Big Plans for us

We have big plans coming up in the house.  A few days ago my sister called to see if I would come to Utah for Christmas this year.  We haven't been back to Utah in 2 years and with Jay deployed I've been concerend about traveling with the kids by my self.  That is where my sister presented her arguements for us coming came in.  She told me that my mom is willing to fly out here to San Diego and drive back to Utah with me and then do the same on the trip home.  My family doesn't want us to be alone for Christmas this year, espceially since Jay is deployed and will be missing Christmas with us this year.  Its the first time he's missed so many holidays and events with our family.  Well after much discussion with Becca and then talking with Jay the decsion was made: we're coming to Utah for Christmas.  We'll be there for about 2 weeks and be able to see most of the family and just have a good time back in Utah for Christmas.  The kids have cousins and aunts and uncles to see and Grandparents to spoil them which they love.  So come this December we'll be coming to Utah!

ABA

Kaden has been doing ABA therapy for about 3 weeks now and we're already starting to see some changes in him. We learned last week that he is a Visual Learner which was a break through for me. Everything that is done in ABA is done with visualizations which is helping him more than ever. He has a schedule, both ABA and normal, all done with pictures and the words underneath them that he can visually see what to expect. That has done wonders for his ability to comply with requests. He loves his tutors and honestly so do I. The two gals that come in each week are absolutely wonderful and he works so well with them.
I'm not part of ABA at this point, though occasionally I can peek into his room and see what they are up to. Because I am also trying to Potty train him with the help of ABA we created a Token Chart where for each time he uses the potty for pooping, instead of his underwear (he wears underwear during the day while home and training pants for nights and school) he gets to place a sticker on the picture of the toliet and when he fills up the chart he gets a reward of a movie that he wants really bad. Its already showing signs of working, though we still have accidents and loads of laundry for me to do. He is starting to listen to me for the first time in years and overall he is so much happier now that he has the ability to communicate. I can't wait to see what comes next with his ABA.

Port Call: Singapore

A few weeks back Jay was hitting another port, Singapore.  They did this port during his very first deployment and he didn't enjoy it much, this time was a different story.  He had a lot of fun and really enjoyed himself.  We got to webcam and send each other pictures of the happenings of our lives during the last few weeks between this port and Japan.

Here he is in front of the Bur-Lion.  It is the national symbol of Singapore, which is something I didn't know until he told me. 

Here he is at a Hindu temple.

In the middle of some waterfountains

At each port they have a buddy system and you can't leave the ship unless you have a buddy.  Its all about safety and so Jay and his two buddys went to this place where they could get photos with birds, lizzards and snakes.  He had a lot of fun there.

This one was just for Kaden.

Port Buddy's: Jay, Reg Donkin, Napolean Calsetta

Seriously, this guy has way too much fun when he's out with Donkin (sorry, Navy habit I always call him that even though I know his first name).  The guys went out and rode segways on the beack.  He had a blast, of course.

They boys on the segways.

And what port visit wouldn't be much fun without a trip eating some Sushi.  He has to do this in EVERY Asian port that he hits.

Singapore will be the last port for a while.  The next one will be, who knows when.  But we do know that due to the lovely extention to the deployment they will be hitting some additional ports to "make up" for it.  We'll see what really happens.  As for the family back here....well we're just busy.

Kaden's movie commentary

Later Saturday night, after Kaden recoverd from losing his tooth, I put on the movie Transformers.  The whole family loves this movie, especially Kaden (half of his wardrobe, bed, pillow, and poters are from this movie).  Part way through the movie as the Autobots were arriving on earth Kaden jumped up from the couch and started into the following commentary:

"Mommy, look!  It's Bumblebee, he's a car.  Look!  Its Ironhide, he's a truck.  Oh, Look, look its Optimus Prime, he's a truck.  Mommy, mommy, look!  Its Jaz, he's a car.  Look its Ratchet, he's a truck."

Now for those who haven't seen him in a while this is a dramatic improvement, even to me it is because it is called descriptive speach.  This is something that we've been working on with him during school and ABA.  It is too funny to hear him say things like that.  Later that night when I was on the phone with my sister and told her what he said she just cracked up and then said "lets see if we can get him to tell us what type of car or truck it is by the time he turns 5" (which happens next Feb.).  What can I say he's addicted to this movie.

"Broke my tooth"

Over the weekend we had a bit of excitement in our house.  On Saturday while I was dishing up dinner Kaden came running into the room crying "Mommy, I broke my tooth".  I turned around to see him crying and holding his mouth as blood started to come out of it.  I dropped everything and ran him to the bathroom, not sure exactly why he was bleeding or how he "broke" his tooth.  Well come to find out he lost his tooth, his first baby tooth.  He was so upset that he "broke" his tooth that it took a while to get him to calm down and explain that what happened is okay and normal.  Then I had to spend about an hour looking for the said tooth in the carpet, just to make sure that the tooth was fully intact.  It was and now he is beyond excited about it.

