the fagerlunds

Max went to his first day of preschool today! I took the (in)famous porch shots that every mother takes as they go out the door (even though we usually go out the garage.). You can see he was a little tired. But I can always get a little smile out of him by asking him point to Mickey!

We are lucky to have found a wonderful preschool for him at Kids on the Move to meet his needs. I don’t know where we would be without KOTM. Thanks to the awesome people that work there, we’ve been doing early intervention with Max for almost a year. By the time I knew he was on the autism spectrum, we already had help for him in place, and he had already made so much progress (even though sometimes it seems there has been a loss of skills). Basically, they empower parents to know how to help your child. I’ve been so thankful that they have this philosophy so that I had the support I needed to feel successful as a mother. They are a private, non-profit agency that works with the state to provide early intervention programs. He is moving into the Bridges program now that he is turning 3; it “bridges” the gap between early intervention and public education. He will also be testing with the school district soon to see if he qualifies for their preschool services.

While I’m on the topic of KOTM, I’m so excited that I’ll be working with them this month to use art to promote their organization/raise autism awareness! I get to photograph some of the sweet children there and the photos will be used to show how Kids on the Move has supported their development. I’ve been thinking for awhile now that I’d like to work with children that have special needs (like Max) as a photographer. When I think back, Max is really the reason I wanted to become a professional photographer. I felt something when I photographed him. I felt his special spirit and loved the challenge of capturing it with an image. I felt connected to him when he wasn’t looking at me, or acknowledging I was there. Even though he wouldn’t look right at the camera, I was documenting his life, and telling his story, although I didn’t know until recently what story I was telling. (And apparently I was only telling my computer because I haven’t done anything with them. I have felt strongly lately that I need to record Max’s autism journey, so hopefully that will change!)

Back to today’s fun…Max was super quiet and sucked his thumb until they learned about the weather and did a little project. Then he loved soaking water into cotton balls and squeezing it out like rain. It was really cute to watch him open up a little bit as the 2 hours went on. At first they had to help him raise his hand, but by the end he did it by himself. He did have one freak out when they let a balloon go…I think it is sensory overload for him. I was proud of him when he went back to his chair, though. He did really well at staying in his seat!

Okay, this was the funniest thing ever. They did yoga with the kiddos, and Max didn’t quite get it. I was so happy he wanted to participate though. So they sat on their knees and Max would stick his legs right out (I don’t think it was comfortable for him), and then he’d go down on his tummy.

He pretty much stayed that way, and then the teacher instructed the kids to reach up (they were doing the pose shown), and so Max would reach up (with his legs too) along with them but it didn’t quite work. It was so funny! I didn’t catch the photo til his hands were coming down, but it still cracks me up.

He was a pro at arm circles though! He loves anything that has to do with circles.

And he touched his toes when they asked, sooooo cute.

Max loved his first day of school and we can’t wait for Friday to go again!