Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Andrew's Birthday


Today is our Andrew's birthday. He is 6 years old.
As you can see from this picture Andrew was born a little early and under trying circumstances. Poor little boy. Poor tired family. It put them through the wringer. Of course we were living in Colorado and were only of marginal help. I was able to go down for a week. To show you how confused my thinking gets I can't remember if we went down twice? Someone remind me. I know we were there while he was still in Slidell in the hospital. Then I know he went to Children's Hospital in New Orleans and then he came home. I don't remember if I was there for the week to help while he was in Slidell? Or were both of those times the same. Whew. I better do more crossword puzzles.
We also went down for his Blessing. But I do remember going down and there was a hurricane coming. Iris, I think?
(One side note story: When Adrienne and I went with the children to John Slidell Park to fill sandbags we left the boys in the car. Wouldn't you know it that Taylor locked Andrew, a preemie needing special attention in the car. Taylor thought it was great to have the police come to open the door. Of course, Adrienne and I did not.)
Jared went on a business trip. Robert came at the end of the week but he was not there either WHEN ADRIENNE AND I HAD TO SANDBAG!!!! I had never filled or used sandbags the whole 21 years we lived in Louisiana so this was a new experience. It's a good thing we had them too.
Anyway, Andrew is growing up. He is very bright and uses big words in a combination that most adults don't. Beth said that one time he also brought her a blanket to put over her legs to make her more comfortable. He is very intense too and we found out that he has a form of autism. Asperger's Syndrome.

"Asperger syndrome (AS), one of the autistic spectrum disorders, is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by an inability to understand how to interact socially. AS is commonly recognized after the age of 3. People with high-functioning autism are generally distinguished from those with AS because autism is associated with marked early language delay. Other characteristics of AS include clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements, limited interests or unusual preoccupations, repetitive routines or rituals, speech and language peculiarities, and non-verbal communication problems. Generally, children with AS have few facial expressions. Many have excellent rote memory, and become intensely interested in one or two subjects (sometimes to the exclusion of other topics). They may talk at length about a favorite subject or repeat a word or phrase many times. Children with AS tend to be self-absorbed, have difficulty making friends, and are preoccupied with their own interests."

Andrew's parents suspected for a while that he had autism. After he was diagnosed they got to work on getting him the attention needed. So he has an occupational therapist, I believe and an aid at school.
He is a cute little boy and we love him alot. We watch with vivid interest the progress he makes and want to learn what we can do to help him and his parents and siblings as well.



Andrew and Poppa at the Denver Temple Visitor Annex.









Happy Birthday Andrew! I tried to call you tonight but the phone was acting weird. I hope you had a fantastic day and that your present arrived! We love you.

2 comments:

adrienne said...

You and Dad both came the week after he was born from Sunday-Thursday to help us out. Then you came back in September to help me while Jared was gone for the week on business. That was the week of the hurricane. Dad was somewhere on business and then flew in, then Jared flew in, then the others flew in for the blessing. I couldn't have survived that hurricane without you! Thank you!

The phone was acting weird because Jared decided we needed a new router and server and so went out and bought them and was setting everything up so the phone was on and off all night while he was doing that. I'm not that thrilled with him right now. I know how you feel when Dad comes home with new gadgets!

adrienne said...

PS- thanks for reminding me of you guys coming when he was in the NICU! I went back and added that into my blog so he knows that you guys were there helping him along. Oh! I need to add in there too that Jared, Dad, and my dad gave him a blessing while he was in the NICU. Thanks for jogging my memory!