Ice cream man reunion

Boy Wonder settled late last night and woke up quite early. He seemed to be in an odd mood, more autistic than ADHD which is a sign that anxiety levels are growing. His fixations and obsessions become more obvious due to the impulsivity and attention deficit taking a side step and the rigidity taking over. At times like this Boy Wonder has quiet periods, only brief but quiet all the same ( this is very unusual!) Boy Wonder spent the morning setting up Cat Girl's dolls house, not playing with it just setting it up. Cat Girl played, Boy Wonder arranged. After lunch we went to get his hair cut. This would usually be a huge chore but the hairdresser is fantastic with him and ensures that no loose hair irritates his skin. He comes out in a rash otherwise and becomes very irritable. She also cuts his hair to his exact specification (this can't be easy!) and all with a smile. Unfortunately we had to go school shoes shopping today. The plimsolls were simple but buying school shoes that last more than a fortnight is practically impossible! Looks like we will be ordering Geox off of the Internet again! According to Boy Wonder these are the shoes that breathe (as quoted off of the advert) however the truth is that these shoes have thick rubber toes which stand up to repetitive wall kicking! The shopping trip was brief and doughnuts were purchased by Super Man for the ultimate bribery. We went to the Grandparents for a BBQ tea where Boy Wonder and Cat Girl met with their cousins. Cat Girl played with her two cousins of about the same age whilst Boy Wonder and the cousin who is the same age as him practiced at being teenagers. Boy Wonder heard the distance sound of the ice cream man and ran, cousins following after him. He tracked it down and we bought ice creams. This is the same ice cream man that comes onto our street at home. Boy Wonder hasn't seen him since returning from holiday so they had a catch up chat and he came away with a very large ice cream as did his cousins. It's not what you know ..... We came home and a very tired Cat Girl went to bed without fuss. Boy Wonder settled down with Mine Craft but is still wide awake and restless.....

Back to Reality!

Well, I have had a child free day today as I went to work! I got up early and thought that I would start early to finish early but that didn't happen. Boy Wonder and Cat Girl woke up as I left, still on Bulgarian time. Super Man was hoping for a lie in but this was not to be! Cat Girl was very excited about fetching the kittens from the Cattery and Boy Wonder jumped straight onto Mine Craft as soon as his eyes were open. We have never had to restrict computer games before because his attention span didn't allow for addiction but maybe this is something to be more aware of now that his ADHD is more controlled. Although at work I spent some time taking and receiving phone calls about Boy Wonder. One was with his Consultant Paediatrician about altering his ADHD medication to a longer acting one now that he appears to have taken to this type of medication without side affects. This will help with his school day and take away the problem of administering medication at school which they state is against procedure. Mmmmm..... The second call was to arrange for Boy Wonder to see the school Doctor so that she can write a report for his statutory assessment. I never knew that such a role existed before today! It makes me wonder sometimes if other parents seem to spend as much time at medical appointments and meetings as we do. Next month we have four scheduled appointments for Boy Wonder. Crazy really, it's a good job that I have a very understanding boss! It's a pity that the school attendance policy isn't as flexible! Do appointments lessen as the child gets older and more supported or do they increase as the number of professionals involved increases? I returned from work with pizza and we had tea. I got a full account of how the kittens had been after being collected from the Cattery and how Super Man had been teaching them (the children, not the kittens) how to be responsible! In particular, tidying up after themselves. I do this with them daily but because Daddy was 'in charge'today, it was seen by Boy Wonder as a new skill! This evening Boy Wonder sang to us a song that he had written and composed music to. He printed out the words for us and signed his autograph on them at the end. Very cute! Throughout the evening he complained of tummy ache and when it came to bedtime he was very upset and anxious and so ended up settling down, downstairs with me. This is something that he hasn't done for a while now but is a clear sign of raised anxiety. Wonderful :-)

