More requests (for food)

We went to my in-law's house to celebrate Nikko, Ronin, Soren and Amy's birthdays. Nikko surprisingly wasn't very hungry for pizza, and I attribute it to all the snacking he did later in the afternoon. He had crackers, veggie stix, some of Audrey's stars, and ice cream. OK, seeing that all on paper means I have to give him a more defined snack. The ice cream was probably over the edge, but he went to the freezer instead of the fridge and was signing More. I was taking this as an opportunity to teach him the sign for Ice Cream, which I think he did at the table. I was trying to see if he could imitate my sign if I showed it to him on the spot instead of after many repeated trials. Nikko also didn't nap on the way to their house, but definitely crashed into deep sleep on the way home so we put him to bed. He needs a shower in the a.m.!

Today with Nikko was a decent one. He seems to be asking for a lot of stuff in the kitchen (ok, Crackers mostly) and I see him trying to communicate with me. I wonder how I can help make the words come out of his mouth. I've been kneeling in front of him during a request, repeating the word and More, and physically manipulating his mouth. It's a question I should have asked Gloria, and should probably ask Peter next week. Gloria, and even Shelly, had recommended tools and devices in the past that would vibrate to stimulate the muscles, even to manually massage his inner mouth. Yeah, right! Nikko would bite me! But now I'm wondering if I should go that route. Should I get these boys electric toothbrushes, as recommended per Shelly? Or will they just use them as toys?

I've been contemplating whether or not I should bring Nikko with me to the Rock N' Roll Chicago Half-Marathon on Sunday morning to see Ollie at the finish line. She's running it and dedicating it to the Organization for Autism Research, for Nikko. I'm definitely going to support, but it's so early in the morning, between 6:30 and 8-9am. I wondered if I should bring Nikko, since he's the one who she's running it for, but I'm changing my mind as I type. If I bring him, sure it will be early and he could be cranky, it's in Grant park and he could do some running around, but I think there will be battles regarding FS and I don't want to fight with him so early in the morning. I also think I won't be able to check out the OAR booth, get info and talk to people if he is with me, if I have to go chasing after him. I wondered why the race was so early, but I think they are not blocking off a ton of streets in the morning so they made it early since Sunday morning is not a busy time along the lake.