Monday, July 21, 2008

hotdog are we skiing





Well what a week away,we packed the car and the whole family went on an adventure,an adventure to the snow...

The whole family was so excited,including myself,a week off work and spending it with the family was a great way for me to relax.We had all  had our fittings for skies and the warm clothing in Sydney several weeks earlier,so it was just a matter of driving down to jyndabyne a four and a half hour drive from Sydney and hitting the slopes...

The drive down was easy the kids relaxed and they were all excited about seeing snow for the first time.Both Bianca and Braiden had been fluie several days before going down but they turned out to be little troopers.

Once we got there we unpacked our bags and headed on down to perisher,which is the snow field we  were going to ski at.The whole family was so happy,and cold I might add,to see the snow for the first time.....

The kids ended up taking skiing lessons for the week,as to did joy and myself,at the end of the week,I could ski OK,so could my daughter Micah,Braiden could ski a whole lot better than my wife joy who couldn't ski at all,and Bianca,well lets just say that she might miss out on our next ski holiday,she's not one for the cold air,if you know what I mean...

Braiden continues to surprise me and his mother every day,skiing came easy for him,being away from his mother and myself gets easier and easier,he has less separation  anxiety , which was good for him and us,we all had a great time at the snow,and cant wait to do it again next year

done so much



Its been a long time now,over a month since my last blog.Braiden and I have been so busy,he has done so many things since we went to the dinosaur exhibition.A little while ago we all went to ten pin bowling,Braiden enjoys bowling so much,he always has a great time,this time he didnt win but he sure had a great time with his mother and sister.....  

Saturday, June 7, 2008

dinasours






last week we went to the Australian museum.They had a special exibit on Dinasours,the kids especially Braiden had a ball.He went around the museum with his eyes wide open , just taking in all the bones and special effects that they had set up.

Not only was there skeletons of dinasours,but they had all the other stuff such as dead and stuffed birds mamals and all kinds of spiders and butterflies.It was truley an exciting place to visit,I would strongly recomend it for anyone visiting Sydney who need to keep the kids entertained for a few hours,w all loved it.....

we went to the wiggles





A few weeks ago Joy & I took the kids to go and see the wiggles.They had a great time,so did we.They were so excited to see them went they came out,even  though braiden had an idea we were seeing them,he wasn't 100% sure of what to expect,neither were we.

Anyways they had a ball and we all sang along with the songs and danced,you know the usual stuff that you do with the kids,I think it was as much fun for us as them...

Friday, June 6, 2008

will update soon

Hi everyone , we've been so busy over the last month that I havent had time to update.However I will soon with the last months activities.These include a trip to the museum to see the dinosaurs,another golfing expedition and lots more faimly fun.See you soon........

Friday, May 2, 2008

dooralong valley











last weekend we all went away to the dooralong valley resort.Its a country retreat set on a humongous property.

There are so many things for the kids to do.Braiden had a ball,hitting golf balls,riding his bike and even going canoeng.There is also horse riding and an animal farm for the kids to roam around in.

This was one of the best weekends we have ever had as a family,everyone loved the open spaces and fresh air.cabins were mostly self contained set amongst the trees and country side.open fire places in most which comes in handy,especially in the winter months.

All in all Braiden had an excellent time,running around the property,riding his bike with his sister,and generally enjoying the open spaces.

I must say this was a great long weekend for us,and we are looking forward to visiting the resort soon,the kids absolutely loved it..... 

Here are some photos from the weekend..  

Monday, April 21, 2008

Riding the ferry


On our last trip to the city we all caught a ferry across the harbour to Taronga zoo.If theres one thing that Braiden loves its boats.Along with trains animals and a heap of other stuff,but you get what I mean.He really enjoyed the trip across the harbour.We always have to be cautious when he is around water,but I guess thats the same with most kids.He loves the wind in his hair and the smell of the ocean.No sitting down on the ferry,its out the back of the boat and lets all stand....

Monday, April 14, 2008

Look mum no hands




The weekend just past we stayed in the city of Sydney for a couple of nights.Its the last weekend my sister in-law will be with us ,as she will be returning to the phillippines on Thursday,so we thought it would be nice to be in the city.


We stayed at the inter-continental at circular quay.What a beautiful hotel,5 star and very nice.The kids had a ball,we walked around circular quay most of the weekend.Taking in a couple of resturants,and of course a lot of ice cream.


We also took the kids to Taronga zoo,we caught a ferry across the harbour and it turned out to be a beautiful day.


