And then there was Cali

I knew Cali had Autism before she was a year old. What I didn't know was how completely different her autism would be from Brenden's. Cali still progresses and develops, but much slower. Although she is 8, she is actually closer to a 2 year old mentally. She is my eternal child. Those who know her will often hear me say she is "with the fairies". The most special thing about Cali, is her joy. She truly lives for joy and finds it in every moment. Now don't be fooled....she is one hell of a little stinker at times and has the capability to make Godzilla's havoc on Japan look like child's play. But all things considered, her pure joy completely outweighs everything else. Unlike many children on the spectrum, she absolutely craves physical attention. She feeds off of it. Wrestling, tickle fights, or simply a good squeeze is all she needs to completely light her up. Of course, being so physical comes with it's downside too. Her little body is unique in the sense that she barely feels pain. And because of this, requires a much more intense form of physical activity to feel stimulated. It also means that by the time she starts acting sick or hurt.....it's usually pretty dang bad. On top of that, she continues to grow, while I do not....well, not in the ways I want to at least. Have you ever tried wrestling with a 70lb 8 year old that thought they were still as small as a 2 year old. Let me tell you, it's not exactly easy. But, as she develops, I just keep finding more and more ways to keep giving her what she needs. Cali will be my little baby forever...you often hear mothers say that, "Can't you just stay my little baby forever?" In my case, I get to have that. She will always be my little fairy child, my happy little love bug.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

And the Chaos within me found balance

"She builds others up because she knows what it's like to be torn down." How many times a day do we use the words I, fair, mine, right, etc.? How many times a day are we annoyed, offended, irritated? And how much energy do we waste on those feelings every day, or yet, how much of that negative energy to we transfer to those we come in contact with? Think about it, it takes just a second from your mood to go from happy to irritated, annoyed, angry. Just a second, something as simple as a dirty look, getting cut off in traffic, having your mail shoved into your mailbox, etc. Now granted, we're all human and it's normal to get bugged. The problem with that, is how long we hold onto those feelings and how many people we transfer them to.  "Be the type of person that makes everyone you come across feel perfectly okay with being exactly who they are." I live in a place that is known to be fairly "sheltered". I didn't grow up here, in...
Read more

All I could do was sit, wait, and hope.

*This post isn't motivational, humorous or uplifting. But I needed to get my feelings out. If this serves no purpose but that, I will have succeeded. However if there are other parents out there who have gone through or are still going through similar experiences, I hope it helps to know that you aren't alone. I welcome any and all feedback.  It's always sudden, out of nowhere, and when you least expect it. You never think it's going to happen to you, and you're never prepared for it.  " There is no pain greater than to be helpless in the face of a loved ones suffering." On September 25, 2017 at 6:52 pm, my daughter Cali started having a seizure. She had continuous seizures until 9:15pm with the longest one lasting over 45 minutes. The doctors and nurses were constantly working to try and stop the seizure but it just kept going. It's amazing what that kind of adrenaline does to a parent. I remember sitting on the side of her bed, holding her...
Read more

There I was, blood all over the walls, pants around my ankles...HELP!

Image
My girl Cali goes through various phases of interests, or rather OCD obsessions. Nothing off limits, from having to skip sideways every 3 steps, to having to touch everything, to my favorite the snip snip phase. Bear in mind, Cali is extremely strong willed, hardly feels pain, and is the child that will continue to do what you tell her not to do, even after she gets hurt by it.  Cali started the snip snip phase about a year ago, and nothing was safe. She would cut up EVERYTHING! Boots, toys, bedding, purses, toys, doll hair, and yep, her hair. No amount of telling her "no" would work. I tried time outs, flicking her hand, showing her what she did, but still, if she found scissors, she would "snip snip".  So my next step was to hide the scissors. I've hidden them under clothes, on top of cabinets, even taped behind the toilet. She somehow found them everytime....until I hid them under some food in the freezer, finally, I could put an end to the "snip sni...
Read more