The rest of the night and weekend he keeps saying "I lost my tooth!"  He is now very proud of what happened to him.  And if you can't tell, he is now speaking in full sentences.  Between school and ABA this has been happening and it is a wonderful development for him. 

Bad ending to a great week

Today all Nimitz wives got the worst news possible. The deployment is getting extended by 2 months making it a 8 month deployment. The kicker: the wives had to break it to their husbands because the ship didn't tell them until 5 hours after the wives found out. The other kicker: by the time the ship pulls in to San Diego again they will have been out to sea for a full year, between this deployment and all of the pre underway stuff they've had to do just to get ready for this sucker. This just eats you alive to hear such news and then to have to be the one to tell Jay just made it worse. I've gone from being numb to angry at the ship that caused this mess in the first place (not the Nimitz, we're just getting punished for this other ships screw up) since I found out.
The hard part is, I kind of knew something bad was about to happen. A few days back I woke up suddenly beyond stressed and worried about Jay. I didn't know why and I would take 2 days for me to even know that he was just fine and that something else was causing this sudden stress and bad feelings. (Jay forgot to contact me for 2 days, between a duty day and advancement test) Today I got my answer as to why I had felt that way earlier in the week. All I can say at this point is they better not even mention a Surge (4 month deployment) when they get back or I'm declairing a mutiany on that ship and the entire Navy. Read the following article and you'll hopefully understand why:

Navy Carrier Strike Group Deployment Schedules to Shift
Story Number: NNS090911-22
Release Date: 9/11/2009 5:06:00 PM
From U.S. Fleet Forces Command

NORFOLK, Va (NNS) -- The Navy announced Sept. 11 the decision to shift near-term carrier strike group (CSG) deployment schedules to address a delay in the completion of USS Enterprise's (CVN 65) maintenance availability at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding-Newport News.
Navy leaders have been closely monitoring the progress of Enterprise's maintenance availability and evaluating the upcoming carrier schedules in order to meet combatant commander requirements and minimize impacts to pre-deployment training cycles.
By extending the current USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and the upcoming USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) carrier strike group deployments to just under eight months each, the Navy will meet the near-term operational requirements generated by the Enterprise maintenance availability extension. The Navy remains committed to its general policy of maintaining deployment lengths to manage personnel tempo as essential components of force readiness. No new deployments result from this schedule change; all the affected carrier strike groups were scheduled to be deployed in 2010, the only changes are to the timing and lengths of those deployments.
"Adjusting these carrier deployment schedules was the best solution of available options," said Adm. J. C. Harvey Jr., commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. "We recognize this decision has operational and personnel impacts, such as training cycle changes and family uncertainty. Our Sailors and families also are ready to step up when necessary to meet the continued demands of a nation at war."
U.S. Fleet Forces and U.S. Pacific Fleet conducted a careful, in-depth analysis to ensure the Navy maintains continued support for the Maritime Strategy while minimizing the impact of schedule changes on crews and ships.
"We have been engaged in reducing the stress of lengthy deployments, and we remain committed to that goal for our Sailors and their families," said Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. "I know changes in deployment length affect everyone. Part of our Sailors' readiness and well-being is knowing their families are being cared for regardless of deployment length. We will continue to invest in family support and readiness programs to try to reduce the stress of lengthy deployments -- we owe it to them, and I am committed to it."
For more news from U.S. Fleet Forces Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/clf/.

In 24 hours

By this time tomorrow Kaden will be in ABA therapy. Earlier this week we got the official word that he starts tomorrow. 4 days a week for almost 2 hours each day he will have this therapy until it is clear that he no longer needs it. His ABA will focus on speech, communication. taking care of him self (brushing teeth, potty training), manners, safety and listening to instructions. There is a lot more that I'm sure I'm missing here, but its just the big ones that I can think of. Both Jay and I are very excited by this after seeing what has happened with him just in school for the last 2 weeks. Jay reciently got to webcam with us at a port and he was able to actually have a real conversation with Kaden for the first time ever. Usually Kaden uses a lot of humming when he talks, but now he is actually using words and sentences when talking. Jay loved talking with him in this way and it just blew his mind at how much had changed from one port call to the next. We can't wait to see just how much Kaden grows and changes from this.

And with ABA starting that means my parent training will begin too. Parent training is part of his ABA where they will do weekly training with me to show me what they are working on with Kaden during his sessions so that I can impliment it when they are not here. I'm not to be in the room during ABA so that his tutors (he has 2) can deveolp a good repore with him for what is needed for him to grow so they have the parent training to teach me how to do the very same things they do during that time. Life is about to get busy around here and we can't wait.