Obsessions – Page 2

Degrees fahrenheit.

August 7, 2014 By Heidi Allen 2 Comments

I used to have a habit of turning on the weather channel in the morning. (Pre-iPhone. Now I just check the app. I don’t have to wait for the weather on the 8’s. Was it 8? or 7? I don’t remember…but you get the idea.) He has always been attracted to numbers, so of course the weather channel was right up his alley with all of the temperatures. Now that he is getting older, I usually have him check the app every morning for me and we discuss what they day is going to look like.

His item of choice lately to carry everywhere is one of the indoor/outdoor digital thermometers. The brand is Acu-rite; therefore, its name is “Acu-rite weather.” He has two, conveniently, because one was missing for a time period and that was NOT OKAY with Jasan.

His love of numbers and digital things translates very well to ovens and microwaves. (As long as they are mid-1980’s or newer.)

🙂

A good old-fashioned oven thermometer is also fun though. I took these photos of Jasan sometime last year and it proves he still in fahrenheit love for the long haul.

Notice how he has two of those as well. Don’t you love when kids just drop things SOMEWHERE in the house and you search and search and it’s NOWHERE! But then it shows up. Gotta love duplicates. (Especially with an autistic kid and an object of obsession. Oh my.)

This past week he has been stuck on the microwave and oven in our kitchen. My thoughts… “Time for a photo shoot!”

He gets so very excited when the fan symbol light comes on when the oven is on the convection heating setting. Big smiles. It’s the little things… 🙂

I think I love just hearing him talk about degrees and fahrenheit. It sounds so darn cute… <3

Early morning Maytag.

July 28, 2014 By Heidi Allen 1 Comment

Another laundry room…and a happy Jasan. We enjoyed an evening with a friend and spent the night there. As the sunshine entered the room in the morning, my little dude woke with one thing on his mind.

MAYTAG.

So, we grabbed our sheets off the bed and washed them. (We are the best house guests. We always do YOUR laundry and wash our sheets after use.)

ha 🙂

Details & studying EVERY single move.

July 26, 2014 By Heidi Allen 3 Comments

Jasan has been all about the lawn mower and related mechanical outdoor items forever. His Grampie is very detailed about his lawn and during the summer, all the cool landscaping tools are out being utilized. I know that being interested in the lawnmower is a typical boy thing, but what I found to be interesting about this recent scenario (pictured above) was how Jasan was interpreting and acting out the mowing experience now that he is older.
This was one of those afternoons where all of the Cherry Street kids were out on their bikes and Jasan was no exception. As soon as Matt (a.k.a. Grampie/my stepfather) started mowing, he immediately started following alongside his every pass up and down the lawn. It was adorable. The kids surrounding him were now of no interest, and all of his focus was on that lawnmower and Matt’s every move. (The image above makes me laugh because I am the distraction here. He is looking at right at me in this moment because I was about to be in the way, practically laying in the grass to get my shot…otherwise his eyes were locked on the lawnmower and his Grampie!)
What I found to be mesmerizing is, for example, how he was waiting for the EXACT moment to turn his bike the same direction Matt would move the lawnmower…EVERY TIME. Jasan learns so much by acting out his experiences. It’s almost as if he puts his body and mind into what is happening literally right next to what is actually going on. He is taking in new information, studying it, and simultaneously acting it out with his body no matter what he may be doing (like riding his bicycle.) He does this often in so many different areas of life and it’s fascinating!

Then…this happened a few days ago. Matt started mowing again and Jasan immediately dropped what he was doing, grabbed his little lawnmower and mimicked every little thing Matt did. Not just for part of the lawn and then lost interest, but for the whole thing. Every time Matt pushed a button or moved a lever, Jasan did the exact same movement on his little mower.
So stinkin’ cute!
And SOOOO DETAIL ORIENTED!
LOVE IT.

I am determined…

July 15, 2014 By Heidi Allen 1 Comment

…to turn him in to an Adidas fan. 🙂

Brutus.

June 22, 2014 By Heidi Allen 6 Comments

My brother named my stepdad’s truck Brutus many years ago when he was stuck driving it during a time period where he was car-less. It cracks us all up because the name is so appropriate. It’s an older truck that is an extra vehicle for our family. Sometimes you just need the bed of a truck to move things and it’s convenient to have one around.

Because this is an extra vehicle, it’s older. It’s not pristine by any means.

Unfortunately, Brutus had made contact with a deer in the past. 🙁 Whoever owned Brutus previously definitely smoked cigars in it. (Ick.) And, this lovely truck has no functioning A/C.

