Aai. The camping was fun, and Aditya seemed to really start connecting with the other sons during bowling. But it was ice-skating that had me completely "bowled over". Aditya not only showed enthusiasm to learn ice skating, he did extremely well, and IN THE END chose to finish multiple rounds of the skating rink on his own, without supervision from parents! Shreya did too, but the two kids were doing it all separately, and sometimes each with one of their own personal friends!
That last bit about we not supervising him requires another mention. It was our own recovery in one way. It was a "let go" experience. Especially when we watched him fall on his bottom, then look for help, and then get back up on his own!
Aditya has also finished one more round of basketball lessons, and earned his coaches' appreciation for being one of the most sincere students!
Last but not the least, Aditya also took a 3 day badminton camp over the thanksgiving break!
We recognize that we did not write a special thanksgiving post this year. But then we have never stopped feeling thankful to our kids!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Halloween 2013!
Aditya "chose" to make up his own costume for Halloween this year. (In the previous two years he was a police officer and a fireman, and both were costumes bought from the store.) He dressed up to be a chef.... complete with an apron, a spatula, and a tall paper hat he created with some help from Aai!
He went out trick-or-treating with Shreya and one of Shreya's friends. He enjoyed it, of course, but the truth is, with 3 kids this soon became a situation with "rules" about who should take the lead in knocking on the door. I saw a much less spontaneous and bubbly Aditya as compared to last year. Lesson learnt!
The beautiful part is, Aditya articulated to me that he was getting bored. Wow! Expressing the emotional side when he feels like it (and not when it is appropriate to do so)!
Last year, Aditya and Shreya had collected about 50 pieces of candy. This year, they scored in the 80's! With a growth rate of 60% all you folks must want to invest your money in this young enterprise!
Since he does not eat the candy, he asked to exchange it with "cents". We offered to round up his 81 cents to a whole dollar. He was flexible with this idea and said "okay":-)
Okay, we are letting out one more secret. He and Shreya both got to eat a piece of 85% organic dark chocolate.
He went out trick-or-treating with Shreya and one of Shreya's friends. He enjoyed it, of course, but the truth is, with 3 kids this soon became a situation with "rules" about who should take the lead in knocking on the door. I saw a much less spontaneous and bubbly Aditya as compared to last year. Lesson learnt!
The beautiful part is, Aditya articulated to me that he was getting bored. Wow! Expressing the emotional side when he feels like it (and not when it is appropriate to do so)!
Last year, Aditya and Shreya had collected about 50 pieces of candy. This year, they scored in the 80's! With a growth rate of 60% all you folks must want to invest your money in this young enterprise!
Since he does not eat the candy, he asked to exchange it with "cents". We offered to round up his 81 cents to a whole dollar. He was flexible with this idea and said "okay":-)
Okay, we are letting out one more secret. He and Shreya both got to eat a piece of 85% organic dark chocolate.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Reading, Basketball, Color Me Mine!
1. Showing a love for reading (although mostly non fiction)
2. Asked for a massage on his legs, on his own!
3. Noticed changed bed sheets, and thanked Aai! Said, "This is so organized... it looks like a restaurant. Silly me, it looks like a hotel."
4. Doing well at Basketball class (got 8 out of the 23 points earned by his team in the game played at the end)
5. Learning badminton with Son Rise volunteer friend Arjun. At the end of the last session they had a back and forth rally of 23! (Six months ago, could not hit the shuttle cock even once.)
6. Went to "Color me mine" with friends + their parents at school while Aai Baba were attending parent-teacher conferences
7. Showing more interest in playing with one child in his class that he seems to like
8. On invitation by his class mates, showing an interest in joining "Y Guides" a dad and son activity club
2. Asked for a massage on his legs, on his own!
3. Noticed changed bed sheets, and thanked Aai! Said, "This is so organized... it looks like a restaurant. Silly me, it looks like a hotel."
