30 days of autism: day 30

Funny how when he was younger he wanted nothing to do with anything related to art and now we had to create a wall-sized chalkboard because he draws constantly! 

30 days of autism: day 29

A boy and his Dad

30 days of autism: day 28

Even with the rain this kid needs his outdoor time...chalk drawing on the porch should do it! 

Someone (hint hint) has been stomping, jumping off of the steps, and yelling at the tv. Obviously the trampoline needed to make an appearance. He made Daddy @inchulk count his jumps. 

30 days of autism: day 26

He's always so happy when his sister is here!

Tackle!!!!!

I'm giving Javin more tasks lately to gain more independence. The past week he's been making peanut butter graham crackers for snack. And THIS is what I found in my silverware drawer...LOL!

I should clarify: this is what happened today when I let him do it all on his own. This knife has not been in my drawer for a week! Lol!

30 days of autism: day 25

Javin will be back to his Octonauts obsession once he sees they have a new creature chart to collect sea creatures! At least they sell the toys here now, don't have to buy from UK anymore! 

Yup, he's happily concentrating on coloring Octonauts for his book we created last year! 

If you are interested in creating the Creature Chart and collecting sea creatures, go to disneyjr.com and click on the Coloring section of Octonauts. Everything is available to print off! Have fun!

30 days of autism: day 24

This is one of the shows that Javin is currently obsessed with...Charlie & Lola. Notice how many episodes are on the list...my job as Javin's mama is to memorize each episode and know any obscure reference to each episode.

30 days of autism: day 23

So I had another post in mind for today but then THIS happened:

Umm, this is a REALLY big deal. Huge! Javin is playing with the neighborhood kids! They are playing cops and zombies. And when they all ran across the street, he sat down in our yard and waited for them to come back. I just sat in awe while I watched it all unfold. #hopefulmama 

30 days of autism: day 22

Javin is sportin' his new "Ausome" shirt! 

At the dentist!

This kid amazes me with what he can handle. Didn't know they got a new x-ray machine that spins so I couldn't prep him for it but he was a champ!!! Proud Mama!

30 days of autism: day 21

Notice how he's eating his apple? He's got two loose front teeth. He says, "the applesauce inside this apple is juicy!". Lol! On a side note, he sang the Good News song in front of the whole church today! I left my camera in the car so I couldn't take a pic or video! :( I am so proud of him! We have a special needs ministry at church and we have a "Good News Event" each year for people in the community of all abilities to come out and have a good time (moon bounces, pony rides, etc.) without fear of rejection.

Javin is playing dentist as we have a discussion about his trip to the dentist tomorrow. Always have to prep him before changes in his schedule occur. Glad @inchulk Daddy is the patient, he doesn't look too comfy! Lol!

30 days of autism: day 20

Photo by hubby: @inchulk Javin started therapeutic riding today. I missed it because I was at an autism conference but was so glad to hear he had a blast! 

30 days of autism: day 19

Oh my sweet baby! I am so proud. He won a Character Counts award for responsibility. I just always assumed (outside of those who know Javin personally) that he was invisible and today I was proved wrong. I am one happy Mama!

30 days of autism: day 18

Bug watering his radishes. "Mmm, radishes are spicy but so yummy!" 

30 days of autism: day 17

He's so unique and deliberate in everything he does. This is how he eats his cinnamon bread...around in a circle until it's gone. Hot dogs are eaten across like an ear of corn, burgers are eaten in layers: buns first then the top of the burger with the cheese (and he usually leaves about 2/3 of the burger). And everything has to be put on a fork, if he drops a piece of food, he'll pick it up with his fingers, place it on the fork, and then eat. This kid cracks me up. 

30 days of autism: day 16

This is Javin ticked at me because I told him that he cannot be outside by himself and that he needed to wait for me to finish my dinner. If this was a video you could see him kicking his legs and crying. Our night is shot. <sigh>

No one is happier than I am...he calmed himself down (playing iPad) while there was still enough daylight to play outside.

30 days of autism: day 15

"Ahhhh...those waffles made me full. Can I have more waffles?" Lol.

30 days of autism: day 14

I had a superhero-themed baby shower today and my friend who threw it for me wrapped shoe boxes to look like a skyline. We took it home and Javin is thoroughly enjoying it!

And a few other pics from the baby shower!

30 days of autism: day 13

This is one of the small things that make my day...dinner on the deck! Javin is already halfway through dinner and I haven't even put my burger on my plate yet! :) Happy Spring! 