But, Jasan loves the truck. He has the sound of the windshield wipers memorized…

And he’s a boy. Trucks are just cool.

It’s mulch spreading time of year, and Brutus is being utilized to move big piles around the yard. Jasan likes to hang with his Grampie, so I caught these shots yesterday.

He was content in truck world.

When the neighborhood kids come over, they all like to hang in Brutus.

Boys and trucks. 🙂

Gauges.

June 17, 2014 By Heidi Allen 8 Comments

Do you see Jasan?

He is in gauge heaven. I have appropriately titled this shot: Altimeter reflection. 🙂

Here are a few more fun airplane photos…

He sure does love being in this plane. I feel so grateful that he has had these experiences.

So is he.

The Laundry Room Series.

June 12, 2014 By Heidi Allen 4 Comments

An obsession of Jasan’s. I keep capturing it. He loves it.

I’m getting behind on posting these images… so why not make it a mini series.

For the love of laundry.

I love how he wanted to wear my comfy sweater. 😉

Here he is looking in to his favorite laundry room (that resides at our friend’s home…) most likely in admiration.

And then their is the laundry room that was also a highlight while we were on vacation in Florida. 4 generations in the photo below (including the one behind the lens.) <3

Doin’ his own thing.

June 9, 2014 By Heidi Allen 2 Comments

If you notice in this photo, there is one bike to every kid (except Jasan.) My beautiful, unique boy is VERY much enjoying the spreader. I really do love that the neighborhood kids end up in our driveway. I think it’s a God thing. Jasan needs neurotypical kids surrounding him…and they are. They do. He has some kind of electricity that attracts others even with his differences. I LOVE THAT.

And I love that he just keeps doing his own thing even though it may seem odd to the other kids.

He’d rather…

June 6, 2014 By Heidi Allen 12 Comments

The kids that live in our little neighborhood circle always end up at the end of our driveway. We usually have music playing and Jasan and I will be hanging out doing whatever his heart’s content may be.

It’s a perfect weather day out today, and we had those water hose going for awhile… making squiggles in the air, giving his bike a “bike wash”…you know. That kind of stuff. And then… ALL OF THE COOL STUFF in the garage took over.

Currently the electronics have won over it all. I asked him, “Would you like to play with the kids?” And in his cute voice he answers me, “No.” He is in his world of contentment.

I’m just letting him be… 🙂

The Airport, Part 2.

June 5, 2014 By Heidi Allen 6 Comments

Because the first flight went so well, I was not too concerned about the journey home. Actually, I was excited to see how he would handle saying goodbye to Florida and hello to Chicago!

On the way TO Florida, we checked in via a Skycap so Jasan did not see the luggage scales. This airport visit we got to check it all out. He was absolutely fascinated with how big these scales were.

Once we were all snug in our airplane seats, headphones it was.

And, of course, what was going on outside was incredibly interesting. Very cool stuff you do not see everyday…

During the flight he was acting like he had flown a million times. Kinda fun to check out what was going on above his seat. (And, sing a little on the loud side with those headphones on. ha…)

The only possible snag that we might have ran into was not being able to go in to see the pilot and flight deck when we landed in Chicago. Because we had such a great experience on the flight there, it was Jasan’s expectation on the way home. The tears started rolling down his face when I told him I wasn’t sure if we could. Luckily, the pilot was very cool and snuck him in for a few minutes.

So many interesting things to look at!

I am so very thankful to the pilots that gave a little bit of their time.

Each pilot had his own way of explaining a few things here and there to Jasan. Both adventures included pushing buttons or flipping switches. Very cool to have the hands on experience.

Walking to the luggage claim was fun. He pushed my little carry on suitcase (fun with wheels!) and we checked out cool things along the way.

Like this…

And we spent many minutes watching these go around and around…

We ventured to another terminal, and took the obligatory selfie for Mama. 🙂

All in all, the trip was so completely meant to be. He exceeded every one of my expectations as a little traveler. Lesson learned for me; GIVE JASAN MORE CREDIT. He handled literally everything on this vacation adventure like a champ. I have NO need to be concerned until he gives me a reason. It’s funny, I thought that I had already learned this lesson, but apparently I needed to learn it AGAIN. Never underestimate him. Believe that he will shine and be victorious always. And you know what? If I believe that wholeheartedly, he will too.

That sounds perfect to me.

I think he was just a little tired in the car on the way home. 😉

I’m excited for future traveling…

ADVENTURES!