Summer 2006 - It is sooo hot!

What a hot summer this has been so far!! I am going to Summer School every day during the mornings and I'm very happy because first of all I get to ride the bus to and from school, which I love. Also, my summer school teacher and my summer school classmates are my teacher and friends from school!! So I get to see familiar faces every day and even though it is in a different school, I still like it.
I was having some tough days since we started yet another phase of my biomedical treatment. We started detoxing Mecury II with the Clay Baths, while clearing pathways for Metabolic Sugars. It was very difficult for me to handle this and I was off for a while. Right now, I am a lot better because we sped up the treatment and this helps to get over the difficult parts easier. I am really enjoying my days again and am happy as I usually am.
Very soon we will visit our family in Puerto Rico and I'll make new posts as soon as we get back from our summer trip.
Here is a picture of me trying to fight the heat with my favorite activity: water play!!. Of course, I am also helping to water the garden!!

Citizen of the Month

I was selected as the Citizen of the Month for my class for the month of April. It is a good thing because April is also the Autism Awareness Month. I am really good at school and am very obedient with my teachers. I am kind with my friends and have lots of fun during the day.
They gave me a red ribbon and many cool gift certificates. I wore the ribbon all day and was very excited about it!

Field Trip to the Florida Aquarium

My school makes lots of fun field trips and the last one was today. We went to the Florida Aquarium and we had tons of fun. First, we visited the Aquarium and saw many kinds of fish, turtles, sea horses, reefs and even birds. Then, we went to Explore a Shore to get all wet in the fountains. Since there is only five kids in our class and everybody was with their mommies and our teacher Ms. Lauren, we were able to do this and really had fun. We had lunch there and returned to school for dismissal.
What a fun day!!

Happy Easter!

For Easter, I had a lot of fun. In school we painted many eggs and then had an Egg Hunt. With my family, we went to Atlanta, Georgia in a car trip and I really enjoyed every thing we did. I really liked being in the car for almost 8 hours, since I had my pillows, blankets and toys with me. Then, we went to a store that had many beds for little kids and I had a blast getting into all of them. We also went to Six Flags Park and I rode many things from kiddie rides to big boy things. We went to Stone Mountain and I enjoyed the Laser Show at night. When we got home, there was an egg hunt for me there and I found every single egg that was hidden. They were filled with slinkies, beads and whistles... my favorites!!!

Spring Break Fun

Spring Break for this year was from March 20 through March 24. The previous Friday, my abuitos came from Puerto Rico to spend the week with us and we had a great time. This is how the week went by:

Saturday, March 18
We went to Celebration Station in Brandon. I love going there and riding the kiddie rides but also the big kids rides like the Bumper Boats. I loved it everytime my brother and I bumped and splashed the water!

Sunday, March 19

Sunday was a very beautiful day and we went for ride in the car to Clearwater. We had fun looking at the beaches and once again, I behaved like the big boy that I am.

Monday, March 20
Today, we went bowling. I am becoming an expert at bowling since I have been doing it quite a few times lately. I follow up the sequence of bowling twice and then waiting form my turn. I even did a Spare and I beat Abuita in our game!

Tuesday, March 21
Today, we went to MOSI and had a super time in the Kids in Charge area. One thing we did today I haven't done before, was visiting the I-Max theather to see a movie about Dolphins. I behaved excellently and enjoyed every minute of the presentation. After MOSI we visited Lettuce Park and had a good time too.

Wednesday, March 22
We spent the last three days of the Abuitos visit in Orlando. Today, we went to Downtown Disney and I rode the train and the carrousel. But my favorite thing to do was to get all wet with the "chorritos" .

Thursday, March 23
Today was Magic Kingdom day! We went to so many attractions that we were amazed at how much we were able to accomplish! We visited Tomorrowland: Buzz Lightyear, Space Rockets, People Mover and the Race Track. In Fantasyland we rode: Mad Tea Party, Philarmagic, Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan and Small World. In Liberty Square we went to the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain and the Train Roller coaster. We had a realy magic day!!

This is me riding the Mad Tea Party and loving it:

Friday, March 24
On Friday, we went to the hotel's pool and then took the Abuitos to the airport.
We are going to miss them but we will have fun remembering the wonderful week we spent together!

Approved!

Finally, after almost 4 years in the waiting list, the Family Supported Living waiver or "small medwaiver" was approved!
We chose a support coordinator immediately and hopefuly very soon we'll start receiving services through the waiver and Medicaid.
The Medwaiver is provided through the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) to elegible persons with developmental disabilities that live in their own home or family home. It provides home and community based supports like consumable medical supplies, home modificaions, in-home supports, personal emergenc response system and support coordination among others.
For us specifically, we will receive Speech and Occupational Therapies through Medicaid and Behavioral and In-home support through the waiver.
It looks like my schedule is going to be very busy once all the services are in place..... We are looking forward to it!!

Field Trips

In my Kindergarten Class at Clark Elementary, we have lots of fun. One of the things that we do is go in Field Trips to places like Lowry Park Zoo, McDonald's, the Bowling Alley and this past Monday, we went to the Florida Fair.

At the Fair we saw the Steamer, the Firefighters exhibit and an old town. Before leaving my family visited the rides and I had tons of fun.

This is me dressed up like a firefighter with my brother Jay:

Happy Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day and I gave all my friends in school cards full of love!!

We had a class party and decorated cup cakes.

Dash's First Birthday!

Our dog, Dash, had his first birthday today.

To celebrate, we had a party with birthday hats and a cake especially made for him.

Happy Birthday Dash!

