Such a cool kid.
I love this kid.
He is cracking me up more and more all the time as he seems to be communicating more effectively. Saying things that surprise me and make me do a double-take. These are my favorite types of double-takes.
This photo shows one of his Christmas gifts (or birthday) from last year. It seems that whatever he receives doesn't get tons of love until about a year later (something we are trying to change this year). It is hard to tell with him what he will be in love with, what is developmentally appropriate, etc. What is really cool about this - the hat and the goggles - is that he actually wanted to put them on (got them out of his toy basket on his own and asked for help in putting on the goggles). In the past he has not wanted the glasses on his face...but now, he is all over these guys. And of course, I was all over the camera.
He calls himself "Bob" - as in Bob the Builder - and pretty much what he wants to do is look at himself in the mirror and then take them off. So, so cool.
I had a couple emails from people yesterday wondering what Santa will be bringing Simon. Yesterday I had typed up this whole post about what has been happening with Santa and then I lost it. I hate it when that happens. The just of the post was that we had been back to the same toy store three times trying to decide between an entire Thomas the Tank Engine set-up (moving from the plastic tracks to the wood) and a house from Playmobil.
He loves Thomas. They are his favorite. And we are well aware of this fact. Our worry was that we would be feeding into an obsession rather than encouraging some diversity in his toy selection here at home. And besides all that he loves what he has right now (keeping it simple right?).
As for the Playmobil house, we were hoping to support him more in imaginative play with people. In the end though, I think he may not be completely ready for this developmentally.
After continued deliberation, and leaving the store for the third time without a "big" present we decided to go a completely different route. When we were driving home Santa and I started talking about what else he loves right now, and how what he loves and repeats tends to come from what he watches on video. And right now it is all about Dora and Diego. We like that he seems to be learning stuff from those shows and he is so excited about them. So Santa will be bringing him the Dora house (with a couple accessories, like the backyard) which satisfies Santa's desire to get him working on imaginative play in a home-environment and his desire to have him receive something that he will actually love and play with. And we got the last one at Toys-R-Us. Awesome.
My sister recently sent him the Dora floating bath toy which has been a total hit around here - it has made him become excited about taking baths again.
Another toy Santa brought last year that is finally getting some use is the My First LeapPad. Last year he got the Wiggles and Thomas books and just last week he was starting to get it (pushing the green go button, turning the pages with the sounds, etc.). Santa will also be bringing the Dora book this year.
Other than that there will be little things. A Dora coloring book. Wiggles slippers. A recorder. Bubbles. Hungy Hungry Hippos game. A book about monkeys. And a couple Thomas magnet books.
Excited to see his reaction Sunday morning. Excited to get to share in that overwhelming joy.
Simon is a lucky little boy and you're an incredibly lucky mom. Merry Christmas to you.
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Those toys look cool. Man I miss getting toys for Christmas, and I'm 25!
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Wow...sounds like a very fun-filled Christmas to me! Thanks for sharing. Happy Holidays!
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Simon is the cutest Bob I've ever seen! You'll have to let us know about the Hungry Hippos game...I'm thinking about that for my almost 4 year old son. Have a Merry Christmas!
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How awesome for little the simon dude!! Great stuff for the kiddos this year...
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What an awesome shot, Ali!
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Your post is making me so excited for Sunday! Family time is AWESOME! Simon "aka Bob" looks so adorable!
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Ali, don't forget to get some characters for the DOra house. We bought our DD one last year and all it had inside was some living room stuff and a dora...Just a thought...but my dd still loves her house....
I am very much enjoying reading your blog...you're so inspiring...
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Hi Ali, my first time posting here, but I've kept up with your blog off and on. My dd is 5 and has autism. I found that encouraging her parallel play with tv/movie characters really seemed to help her out in the imagination department. I have been blown away by her progress over the last year! She now actively engages in imaginative play rather than simply only reenacting scenes from shows. So anyway, I just wanted to share that with you :) Have a wonderful Christmas!!!
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I can see why you love that kid -- so cute! We've got a little "Bob" here as well -- although, no goggles or hat, but drilling, hammering, and sawing with anything "real" tool or something he made -- so fun to see.....
As for the xmas toys -- wow he's going to be blown away. So good to think about what type of toys to give and why and what you hope to accomplish with them.
We're getting Victor a wooden stove and hoping my parents and brother get him supplies, such as pots and pans, fruits and vegetables, all wooden he can cut....
