Back in the Swing of Things

   It's back to school time, and Tim is in eighth grade now. He's going to almost all the regular classes, with an aide to help him keep his attention. Algebra, Art and American History are the new classes for this year.

 Over the summer, he worked on his plans to build a flying car, (the blue lights underneath make it fly,) and wrote a lot of interesting mathematical equations based on Korean letters. Or something. I'm not too sure. He also went to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, to see the Dinosaurs with Grandma Suzi.  Since her hip replacement she's been better able to keep up with him.

Dinosaurs!

   He's getting to the point that he wants to be an adult. Whenever we go out, he wants to walk ahead of me, or anyone else, because "I'm too independent!" Apparently the only times he wasn't 10 feet ahead of her was when they were sitting down. As long as he was in sight, she let him wander a bit by himself. He really enjoyed the trip. They got a really cool T-Shirt that turns colors under UV rays, so it changes in sunlight.

Tim's new favorite shirt. 

   Things have been pretty hectic this last week before school, so I'll have more interesting updates as they develop. And now, for your viewing pleasure:

Funnel Cake! Mmmmm!

I thought it was all in his head...

I was wrong! Tim created his own blog, Timopedia. I am in awe of his creativeness. He has made his own little illustrations and everything! I really hope he doesn't actually BELIEVE all this, though.

Tim C. - Fossil Hunter!

    Tim likes nature. By nature, I mean his idea of nature, which is sticks shaped like guns or swords, random rocks, and leaves of any kind, no matter how bug-chewed or icky.  He looooves to explore. We have a big wooded area right outside our door, but it's so often swampy that we don't venture in far. Tim loves to poke around in the edge of the woods whenever he takes out the trash. (The dumpster is near the wood.)

   Recently, he and Miko started fossil hunting. They found a huge rock with a few surface shell fossils, and dragged it across the sidewalk, clunking it repeatedly in an effort to break it up into smaller chunks. You can imagine the sidewalk, chips everywhere, drag marks, and dirt in a meandering trail to our door.  There they were, sweaty and excited about finding fossils, and there was the apartment complex's beautifully trimmed and mulched sidewalk, rather worse for wear. I gently suggested that we make a "rock garden" with their collection of rock hunks next to our door, then swept and collected the chips in the grass, so the mowers wouldn't hit them. They really wanted to keep this rock.  I tried another tactic,
   "Let's take pictures of it instead, and leave it here for everyone to enjoy."

A Fossil.

Another Fossil.

   This turned out to be a good compromise.  The next day, Tim came home all excited. He had found an old ball-peen hammer out in the grass. It was pretty obvious that no one would be looking for this thing. It was rusty, and filthy, but he was adamant that it was a fossil hammer, and he must keep it. So he and I dug out some sand paper, Murphy's oil and good old rags to clean his hammer. It really came out nicer than I expected. I did have to insist that all hammering be done outside and with adult supervision. I expect some exciting finds this summer.

Kid has a better GPA than I did.

On the school front, Tim is showing more enthusiasm for the end of school than actually going to classes, but that's normal. He's shown great improvement all year, and is even going to and from the bus stop by himself now! He's very good about going and coming straight there, and not picking up any nature on the way. For now...

A Close Shave

   Tim seems to grow like a weed. Only 13 years and 362 days ago he was a new born baby. Now he's closing in on 14, and today Daddy gave him his first lesson in non-electric shaving. Before he was using an electric razor for safety, but he has such terrible chin acne that he's been unable to efficiently use it lately.  He was also due for another haircut. It grows so fast! So Tim got a mini makeover today!

After!

Before!

   Today he was doing some drawing. Some from life, some from his imagination. There was a very lively robin red-breast outside our window, and he spent  at least 10 minutes carefully watching it, and coloring a picture of it. Then he worked on the other half of his picture, a fire-breathing purple rhinoceros. I kid you not. He then declared that the robin was a descendant of the rhino. Very interesting imagination.

They totally look alike.

IEP ETR OMG BBQ!

   I attended Tim's re-evaluation for his IEP on Monday. It's a program designed to tailor Tim's schooling to fit exactly what he needs to meet the goals we've set for his education.  Which is a really long bunch of forms and paperwork that are filled out by basically anyone who interacts with Timmy in his school setting.

   I'm always really nervous at these, because I'm secretly very insecure about being a parent of a special needs child. I always feel like I have to defend Tim's actions. Which is completely unnecessary since the teachers and staff know perfectly well what Tim is like.  But hey, who said insecurities have to be logical?  Aaaaaand, not very secret, since I'm sharing it on the blog. So there's that.  ◔_◔;

   Actually, the meeting was very reassuring in several ways. I got a better idea of how he's doing learning-wise.  He was able to complete an actual IQ type test, and we were really happy to hear he scored very well. He still has issues with abstract reasoning, determining facial expressions and inferring emotional responses. Also, he's darn loud, even though he does try to keep it down when reminded.
   I found it very comforting that the teachers and staff all thought Tim was a special and wonderful kid, who can be a lot of fun to have in class. I got to hear about how well he interacts with non-special needs students that he hangs out with in lunch, and his inclusion classes. I learned that some phrases and ideas he seemed to have picked up out of the blue were due to some in class discussions.  I really liked hearing what he was working on, because all he ever tells me he does at school is "Stuff," or "I like to sleep at school."  (Which is not true, actually, he likes to pretend to sleep whenever he doesn't want to do work he finds "too hard.")