The Journey Home

Breakfast was swift this morning as we had to leave the resort by 11am to get to the airport. The taxi option was certainly the best except for the cramped conditions of six passengers and luggage in a people carrier!  Once at the airport the staff were exceptional. We had a member of staff direct us through every part of the process which avoided all queues. Boy Wonder coped well because of this and before we knew it we were sat on the plane and settled. The flight itself was good, he kept himself entertained with electronic games, kinder eggs and a puzzle book. He also did his numerous trips to the toilet!  As the plane was coming in to land Boy Wonder's excitement started to bubble. He was singing songs from the musical Matilda which unfortunately consisted of the phrases 'I have suffered endless days in this jail' and 'there's no escaping this tragedy!' He didn't seem to see the problem with this. He became distracted by the plane lowering and realised that the engine out of his window was slowing ( he could see the fan). He felt that it was necessary to announce this and add in for good measure that we were going to crash! It was one of those times that I just couldn't shut him up ! I attempted reasoning with him by explaining that the engine was fine but he was having none of it. He stated that the engine was a lot faster before and it had definitely slowed down. He went on to ask what would happen if it stopped, would we crash and belly flop? My intervention was making it worse.... With huge relief we landed safely with no incident and was quickly escorted off of the plane . Passport control and luggage was fairly painless and the taxi was waiting. Boy Wonder was really high in mood now and was attempting to run off as we got out into the car park. We quickly shoved him into the taxi and let him sing and thrash around on the back seat to his heart's content.  It wasn't until later that I realised that Boy Wonder's medication would have a two hour extension on the day to stretch across, this wasn't going to happen and so therefore it was unlikely that he would calm any time soon. Luckily a two week deprivation of Mine Craft plugged the gap and after a late tea he played happily on this until he fell to sleep.

Banished Boy!!

The last day of the holiday before leaving tomorrow morning. Boy Wonder awoke late and full of energy that he couldn't contain. At breakfast he was up and down from the table like a yo yo. We managed to keep him still long enough to eat a slice of toast.

We had decided to go to a local town today to get the last of the gifts and to have a look around. Due to Boy Wonder's high and impulsive mood we caught a taxi rather than the bus. The little town was beautiful with shops and a harbour. Boy Wonder was really struggling with spacial awareness and keeping out of the way of cars so a tight grip was necessary. As there were only a few shops it didn't take long so we went down to the harbour with an ice cream. It was so hot that we had s drink at the beach cafe and got a taxi back to the complex.

Super Man took Boy Wonder and Cat Girl down to the pool as I packed, We then went to the aqua park for the final time . Boy Wonder had one of his 'cold' spells after about an hour and didn't go in again. Everyone except Cat Girl was a little fed up of water by now.
We came back to the apartment and had a break from the sun. I emailed Boy Wonder's Consultant Psychiatrist with an update before his appointment on Friday and the children were introduced to the good old 'Tom &Jerry' cartoons courtesy of Bulgarian tv.

We spent the final evening having tea and then played some arcade games. Boy Wonder had some fire crackers to use up which are little bits of stick that produce sparks and a crackling noise when you strike your foot over them. Numerous children had been playing with these during the course of the holiday without problem. However tonight had to be different. As Boy Wonder started striking them in a space away from seating, a lady became very animated in her response to them. We couldn't understand her but it seemed that she thought they were dangerous. Really !! We told Boy Wonder to move away from her and then a man did exactly the same thing! Boy Wonder was banished from the large patio area to the lower patio which was empty to finish them. The funny thing was that the children from the patio area followed Boy Wonder to get a closer look at what he was doing. We worked out that these people had either been hidden away for the last two weeks or it was their first night and therefore they would need to get over their irrational fear of fire crackers!

We returned to the apartment and had a fairly settled night which was a bonus!

Bulgarian snakes and a hole in the floor kinda day

An early start this morning enabled us to benefit from chocolate croissants, nice cake and cold milk! We then went off to meet the jeep for the safari.
To say this trip was merely a gap filler it was exceptional. A lot more off roading than on the previous trip and wow this man can drive! Boy Wonder shrieked with excitement as we dived into the dried out river bed, and out the other side! We spent a lot of time on two wheels and hanging onto the bench seats and roll bars. The slight problem here was that it wasn't our intention to heighten Boy Wonder's senses twice in a week, this trip had been sold to us as a 'sight seeing tour!' It certainly was that and much, much more.

