Car Pools and Doggie Dates

Little A's newest "cousin" is of the four-legged variety. While not yet giving up hope on having another child (or two), my sister and her family took charge of a puppy over the New Year, and said puppy is now nearly a year old. He goes everywhere dogs are permitted with his human family, especially on weekends.

One Saturday at my parents' house, Little A and his cousins, plus doggie, got to play together. It was his first time to play with this particular animal, and the photos sent by my nieces show they had a grand time chasing each other around the house. It was very different to his interactions with our cat, and he seemed to enjoy it a lot, as did his new canine friend.

On the human interaction side, Little A now has a schoolmate to share the car with on Fridays after school. One of the mums asked if her son could find a ride to her office a few days a week, and I volunteered Fridays.

All new things require an adjustment period, and this was no different. Little A was used to calling the shots after school, on where to go and what to do. So as expected, there was whining and crying the first two Fridays. By week three, however, he'd gotten used to having to make a drop-off prior to his Friday after-school activity, and on week 4 we took the little boy with us to the shops while his mum was stuck in a meeting.

This little boy is quite the opposite of Little A as he is very, very verbal. I know Little A senses the difference when we are in the car and schoolmate chats nonstop about things we see, and what he is interested in. Still, he has adjusted well and knows he is paid no less attention to simply because I cannot hear him from the driver's seat. The other boy also adjusts to Little A's pace and interests. While I found it physically challenging to monitor two boys in separate parts of a play centre, it was managed, and when the schoolmate's mum came to collect him, we talked about doing it again.

I look forward to more play dates, whether or not the children actually play together. There is awareness, and consideration of the other, which is always a good thing.

Second Trip to Singapore

Since last year's trip was such a huge success, Big A decided the family ought to do a repeat trip to Singapore. This time, Little A was much less anxious, as he knew exactly what to expect.

We added one more day, and ended up returning to the Zoo, his favourite place. This year we skipped Universal Studios, but visited the Cloud Forest, which wasn't a must-see but was a good experience to have ticked off our Singapore lists.

Now that he's a "seasoned" traveller, we are aiming to get him used to longer and longer plane rides. The end goal is Melbourne, London, Hawaii, or even the West Coast. Next up, Japan! 

Sharing is Caring

So, a new school year has begun, and while many of his classmates are the same, Little A has a new set of teachers.

As always, the first few weeks are all about finding a balance. Praying no untoward behaviours crop up or recur, and that the learning continues apace, positively and enjoyably.

It was with trepidation that I opened a very long text message from Little A's main teacher one month into classes. Normally communications from teachers involve issues that need to be addressed as soon as possible.

This message was to tell me something wonderful. One of Little A's classmates, an older boy in an IEP class who joins the Grey Fours for last period, was crying. This happens quite often, and sometimes can be disruptive to lessons ongoing. Today though, it happened during free time, and the teachers saw Little A give this classmate a sensory toy. Thinking he was just returning the toy that the crying boy had dropped, they didn't react.

But then they saw Little A hand crying classmate a second toy, and pat him on the leg the way he did to himself when he needed comforting. And when Little A saw crying classmate mouthing the toy, he grabbed a third toy and made to put it in crying classmate's mouth, since this seemed to calm him down.

The teachers were touched and pleased to see this type of interaction between two non-verbal children, both of whom fall within the moderate to severe category on the spectrum. They might not interact typically, but it was clear that there was awareness, and sensitivity on another's emotional needs.

A+ for my Little A today. I am a proud mama.