Merry Christmas!

Yesterday was Christmas Day, we ate good food and exchanged presents and talked to family on FaceTime.  Here are some pictures from our day.

Grammy arrived with an arm full of presents.

Mom gave Nick a canvas print of a picture of Nick running with grammy in the background.

Grammy made Nick an album of family pictures.

Nick got new puzzles and he finished them by himself in his room.

Here is Nick having FaceTime with cousin Ryder.

For dinner we made potato latkes!

We gave grammy a giant canvas of a picture with her grandchildren.  She said, "this was my favorite present of all!"

Happy Hanukkah!

Today Liza came to visit, she said "Happy Hanukkah!" and she had a present for Nick.  She gave Nick a new patriotic hat and a card she bought from the holiday card sale at the high school.

Here are pictures from Liza's visit, the card made by one of Nick's classmates, and Nick lighting the Hanukkah candles at night.

Hello Christmas Tree!

Last Friday was one of Nick's favorite days of the year, the day we go to The Dees Nursery to buy the Christmas Tree.

Nick was happy to be back at Dees!

It was a cold day and it took awhile to find the perfect tree.  Nick watched the men put the tree in the machine to tie it up with twine.

 The tree looks nice decorated in our living room.

Nick also has a little tree in his room.  He decorated it with Lego blocks.  Nick tried to put the Lego blocks on the big tree but mom said, "Lego blocks only on the little tree please!"

We set out Nick's snowman collection on the little shelves in the kitchen.

Here is a picture of Nick and grammy in their holiday hats looking out the window after all our decorating work was done!

Nature Walk

On Friday after Thanksgiving we took a nature walk at Levy Nature Preserve.  We did the 1.6 mile walk together.  Grammy did the whole walk, although sometimes Nick was walking too fast, but he stopped at the benches to let us catch up with him!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year grammy was with us for Thanksgiving. 

Here are some pictures from our day:

• Our favorite side dishes on the counter
• Grammy making apple crisp for dessert
• Nick sitting impatiently at the table before dinner
• FaceTime with cousins Henry, Katie and Ryder

The Muralist

Today grammy arrived for her holiday visit.  She was so surprised to see how much the mural has grown in Nick's room.  While mom and grammy were in the kitchen we heard Nick working, we went into the room and saw that Nick was adding extensions of pictures to his mural. 

He was very pleased with his work!

Holiday Card Sale

This week Nick participated in the Holiday Card Sale at the Long Beach High School.  Mom found these pictures on the district website.  And today, Liza brought Nick one of the cards designed by his friend Manny!

Nick's old movies

Lately Nick has been looking at old pictures and asking for a VHS player.  Mom and dad tell Nick no one makes VHS players anymore, he can watch DVDs and movies on YouTube.

This weekend mom was in the attic and found a box we have not seen since before the hurricane.  It had a big black book that had Nick's old DVD collection.  Mom said, "I hope this will make you happy to see these old movies again!"

Halloween Dance

Tonight was the Best Pals Halloween Dance at the Long Beach High School.  Mom takes Nick to the dance every year.  This year, when we had to pick out a costume, mom said to Nick, "you seem to like dad's shirt with Abraham Lincoln on it, maybe we can make that your costume?"

We looked online and found a hat and beard so we ordered it.  Today Nick wore the shirt and the hat and beard as a funny homage to President Lincoln.

School Picture

On Friday, Nick came home with his school picture.  Mom said, "wow, what a beautiful smile, you look so handsome!"

Nick's pool is closed

At the end of September we have to close the pool because it is too cold.  On Friday night Nick had his last evening swim.  The next day he came home from AHRC and the cover was on the pool, it was closed. 

Nick took out his calendar and showed mom and dad that the pool should be closed in October, and Saturday was still September 30th.  Mom and dad said we had to do the work on Saturday, Nick will go to the pool at the JCC until June when we open Nick's pool again.

Getting ready for school pictures

This week the Long Beach High School took class pictures.  Dad took Nick for a haircut and mom picked out a nice shirt for Nick to wear.

Mom showed Nick his school pictures dating back to 2007.  Mom said "you don't smile often in your pictures, try to give us a nice smile this year!"

FaceTime with Grammy

Tonight mom and Nick did FaceTime with grammy.  We were both making dinner in our kitchens and talking about our week.  Grammy said to Nick, "I loved your surfing pictures and I'm glad you are happy to be back at school!"

Surfer's Healing

This week mom and dad went to meet Nick's class at Lido Beach for the Surfer's Healing event.  We met up with Nick and Kristin and watched Nick do a great job on three surfing runs!

 

Smile for Selfies!

Last week was the first day of school.  Nick was up early and waiting on the porch for the school bus. Mom came outside and said, "you look so happy, let's take a selfie!"

Later that night Nick was still happy about going back to school.  Mom took another selfie to remember this day.

Good-bye Grammy

A few weeks ago grammy gave Nick this little sign with letters for his birthday.  Yesterday she packed up her car and left Long Beach to go home.  She took the sign and made Nick this good-bye message.

The Grandchild Tour

This summer, grammy took a trip to visit all of her grandchildren.

First she came to Long Beach to visit Nick for his birthday.  Then she went to California to visit Henry and Katie for a week, and then she took another airplane to see Ryder.