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sounds like simon is in for a treat! Anthony still doesn;t know how to play alone and imagine things what he can do with his toys. It is getting better though so there is hope! great to hear that simons speach has improved, do you think it also has to do with him going to his new school?
Well have fun today and by the way that pictue of bob...uh....simon is great!!!
corinnexxx
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it's so cool to hear how he's developing, and to see YOUR excitement. There is nothing better than a devoted parent.
Our kids are getting the dora house too. My Chandler is the same age as Simon I believe, just a few weeks older, and I was going to get it for her right after Christmas birthday last year, but they SOLD OUT. It was a hard to find item. Ebay had them selling for $150, it was insane. She managed to survive, having not known my intentions. LOL So this year, I found it, I bought it right up. LOL Our girls are all huge Dora and especially DIego fans. Diego rocks, saving animals. My oldest just loves that.
Merry Christmas. I hope Simon falls instantly in love with his new things this year!
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I relate to your debate about whether to get Simon toys that encourage new and developmental types of play or those that feed into current fixations. My husband and I debate about that every year with our little guy, who also has a spectrum disorder. This year we managed to find one that was perfect: we expanded his Rokenbok set, which is great for playdates b/c his little friends love it, but we found an elevator set, and elevators are one of his very favorite things.
One other idea for Simon. I saw that you got Hungry Hungry Hippos. Another fantastic first game is Barnyard Bingo http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000205XS/104-3406017-5837517?v=glance. Josh's ABA therapist when he was 3 introduced this game to him and it started him on a lifetime love of games. Good for learning about taking turns and praciticing appropriate pronoun use, like "your turn" and "my turn". Also, it is a mercifully short game, unlike CandyLand, which can drag on forever...
Merry Christmas, and thank you for sharing yourself with us.
Amy
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sounds like simon will enjoy christmas. my wesley, who just turned five, loves the monkey book! merry christmas.
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Such a cute photo, totally made me giggle! I can completely relate to things taking about a year to get some real use! Miss Alyza has already opened a few gifts this year, among them was Hungry Hippos, and it was a HUGE hit (such a classic too!) I hope Christmas is just magical for your family! --Steph
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how sweet is all i can say! he looks happy and content which is important.
this happy face will be your biggest present this year, won't it!!
merry christmas - enjoy!
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thats so cool ali. i know the little milestones are actually the big ones. :) i remember when mckenna first pedaled a trike, when she first pretended something, when she asked me to play with her....
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Simon is very lucky to have such loving parents that want the best for him. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. I can't wait. Simon looks great.
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He is going to love the Dora house. We bought a similar one for my nephew and my two girls won't leave it alone (I have to wrap it and hide it). My girls are four and seven so I think you will get at least a few years of use out of the house.
Cute picture of Simon too :)
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oh my goodness! LOVE simon's monkey tee shirt!!!!! such a great little guy you have there a!!! thanks for sharing!
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It is just amazing how similar our children are. My daughter is 3 1/2 and I could have written your post. Everything I bought last Christmas is getting used now and we also wanted to keep that from happening again. Merry Christmas!
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Ali! What an adorable picture of Simon! I love how you also captured yourself in the picture. Sounds like Simon is going to have a wonderful Christmas. Also love how excited you and Santa are in watching his joy. My 5 y/o Vince (also on the autism spectrum) is starting to understand the concept of Christmas. It's so cute to watch him with the gifts. Our PRT therapist recommended the game "Cranium Cariboo" and Vince and my 2 y/o Olivia LOVE it. It's cool to see them actually play together too. Hope you have a beautiful Christmas! Jenny
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Such a cute picture of your boy Ali!! Aren't kids the best!!
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Two Words: "Crocodile Dentist"
(He'll love it. YOU'LL love it. Over and over again. No parts to go missing, nothing crazy to assemble or store. Just a silly croc whose teeth you take turns pressing until his bog ole mouth smacks dowd - gently - on someone's hand! HOURS of giggling and nice work with counting, naticipating, taking turns, etc...)
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Ali:
re: the obsession w/Thomas, and fearing feeding into it...
My son had the same obsession, for years (he has Asperger's, so we're in the same end of the pool, so to speak). He did outgrow it, and it proved to be overall a harmless thing. I think our kids get these fixations as a way of calming themselves; having something very dependable and predictable, in a world that is too often variable and upsetting, is soooo important.
Glad he loves Dora too; that was not around when Zeb was in that age bracket. Hope you had a holly jolly Christmas!
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