Trip to Maui Sands

For Christmas, Scott gave me a trip to Maui Sands, which is an indoor water park in Sandusky. He knows how much I love going to new places and Zoey loves water parks, so it was a great present. We finally got to go on our mini vacation at the beginning of April. It was a much needed break from our day to day life.

We took off on a Friday and made it to the water park around 2:00. We got checked into our room, changed into our suits, and then headed down to the water park.

Zoey was a little more timid than she normally is and after getting drenched in the face by one of the kiddie slides, she refused to go down anymore. Our normal water park experience is Zoombezi Bay, which is really nice because you can go down the slides with the kids. Zoey absolutely loves those. I don't think she was ready for going down on her own. Even though she wanted nothing to do with the slides, she still enjoyed playing in the splash area and going on the tubes in the lazy river. We didn't spend a whole lot of time in the water that night, but had a great time.

(Picture quality is not great because I was using a water-proof camera)

Our room package came with pizza, breadsticks, and a salad from the snack bar place in the hotel. Not the best pizza, but it was alright. I just wasn't a fan of the sauce. Scott and Zoey seemed to like it fine.

 After dinner, we just spent the rest of the evening relaxing in our room. It took a while for Zoey to fall asleep that night, but it was interesting to watch her process. We always hear her up in her room reading to herself and when we check on her when we go to bed she is typically asleep with a book on her or still in her hands. It was kind of neat to see how that actually happens.

The next day, we got up and Scott went down stairs to bring up some breakfast, which was also included in our stay. Better than your typical continental breakfast and they had pancakes, so Zoey was a happy girl.

Scott's dad came up that afternoon and spent some time playing with Zoey at the water park. She loves spending time with her grandpa, and we don't get to see him too often, so it was pretty awesome that he was able to make the drive up and spend the day hanging out with her.

After an afternoon at the water park, Scott's dad headed back to Bellefontaine and we headed to a buffet down the street for dinner. We had another voucher for the pizza, but I just couldn't eat it two days in a row. However, I don't think dinner that night was much better. The quality of this buffet was lacking. But like most buffets, they had an awesome dessert selection.

We opted not to go to the waterpark on Sunday before we left, and just headed back to Columbus early. That allowed us to relax at home before having to go back to the grind of the week. It was a much needed mini vacation that did the trick.

Finding Zoey's Superpower

For anyone who doesn't know, for the past few months we have been going through the process of having Zoey evaluated for Autism at Children's Hospital. Today we got the results. Zoey has officially been given a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. This really didn't come as a surprise to me since I was the one who kept talking about how I thought this was an issue and kept putting it off because everyone told me she  was perfectly fine. However, there was still a part of me that thought that I was wrong and it was just my psychologist brain looking too much into things. By the time today rolled around, both Scott and myself were prepared to hear the diagnosis, so honestly today went as well as it possibly could.

In addition to hearing the official diagnosis, we got more information about Zoey's  actual test results. The Autism diagnosis comes from the fact that she shows a lack of flexibility, social delays, and language delays. She was given select subtests of the Stanford Binet and received an IQ score of 100 (average). There was a significant discrepancy between the verbal and non-verbal, which makes sense since she has language delays. Since this is a known issue for kids with Autism, she was also given an IQ test that was developed for deaf children, which removes any language demands. She scored a 128 on that test (superior). She maxed out some of the subtests; meaning that she did as well as she could for a child her age. The area that was viewed as a weakness for her, was still in the average range. Academically, she is scoring at an age of 4.5, so a year ahead of where she should be for her age. I'm not saying all of this to brag, although Scott and I are very proud of her. I'm mentioning these results, because according to the psychologist, Zoey having a profile like this tells us a couple of things: 1) Her language delays are making it so she is not able to show exactly how much she knows, 2) She is on the high functioning end of the Autism Spectrum, and 3) Prognosis is very good. The psychologist stated that she rarely says this, but that if we work with Zoey she could become "a child without Autism". I refrained from making a Jenny McCarthy joke about curing Autism. LOL!

The biggest thing I want family and friends to take away from all of this is a better understanding of why Zoey is the way she is. Zoey is not the easiest child to engage with. She is frequently standoffish and at times rude about it (i.e. telling someone "no" when they say hi to her). I know that many family members have taken this personally and think that it means that Zoey doesn't like them. I'm hoping that Zoey having the diagnosis will help family understand that her reaction to them is not personal and is a symptom of the Autism.

I obviously wish that Zoey didn't have Autism, but I am relieved to have this whole evaluation process behind us be able to move forward now. Of course it is helpful that things were about as positive as they could be. So now we move forward trying to help Zoey in anyway we can. At one point, when Scott and I were talking about Autism, I made a comment about how some kids with Autism have a special interest or something that they are really good at. Scott made a reference to this as wondering what her super power was going to be. I really love that. Most superheros I think off weren't normal by standard definition (whatever that is) and it was their differences that made them special and powerful. Zoey is the same way. She may not be a typically developing child, but she can still accomplish great things. Right now, in addition to being super smart, Zoey's super power is that she can name what show a song is from within a few seconds. This may not change the world, or it may (you never know), but either way, it is Zoey and I love it.

Shark Bunny Soccer

Zoey started soccer at the end of March and quite honestly I have not wanted to blog about it because it has been not a very fun experience. However, today was awesome, so I figured it would be a good day to record this experience.

I was hesitant to start Zoey in a sport because of her speech delays. I think I was mainly worried that the coaches would get frustrated with her because she doesn't really respond when new people talk to her. I went ahead and signed her up and then once I found out who the coaches were, I sent them I quick email to just explain Zoey's delays and give them a heads up. I got a positive response from both coaches, which made me feel better.