4. Doing well at Basketball class (got 8 out of the 23 points earned by his team in the game played at the end)
5. Learning badminton with Son Rise volunteer friend Arjun. At the end of the last session they had a back and forth rally of 23! (Six months ago, could not hit the shuttle cock even once.)
6. Went to "Color me mine" with friends + their parents at school while Aai Baba were attending parent-teacher conferences
7. Showing more interest in playing with one child in his class that he seems to like
8. On invitation by his class mates, showing an interest in joining "Y Guides" a dad and son activity club
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Kingdom 38!
There is no place on the planet
That is as beautiful and as great
It's Kingdom 38, it's Kingdom 38
It's Kingdom 38, it's Kingdom 38!
In our kingdom there is no theft
Whether you look right or you look left
In our kingdom there are no cops
In our kingdom there are no locks on shops!
Those are lyrics of the first-ever song composed (but not yet recorded) by Aditya.
This happened over the last weekend when we sat in Aditya's room with him on the guitar and me with a pen and paper.
Oh, what is Kingdom 38? It is the first ever movie he is thinking of making when he grows up. It has the king and the prince of Kingdom 38 waging a war against the king and the prince of Kingdom 43, and eventually winning it.
The war is over "who should the princess of Kingdom 38 marry?"
The prince of kingdom 43 wants to marry her. But Kingdom 38 folks (including the princess) want her to marry some poor prince from a kingdom with a number smaller than 10!
Bollywood, hold your breath! Aditya is coming!!!
That is as beautiful and as great
It's Kingdom 38, it's Kingdom 38
It's Kingdom 38, it's Kingdom 38!
In our kingdom there is no theft
Whether you look right or you look left
In our kingdom there are no cops
In our kingdom there are no locks on shops!
Those are lyrics of the first-ever song composed (but not yet recorded) by Aditya.
This happened over the last weekend when we sat in Aditya's room with him on the guitar and me with a pen and paper.
Oh, what is Kingdom 38? It is the first ever movie he is thinking of making when he grows up. It has the king and the prince of Kingdom 38 waging a war against the king and the prince of Kingdom 43, and eventually winning it.
The war is over "who should the princess of Kingdom 38 marry?"
The prince of kingdom 43 wants to marry her. But Kingdom 38 folks (including the princess) want her to marry some poor prince from a kingdom with a number smaller than 10!
Bollywood, hold your breath! Aditya is coming!!!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
One day... he will go to "basketball classes"!
It’s Tuesday. I pick
up my daughter from school at 2pm. I bring
her home. She grabs a banana for a
snack. She asks me, “What else can I
eat?” I give her two blocks of cheese and some chiwda. She finishes it while I finish my perfectly
hot cup of tea. She prepares her water bottle while I use the restroom. Together, we leave for basketball class.
She is one of the first few kids to get there. She starts practicing the hoops. She proudly tells the coach she got 6
hoops. The coach celebrates her and asks
her to keep going.
Slowly the other kids start coming in. Realizing that they are shooting the same
hoop, she starts taking turns with them.
When it’s too crowded she runs to the other side of the court and shoots
the hoop at that end. After a while she goes
and tells the coach she has done 17 hoops.
The coach celebrates her and asks her to keep going.
In a few minutes the class begins. The coach gets this highly energetic group of
20 or so kids to do lots of different exercises! She does most of her exercises correctly, some not. But she
tries to do all. She is an average runner.
Soon, the group is divided into two teams. A friendly contest is setup-- -something like
a relay race. Our group wins! Our kid runs a little slower, but does not become a liability for the
group.
The only problem… there is no wifi here. So I cannot work while I am watching all
this.
Okay, I made that up.
I do not want to work while watching him… I mean… her… play!
Oops… I gave it away!
But if you stayed with me,
congratulations!
Now find and replace all of the occurrences of ”she” and “her”
with “he” and “him”.
It is in fact Aditya who is attending the second session of his first ever basketball
class! No need to pinch me. I am wide awake, and taking it in:)
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