30 days of autism: day 12

I didn't have my phone with me at the bus stop so I took this boring picture after the fact. Javin had a blast this morning counting and playing with the worms. He even touched one, squealed and found it funny when the worm would curl up so he continued to touch it. This is a big step for someone who doesn't like slimy stuff! He has always had difficulty with "stuff on his hands".

30 days of autism: day 11

Picture is fuzzy because I had to take it incognito. He will refuse to leave time-out because he isn't ready. Everything is on his terms!

30 days of autism: day 10

He doesn't have the coordination yet to pump the swing by himself but he loves being on the swings.

30 days of autism: day 9

THIS is a good 70% of my time...filling out paperwork. Good times, good times.

30 days of autism: day 8

Sunshine and warm temps make for a happy boy!

30 days of autism: day 7

We love going to the nusery. I have him touch the plants for a sensory experience (Lambs Ear is the best-soooo soft!) and Javin helps Daddy @inchulk pull the wagon full of plants for "heavy work". This engages his muscles which helps re-center him. We live and breathe therapy. 

Sat all the way in the back of the van today. "How ya doin' back there?" "What? My name is Javin. My name not 'back there'!!" Duly noted Javin. Lol! 

30 days of autism: day 6

This is our nighttime...ipad and drawing on the magnetic board. 

30 days of autism: day 5

He still looks like he's a baby when he sleeps. So sweet...then his eyes open and I gotta hit the ground running to keep up with him. 

Oh the morning we've had! I told you I'd have to hit the ground running. What a grump-a-lump I had this morning! I'm creating a folder to house some select drawings and stuff for his Kindergarten year. On the front it has the year, his teacher, and some lines for memories. It's a print-off form. So I asked him casually this morning, "who's your best friend Javin?". "No one. I don't have best friend." "Aw, why not?" "Because I don't like people. Except you. And Dad too" (heartbreaking) Then later he developed a pretend cough so that he could stay home. And then he was mad because he remembered that he is on a substitute school bus while the other one is in the shop. It's been in the shop for the past few weeks but he's still mad about it! Welcome to Friday morning.

Look what we got in the mail today! Javin was so tickled to see himself on a piece of mail! For more information on the 12th Annual Autism Summit of Northwest Ohio, please click here: http://outreach.bgsu.edu/autism2013/

30 days of autism: day 4

His face while doing homework is priceless. One of the few days he's cooperating. He's counting to 100 by ones, fives, and tens. 

30 days of autism: day 3

Morning routine...even though Javin is six, he doesn't have the capability to dress himself yet. He does, however, have strong opinions as to what he will and will not wear! I have him practice getting dressed on weekends when we aren't on a time schedule and he takes for.evvv.errrrrr!! 

30 days of autism: day 2

Boogie always doesn't feel well when a new tooth comes in. Right now it's the adult front tooth and the baby hasn't come out. It's not loose enough to pull either. I took a pic of it but my phone camera stinks and it's blurry. I asked him if his mouth hurts and he said, "yeah it feels gummy". :( 

This is the photo that I was able to get...went to the dentist's office to show it to them. They still don't want to pull it... it looks so painful to me!

Well you all know about Javin's dinner (fish nuggets) and usually for lunch he has PB&amp;J but I was out of bread so I made homemade "spaghetti-o's". He gobbled them up when I made it last week and today he doesn't touch it. Argh!! 

30 days of autism: day 1

Day 1: Javin's "well-rounded" dinner: mac-n-cheese, crackers, fish nuggets, and dried blueberries. (He gobbled up the fish and blueberries before I even sat down). This has pretty much been his dinner for the past week. He's got sneaked in pumpkin in his mac though (shhh!). He gets stuck on a food kick (right now it's the fish nuggets) and he refuses to eat anything else for awhile.

30 days of autism

Today starts the month of autism awareness. I know that many people are "aware" of autism nowadays, there has been a lot of information put out over the past few years to explain autism (which is awesome). I do my best to share experiences with my son, Javin (Boogie) on FaceBook and on my blogs (when I think of it) so that you can get a better sense of Javin as a person, not JUST autism. This month I will again do the 30 Days of Autism photos. I got a lot of positive feedback from it last year. Rather than quotes about autism or facts, I post photos each day with a background story so that you can get a better glimpse into our daily life...the good, the funny, the ugly...I show it all. This month, I celebrate Javin!

The photos will be posted on this blog as well as Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me as: javinsmama

(c) 2013 Joy-Jasmin Brunnelson All Rights Reserved