Dia de Reyes

To finish the Christmas celebrations, our family keeps the tradition of celebrating the Wise Men Day or the Three Kings Day.
For this, my papá and me went outside to collect some grass for the camels and I put it under the tree.
The next day, there were many gifts for all the family under the tree and I had fun opening them and discovering many fun things like slinkies, books, paddles and balls.
Feliz Dia de Reyes to all!

Happy New Year 2006

This year I waited for the New Year awake and very happy since we had a party at our house with our family and friends.
We celebrated puertorrican style and I played the guiro and the maracas. I danced with my titi and we did a conga line.
At midninight we had fireworks and as part of the traditions, I threw water from the front door of our house... I really liked that part!
I wish this year will be great for everybody!

Christmas gifts

Since we were in Orlando for Christmas Day, I didn't see my presents until we returned on the 30th. Since I am very good recognizing my name, I opened all the presents that had a tag with a big Diego on them.
I received many fun things including a Smart Brite, books, Baby Bop and BJ dolls, videos and DVD's.

We have company!

While we were in Orlando, abuela, abuelo and Titi Lourdes came to visit us. They stayed in a hotel close to ours and we saw each other every day. We went shopping in different Outlets and we also visited Mary Queen of the Universe shrine.

Here I am with Abuela and Titi and with Abuela and Abuelo:

Then on Friday we all came to Tampa together and everybody stayed home.

Christmas Vacations

For Christmas this year, my family went to Orlando where we stayed in a very nice hotel and visited fun places.

First, we went to Sea World and I loved riding the Atlantis roller coaster. I love getting wet in this ride and the thrill of the fall! We saw pinguins, sea lions and otters. It was a lot of fun and thanks to my red wagon, I was able to travel around the park without getting too tired. In Sea World we met with Titi Annie, Tio Boris, Ana Cristina, Titi Luly and Tio Bebi. They were also vacationing in Orlando and we spent some time together feeding the dolphins.

This is me on the Penguin Encounter exhibition:

That night we went to Celebration to a party in the street and they had snow! I enjoyed the snow falling in the floor and all over me!

The next day, it was Christmas day and we went to Universal Studios. This day was AMAZING because not only I rode in E.T. the ride, Men in Black and Jaws, most important I went to see BARNEY on stage!!!. This is not the first time I go, but each visit I understand more and more and have more fun every time. On this ocassion, my brother got first row seats for me and I saw everything upclose. I didn't miss a detail and my mom recorded the show to watch it at home. When the show was over I saw Barney in person and gave him my biggest smile and hug. I also enjoy visiting the Barney Store and I can be there for hours if you let me, looking at all the cool things I enjoy like books, videos and toys of my favorite characters.

This is me on the Barney Fountain:

The next day, we visited Islands of Adventure and I loved riding the Storm ride, Spider Man, the Brutus rafts (where I got soaked!!), the Unicorn roller coaster and all the Dr. Seuss rides.

Winter Break is here

Today was the last day of school before the winter break and my teachers had a fun day of activities prepared.
We painted, cut, glued, mixed and had a very nice time!
I am ready to start my winter break and enjoy Christmas.

My diet is changed yet again

In my latest visit to my health care provider, my diet was changed to eliminate two of my favorites: corn tortilla chips and rice. My diet needs to consist of proteins and some fruits and vegetables. My mom is doing this gradually, first eliminating the chips and rice but still letting me have some rice cereal and millet bread. It has been hard for me and the carb cravings are coming strong. Magnesium and Zinc supplements along with some Chamomile seem to help me be in a better mood when things get rough.

Walk Now!

This past Saturday, I participated with my family in the Walk Now event sponsored by CAN - Cure Autism Now, in Orlando.
This "walkathon" has the purpose of raising Autism awareness and also to raise funds for Autism research.
Mama and Papa made t-shirts with my picture and we all wore them for the event. Many people commented how nice our shirts looked!
After walking we stayed in the activity since there were many games of throwing the ball, bubble machines and hoola-hoop. My brother Jay won a prize dancing to the hoola-hoop!
We had so much fun, we plan to make this a yearly event and walk every year until a cure for autism is found.
WE WANT A CURE FOR AUTISM NOW!

I drink from a straw!!

Finally!! After years and years of drinking from a sippy cup - and not wanting to drink from anything else, no matter what, I finally started drinking from a regular cup and straw today!!

It all happened during a field trip that my class had to McDonald's. My teacher Ms. Lauren offered me a plastic cup with a straw with water, and after showing me how to do it, I drank from it like an expert!

Ms. Lauren was so happy she called my mom right away and they were both screaming of happinness over the phone.

I have continued doing it all day long and my parents say there is no turning back. From now on there will be no more sippy cups for this big boy.

As my body gets treated with the clearings plus the detoxing baths plus the AIT sessions that I recently had (and which I would address in a separate blog), my mind awakens to new experiences and understandings. Today my mind clicked to the activity of sucking from a straw and having my drinks without the sippy cup.

For everybody that knows me, this milestone is a huge success. For one thing, leaving the obsession with the sippy cups is great news, but also, drinking from a straw is a very good oral motor exercise that helps the muscles in my mouth to get in shape so that I can articulate sounds better.

We are all very happy! Today is a happy day!

Look at my room!

Papa was on a mission: to redecorate my room to make it nicer for me. He started by removing the carpet and putting a brand new floor. Then, he painted the walls with blue and green. Then he bought a toy cabinet where I can put all my toys and materials for therapy. I was very happy when I saw my new room!

Trick or Treat! Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everybody! This year we went trick or treating around the neighborhood and it was really fun. I got to be Batman and my brother Jay was Darth Vader. I carried my pumpkin basket like a big boy even though I don't eat candies at all. It was a fun night that ended in our neighbor's house, which I love.