Isaiah's birthday was on the 17Th. To honor his special day, we were able to have a bowling party (thanks to Seth's bosses who own it!) It was Seth's idea, and I must admit, I thought we were biting off more than we could chew. I didn't know if all the balls would make him not even be able to focus on the bowling itself, thankfully, I was wrong. He had a blast. We had everyone there and I think all the kids really enjoyed themselves. Isaiah had his own lane as he just kept on rolling the balls down over and over and seemed to not even really recognize that people were there. I have never seen him lift so many heavy objects without complaining even once. He is still talking about the party to this day, and really wants to go back and bowl. I thought it was pretty cool that they even gave him a bowling pin to take home (which he carries around with pride) that everyone signed. I was so excited to see him so enamored in something that didn't have to do with space (not that we don't love his passion) especially with all the sphere's in the building. We did have a cake that most people would scratch their heads and maybe even think it looked a little ick. He insisted on having a dwarf planet cake with Pluto and it's moons, Sedna, Quorar, and some others. We used different kinds of candies to mimic it until he approved. Thankfully, he loved it, and that was all that mattered. He did have a hard time with opening presents. I think it got to over stimulating having everyone staring at him, especially when he'd rather be bowling. I felt bad at first, that everyone had carefully picked out presents just for him and didn't even get to see his reaction (which I know I love). I think Seth could see how disappointed and embarrassed that I was, he then gently reminded me "this is what the doctor's prepared us for." I then had to take a step back, as often I think of Isaiah as just any other 4 year old, but I have to remind myself that the PDD-NOS is still there. Being that we have never had another child make it this far, it's hard for me to understand what the difference between a typical 4 year old behavior and PDD-NOS. I must say, he is learning leaps and bounds. We took him to the park the other day and he ran up to this little girl and says "Hi! My name is Isaiah, pleased to meet you." Seth and I held our breath in awaiting her response. Thankfully she was a sweet thing and reciprocated his kindness and they grabbed each others hands and ran off to play. I wanted to cry as I was so excited to see him actually initiate interaction with another child his age (normally he doesn't bother with kids and goes straight to the adults) and he is doing more often than not. The other thing we are tackling right now are, his ever dreaded eating habits. He is so selective in all that he eats that it makes eating quite difficult. Just to get him to eat some noodles or a single vegetable, he's been sitting at the table for hours at a time refusing to even give it a nibble. This is hugely frustrating. I don't expect him to enjoy the food, but at least to try new things. With PDD-NOS, they tend to adapt to one certain schedule, certain foods, and pretty much dictate how the day will go. I can't tell you how many play dates lately that I have had to cancel due to waiting for him to finish his food. We are trying hard to be consistent as sometimes it is easier just to pretend he ate it and get on with our day. Unfortunately, Isaiah is so intelligent, that he picked this up right away. So, for now, I am putting my social needs on the back burner until we can reorganize this particular thought process. It's depressing for me and Aria, as we love going out in the morning to the park or where ever, but I can't reward the negative behavior. Oh yes, and did I tell you when I tell him he needs to eat, he sternly tells me, "Mommy, you need to go to time out and you are very rude!" Sometimes I want to laugh at his little adult sayings, and sometimes I just want to cry as I just want to move on with the day. I must say, he never gives us a dull day. His affection and show of love has grown exponentially. I am bound and determined to pull him off of this autistic spectrum label as I believe (and the doctors as well) that he could with enough aggressive therapy. Sometimes I wonder if I am painting a negative picture of him to others. But you have to understand things are just handled differently in a way I have never had to. Aria tends to be the typical child and responds in ways that I can expect. She loves adventure and last minute trips. She'll also try and take you out if you mess with her toys. Isaiah, with all of his idiosyncrasies, is a sweet, intelligent, and actually intriguing child to engage with. He talks like a little adult from time to time and really makes the day interesting. This last year has been a challenge. Yet, when I look back at where we were one year ago, I am amazed at how much he has improved. I don't think any adult could keep up with the amount of progress that he has made. So as much as my little man insists that his favorite color is black "because of the midnight sky." Or that number 9 is his favorite number because "Pluto is the ninth planet." To top it off, we use a lot of Yiddish slang around here. He comes up to me after he had fallen and says "Mom, will you wipe the tears from my eyes?" I went to go wipe of his glasses as the tears and gotten on them. He says " You need to wipe the schmutz from glasses, so I can see better." I say schmutz a lot, but he has never said it before. He says it so matter of fact, oh my little professor. He is going to take the world by storm. I have made a promise to myself that I will be updating more often, as there is a lot going on in our lives right now that I haven't posted. I have hesitated as I am trying hard to figure out how much of our lives I want to expose. Normally, I am an open book, but due some insecurities of my own I have actually shyed away for fear of being judged. But now I have decided to let it out as it is what is happening and I have always kept true to allowing others to see that I am human, so I will be opening up more. To those of you who know me personally, it probably isn't anything that far off of what you already know. May you all be blessed and find happiness in all that you do.
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