Then grammy came back to Long Beach before going home.  She shared her favorite pictures from her trip, including a picture of mommy and Aunt Stefani and Aunt Nicole on their vacation together.

Sunbathing Toys

Today mom and dad saw that Nick put some of his today in the pool.  He lined them up on the pool chair,  they were floating around in the sun.  Mom thought this was so funny and took this picture.

Patriotic Gifts

Today our friend Liza came by and gave Nick a birthday present.  Liza gave Nick a USA t-shirt, a flag print baseball cap, and a postcard from Times Square New York!  

Nick was all smiles and put on his new shirt and hat.  But he would not smile when mom asked him to pose for a 

Birthday Cupcakes

Today Grammy arrived for her summer visit.  She and Nick have birthdays eight days apart, and they share their birthday cake every year.  This year, mom bought them their own cupcakes - rainbow sprinkles for Nick and lemon for grammy.

Happy Birthday Nick!

Today is Nick's birthday!  We asked Nick where he wanted to go for dinner to celebrate, Nick chose The Outback Steakhouse.

Here is Nick at the restaurant.  He was very happy and enjoyed his chicken quesadilla and coconut shrimp dinner.

Then we stopped at the playground and Nick played on the swings.

We ended the night at the new ice cream shop in the West End.  Nick ordered Birthday Cake ice cream with rainbow sprinkles.

Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck

Last week Nick did something big kids do.  He went away to sleep away camp!

Mom made Nick a picture schedule, it said he would sleep at camp from Sunday to Friday.   Every day, dad would call to get a report about Nick.  They said he liked the pool and the swings, and he was eating dinner with his new friends and slept well in the bunk.

Here are some pictures from camp.  Nick was happy when we packed up the car and arrived, but then he got quiet and serious when mom and dad left.  Marc was Nick's counselor, he took care of Nick during the week.  When mom and dad came back on Friday, Nick was happy in the car ride home.

Mom and dad said, "we missed you very much and we are so proud of you!"

Celebrate 4th of July!

Nick loves the patriotic holidays.  He decorates the house with flags and flag inspired crafts, and he has a large t-shirt collection too.

Usually we watch the Long Beach fireworks from the boardwalk, but this year we walked to Riverside Blvd., got ice cream from a Good Humor truck, and then put our blanket down and watched the sunset and waited for the fireworks.

There was a full moon and it was a beautiful night.  The town was full of people visiting for the festivities.  Here are some pictures from our 4th of July holiday.

Blue Man Group

Today we went to Cambridge to the Charles Playhouse theater to see Blue Man Group.

Grammy bought Nick a t-shirt and picture book.  The men did not speak but the show was very loud and colorful.  They played drums, and three giant iPhones on the stage, and had light shows and video screens.  We had a great time and Nick got to meet one of the Blue men after the show!

A day with Grammy

On our visit to Massachusetts, Nick got time to visit with Grammy.

Nick has been asking to go to the store Savers on this trip. He wanted to find a player to show VHS tapes.  Mom told Nick they might not have any in the store and they did not.  

We spent some time in Grammy's apartment.  She took lots of pictures of Nick on this visit.

Nick is too big to lie down on the couch, Grammy kept asking him to move his big feet so she could sit down too.

We went for dinner at the British Beer Company.  We like to eat there because we can sit outside and see the gardens and trees.

A visit to Massachusetts

Now that school is done for the year, we took Nick on a road trip to Massachusetts to visit Grammy.

Nick was happy on the long drive, and he was especially happy to arrive at the Residence Inn Marriott Hotel.

Nick has his own bed on a pull out couch.

He set up his computer on the pillows nearby so he had everything arranged to his liking!

Adventureland!

This week Nick and his class went on a field trip to Adventureland!

When the permission slip came home, mom said, "what good news, this is your favorite place to visit!"

Nick's teacher sent home a message that Nick had a great time.  He even went on a roller coaster called Turbulence!  Here are some pictures of Nick and Kristin having fun at Adventureland.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Today was daddy's birthday.  He spent most of the day starting to get Nick's pool ready for swimming.  It took a long time and dad will have to do more work tomorrow.

In the evening we gave daddy a flying saucer ice cream sandwich with a candle on top instead of a big cake.  Nick and mom even bought dad a funny card.

Memorial Day Weekend

Last week mom was working far away.  When mom came home, we did special things together.

We took a long walk on the Long Beach boardwalk.  We saw the new restaurants and people enjoying the first weekend of summer.  Our spring Iris flowers are in full bloom, and we went to the garden center to star planning our summer garden.  And of course, we decorated the house for the patriotic holiday.  We have Nick's red, white and blue flags displayed throughout the living room!

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day.  Nick made mom beautiful cards at school and AHRC.  Nick and dad bought mom a beautiful lily flower pot.

Mom said, "thank you for these beautiful cards and flower pot, I love them!"

Kinky Boots

Today we went to see an Autism Friendly performance of Kinky Boots, sponsored by Theater Development Fund (TDF).

Grammy came back to New York to see the show with us.  We had a great time and loved the show!

Here are some pictures from our day.

Farewell Picture

This week grammy told Nick, "I am going home, it has been  wonderful month visiting you!  We had lots of time together; eating dinners, watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, going to playgrounds and walking in town."

Nick and grammy had a big hug.  Then grammy said, "don't worry, I will be back in a week so we can go to the theater to see Kinky Boots!"