We went through Bulgarian mountain villages, saw lots of different animals and creatures including a snake in the road. Boy Wonder was amazed by this and as we stopped on top of the mountain, he asked the guide what type it was? She said it was a Smoka but didn't know the English translation. Boy Wonder insisted that I googled it and wasn't taking no for an answer. We found out that it was Bulgarian for Grass snake much to his disappointment. I never thought that google would be required on top of a mountain but hey ho.
We stopped off for drinks at an ostrich farm which was very traditional. There were three ladies selling woollen socks which they sold to us with great skill to say it was 30+ degrees! Cat Girl made friends with a cat, Super Man fell off of an old metal framed seesaw which the three ladies found hilarious ( but of course we didn't laugh!) and Boy Wonder befriended a puppy that he attempted to train to 'sit.' I don't think the dog understood English so struggled with the command but Boy Wonder was determined and eventually managed it, albeit very briefly. We felt a little sorry for the puppy but happy for the distraction which meant that Boy Wonder had stopped talking at us about 'everything!'

We moved on to another place for lunch and was greeted by a gentleman handing us bread and dipping spices and salt. We were informed that this was a Bulgarian welcome tradition. Lunch was served alongside home made Brandy and a bottle of beer. They know how to treat their guests!
We had a look around the little museum of a traditional Bulgarian home and wine cellar before having a go at shooting with an air rifle at hanging plastic bottles. Boy Wonder was surprisingly good at this as was his Daddy and the Scottish man that was with us. It got a little competitive to say the least ! Unfortunately the hole in the ground toilets stole the show for Boy Wonder who was absolutely fascinated by such a concept.
The final part of the journey consisted of lots of talk about WWE wrestling as the Scottish lady made the very BIG mistake of telling Boy Wonder that she watched it with her Grandson. We attempted to move the conversation on and ended up getting back onto the snake subject, oh well!

After the jeep safari we went back into the complex for a drink. It was obvious that Boy Wonder was tetchy and anxious so we made this brief and returned to the apartment. After some down time he appeared to calm but his hyper/anxious mood re-escalated rapidly as we went for tea. If I said that he sat down for more than a minute during tea this would be exaggerating. He was up and down so frequently that he barely ate a thing. He did however attempt to flood the toilets by jamming the plug hole of the sink with tissue and leaving the tap on. But still with an ounce of control at this point, went back and rectified the situation.
We gave up tea as a bad job and went ten pin bowling. They were not equipped for children at all as they had no buffers and no ramp , all the balls were also heavy and their shoes were in adult sizes only. Therefore the children played with bare feet and a great deal of adult assistance that Boy Wonder would not accept and consequently lost!

Now those of you with autistic children will know that this combination of events is the perfect recipe for meltdown and some of you will be wondering why it hasn't happened already?! As parents of autistic children we will at times accept the inevitable and go through the motions of a meltdown because there isn't always a way back. This was one of those times. It was a case of peaking to come down and I wore a dress for the occasion! After wrenching him out of bowling and into a quiet area, I attempted reasoning. This didn't have any real affect except for moving him on to the next problem - no Minecraft on his iPhone. He demanded an immediate download which wasn't going to happen even if we felt the need as much as he did , because there wasn't a sufficient wifi connection.
I walked Boy Wonder back to the apartment, holding him by the wrist to prevent any running off. He was very anxious and flighty. Back in the safety net of the apartment he sat on the top bunk kicking his feet about, reciting the book 'Chimpanzees of Happy Town' his favourite feel good book. He wasn't safe on the top bunk so I suggested that he sleep next to me. With a period of firm hold 'hug ' he fell to sleep. It was very late!

The start of pre-school anxiety ......

A lazy morning this morning as Boy Wonder was complaining of tummy ache. It may be down to the food, water abroad thing but I'm not convinced. It is more likely to be the 'week before school starts' anxiety tummy. Super Man took him back to the apartment for a cool down whilst Cat Girl and I went to see the rep and booked a jeep safari trip for tomorrow in hope that it would suitably distract Boy Wonder from his anxiety build up. I also really struggle with this 'relaxing ' lark so welcomed the opportunity to do something ! We then went to the little shops and bought Super Man a new cap as his other was left on the off road trip.