In the hotel we stayed in there was an indoor heated pool.The kids enjoyed swimming , and as I said previously Braiden is now swimming un aided.Here are a few pics of him in the pool.......

fishing at kangaroo valley



This is a couple of pics of braiden trying to fish.Unfortunately he doesn't have much patience,so when he casts out the line,with help from me or mum,he straight away attempts to reel in the line.This is good news for the fish,unless they are really stupid or hungry it is almost impossible for him to catch a fish.but no matter how many times we explain this to braiden he doesn't quite seem to grasp the finer points of the art of angling.It doesn't matter,he loves reeling the line in,just like he sees on his favourite cartoon shows.


God forbid he ever actually catches something,I would love to see the expression on his face,I'll keep the camera handy in future,it would be a great moment for him.


We took these pics at a place called Kangaroo valley,in the southern highlands of N.S.W.He loves going there,lots of things to do,lots of area just to run around and kick the ball etc..He is always tired after we've visited here.He also loves the drive down there,you must wind down these tight and steep roads to get there.All you can hear from the back seats is the kids making funny noises as though there going on a slippery dip.This is one of our favourite spots to bring the kids for a picnic or B.B.Q.


If your ever around these neck of the woods you should take time to have a look...absolutely beautiful

Monday, April 7, 2008

Our camping trip



Last Saturday I decided I wanted to take Braiden camping for a night to see how he would like it.He likes the outdoors and every time we go on picnics or outings he just loves it.So I organized with a friend of mine to take his two children aged 10 and 7 ,and Braiden and myself.

We went to a local National Park called Bents Basin in the south west of Sydney.He arrived on the Friday afternoon and set up the camp site.He is an experienced camper who camps with his family every other weekend,and it shows.When we arrived I was expecting a small tent with an open fire.Instead he had a three room tent,outdoor furnishings,along with sink, gas cook top,fridge and well what would be a camping trip these days without your dvd player.

Braiden and I arrived on Saturday about lunch time.Immediately when we got there Braiden started having a good time.I could see it in his smile.Playing with his friends and generally running a muck.

We took the boys for a walk around the lake,over huge rocks which Braiden took delight in climbing himself(with a little help from me).He got to throw rocks in the lake which he absolutely loves to do,he like to hear the noise they make when they hit the water,KA PLUNK.

Around 4 o'clock the boys started to gather up kindling for the fire,they would walk off into the bush,not to far from us,but far enough so when they came back Braiden would exclaim " look daddy fire wood".He was so proud of himself he was having a great time.

Around 5.30 we started dinner,which was of course a BBQ,steak and sausages,however I had bought along some rice that my wife had prepared for Braiden just in case.The kids ate up dinner and then started to prepare for the lighting of the camp fire which was what they were looking forward to,Once it was started they sat around the fire stocking it with timbers and getting it quite hot .They loved this,Braiden would stick a long piece of twig in there catch it on fire and then say to me "look daddy fire".

By 8 o'clock Braiden was buggered,he wanted to go to bed.He was looking forward to sleeping on the air beds along with the sleeping bags,so I put him in the tent with a little torch to see how he would go.10 minutes later he was asleep.

One of the ideas about camping at this site was its only 20 minutes from home,just in case there was a problem,this would be the first night Braiden had spent away from his mother and we were concerned about him not wanting to stay.Well around midnight he woke up and was looking for mum,cuddle mum,cuddle mum,this is what he was saying.I was able to comfort him for a while,keep in mind it was freezing by this time and pitch black as well as quiet as a church,the only thing that could be heard was braidens cries for mum,and they started to get louder.By 3 o'clock in the morning I asked him did he want to go to mummy,and he said yes.So I packed up most of his stuff and got into the car and made a b line for home.

It was funny, as soon as we got out of the park through the gates Braiden said to me "oh thanks daddy".We arrived home about 3.30 min the morning,the first thing he did was go to mum and give her a cuddle,he then proceeded to tell her about everything he did that day,it was funny he was so excited to tell her about his deeds for the day.He had a ball.

Even though we left early he had a great time,and I wasn't so disappointed that we had to leave in the middle of the night,the main thing was Braiden had a go and really enjoyed himself.I've got to say this hasn't put me off taking him again,I am looking forward to our next father son trip.....

Friday, March 28, 2008

me & mum


This is Braiden with his mother joy.He absolutely loves her,this pic was taken on holidays a couple of weeks ago on white haven beach in the Whitsundays.We all had a great time,especially the kids.We also took my sister in-law who is visiting from the Philippines.It was the first time for her to visit this part of the world,however my kids are spoiled,this is there third time there.


Actually I really like taking the family there,its so relaxing and the views all around the islands are great.Braiden was actually swimming by himself in the pool without his floatation vest,it was so exciting for his mother and myself to see this,considering his never had lessons.