   The best part as witnessing the back-and-forth between the teachers themselves, the school psychologist and the Vice Principal. They all had great insight into Tim's needs, and shared bits and pieces with each other  as well as myself while going over the goals for the new year.  I felt they really understood and cared about Tim.

Just for fun, here's Tim crashing some cars. And this is the kid who wants to drive at age fourteen.

Supporting Japan

   Today Tim, Miko and I had a lot of fun at a fundraising event held in the local Community Recreation Center. It was to raise money for families in Japan who suffered from the recent earthquake and tsunami. It was presented by Heart Bridge Ohio.  We got to do a couple of classic Japanese festival activities, first Yo-Yo Hooking.

image: Google

 Yo-yo Hooking - small, brightly decorated heavy-duty, round balloons are tied to short elastic bands with a small hoop at one end. A small amount of water is put in them before inflating to hand-held size, so that they still float. The elastics are left to sink to the bottom of a shallow pool or tub. A safety pin, or paperclip is bent into a hook shape, and tied to a  short, tightly twisted  "string" of paper. The object is to hook one of the elastic loops, and pull up a Yo-Yo balloon before your paper "string" dissolves. The ball-like Yo-Yo can then be hung from a finger by the loop, and the small amount of water gives it weight, while the elastic lets it "bounce" up and down from your palm.

Red!

    Tim managed to snag one easily. Actually, everyone did. I wonder if they used stronger paper than usual so everyone would win.  We also threw pipe-cleaner "hoops" over a variety of trinkets laid out on a grid on the floor. Easy win for Tim, he got a Sanrio notepad, and a big package if Disney Princess stickers.  I expected him to want to trade them for, say the baby Godzilla or something, but he happily exclaimed, "I like princesses, they are girls!"
   There was a second-hand book sale. Of course, they were all in Japanese, but that was more than okay with Tim! He found two Pokemon books, and had great fun looking over some of the older weekly comic magazines offered.

Very mini.

   We also took part in a mini tea ceremony, with some manju-type white-bean paste sweet, and some very strong traditionally made green tea. They had placards with instructions on how to drink it in the traditional style (for example, you are supposed to turn the bowl clockwise twice before drinking, while holding it in you left hand.) Tim pretty much ignored the instructions. His only comment was "it's hot!" The ladies wore traditional kimonos and obi, as well as tabi-socks, but I did see some very non-traditional high heels peeking out behind the screens.

"Is it done yet?"

   While we waited for a raffle we had entered to be called, we had an adorable young lady draw a caricature of Tim and one of Miko. Of course Pika, Tim's Pikachu plush had to be included. Tim was very patient while being drawn, and I made sure to add a few extra dollars to the donation pot for the trouble of adding Pika. I wish I had asked the girl her name, or had her sign the picture. She was very talented, and deserves serious praise for doing so much drawing for free. (Remember this was a fundraiser! Everyone donated their time and skills for free!) She did a fantastic job, and Tim was thrilled.

"Wow, it's me!"

  We didn't win anything in the raffle, which disappointed Tim, but he did have a whole lot of fun anyway! And all for a good cause!  Thanks very much to our neighbors, and Miko's school friend for inviting us!

Miko had fun too!

Adorable!

"I Like Being a Boy That Likes Girls."

   Tim is not an only child. He's the oldest of four, with two younger sisters and a baby brother. The older sister, Miko is a very energetic almost ten year old. She tends to have a lot of patience with Tim and their youngest sister, Suzi, who is also autistic. This year they started a new school, and Miko made tons of friends. So sometimes she wants to get together with them. Usually, this doesn't interest Tim, but today she and a friend wanted to go shopping for matching outfits for "twin day" at their school. I had already resigned to taking Suzi, because she was very clingy and kept hugging me and saying "go in the car?" So when Tim demanded to be included, I was inwardly groaning.  Due to a mis-communication with Cameron (Daddy) Suzi was already waiting to get in the car, and i had to make a quick decision. We were going to have a "girls night out - plus Tim".

"I like girls!" Suzi (in the cart), Tim, Miko's friend and Miko (far right).

  Needless to say, Tim was bored, (so was Suzi) as the girls shopped.. and shopped, and shopped. They tried on what seemed like every pair of shoes in the store. They were shopping machines. Tim told me when we were finally headed for check-out, "We made a new friend today! Wow!"

  So I guess he still had fun. Miko certainly did! Suzi was still smiling when we got home. Me? I just needed to get to the bathroom, fast!

The girls had a blast. "Twins" indeed.