After some cooling off time we went for lunch. The drinks were being served in plastic cups much to Boy Wonder's disgust. He said he would get glass ones when they came out and give us all one. I told him not to worry about it but he went off a bit later and came back with hot glasses straight out of the dishwasher and told us to use them. We thanked him but said that they were hot so we would stick with the plastic ones. He walked off into the dining area which was very busy. Unsure of where he was heading we gave him a couple of minutes and Super Man headed over to the desserts to get him. However, Boy Wonder had been upset by us not using the glasses and had consequently hid. Super Man found him crouched down at the end of the dessert table and brought him out. I spoke with Boy Wonder about us being worried about him when he hides. He said that we had made him angry so he sat down at his favourite place and sang his dolphin song to calm himself down. He stated that he knew that we were looking for him as Daddy had walked past him four times. I asked him why he didn't shout to Daddy and he said that he couldn't as he hadn't finished his song! On that note we headed off down to the beach to make sand sculptures.

Boy Wonder appeared a bit calmer this afternoon and we made a sand sculpture of a dolphin ( see the photo on the face book page). https://www.facebook.com/pages/Autism-The-Life-of-a-Superhero/559661697404852 However after a swim in the sea and practicing his ballet in the sea he wandered off down the beach and promptly wee'd on someone's sand castle! This was a very odd thing for Boy Wonder to do as he is very 'rule' led and will only usually wee in the toilet. However, he had gone a few yards down the beach and got out his tinky and wee 'd right in front of an astonished group of people! On this occasion the language barrier saved us from having to explain the unexplainable and even Boy Wonder didn't seem to know why he had done it, except that he needed a wee.

We went back for showers before going out to our favourite restaurant ( well worth the money too !) Boy Wonder has started chewing again today, the towels mainly but it is becoming very noticeable. I think my earlier suggestion of him becoming more anxious is probably correct, it may go someway to explaining the odd behaviour too. The baby talk in third person has also returned and the spacial awareness has regressed further.

The food at the restaurant was lovely and the kids had chocolate milkshake cocktails. It was at this point that Nanna told Boy Wonder her favourite riddle - What can go up a chimney down but can't go down a chimney up? I will let you work it out but needless to say that Boy Wonder didn't get it at all!

They went on the bouncy dinosaur before bed, an early night tonight as we have a big day tomorrow!  

Brotherly Love!

Once up and about we went to the pool and met with the off roading family for a splash about before they left for the airport. The boys played nicely for quite a while in and out of the pool so much so that we had a late lunch. We then said goodbye to the family and Boy Wonder proceeded to do a count down for when they would arrive home .

This afternoon Boy Wonder and Cat Girl attempted their first children's club which consisted of a pirate treasure hunt and a show in the evening. Boy Wonder was given explicit instruction to look after his sister but knowing that this was unlikely we were reassured that the staff would keep a close eye on her. They walked around the beach in search of treasure and ate their booty on the way back to the activity room. They were both very excited about the show in the evening so we went for an early tea. Boy Wonder went into 'actor' mode and the whole thing became very serious!

The show was good fun, the staff being very enthusiastic and very good with the children. The children were split into two teams to battle against each other. Boy Wonder was the head of his team and was very much in character! Cat Girl was participating and smiling but seemed a little overwhelmed. We signalled to Boy Wonder to check on her but he failed to respond to us as we wasn't part of the show!

At the end of the show all the children went back stage to change. Boy Wonder was one of the first back out. I asked him where Cat Girl was and he looked at me with puzzlement and said that he had forgotten all about her. I asked him to go and find her and bring her out to us. When Cat Girl came out she appeared happy but made it clear that Boy Wonder wouldn't have anything to do with her and she was being looked after by a big girl.

We came back to the apartment to settle down for the evening. We got a message from the off road family to say that they had arrived home safely. Boy Wonder was relieved by this as he had mentioned them a least hourly from the point of saying goodbye! I don't know what he thought could happen and wasn't going to ask him.