Obviously he wasn't at Olympic standards,but it was good enough for us,and he was also excited to be able to swim unassisted.It goes to show that he really does mimic what he sees.He had seen us swimming on the past vacations we had taken,and he got the confidence to try it himself,just by copying what he saw.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Happy Birthday

Its my birthday. I am 5 today and I am so excited . All I wanted was a chocolate cake and that's what i got.Three of them to be exact. One for playgroup, one for home and one for pre school 



Well it was Braidens 5th birthday today, and we are so happy to see him enjoy himself. This year is probably the first year he has had any concept of his age, even though he is not completely up to speed with the concept, he does try hard, and certainly understands party and birthday, just not in relation to him.
All the gifts he got from his cousins and us of course, leads this little boy down that very spoilt life we give him.


Along with love  and care , we are guilty of spoiling all our children not only Braiden, but he does seem to get the most attention. However he really does need it .


Lots of fun was had at the little BBQ we had for our few close relatives.He got to play with at least six of his cousins all ranging from age 7 till 9.But there all little girls,this doesn't seem to faze Braiden,he actually enjoys the company of girls ,I think because there not as rough as little boys tend to be.Like I said a good time was had by all,and I'm sure now we will start teaching him a little about Easter,I think he's got the gist of chocolate Easter egg mmmmm.......

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Bath time



This is young Braiden on holidays last year on Hamilton Island,well he is having a bath with his sisters and cousin,you cant see them but they are there. He loves having bath time,but sometimes it can be a chore trying to get him there,especially if he is watching T.V at the time. Like most children with Autism, they are people of habit,he must have his routine,to change this can sometimes be disastrous..

Monday, March 17, 2008

Our Son Braiden

On the 19th of March 2003, like the song says, a beautiful beautiful beautiful boy came into our world. Braiden Joseph was born in Camden hospital by c-section on a sunny afternoon, and our lives were changed forever. There was nothing unusual about the delivery, I as his father was there and couldn’t help but shed a tear at seeing this perfect little boy. He had the most perfectly proportioned face and as parents we were excited and relieved that we had been blessed with a healthy beautiful baby.

Over the proceeding months we cared and nurtured our baby boy as any loving parents would. We watched him grow, play and eventually start crawling. It was all very exciting and the joy Braiden bought to our family was immense.

By the time he was one he was already walking, he was a handsome baby who was so pretty he was often mistaken for a girl.

As the first few years of his life passed us, we were so consumed with braiden as any new parents would be, but by the time he had hit 3 we were a little concerned that his speech had not progressed as we would of liked. We didn’t think too much of it, hearing stories of children who didn’t speak until 5 or other people saying as soon as he starts pre school and starts socialising with other children he would start talking. However we also noticed that braiden didn’t socialise with his cousins or with other children as we thought he might. With his communication skills low and his social skills none existing we thought a trip to the paediatrician would be the way to go.

After seeing the doctor and asking for his diagnosis he was a little hesitant to say much with out further testing. So we took him of to have his hearing tested, everything was fine there. So the next step was to have what they called a Griffith test done. We took him along to the place where they had everything set up for him. Being a little shy and somewhat anxious little boy, this was making him feel uncertain and in feeling this way, us as parent became anxious for him. 
He did the test is was putting block together and making puzzles etc, we thought he did ok. Some tasks he was asked to do; he didn’t complete, as he has a short attention span, and gets bored quite easily. However they were tasks we thought on any given day he would complete easily.
 A week or so later the psychologist gave us the results, explaining what they mean and how it was a good test but needed further testing to confirm her initial results, which were Braiden was speech delayed and bordering on Autism. In fact that was her diagnosis. 

We as parents were shattered, not knowing exactly what it meant, but had a general if not naïve idea about autism. 
Back to the paediatrician we went, him wanting to do a blood test to check if there was, well I don’t know exactly what for, but we refused to put him through that anyways, knowing how anxious he would be. So he referred us to a specialist team at Campbeltown hospital in Western Sydney. 
This took nearly 6 months to finally be seen by a professional group of medicos, consisting of; psychologist, speech therapist and other people specialising in the diagnosis of childhood needs. Needless to say the diagnosis was even clearer. Not only was he Autistic, it was moderate on the scale, so in the middle if you like. 

He is always loved and even more so now, if that’s possible. This site is something, which I am doing as a father for my sweet gentle little boy, to show the world and hopefully inform them and myself along the way how precious our children are. I don’t know if I will ever be able to have a constructive conversation with Braiden, or will we speak in single word sentences for the rest of our lives, I don’t know how many times he will feel ostracised by ignorant people or how I will act in these circumstances as a protective father. 

All I know is I love him more than anything else in the world and he brings laughter, love and a naïve playfulness to our whole family, and we LOVE him........