She still "talks" to us ♥

Our Miss. Matea is non-verbal.

She "echo's" phrases, and will say hello and goodbye when prompted.

My favorite phrase that pops up every now and then is from a favorite "Yo Gabba Gabba" show.

"My name is Matea!  I like to dance!"

But she still "talks" to all of us....you just have to know what you are looking for.

When she is excited she runs.

She has happy skips, and frustrated skips.

When she is happy she flaps her hands just a little.

You have to watch pretty close but it's there

 and when she is super pumped about life?

You guessed it, she runs and flaps :)

She can tell us when she wants her space,

and when she needs us, even just a little.

And if you are really lucky, and give her just a little extra time...

she will SHOW you her love.

♥

The end of Pre-K - bittersweet

On Thursday Miss. Matea walked out of her Pre-K classroom for the last time, sniff.

There was a little party, and lots of play time at the park, a sing-a-long celebration, and finally some tearful goodbyes.

Her fave climbing thing at the park at school

 She ♥'s the monkey bars...but just can't quite master them on her own :)

 "playing" with friends at the park

this little girl wanted her to go faster down the slide and kicked her with both feet....but Matea rolled with it, and didn't lose it, which I thought was a pretty big win for the kicker :)

 Inside for a little sing-a-long, and some diploma presentations

 Matea not really loving the singing along part - I think she was a little "thrown off" by Mom and Dad being in her classroom :)

 Every child got a little present and a diploma!

So awesome!

The whole crew!

 Matea and her EA....such a wonderful lady.

She taught us so much about Matea, and she was a fierce advocate for our girl.

Here is a little note she wrote to Matea's future EA, and teacher....

"I have very much enjoyed working with Matea this year and am very fond of this very special, lovely girl.  Matea is a gentle soul with lots of special gifts to teach all the people who are blessed to know her.She has many fears of the world that is so confusing to her yet possesses the strength and courage to overcome them with your love and support.  I believe  that Matea has all the skills she needs to be a successful student and will bring a wonderful dynamic to your classroom.  I wish you and Matea all the best in your kindergarten journey and your many new adventures." 

Matea and her teacher.

She has journeyed with us as we became full fledged members of the A team, fought it, embraced it, and now live it every single moment :)  She celebrated everything about Matea, and respected her every step of the way - we couldn't have asked for a better Learning Team for our girl.

Here is a little note SHE wrote to Matea's future Kinder teacher & EA.....

"It has been such  joyful challenge to watch and help Matea grow and develop this year.  As with any child who does not learn in the "typical" way she has been more of a teacher to me that I have been to her.  I urge you to invest several days at the beginning of the year observing and playing with Matea.  If you follow her lead and allow her to show you what she is interested in and the skills she has you will have a strong foundation for the rest of the year.  Matea has a strong need to process her world through her senses.  You can't go wrong by providing her with squeezes, tickles, back scratches, cheek rubs ect.  It's hard to know why new things and changes to routine are so hard for her and why she protests them so strongly.  However, if you have a goal in mind ahead of time and make it clear to her what you expect she will comply.  She doesn't hold a grudge and rewards you with lots of smiles and hugs.  I know you will treasure your time with Matea as much as I have."  

And then the tears started flowing, we didn't stick around too long, Miss. Matea doesn't do well with a crying mama - so we headed home put on a nice cool sun dress, and went for a bounce on the trampoline.

I'm not sure how much she understood about school being over, and even though we are armed with pictures of her new school and teachers - I'm sure she will be missing her Pre-K classroom and all the special people that were in it come September. 

Those little notes from her teachers, and extra hugs from her EA's are one of the perks of having a child with beautiful differences.  When she meets those milestones, there are so many people rooting for her, and the victory is so sweet :)

♥

Another way to look at it.....

So I MAY be a little bit guilty of sometimes expressing frustration about how much the little people in my life (our Matea, ESPECIALLY) seem to need to be touching me at all times, or need to be able to see me at all times, or want ME to feed them or get them their favorite drink...sometimes it ridiculous.  

Don't get me wrong, they love their Dad, ALOT....but sometimes just seem to need their mama. 

Now, of course with Matea it is a little bit different.  I think because I have been able to stay home with her, and we have been on this Autism journey together since day 1, I think I am just a comfort for her.

When she is scared, or frustrated or feeling anxious, it is comforting to climb into Mom's lap and calm down, just like a typical five year old.  And when she is melting down, or terrified of something new that is happening, I know how to squeeze her and plug her ears just right to help.  I know when to tickle and when, to give her a piggy back.  I am always there for speech, occupational therapy, and ABA therapy.

I'm always there :)

Now with always being "there" also comes the need for her to come and find me while I am taking 14 seconds to pee and she thrusts her communication book at me and requests fruit snacks, when she insists on holding my hand the ENTIRE time she is in the bath tub, or when we are at soccer and she is participating with her aide - but then she spots me taking pictures across the field and NEEDS a hug, ASAP.

she spots me...

 she got me in her sights.....

 she's excited...

 elated, actually...

 ready for my hug now!

SO when we were at the library on Tuesday and Matea didn't want to stay and eat her snack with her helper, and instead wanted to come with me to the washroom (ew) - I was just about to say to our helper in my usual sarcastic tone "we are just SO in love with each other, she can't stand to spend one second away from me ha ha ha"

When our helper said "she loves you SO much.  I can't imagine having someone love me as much as she loves you, it must be such an amazing feeling...."

A little bit of perspective, again, for this mama.

Feeling thankful for looking at things another way. 

♥ 

Oh yeah....and we play soccer now :)

   

1 out of 189

We think she is "1 in a million" 

but really she is 1 in 189....

(1 in 189 children with Autism are girls)

In the wonderful world of Autism, she is rare....precious.

She really is one of a kind 

♥

Bounce into Spring!

Okay so Friday night we decided that we were all going to attend a bouncer event at the Collicutt Centre!

A giant soccer pitch full of inflatable bouncers, children of all 

ages (most of whom were super pumped) and some line ups.

We were armed with an arrival plan, a helper and a plan B (just in case our sweet girl couldn't cope).

This was either going to be the best night ever or one giant hot mess.

Looking at that picture I am SUPER proud of her (and us)!

Let's start at the beginning, it was not perfect, not by a long shot.  There were lots of stares - oh the stares!

She was terrified, because it was new, and different.  I had to physically walk her in - not a big deal.  She struggles until we found a bouncer that had NO ONE in it, and then she was fine.  She was more than fine, she was pretty much the Queen of bouncing into spring :)

 Sometimes I wish I could press a pause button on my sweet girl and address the people around her when she is having a "moment" (meltdown).  

Last night had such a button been made available to me, I would have turned to the group of men and women staring and said "I realize that this is not typical behavior but I am going to go out on a limb and assume that all of you have children because this is a family event, my girl is having a hard time right now - staring doesn't help her, move along" 

But WHO CARES about THEM!

Matea nailed it!  She made it one hour and fifteen minutes (our goal was getting in the door)!

love her.

  We still need to work a little bit on our turn taking...lineups were NOT her friend.

That's why in the following pictures you don't see Matea, because she refused to wait in line, her brother was AWESOME at waiting in line though, and two or three years ago he would have struggled too, 

so I have hope :)

 This one was her fave!

And her brothers too!

They even had a few"baby bouncers" for sweet Baby Asher

It was a "win"....and we are so thankful for those :)

There are more and more every day!