Autism Speak Walk in Tampa

Today we participated in a walk to raise funds for autism research. We were part of the CARDaneers team and dressed up like pirates. My friends from school and my therapist were there. After the walk I played in the bounce houses, bubble machines and visited MOSI, which I always love so much.

Field Trip to the Zoo

Today, I went with my class to the Lowry Park Zoo for a field trip. It's been a while since I visited the zoo last, and my mom says that the way I behaved was so much improved!!! First, I didn't use any type of stroller or wagon, I walked all the time and was full of energy! I stayed close to my group and sometimes wanted to be the line leader, but waited when I was called. Second, I really enjoyed watching the animals!! Before, I was a lot more focused on the water, the carrousel or the fountains. This time, I loved feeding the Lori birds and was not afraid of them, I saw monkeys, alligators, fishes and I even fed a giraffe! It was really a fun fun day!!

Here I am with my friends and my teachers

I really enjoyed petting the stingrays in the tank!!

I also loved petting the giraffes... I was not afraid at all!!

Halloween: double dose!

This year, I celebrated Halloween two times.
First, I participated in the Bookoween parade at my school where my class was representing the Little Red Hen. I was the dog and my mom made me a costume of a dog with ears and even a tail. I loved walking on the parade!!

Diego, the Dog

Then, on Halloween night, I dressed up as Robin from the Teen Titans. I'm learning how to pose for pictures although I still don't smile for the camera. I went with my brother and his friend to many houses and they gave us a lot of candy. I always get a little confused when we go trick or treating because I think we are going to go inside people's houses, but we actually don't. After the first few houses, I finally get the pattern and I enjoy it. Once we got back home, I was in charge of giving away the candy to the kids that came to our house.

Diego as Robin

Another year comes by.... and I'm seven!!

Yes, my birthday came on September 21st. This year, my parents didn't make any attempts to find a special character or birthday motive... they know I am still a big Barney fan, so I got everything Barney!! balloons, plates, whistles and hats!
This was a very special year because for the first time in my life, I was able to blow the birthday candle.
We have been practicing for a while, and when the moment of truth came, I did it! It may be such a small thing for everyday folks, but for me this was a great accomplishment and everybody was very excited for me!
We celebrated my birthday in my school with my friends, and right after we went to Chuck E. Cheese to continue the celebration. In top of that, my parents took me to Universal Studios over the weekend and I had a blast. Of course, I got to see... you know who.... Barney!

Here I am in my birthday celebration with mama, papa and my friends.

Here I am at Chuck E. Cheese playing video games.

Here I am with Barney at Universal Studios.

Vacation in Puerto Rico

June 28th, 2006: This summer we went to Puerto Rico to see our family and friends. We spent 10 days visiting places and having fun.

June 29th, 2006: We spent the day at Boqueron, a very nice beach close to my abuitos' house. We went with Mayte, my cousin, my abuitos, Jay, mama and papa and I. I was a little scared of the water but I definitely had fun!


June 30th, 2006: We went to my Titi Lourdes house so we would be able to see our family from the other side of Puerto Rico. That night many people visited us. In this picture I am with my cousins Laura and Mayte who spend the night with us.

July 1st, 2006: since it was so hot, my titi got us a pool and we had a blast getting all wet. This day we celebrated many things: my abuelo Pepito's birthday, my titi Lourdes's birthday, my titi Janet's birthday and my abouelos' aniversary!

July 3rd, 2006: We went back to my abuitos' house and this day we went to beach early in the morning, this time with my titi Vanessa and my cousin Alejandro. Then we went bowling. Everybody was so excited because I am such a good bowler!!

July 4th, 2006: To celebrate the day, my titi Vanessa got us t-shirts with the US flag. In this picture we are all wearing it including my tio Albert, titi Vanessa, Alejandro, Jay and I. We all went to a playground and then we went to the abuelos house in Aguadilla where all the family met.

July 5th, 2006: Today we went to Old San Juan. First we visited Plaza de Armas where there were hundreds of doves. I was not scared of them and we fed them and played with them for a long time. Then we went to El Castillo del Morro, I Jay flew a kite. It was a beautiful day and we had fun. After that we went to eat and I ate a delicious puertorrican food and enjoyed every bite.

July 6th, 2006: We visited friends and family in Manati, the city I was born in. They had dogs and birds and I even played with a hose in their frontyard.

July 7th, 2006: Today, I went horse back riding. At the beginning I wasn't sure if I was going to like it and I wanted mama to be close to me. By the end of the first round, I wanted to do it on my own and I was having a really good time!

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!