Day one of soccer came and it was up in the air whether it would happen or not since it had snowed the day before and we still has snow on the ground. However, by the time Zoey's game time came around, the snow had melted enough off of the turf that they went ahead and played as scheduled. Of course, it was still super cold, so we had to bundle up.

Totally not regulation uniform. LOL!

Since it was the first day of the season, they said to get there 30 minutes before the scheduled time. Wow, was that a waste. The was no purpose for it. However, Zoey enjoyed kicking the ball around with Scott and the coaches son, Noah.

Zoey and Noah

By the time all of the team had arrived, and they got started, Zoey had already been playing for 30 minutes. She did well with the team stretches and the initial drills. I was happy because she answered the coach when he was asking each kid their favorite color and animal. The team somehow ended up calling themselves the Shark Bunnies.

Team Warm-Ups

After about 30 minutes, Zoey lost interest in drills and waiting her turn, which was understandable considering she has actually been playing for an hour. She ended up walking the lines, sitting on the ball, and pulling up the turf. After day one, I was feeling pretty good about soccer.

Now in between week one and week two, I asked Zoey's Godfather to make a Shark Bunny logo for the team because I was on snack duty and wanted to include the logo on the snack bags. Apparently this makes me an overachiever mom, but I say it's only overachieving if I accept the standard that someone else comes up with. I've decide that when it comes to being a parent I am going to set my own standard and not worry about anyone else. I refuse to play into the mommy wars (even if I have to remind myself of that over and over and over again).

Awesome logo created by Ryan

Snack bag, including Shark Bunny magnets :)

 Now, week two. Things didn't go as well. Zoey went onto the field, participated in team warm-ups and made it about 10 minutes. That was about it.

After that, she had absolutely no interest in interacting with or playing with any of her teammates. This was really hard for me to witness, because we were about to start her assessment for Autism, and this total lack of interacting with her peers was already on the fore front of my mind. She spent the rest of the time on the sidelines either pulling up the turf or sitting on a bench staring off into space. We would have just left, because anytime we tried to get her to go back on the field she started to have a fit, but since we were on snack duty we had to stay until the end.

At least she looks cute staring off into space. LOL!

We had the next two weeks off of soccer. The first week we were on vacation in Sandusky and the next week was Easter and there wasn't a game. So when we returned last week, I had been thinking a lot about my expectations for her and decided I was okay if she only participated for a few minutes, as long as she wasn't being disruptive to the rest of the team and wasn't throwing a fit.

We once again had to be at the field early because we had team pictures. Pictures went really well. Zoey was cooperative and sat nicely with her team while we were waiting for our turn, as well as while pictures were being taken.

After pictures, we headed over the the field and on the way Zoey was saying hi to some of her team mates. That had me feeling positive about the day. It turned out to be the total opposite. She wouldn't even cooperate to do team warm-ups. When it was time for drills, she kept saying she wanted to participate, but then instead of going to where she was supposed to, she started playing with things she wasn't supposed to and was getting in the teams' way. We ended up leaving after maybe 15 minutes. It was rough. No one was in a good mood.

So for the past week, Scott and I have been trying to figure out what was the best thing to do. I was torn because this was supposed to be a fun experience. It wasn't supposed to be something that left Zoey and I in tears and Scott in a bad mood. I didn't want to force her to do something that she just wasn't ready for. She would always say she would want to go to soccer when we asked, but then she didn't seem to want to participate. On the other hand, I felt like if we stopped going I would somehow be giving up on her.

Zoey had a really rough morning today. She was an emotional wreck. Every little thing was setting her off, so Scott and I had pretty much decided that we weren't going to do soccer. I had decided that if we didn't do soccer today then we weren't going to finish the season out at all. I know that consistency is something that she needs, so I didn't think it would be productive to skip this week and then try to go back next week. So I wrote an email to her coach explaining our decision; however I ran it by Scott before sending it. He could tell it was hard for me to do, so he put going to soccer back on the table. We debated back and forth and ultimately I decided we should give it a shot. I know that Scott was apprehensive, but he was willing to give it a go. So we got her dressed, set our expectations low, and set off.

I have the most confusing child ever. We got to the field, and like always she was happy and excited as we were walking from the car. We were a few minutes late, so they had started already, which made me even more apprehensive. Her team was doing some warm-up running and when her coach saw her, he invited her to join. She wanted to but seemed anxious, so I grabbed her hand and ran with her. Once they stopped and were lining up, I walked off the field and expected her to follow shortly after when she noticed I wasn't there. But she didn't! She stayed on the field and participated, and ran, and smiled, and copied the other kids, and had a blast!!!! I was worried when the first water break came that we weren't going to be able to get her back on the field. However, she didn't even want to leave. Scott took water to her. She might not have been the best player on the field today, but she was smiling and having fun with other kids. I was so happy and proud of her. My favorite part of the pictures below and the smile on her face. This experience was supposed to be fun, and today she was having the time of her life.

Listening to her coach

Making a goal

Hanging out with her team

Running after the ball

Look at that smile!!!

Part of the chaos

Another big smile

I made a comment to Scott that I knew it wouldn't happen, but it would be nice if Zoey got the medal they give out at the end of the day. Then what do you know, the game ends and I hear them say that Zoey won the sportsmanship medal for the day and I seriously cried. I'm getting tearful right now as I type this. It seems so small, but with everything that has been going on with Zoey the past month with her Autism eval and whatnot, it meant SO much that she earned that medal. So when Scott asked me if we were actually going to put the yard sign they gave us up, there wasn't a doubt in my mind. Hell yes!!!! I will display that sign proudly!