Getting ready to move to Brazil! My company has offered me a promotion and great opportunity to work in the country where my wife is from, Brazil. Luiza and I have always wanted to live there, and this will be a great opportunity for us. Am I nervous? You bet. Am I thinking I'm crazy? Quite often. Am I totally trusting God that this is His deal, not mine? Most of the time, haha.
So far we have gotten our house on the market, sold my Jeep Liberty, given away our dog Molly and our cockatiel Stella. We still have to sell our van, ship our stuff, sell the house, move down there, find a place to live, etc. Crazy, crazy stuff.
How will this move affect Calvin with his autism? Not sure yet. Calvin is doing well, and we are going through a new emotional stage along with defiance on his part. Very difficult to see your child go through this. Most children experience this at the age of 2 or 3, but Calvin is just now in the middle of it at the age of seven.
We're believing that Brendon and Calvin will both learn Portuguese and fit in well down there. We know there will be a lag time for them to play catch up with the other students before they are able to fit in and do well in school. I think this will be a good thing in the long run for them.
I'm trying to put all the stress out of my head until after this week. I want this week to be a wonderful last Christmas in Portland. I am very sentimental and emotional myself. I'm sure that Calvin must be sensing the changes and it must be effecting him as well.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Calvin's First Spontaneous Phone Question
This morning I called home as usual to say "good morning" to my family. Luiza and I were talking about how difficult Calvin has been with his fussing lately. Whenever he does not get his way, he makes a growly voice that shows us that he's angry, or he will yell "The monster!" at us or his brother. It's become quite tiresome, so we have really been addressing each incident and do not want him to get away with it any longer. Even when he's happy or playing, he seems to be grumpy.
So, on top of watching his diet (which we had started loosening up on), we are making sure to ask him to stop fussing and letting him know that he is hurting our feelings when he does this. Luiza spent a whole half hour with him in the bathroom (to limit any outside stimulation or distraction), working with him to realize that he can't fuss like that.
By the time I called home, Calvin was now in a much better mood. I asked to say hi to him on the phone. Normally, he follows my lead and answers my yes or no questions. Then he'll tell me something about Thomas or something watching TV. He rarely goes "off script" in our dialogue, just preferring to stick with the good old statements that he knows.
But today, the first thing I hear is a spontaneous, "Hi, Dada, is Ben coming over to play today?" Wow!! That blew my socks off! I said yes, and he said he wants to play trains with Ben. Haha. It is amazing what a little thing like this does to encourage us. It might seem small to most parents, but this was a real-life conversation happening here!! Praise God for His faithfulness to us!!
So, on top of watching his diet (which we had started loosening up on), we are making sure to ask him to stop fussing and letting him know that he is hurting our feelings when he does this. Luiza spent a whole half hour with him in the bathroom (to limit any outside stimulation or distraction), working with him to realize that he can't fuss like that.
By the time I called home, Calvin was now in a much better mood. I asked to say hi to him on the phone. Normally, he follows my lead and answers my yes or no questions. Then he'll tell me something about Thomas or something watching TV. He rarely goes "off script" in our dialogue, just preferring to stick with the good old statements that he knows.
But today, the first thing I hear is a spontaneous, "Hi, Dada, is Ben coming over to play today?" Wow!! That blew my socks off! I said yes, and he said he wants to play trains with Ben. Haha. It is amazing what a little thing like this does to encourage us. It might seem small to most parents, but this was a real-life conversation happening here!! Praise God for His faithfulness to us!!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Christmas and Kindergarten!
This last Christmas, our family received a wonderful surprise: David, my wonderful brother-in-law, secretly invited and paid for my parents to come to Portland to spend Christmas and the New Year with us! It was truly wonderful. We were all so pleasantly shocked by this, and we took full advantage of them being here. On top of that, my wife's brother and his wife came from Brazil for the first time. They had never seen snow before, and they were greeted by the most snow that Portland has seen in over 30 years. We had 4 foot snowdrifts at our house, making for a beautiful white Christmas.
During the Christmas break, Luiza and I prayed about Calvin starting school again. We felt that his social skills had improved to the point where he was constantly wanting to be engaged with people. Volunteers have proved difficult to come by and difficult to keep for any extended length of time, so the therapy time had fallen exclusively on Luiza's (and to a lesser extent my) shoulders. We spoke with Sweetbriar Elementary down the street, and they told us they would be happy to see if they could work with Calvin.
Calvin went in for an interview with Luiza and some staff from the school. They were impressed with Calvin's interaction and how well he used his words. So, they decided that he could be placed in a "typical" classroom, rather than a special-ed classroom. We were thrilled to no end.
So, Monday, January 12th, Calvin went to school. He made it for through the whole classtime, but by the end, he wanted to go home, so the teacher called Luiza to come and pick him up. Since then, he's been staying the entire 3 hours of his class. This gives Luiza a much needed break and allows her to help Brendon with his homeschooling, not to mention just to have a few minutes to have some quiet. We're so proud of our little boy. The teacher was also amazed that he could read every word that she gave him to read. She called him a "delight" to have in her class!
During the Christmas break, Luiza and I prayed about Calvin starting school again. We felt that his social skills had improved to the point where he was constantly wanting to be engaged with people. Volunteers have proved difficult to come by and difficult to keep for any extended length of time, so the therapy time had fallen exclusively on Luiza's (and to a lesser extent my) shoulders. We spoke with Sweetbriar Elementary down the street, and they told us they would be happy to see if they could work with Calvin.
Calvin went in for an interview with Luiza and some staff from the school. They were impressed with Calvin's interaction and how well he used his words. So, they decided that he could be placed in a "typical" classroom, rather than a special-ed classroom. We were thrilled to no end.
So, Monday, January 12th, Calvin went to school. He made it for through the whole classtime, but by the end, he wanted to go home, so the teacher called Luiza to come and pick him up. Since then, he's been staying the entire 3 hours of his class. This gives Luiza a much needed break and allows her to help Brendon with his homeschooling, not to mention just to have a few minutes to have some quiet. We're so proud of our little boy. The teacher was also amazed that he could read every word that she gave him to read. She called him a "delight" to have in her class!
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