Calling a-ah(Grandma)

Yesterday Junior dressed up in his costume and had a great time. The weather was bad so we didn't go out but that sure didn't stop him from having fun.
He loves the old Disney movie The Shaggy Dog so he was a shaggy dog complete with dog house for Halloween.
On Friday my sister came by on her way home from work to show Junior her cat costume.
Well Junior absolutely can not stand cats so he wasn't so sure he liked her costume.
It took quite a bit of convincing to get him to smile for this picture
Mellisa proceeded to put whiskers and a nose on him which he thought was okay because it was a "dog" face. Then she did the unthinkable and put her cat ears on him. Oh my, Junior was horrified and refused to smile or even look at the camera as long as those awful things were on his head.
Today he has been asking to call a-ah(grandma) all afternoon to tell her about his costume and about Mellisa putting those ears on him. This evening we called a-ah and he got to tell her all about it.
Hi Grandma
How are you?
Laughing as he told her about being a shaggy dog(he was giggling so hard that he looked away from the "I was a shaggy dog" symbol as I took the pic)
I had a dog house
Now the serious face as he told about Mellisa being a cat and putting cat ears on him.

Speaking

For other most other kids saying a new word is no big deal, especially when the kid is 12.
BUT for Junior it is huge and something we get oh so very excited about.
Since starting to use the ipad for communication his verbalization attempts have greatly increased. As I have mentioned in the past Junior's mouth structure makes it very hard for him to pronounce sounds. Also very hard to understand him unless you know him really well. He tries so hard though and I can understand many of his words as do those spending a great deal of time with him.

Yesterday we were at the hospital for his GJ change(feeding tube). We had just gotten into the waiting room when Junior looks at me and says "add". Only took me a moment to realize he was saying pad and wanted his ipad. I was soooo happy to hear him ask for it by name, no whining or crying to get my attention he just asked. It is those seemingly small things in life that make it all worth it and make me want to jump for joy and celebrate. So proud of my boy.

Enjoying some Scooby-Doo after we got home.

I Need A Treatment

Junior has had a very rough morning. He had his treatments and then I was going to get him up but he whined and cried and wanted to go back to sleep. I gave in and let him go back to sleep for awhile but then the nurse came by to flush his port(he has a port in his upper chest for blood draws and iv access which has to be flushed and heparinized monthly).
It was very cloudy and rainy yesterday but clear today and the pressure change really causes issues for Junior. He gets headaches, lots of congestion, and it hurts when he coughs at times.
About 11:30am Junior was finally up in his chair but continued to be upset. I grabbed his ipad and kept being told "I am upset, I hurt" but then he said no to all the options for what hurt. I realized that it might be his chest and he needed a treatment, which I had forgotten to add to his "upset" boards. I added "I need a treatment" to his "upset" boards options and then told him what it said and showed him the symbol we used.
His "upset" board options(I have shown his "I hurt" options in the past so won't post pics of those)
Sure enough as soon as I again asked him what was wrong he immediately told me "I need a treatment". He wasn't due for a treatment for another hour and a half but I went ahead and started one(my goofy guy actually requests treatments, he knows what will make him feel better). Once his vest started he relaxed and coughed up a bunch of gunk. Pretty soon he was smiling and feeling much better.
Smiling and watching his show after his treatment
Then time for a cat nap

Pumpkins and Painting

It can be difficult to help a child with Junior's level of physical disability feel a little independence.
Allowing him to use the ipad to direct a craft project or other activity really helps him feel like he is doing something on his own.

Today we were making a pumpkin craft and then painting. Junior told me what he needed next as he made his pumpkin. It is difficult to tell in some of the pictures what he is looking at, I was trying to hold the ipad and take pictures so it was a struggle to get a good angle so you can see whats going on.
His boards for todays activity.
Telling me that he needs the glue
And a paint brush
The pumpkin is now orange but whats missing?
Junior knows. It needs a face.

When we finished the pumpkin Junior was ready for another activity. We went to his arts and crafts board and he chose paint.
Junior loves all kinds of painting so there are many choices in this category.
He decided on marble painting.
His boards for marble painting
Choosing his first color, blue
Telling me to help him shake the bucket, that makes the marbles roll around on the paper.
He did several paintings so here is another of them

Pumpkin Time

This is actually from last week but I forgot to put up the post.

Junior decorated his mini pumpkin with glitter and we talked about each step and he showed me what was next with his ipad.

At the end he loved telling me about his pumpkin and how he had decorated it.

Story Time with Ipad and Bumblebee

Junior wanted to listen to a story on his Ipad with his Transformer.
The Ipad plugs into the Transformer and acts as a speaker, it also moves and lights up.

School Time

Doing school work with the ipad. He is using the Word Magic app in these pictures. The letters at the bottom are too small so we also used his velcro board for him to make his choices. The issue is not him being able to see the letters at the bottom but me being able to tell which one he is looking at.
Working on his math problems. This app is Teach Me Kindergarten. We have several that we use to keep things exciting but this is my favorite math one.
You have no idea the hours of preparation time that the ipad saves me. Working on the basics is so much easier and Junior is much more interested and focused. It gives me more time to work on putting together other activities for science, art, and craft time.

Beach Boys

Junior loves music and has recently decided that he really likes the oldies.
It was rest time so I asked him what he wanted to do. First he chose his solar system and then he wanted his music as well. When asked what he wanted to listen to instead of choosing his typical Hannah Montana, Disney, or the Jonas Brothers, he decided on Beach Boys.
This picture only shows 4 choices but scrolling down gives him 4 more choices.
Aren't I smart
Hanging out in his planetarium and singing to the Beach Boys