Am I The Only One?

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Due to the rainy weekend, we went to the movie theater and watched Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Tristan loves going for the snacks! He is a delight to take to a show.

Several times this has happened to me. I start watching a movie. Then I get completely relaxed. All of a sudden….I doze off. This scenario happened during the kid friendly movie. I am sure I was asleep for just a few minutes. When I woke up, I was surprised to see Tristan’s face was an inch from me! He was just staring at me intently. Then I thought of the people behind me. What were they thinking as Tristan stared at me, and he watched me sleep?

The next day I was chuckling to myself thinking about this. Surely, I am not the only parent that has nodded off during a children’s movie, right? Then it hit me. This Is Us, Season 6, Episode 3: “Four Fathers.” Jack, the father, falls asleep. Then one of his children wanders off. Phew! I knew I could not be the only one.

Enjoy another healthy dose of laughter from our home!

Movie Mix-Up

We love to take Tristan to a movie theater 45 minutes from our home. We love this old theater because the movie ticket prices are cheaper than the typical cost. In addition, the snacks are the least expensive I have ever seen at a movie theater. The theater has assigned seats for the tickets. I like this because we can plan the best spot for our family.

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To add adventure to our life…the place is in a different time zone.

At first, we were careful about coordinating the time to arrive. One time Brian and I showed up at the wrong time. The theater was generous in switching the tickets. We had to wait a bit but for us, it was no big deal.

About a month ago, we planned a movie trip. There were not many titles playing. Tristan clearly communicated to us with his device he wanted a movie. Actually, he mostly wanted the snacks. His request goes like this: popcorn, pop, chips, and cheese, movie theater.

I scrolled the movie list and settled on a non-typical choice. Brian and I previewed the trailer to see if it might hold Tristan’s attention. After agreeing it might work, we ordered tickets. We did the math and headed out the door in a few minutes. The timing was perfect!

We arrived 45 minutes later at the theater. As we walked in, I noticed there was no line at the food counter. I felt like we arrived at the wrong time. I looked at my phone for the time. I glanced at the movie times. I looked at Brian and said, “Oh no we arrived an hour late. The movie had already started. It is halfway done.”

We quickly conversed about our next plan of action. Realizing Tristan does not always make it through the movie I said, “Let’s get our snacks and watch the ending of the movie. Tristan has not made it to the end of the last several movies. He will not realize half the movie has played. Honestly, he is here for the snacks anyway.”

We proceeded to order our usual snack list and went into the theater.

Tristan thoroughly enjoyed the action-packed movie! He never realized half the movie had already played. By the time he finished his snacks, the movie was over. The movie mix-up turned out to be a success!

Enjoy another healthy dose of laughter from our home!

The Great Debate

We took Tristan to his weekly restaurant request –McDonald’s. Tristan loves his order of chicken nuggets, french fries, chocolate milk, and a cookie. Not to mention the barbeque sauce. He loves McDonald’s sauce. In fact, we used to request several packets of bbq sauce with each order. He trained us! Then the amount got a little bit out of control. We scaled back and offered ketchup instead. This worked for a while.

Alone! Not As I Planned

I had an activity all planned for Tristan. The nighttime Easter egg hunt. It is a neat activity to do. I loaded the 20 easter eggs with mini LED lights and placed them in the FRONT yard. Ooohhh it looked so pretty too!

Forever Toddler – Enjoying Life

Our Chuck E Cheese evening was good. As you can see he does not fit on this ride, yet he is thoroughly enjoyed his ride!

It had been many years since we had stepped foot into a Chuck E Cheese restaurant. It was neat to see Tristan play some video games. He gravitated towards the race car-driving ones. He didn’t quite understand the concept of the games, but he enjoyed watching the graphics.

Enjoy another view from our family on the lighter side of autism!

My heart smiles when…

I love seeing the interactions between my boys. My heart smiles, when my oldest son offers to do an activity with Tristan. Tristan lights up like a Christmas tree!

Tristan’s Weekend To-Do List

Tristan is valuing communication more and more each visit when he is home. It is incredible for us when he shares his thoughts. We know he is constantly thinking, and now it is nice to know EXACTLY what he is thinking.
Tristan grabbed his communication device and started planning his family time:

Back to the Toilet Paper…

Well, we can tell Tristan is feeling good! We are pleased that he is doing well. (It has been many months and doctor appointments to get to this level of success!) Some signs and behaviors seem to rise when he is happy.

First of all, he has no concept of the value of a roll of toilet paper during these supply chain issues! He unrolled one roll and tried flushing it down the toilet. When I went to tell Brian during my conversation, Tristan ran to the second bathroom. He tried unrolling and flushing a double roll. Immediately, I said, “No, Tristan, we are not doing that.” His reaction was to smile. He fully understands spoken words.

Next, he found an “important paper” in his bedroom. He ran to the kitchen grabbed a marker and scissors. Then he drew a house and quickly cut it out, and taped it on the patio door. He thought he had found an essential paper that he should not have had. It was actually a scrap piece of paper! The artist in him returned. Contentment has swept over him again.

Enjoy the lighter side of autism from our family!

A Surprise Trip Down Memory Lane

Tristan started requesting songs for Brian to sing and play on the guitar. For his song request, Tristan would sign to communicate what he was wanting. Because we did not have his communication device for this home visit–it was a bit challenging. Finally, I was able to pick up on what he was saying. He wanted several of the songs from this OLD VHS tape we had called “Bible Action Songs.” It has probably has been at least 10 years since we have watched this old VHS tape. Thank goodness for YouTube!!! I was able to pull up the exact video that I use to play for the boys. It was a great way to refresh my memory on what songs were on this tape. It was a fun time with Tristan down memory lane. Brian and I were a little surprised that Tristan remembered these songs. I always say the autistic mind is beautiful. We may not often know what he is thinking, but it is a blessing when we do.

Enjoy the lighter side of autism from our home!

Favorite Places –Garwood Orchard