Gi go gah!

ST - We worked on 1 step directions - good day! Lots of words today: Ronin, Daddy, Audrey, hi for Mommy. Great with Open to go different places!

That always warms me, to hear he had a good session with Kathy. She's like gold.

Nikko woke up crying at 6:45a, which is 15 minutes before my alarm for school. I went inside and shuffled him back to his bed, then lay down next to him to wait out the alarm. He was holding a yellow Racer X (from Speed Racer) racing car that we've had for a long time, but yesterday and today he couldn't get enough of it. He'd twist it in his hand, look at it from the tip to the tail, getting some kind of visual stim from it. This morning he was also making car noises: Mrrrrooom! Mrrrooom! He was also babbling, and since Ronin was still sleeping nearby I decided to get us up at 7 and hang out in the kitchen. That car made it to school and back, and I think he took it to bed with him along with his burp cloth and a wooden helicopter. Nikko was singing another song today. It wasn't until snacktime that I figured it out, because it wasn't crisp. He was singing the main song from The Wiggles DVD of The Big Red Car. His version went: Gi go gah (Big Red Car), gi go gah, gi go gah - gah - gah - gah - gah!" Pretty darn close to the song version, in Nikkospeak. He sang it quite a bit, so I sang along and praised him for it, too. Thank you, Wiggles!! Nikko fell asleep for 30 minutes and I had to wake him at 4p so he could have a snack before Jenna came for his make-up ABA session. She came, we went downstairs, and he stood by me until I decided it was time to go. I gave him a kiss and a hug, told him to have a fun session, see you later, then took Ronin with me upstairs. No tears, because Jenna was bouncing a ball in his face and asking him to retrieve it and take turns. His session was good, and she told me that he was verbalizing a lot, too. I am glad that he is starting to say more words, and I have to point out more objects for him to label, but I think I have to start looking at the echolalia effect where he just repeats what we say and has no spontaneous words. I'm sure that's going to be a problem down the road. I wonder how to nip it in the bud, but at this beginning stage I think that's how he'll learn to talk. That's what Ronin is doing. In fact, lately Ronin is being a parrot and repeating my exact phrase right back at me, instead of immediately answering my question. It's driving me a little batty, but I'm telling him that he has words he can use. I do get impatient. In fact, that's how I know Ronin is over his 5-day fever, because he was really frustrating today, picking fights and whining. Oh, his whining is really back. I can hardly believe it had left us for a few days. I realize that I raised my voice quite a bit today, even though it was sore from being sick. Now that I've acknowledged it, I have to work on not sounding so harsh with Ronin. Today I was admonishing Ronin for not doing something, ranting over and over about something, and Nikko had the foresight to come up to my face and put his face in mine, as if to stop me from raising my voice at Ronin. When Nikko did that, I calmed down a bit. Just a bit. It was kind of strange during bath and bedtime. Nikko has not wanted to go into the tub after Ronin's bath. Nikko usually sits on the toilet while Denis gives Ronin a bath, and then when I take Ronin out of the bathroom, Denis tells Nikko to get in the tub. Sometimes Nikko will hop off the toilet, but for the past two days Nikko has been harder to coax. This evening he was really resisting physically getting into the tub. I had to come back into the bathroom and persuade Nikko to put down his stuff and put a leg into the tub. I really hope he's not developing a dislike for taking a bath, but it wasn't pretty, either. And when he was getting tucked into bed, I could see his eyes were heavy with being tired, but as it was getting closer for me to leave, I looked at his face and he looked worried, almost anxiety-riddled, possibly at the thought of me leaving. Sure enough, when I turned out the light he let out a loud wail. I was stern about leaving and I did, but when Ronin joined in his cries within three minutes I had to walk back and re-tuck in Ronin, then turn to Nikko's bed and sternly tell him to stop it, go to sleep and stay in bed. He did, but I can't forget how I could read his face the first time and he really looked alarmed instead of tired. I don't know if I'll have the strength to take apart the crib and put it back together tomorrow, but I've got to move it and re-establish a nighttime routine for Nikko. Maybe my lingering to tuck Ronin in is causing more anxiety to Nikko because I'm still in the room. This also makes me think about my departure routine when Nikko is with the therapist. I probably shouldn't say good bye or see you later, because he might think I'm leaving the house. Instead, I should probably say that I'll be in the kitchen, have a fun session! And then leave. Ok, that's my new strategy.