Hi there - hope you are all having a good weekend!  Cody's doing much better - thankfully.  We took him to the park today to try to get him some fresh air and stimulation and he enjoyed it....sort of.  He screams a lot at parks - but also enjoys things now and then.  It's so funny - Don and I laugh at our conversations.  When we got out of the car with Cody and Casey I said to Cody, "now son....parks are FUN....people have FUN here....this is not a place to be miserable....it's a place to be FUN."  We try to set the tone - to get him excited.  But it's such a crapshoot.  He protested the whole walk into the park, but I found a winning strategy.  He really hates walking distances - even from the car to a park entrance.  He wants to be picked up and screams if not.  I'm trying to teach him to walk on his own more because it's killing my back - plus we're trying to foster independence as he matures.  He just wouldn't stop screaming to be picked up so I said, "Hey Cody, let's RUN!"  I grabbed his hand and started jogging very slowly - suddenly he was so jolted - and was moving his legs to keep up - and a HUGE grin spread across his face.  I stopped after a few yards and said, "want more?"  he laughed and started runinng again.  So Cody and I did a few laps around the park together - him giggling the whole way and me stopping every few yards to check in with him - and to scoop him up and give him a huge bear hug.  "That's my fast runner!  Cody is a super athlete," I'd say.  Of course the reality was, to any onlooker, this little gangly nearly-four year old was tripping over his feet, flailing arms and legs, making gutteral utterances that meant "this is fun!"  He is so dear in those moments...but sometimes so hard to watch.  He tries so hard - but the poor little guy is so discoordinated and so very vulnerable.  It breaks my "mother's" heart....but as his daily "therapist" I cheer him along knowing that Cody wanting to run is HUGE.  So run we did. 

I'm reading an interesting book about "Floor Time" which is a therapy concept that we're using with Cody.  It's very popular in the autism world.  It focuses on engaging the child and inserting yourself into HIS world rather than expecting him to bend into yours.  For example, the book talks about inserting yourself into their persevorations.  Cody "stims" on blowing raspberries against his hand.  He can do it for hours.  Today I tried inserting myself into this habit.  I pulled his hand away from his mouth and blew a raspberry on it myself.  He halted - looked at me - and put his own hand up to his mouth again and ignored me.  So I pulled his hand  away a few seconds later and tried again - blowing and making noises on his hand with my mouth.  He halted again - and when I stopped - he lifted his hand up to my mouth and gave me direct eye contact as if to say, "do that again!  That was fun!"  So I did it again.  and again.  and again.  He stopped his isolated, inward self-stimulating -- and instead allowed me INTO it.  Someone might say, "so....he's still stimming....it's just using your mouth instead of his!"  But you see - after repeated experiences like this one - where I insert myself into Cody's repetitive behaviors - he is learning that doing something WITH someone is better/more fun than doing it alone!  And over time, the goal would be that when he wants to revert to stimming (in this case repetitively blowing raspberries on his hand) - he instead comes to find me because doing it with ME is more fun.  The goal with these kids is to pull them out of their own worlds.  And eventually, instead of seeking me out to blow raspberries with him, he'll just seek me out - period.  And then he'll begin to seek others out.  It's all a process of showing him that relationships are more fun than being alone.  Even as I write this at my computer, Cody walked up the stairs of our living room and into the kitchen to find me - and walked up and held his hand out for me to blow on.  Yesterday he would have just stood in the living room alone and zoned out doing the raspberry activity.  Today, two times, he sought me to do the activity WITH him.  Huge milestone.  Of course right now he's sitting on the living room steps blowing into his own hand again - but it takes a long time and a lot of days/months to create new habits. 

Just a little insight into what we're working on.  I tried taking him into a "class-like" atmosphere yesterday at a play gym nearby.  It was a disaster.  Too many people, too much chaos, too bright of lights.  He freaked out so we left.  It kind of felt nice because there was another autistic boy who was struggling as well.  His mom gave me a knowing look. 

Don continues to prep for the marathon on Nov. 30th!  Today he ran his all time high number of miles:  18!!!  He did great and felt great afterward!  It was so neat - as he turned to head toward the front door to leave for his run - I saw something pinned to the back of his jacket.  It was a laminated sign he'd made on his own that said "Running for Cody's Hope" on it.  I was so touched that he thougt to do that.  He literally IS running for Cody.  I am so proud of him. 

So that's our latest news.  Time to shut off the computer and watch the new Indiana Jones movie with Don and Cody.  Casey is fast asleep.  Our love to you all.

Shawna