Mands: 11

Okay day for Tony. When I first walked in I got to see his new Wiggles books, a play sword, and a new thinking chair that is not inflatable, it is solid and looks just like the original thinking chair. While we were inspecting the new goods Tony saw an oppurtunity . . . an opportunity to use his new favorite phrase. His new favorite phrase goes a little something like this: “oh-no, are you okay?” And in order to create the correct circumstances he took a few steps, a leap, and then tackled me to the ground! I was caught a little off guard, but his little voice asking about my well being brought me back. Of course the witnesses Morgan and Marlaina thought the whole thing was hilarious.

Although he started off wanting to watch show after show we did end up getting some ABA accomplished. The first time we went into his room he was intrigued by some new toys. His interest eventually focused on a Blue’s Clues puzzle that really works well in one of our ABA exercises. We did the puzzle a couple times. Tony kept trying to get into the living room and he was getting upset. After trying to capture his attention with a few different activities I responded to his ‘open door’ mand and opened the door to the living room. He called for his Mom and he called for his Sissy. I told him they were upstairs. Since they were unavailable he began asking for the Wiggles. I asked if he wanted to go for a walk or back into his room to play. Both questions were met with very stiff and convicted ‘NO’s. I started looking for the Wiggles in the DVD case when he stopped me on “Follow that Bird” I asked if he wanted to watch it and he said “YES.” I certainly didn’t want him to spend all day watching shows, but I also didn’t want him to start crying and screaming, so I put the movie in.

Once Anton came downstairs to get to work we definitely had to get out. We went outside for a walk. For the first leg of the walk his main interest was turning around and going home. I hoisted him up onto my shoulders and we went over to the basketball court. At first he was satisfied with our location. He played with the gate opening and closing it, then he let me in. I closed the gate behind us and he made a bee-line for a puddle. He splashed around a little, we ran and sat down on a bench in the shade. The next time he was playing in the puddle he decided to plop down into it. His shorts got wet and this made him upset. I told him it was no big deal and they would definitely dry off if we kept on walking. He was crying with his head against the gate, calling for his Mom and Dad and a return trip home. I knew going back home so soon would be a very bad thing for Anton and Marlaina’s sanity, so we went for a nice loooooooong walk. It was fun.

When we got home Marlaina’s Mom and Dad were home and we all sat in the living room and had lunch. Tony and I went out into the back yard area and played in his new sandbox. We did some of the slow/ fast motor imitation outside. When we went back into his roomwe did some of the puzzles we are working on. He did manage to put some pieces in the right spots and he recieved plenty of positive reinforcement! Yeah Tony!