Autism and Water

 

Hayley LOVES water!  It is both a good thing but also a bad thing.  Any kind of water will do.  She likes to swim, jump, splash and dive into water.  It is the one thing that will pretty much keep her occupied and calm. Hayley has many sensory issues, so I think whether swimming in the ocean or in the pool  it is relaxing for her.  When we go to Florida, Hayley could spend hours on the beach.  The problem is that she is fearless while I am fearful.  Hayley has no concept of the danger of the ocean.  She loves jumping into and under the waves.  I am not a strong swimmer so Dave usually is the one out in the waves with her.  Also, Hayley tends to bolt from the beach into the water no matter how rough it is.  She is so fast, it is hard to catch up with her and she just will not listen when you call her or tell her to come out of the water.  It is like Hayley is in another world. Another thing Hayley likes doing at the beach is lay on the beach with her ear to the sand at the ocean’s edge.  She becomes mesmerized.  I think Hayley likes the sound of the waves crashing on the shore,  as well as the vibrations.

We opened our pool on Monday, April 28th.  I know, it is early, but we have always opened it in April yet didn’t use it until the end of May. We like to look at it and listen to the waterfall.   Not this year!  Hayley and Hunter has been in the pool 5 times already!  We put the heat on and the temperature got up to 77 degrees (I don’t go in the pool unless it is 85 degrees) and they were in.  As long as the water is somewhat warm, they don’t care about the air temperature.  I am so happy they have been in the pool because it is exercise but more importantly swimming makes Hayley sooooo happy (unless I giver her the wrong color ice pop).  Hayley’s school has a swimming program so she has learned how to swim and dive into the deep end.  This past Saturday Hayley literally dove/jumped in the pool for 2 hours straight!  I was exhausted just watching her.  Hayley loves to be underwater because I think she likes the pressure on her head and ears.  Even when she takes a bath, Hayley will for most of the time lay and keep her head under the water just past her ears again, for the pressure.

Since today it is supposed to get up to 75 degrees outside, I have already started the heater in the pool.  After the kids get home it will be off to the pool.  I will make sure I have the right colored ice pops and my book so I can somewhat relax for a while.  The only thing is, being in the pool does not stop Hunter from talking……………..

Weekly Gym Update – 4/28/11

Easter

Weigh in day again.  I was a little nervous about the weigh in because of being in Florida last week.  I didn’t go crazy eating and I did exercise, yet anytime I am away, I usually gain weight.  Plus, I must admit there was a little indulgence on Katie’s and my part.

First, I weight trained for 30 minutes with my trainer. She really worked me.  I am still sore from my Tuesday weight training session so watch out tomorrow :).  Then the weigh in. My trainer set the scale to what I weighed two weeks ago.  I took a deep breath, stepped on the scale, and found out……. I lost 1 lb.!  I thought that was fabulous since I hadn’t been to the gym for two weeks and I vacationed some.

I was going to ride the recumbent bike for 15 minutes today after the weight training.  But, I was so happy and uplifted, I wound up riding for 40 minutes!  Boy, do I feel good about today.

The picture above was taken this Easter.  I am 32 lbs. lighter.  If you compare the picture above of me with the picture  (the WORST ever) on my blog “Another weekly weigh in at the gym 🙂 Lost 3 lbs. for total loss of 22 lbs.” you can see the difference.

I am marching forward and am not going to look back.  I am feeling much better then I did before and want to continue on.  My goal is to lose another 30 lbs.  I know I will achieve this, I have no doubts.

PS.    Did I tell anyone I asked for a punching bag for Mothers’s Day?

The Four Fs – Florida, Food, Fun and Fitness

View from 1st floor deck

View from 2nd floor deck, underneath Master Bedroom

View from my bedroom deck

Florida, Food, Fun and Fitness, the four things I encountered last week.  From April 19th to the morning (very, very early morning, I got up at 3:30 am to catch my flight) of April 23rd I was in Florida. It was a two-fold visit.  Visit Craig by day and Katie by night. We have a house on Amelia Island and I hadn’t been there since Christmas.  It was a really nice break for me, I had a great time.  When I first got there the afternoon of the 19th, I was greeted by my most favorite “white pets” in the world.  Little Nova was crying and jumping like crazy, while Bernie Mac kept rubbing around my legs.  Once I gave them kisses and hugs and got untangled from them, I brought my suitcase to my bedroom and immediately took my book, sat on the deck and while over looking the ocean, read.  It was quiet except for the waves hitting the shore, pure paradise.

