Well the wait is over. Ryan has entered regular Kindergarten at our neighborhood elementary school. His first day was an orientation day. However, both Dawn and I had to work that day so Nonna and Grandma stepped in and took Ryan to his first day. They found his classroom and took him in to settle where all of his school supplies are supposed to go and took his first bus ride. The bus ride was a simulated ride around the parking lot. They lined up liked it was dismissal and then exited like they were arriving. There is a picture of Ryan getting off the bus and he loved the ride. He met his teacher, Ms. Allen and said she was very nice. One of the activities during the orientation day was to fill out a small questionnaire. One of the questions was what he wanted to learn most in Kindergarten. He answered that he wanted to learn how to write. However, he does not want to practice this skill with us on the weekends or evenings.
After the orientation, Grandma wanted to take Ryan and Nonna out to lunch as a treat. When they were waiting for their food Ryan pulled a fast-one on them. He told them that he is allowed to have one small piece of bread with a little butter. When they questioned him further he told them that "Daddy told me that I could have a small piece at lunch". Since I was working they tried calling me but I could not answer. By the time I got the message and called back he already had the bread and butter! Both Nonna and Grandma believed him because according to them he sounded so convincing!
On the second day the bus picked him up from the his daycare and drove him to school. He said that he loved the ride and that he sat by himself "like a big boy". When we asked him about how the day went he told us that Ms. Allen talked a lot and that he really wanted to do things. When we pressed him what she talked about, he replied "Be nice to everybody"! So far we are off to a good start and we will keep you informed.
Here are a few pictures of the first day of school.
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| Ryan and Julia on the first day of school |
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| Ryan and Grandma |
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| Ryan off the bus |
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| Ryan and Nonna making a bee bracelet with beads |
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| Ryan meeting Ms. Allen |
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| Ms. Allen showing Ryan the room |
Ryan's first soccer game was supposed to be on Saturday. However, with all of the rain this past week, the field was too wet to play. All of the different age groups and players with their cleats would have torn the field apart. Ryan was a little confused when I told him that the game was canceled. He looked outside and told me"see it is not raining". Next week there are no games because we will be marching in the community day parade. Hopefully the club can reschedule this weekend's game.
In the August 29, 2011 issue of Time magazine there is an article by Judith Warner about Autism. The title of the article is "Autism's Lone Wolf Simone Baron-Cohen wants to know, Are 'autistic' traits a predictable outcome of new marriage patterns?" The author reports on Simone Baron-Cohen's research looking at how marriage patterns might have increased 'autistic' traits in children. His research looks at the history of women entering technology fields and how humans select marriage partners. One of his biggest studies looks at three different areas in Netherlands. One of these areas is considered the Dutch Silicon Valley. The research reported that in this area alone children diagnosed with autism was two to four times higher than the other two areas that had the same socioeconomic status but not based on the technology field. The researches noted that while the study is significant they warn that who you marry is not an absolute predictor of autism in children. They are just noting that this was an interesting find and that they are attempting to replicate this study on a larger scale. We are both not sure that we agree with the majority of the article but it did raise an interesting notion about why autism rates have exploded over the last few years.
While the rest of world was focused on September 11, 2011 as the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, it was also Grandparents Day. We met in Kingston, NY for lunch at the Olive Garden. Ryan was a little upset that everyone was having bread sticks so we gave him a small piece and a few croutons. He has developed a taste for croutons and we have to watch our salads as he finds it funny to steal one when we are not looking. He had a good time and below is a picture of the lunch.
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| Ryan and Julia with Nonna, Papa, and Grandma. |
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