On Sept. 14th we celebrated Lowell's 5th birthday with a party and a Max and Ruby "worm cake". It was so fun to see Lowell really get that it was his special day and enjoy it with friends and family.
We have had a busy fall. Lowell does not have school on Friday morning's so we've made a really fun routine of getting together with my parents and enjoying the glorious fall-time weather here in the twin cities. We've enjoyed trips to the farmer's market, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, several apple orchards, the Minnesota Zoo. The kids have fared well and really enjoy our field trips.
On Saturday, September 20th we particpated for the second year in the Autism Speaks Walk Now for Autism fundraiser. Our family raised over $1600. A sincere thank you to those that donated.
The walk took place on the horse track at Canterbury Downs.
Lowell is doing very, very well with his new schedule. After graduating from his Autism Day Treatment program, he is now in an inclusion room three mornings a week at St. David's. He seems to be fitting into the class very well and continues to make great strides. He also attends an integrated preschool room in the afternoons. Great reports all around so far. We are thrilled!Hope you've having a great fall!
I think he enjoyed looking at the bees the most. Pretty cool.
Sometimes it's nice to have a few mellow moments just strumming the guitar. Lowell is starting one-on-one music lessons with the music therapist he has in his treatment program. I think he'll really enjoy it.
and that means lawn mowing time! Lowell has been mimicking Joe's every move and enjoys doing work outside. There's plenty to do this time of year! 
Last week I started some seeds in a tray with the kids. They enjoyed planting and watering the seeds. They will eventually go into a small kids garden we plan to have this year.
We are doing the Autism Speaks WALK NOW FOR AUTISM again this year. It's on my birthday, September 20th! Our family web page for the event is 
As you can see here, he was a man on a mission.
I've been making lots of phone calls and having meetings regarding what his school schedule will look like come fall. He will stay in his current integrated preshool through the school district in the afternoon and so I'm trying to fit the pieces together for him to get what he needs in the morning. It has been difficult for me to think that he's going to go away from theraputic, controlled setting of his treatement program cold turky. I am so very, very proud of him and how far he's come, but of course deep down inside I'm the mama bear wanting to make sure he's getting what he needs. It seems like we've come up with a good plan. He will have Mon., Wed. and Fri. mornings home with Chloe and I. That will be a wonderful treat to have him around more for this last year before kindergarten. Yes, I said kindergarten...ahhh!!:) On Tue. and Thur. he will be a regular pre-school room at the same school he's been at, but will have the added support of a respite teacher. That should be a wonderful transition to get ready for school. He will be with kids his own age, at a place that is very familiar to him, with the support that he needs. We will also obtain private speech a few times a week. So we are excited that the future is looking bright and keep reminding ourselves that this is what we have been working towards. This is what early intervention is all about. Change is good:)
Lowell was great about meeting santa, Chloe...not so much.
The holidays are here! Wow...what a year this has been for Lowell. A GREAT year....dare I say, his best year yet!
So last Saturday we put him in underwear. He had been in underwear before for short chunks of time, just to see if he was going to have any sensory issues. Everything seemed fine. We put him on the potty about every 10 min. and he went a few times that first morning. He definitely didn't like the feeling and when he was about to go he would start to cry. We knew that it would take some adjustment and the more he went in the potty and got used to the feeling, the better. She went in his pants several times as well. He wasn't really aware that the underwear was not a diaper and didn't seem to care. So the first day was 10 min. off the potty, 5 min. on. It was a long day....
By the second day, he seemed to understand "holding it" a bit better. We waited him out several times on the potty knowing that he needed to go and didn't want him to get off and immediately go in his pants. By the end of the weekend we felt he had come a long way, but had no idea what was in store for him...and us...at school the next day.
We raised about $1000 for a wonderful cause. Thanks so much for all your contributions and support. It is very much appreciated!
He was interested in opening gifts for the first time ever. 
What do you suppose was in this GIANT box?
He is doing extremely well with his new "all day" schedule. He is in the Autism Day Treatment program in the morning, same as usual. Now in the afternoon from 1-3 pm he goes to an integrated pre-school where half the class is "typically developing" kids and the other half is special needs kids. We have been getting glowing reports about him playing very well with the other kids, using lots of language and lots of great interaction. Yay! We are thrilled to hear that this is working out. He seems to be in a wonderful phase right now. Hope it keeps up! However tonight he had a terrible trip at the park as he was running up some stairs to go down the slide. He split open his chin. The cut does not look deep, but some skin was definitely shaved off and there was lots of blood. Ouch!!! He's a tough kid and handled it pretty well.
As the summer draws closer to fall Lowell has gotten out of the August difficult period (same thing happened 
As you can see from these photos, we made it to the State Fair this year. It seemed pretty over-stimulating for Lowell and fans in the buildings really set him off, but he did really enjoy the tractors on machinery hill! He had to make sure his seat belt was securely fastened:) We feel it's a good exercise to expose him to some new experiences.