Katie came home from work about an hour later, and of course I was happy to see her.  She got changed and we decided we were too tired for a walk.  I had asked Katie to keep me accountable as far as my exercise goes, but it had been a long day for both and decided to start the next day.  We relaxed and caught up on things.  We popped the cork on the wine and proceeded to have wine, cheese and crackers.  It is always great talking to her, we tend to talk over each other and often have to stop and say “you go”, ‘no, you go” 🙂  That night we looked at magazines, watched Biggest Loser Couples, Housewives of New York City and Bethany.  We pretty much talked through all the shows but we did throw our eye on the tv once in a while.

On Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, I went to visit Craig (he will be in Florida for a while) during the day.  Friday, Katie met Craig and I and we went to Craig’s favorite restaurant “The Olive Garden”

Wednesday afternoon was another reading time (I read The Pack by Jodi Picoult – excellent), I just love rocking in the rocking chair reading and looking at the ocean.  Nova loves it too, she always comes out and sits with me.  After Katie got home she said “that’s it, we are going for a walk”.  So we took Nova and we walked 2 miles on the beach, it felt good, plus the weather was gorgeous.  That night we ordered Chinese food from Lucky Wok for dinner.  We watched American Idol, Glee, Bethany and Harry Potter-Deadly Hollows while we ate and of course had wine.

Thursday went the same, after reading and then a 2 mile walk, Katie and I went to the Historic Town on the Island and we ate at an Italian Restaurant named Gennaros.  It was delicious!  Katie and I split fried calamari for appetizer and then we had salad with bread.  I had Lobster Ravioli which was wonderful and Katie had Maryland Crab Ravioli which was delicious as well.  Katie chose a nice Chianti to go with the meal. We were too stuffed for dessert.  We stopped at the Redbox and rented “Splice” it was about a scientist couple that used human DNA in their work of splicing animal genes.  Disturbing but good none the same.  After that we watched various tv shows.

Friday after Olive Garden, Katie, Nova and I once again took our 2 mile walk.  We rented two movies from Redbox for the night.  The first was “Rabbit Hole” which was about a couple and how they each differently handled the death of their child, Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart were in it – excellent.  The second movie was “Grown-ups”  which was about 5 childhood friends who won a basketball championship in 1978 and how they came together thirty-two years later and rented a lake house with their families and had a rematch with the losing team.  Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider starred.  It was pretty funny.  I wouldn’t buy it or go to the movies to see it but for $1.00, it was good.

The next morning I flew home to David and the kids but I really, really enjoyed myself.  It is great seeing Craig doing so well and of course visiting Katie which always involves laughing.  We are both ridiculous and found out we both park our cars the same way – angled to the left…………………………………

At the airport

Finally through check-in and security. Hayley is really not a happy camper. The airport is always challenging. While getting something to eat Hayley likes the echo so she is screeching very loudly which shocks everyone around us and of course the staring starts. Then a mini meltdown because she wants Mac and cheese……screeching continues to our gate, I get out the barbies and although the loud vocals continue on and off, hayley is playing nicely. Hunter of course is complaining about Hayley like usual. hunter being his dramatic self puts his chin on his chest and says “why in the world is my life such a nightmare?” I do remind him of all that he has and all that he gets to do. In response to me he says “well maybe not a nightmare, just a bad dream.” 🙂

Leaving Florida……First Blog

We will be leaving Florida tomorrow for our home in New Jersey.  We are married 28  1/2 years, 6 children…..25, 23 (biological), 21, 19, 9 and 9 (adopted).  The roller coaster of life has been unbelieveable. There have been many ups and many, many downs, but in the end I believe the circumstances we have been through has shaped our family as a positive.  It has been a difficult ride these past 8 years, the youngest two who were adopted at 4 months old (two separate birth mothers) have been diagnosed with Autism. My son H has Aspergers which is a very high functioning form of Autism, my daughter H has full blown, severe Autism.  The road has been very, very rocky not only with Autism but with other issues with other children.  This past week has been challenging……daughter ‘H” hysterically laughing, wetting herself on purpose, breaking any glass she could find, severe tantrums, etc. etc., yet her beautiful smile shining through, the words she is discovering and the unconditional love she shows makes your heart melt. Our other “H” (our son) has a vocabulary that is on a level that none of us understands, yet is hysterical…….There is so much to say and I will try and write each day because even into the storm there is brightness…………………………