Thanksgiving week

Last Saturday our very dear friends, the Derelioglus left for Costa Rica for stem cell replacement therapy for their precious son Riley. You are all in our thoughts and prayers every day and we look forward to your safe return. Please take a moment to look at Riley's blog.
http://healingriley.blogspot.com/
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Sunday we enjoyed a delicious Pre-Thanksgiving at Gillian's. Yum!

Great friends and great food....lots to be thankful for!

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Tuesday we met up with a few friends at Disneyland for a day of fun.

Matthew was so excited and of course, bee-lined it for the Matterhorn and then Thunder Mountain to start the day.

I think that he rode the Matterhorn 3 times that day and Thunder Mountain 3 times. Did not get that from me!

We have all been sick so we planned on staying half day..... Matthew was not in agreement!

Matthew and his cousin Avery

Some of my favorite people

Don't you wish you could leave them behind bars sometimes? Lots of times?

Waiting for the parade with such anticipation :)

Trying to catch the snow on Main Street

The end to a great day!

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This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house.

It was really good and Mark was the turkey master.

The grandmas and grandma Sumida, flanked by all the Sumida men

The kids all had a good time and Matthew was excited to see his cousins. It was nice to see him so interested and friendly....he was inviting Justin and Avery into his room to play and shut the door to keep the adults out!
We have had our ups and downs this year, as I am sure any parent of a special needs child experiences....you have incredible highs and desperate lows. Overall, we have so much to be thankful for this year. We have the most wonderful son ever and what he gives us back everyday is worth more than money. Happy Thanksgiving to our sweet boy.

Tee Ball

Well.......Matthew definitely likes hitting and running when it comes to playing tee ball, it is the throwing and catching he hates. He is getting better and has a pretty good swing. I am sure Daddy will try and transform that to a golf swing some day.
Overall it has been a tough couple of weeks. It feels like you can never exhale because a bump is just around the corner. It seems that a great boom of progress is followed by a period of regression...or maybe a period of difficulty proceeds a streak of progress.......who knows. Regardless, it has just been a draining and hard 2-3 weeks. In keeping things honest, when Matthew goes through hard patches, he does not sleep (up every 1-2 hours through the night), tantrums that you have to see to believe and crazy stimming. It is during these times that the autism just screams at you and it is hard to keep the faith.
After a very upsetting weekend and and polishing off an entire of pint of Ben and Jerry's in one sitting (Elena's fault) I needed to see something positive. I took Matthew to the playground at McDonald's to burn off some energy after school today. There was an adorable girl about Matthew's age. This was the conversation that took place.

Matthew: Mommy, the little girl wanna pay wif me.
Me: Go ask her
Matthew goes over to her
Matthew: Little girl, what you eat for bweakfast? Wanna pay evator (elevator)?
Later she came to show Matthew her Strawberry Short cake notebook. Matthew takes it from her and says
Matthew: Dis is cool. I love strawberries.
He pretends to eat a strawberry off the notebook and then hands it back to her.
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Then tonight as Mark was eating a piece of candy:
Matthew: Daddy, can I have a little, tiny bite please?

I know that does not seem like much but "little, tiny bite"! Wow, I love that language!

It is these moments that bring me sanity and I try to focus on when it feels like everything else is slipping. I suppose every parent who has a child with autism has fears of regression, going back to that place where your child seemed unreachable. I love Matthew so much and it hurts to see him struggle. I hope and pray for the day when this is only a memory.

Halloween Weekend

A busy but fun last few days. It was Matthew first Trick-or-Treating adventure. He loves Veggie Tales and wanted to be Bob the Tomato. He looked forward to this for days and had a great time.

He walked in the Halloween parade with Dad.

He got the hang of things very quickly and ran from house to house wanting to fill his bucket with treats!

Matthew and his special friend Brenna

Are they cute or what?

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Friday there was a sing along at school. He was happy to see Mom and Dad at school and sang so loud.

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Thursday we met friends at the local pumpkin patch.

Look how tall my baby is getting!

Rides are Matthew's favorite. The bumpier and faster the better. Love those smiles!

I don't have photos but Matthew and Mark went to Disneyland for a few house over the weekend and Matthew went on the Matterhorn 3 times, Thunder Mountain and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride....he sure does not get that from his mother.
All the fun and enthusiasm from this weekend makes us so excited for this Christmas. Matthew was not too involved in the holidays last year but this year will be so much fun experiencing many things for the first time. Snow, Santa, presents....
Can't wait!

Pumkin Patch

A fun weekend! Friday we went to the Boo Blast, a carnival fundraiser for the school. We went with Matthew's little friends, Kiran and Brenna.


Matthew of course.......always doing things his way.

What a smile!

Special friends!
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Sunday we went to the Irvine Railroad Park with friends for the Pumpkin Patch and to try out Matthew's new fishing pole! He was so excited!


The kids had fun on the train.

Probably the things Matthew would have enjoyed most was the tractor ride.

Unfortunately he thought it was funny to crash into the hay walls so we decided to end his driving experience. There were a few tears but he understood why. He is at the point where we can reason with him and even though often we struggle with his focus and attention, his compliance and desire to please has made things much easier. He really is such a good boy and as sweet as can be. Love you little guy!

A fun afternoon

We surprised Matthew after school with an impromptu trip to Disneyland with our friends, the Derelioglus. He was so excited and had a blast. His favorite ride was the Matterhorn. I was really nervous about letting him ride it but he got off and said "Daddy, I want go the "horn" one more time!"

Fun with friends

Look at Matthew....his very first "hamburger"! Disneyland is great about food options and they had a GFCF bun and dedicated fryer so Matthew got to eat what everyone else had! The bread was not very good but he enjoyed it and was all smiles.

Matthew and his favorite ride partner....Daddy!

Good Bye Danny

It was a very sad day for us today! :(
We said good bye to our Danny.
He has been Matthew's ABA therapist for 2 1/2 years. He started working with Matthew in March 2007. We were reminiscing today about how things were back then......it was not an easy time. No eye contact, constant stimming, maladaptive behaviors and tantrums that could not be believed. Danny was there through all of it, encouraging us and working with Matthew. Danny has been such an wonderful influence in Matthew's life and is largely responsible getting him to where he is now. I can't imagine how things would have been without him. They have such a bond and Matthew loves Danny so much, we all do. I hope he knows how special he will always be to us.

The scratch on Matthew's nose was a spill he took in the backyard today. He cut his lip (a surprising amount of blood) and bumped his head too. Poor little guy was left with scrapes on his little face and a fat lip. Of course he got lots of love and sympathy the rest of the day! :)

These are some photos of Matthew with his cousins from this weekend. Matthew adores them and is very interactive with them.

I love seeing the boys together. Matthew is so happy and playful with them, Matthew talks about them for days after! We love you "Adew" and "Zachawy"!