Day two of cake

Day two of the birthday cake. As predicted, Nikko was extremely attached to it. When Kathy came over for ABA, I explained the predicament to her and said it was up to her whether or not she wanted to try to pry it away from him or to incorporate it into drills. He ended up having the cake sit next to him on the table throughout the session. I wonder if Jenna will let him do that tomorrow. I called the school to alert them that Nikko would be carrying this cake to school today. They know the backpack routine, but the bus driver and the bus aide are not too thrilled whenever they see Nikko is carrying something (and he always is). I understand where they are coming from; Miss Veronica tells me that when Nikko walks on or off the bus, he carries his backpack in one hand and a toy in the other, so it's dangerous stepping off the bus. I get it. I totally get it. But I did say to her today that at least he's not screaming, and left it at that. Which version of Nikko would they want riding with them that day: Nikko holding onto a velcro birthday cake, wavering a bit on the stairs until maybe I can hand Miss Chris his backpack, or Nikko screaming and whining all the way to school because his cake was put into his backpack on the ride to school and he isn't allowed to hold it? I think the driver and aide don't understand that Nikko doesn't react quickly when they tell him to move over or sit a certain way on the bus. He definitely wouldn't be happy if they told him to put his toy away. I'd say keep the lesser of two evils to ensure a cry-free ride to school. Besides, his teachers understand Nikko's mannerisms and always make him put the toy in the backpack before class starts, and he's fine with that.

I saw one sign that Nikko's cake obsession, while very strong, has a chance to weaken. When he came home from school and had snack, he joined the kids in the living room to play on the road rug with cars. After five or ten calm minutes, he suddenly came looking for me in the kitchen and was dragging me by the arm, whining and being frantic. He was holding only his ice creams. I knew what he wanted, but asked him what was wrong anyway. Between whining he said, "Birthday cake??" I didn't see it in the living room, but apparently Audrey saw it on the couch earlier and took it to her bedroom. She came trotting out of the room with the cake on a plate and boldly handed it to an anxious Nikko. "Here you go, Nikko!" she exclaimed. I told Nikko to say "Thank you, Audrey!" and he did, but I also cornered Audrey to ask why she took the cake and she gave me an innocent "I don't know!" and happily walked away. Nikko took his cake to swim class, and now it's with him in bed.

Nikko's school report: Speech - greetings, categories, what ?'s with picture choices.