Sunshine-y Day

Nikko was terribly fussy this morning. I got the kids ready and eating breakfast, not sure when Cyndi would be coming to see us, but wanted to be prepared nonetheless. Nikko immediately wanted stuff from the cupboard so I gave him one of his two daily Gummie Vites vitamins. He can make that thing last for a looooong time. His fingers get all sticky but it keeps him quiet. Cyndi showed up around 10:30 and she and Denis and I had a nice time in the living room. She is lending me a book titled Behavioral Intervention for Young Children With Autism. It was very apropo for her to bring it today because I've recently been looking into what kind of therapies are suitable for Nikko at this stage. It looks like a very comprehensive book, and there's so much I have to delve into, so I'll have to tackle it a little at a time. There are some suggestions on do-it-yourself therapies, which is exactly what I'm searching for. I'll go through those pages soon, or make copies. If I find this book valuable I might just buy it myself on amazon.com.

After lunch I decided that the kids should all go outside to play. Normally we go run around the basement after lunch, but I figured that if we didn't go out now, there was no guarantee that we would get the kids out later in the afternoon after all the naps. Good choice, actually. We set up the baby gate and the kids ran around, used the tricycles, used the slide, kicked the ball around, and enjoyed the weather. But we had to get inside because it was naptime. It was so warm outside that I had to take the pullover off Nikko and the jacket off Ronin. I kept Audrey in her fleece, however, coz she's still just a baby. After naptimes, I decided to make some Ghirardelli brownies from Costco. I mixed up the batter and actually had Nikko and Ronin come over to stir it. Nikko was getting anxious, probably because he could smell the chocolate, so I gave him a spatula with batter on it. He totally relished it like an enormous lollipop. He walked around with it, sat on the couch with it, and fell asleep with it still in his hand. Ronin meanwhile was loving stirring the batter with the spoon. He started to lift the spoon higher and began to splatter so I had to remove it all from him with loud protests. After dinner, the kids ran around in the basement. Poor Ronin has to keep relinquishing his toys because Nikko is taking them from him and lining them up. I try to distract Ronin, but am wondering what the best approach is for Ronin. He doesn't understand that Nikko is autistic, and neither of them know how to share, so this is a tough spot. I'll have to read up on how to deal with siblings of autistic kids, because I don't want Ronin to feel bullied all the time, yet he should know that giving in to Nikko is sometimes a good thing. I want Ronin to learn how to pick his battles. Nikko will not always understand that Ronin's stuff is Ronin's. How to teach Nikko this? Dunno yet. Oh, I think I found a meetup group online that is centered around the northwest suburbs, a la Skokie/Park Ridge. That will be better than meeting up in Naperville, where the current meetup group is at. Nothing's wrong with the group, it's just about geography.