Jake is having his first sleepover with a friend tonight.

[momla]

He has had his cousin over a few times, but tonight he has his friend, Cooper. We went to an outdoor Halloween thing at a local garden (brrrrrr) and just got home. Now the boys are playing with their new toys that Cooper's mom got them in exchange for their candy. Jake is allergic and Cooper is GF/CF, corn free, refined sugar free, soy free, and I'm sure I'm missing a few other things because I know I CAN NOT feed him. She sent all of his food and I've given dh strict instructions not to give him anything without checking with me first. LOL! My sister went to the Halloween thing with us and was like, "WOW!! These two are two peas in a pod!!" They are a LOT alike. Cooper is also on the spectrum. He is more high energy than Jake but is very easy going and doesn't have a tendency to be a hot head like Jake. They are best buds and they told EVERYONE at the halloween thing that they were having a sleepover together at Jake's house.

[chicadee1245]

Definitely a milestone!!! So glad he has a Cooper in his life!! I am sure they will be asking endlessly when the next sleepover will be. So cool and wonderful!

I am gonna invite McKenna's class..5 kids, all SN, to her birthday party at Gatti-Town next month.

[4sweeties]

How sweet and wonderful!

[Lori]

How totally cool for both of them!!!!! ;-)

Lori

[momla]

So, 10:15 came and I told them it was bedtime and tucked them into bed and never heard another peep. They immediately went to sleep.

What are the chances 2 NT's would be that obedient on their 1st sleepover? LOL!! Cute little rule followers!

[momla]

Well, all in all a great sleepover. Jake got a little worn out the last 2 hrs (Cooper just left and it is 10am) so he retreated to playing the piano by himself and playing a little bit by himself. That is totally AOK with me though. I really WANT him to know when he has had enough and needs to be alone instead of getting all bent out of shape over little stuff and having outbursts. Right now, Lydia and dh are at her soccer game, Cooper is gone and it is just Jake and I at home. It is quiet. I am cleaning and Jake is just playing with his spaceship. In a little while we'll probably sit down and read some books and then meet dh and Lydia for lunch then have a long nap.

It was really interesting for me to spend so much time with another child on the spectrum. I've never really done that. While they are so much alike....their language is about the same, their attention is about the same, their playskills are about the same.....they also have their differences. Jake gets more easily frustrated than Cooper, Cooper is pretty laid back. But, Cooper is less inhibited than Jake and Jake, over the past year, has developed some appropriate social inhibitions. Now, Cooper is younger by 2 years so I'm sure this is more of a maturity thing. Some stuff was just funny. Like, Cooper is an only child so he doesn't have to worry about stuff like waking up your little sister. So, Jake knows that when he gets up in the morning, Lydia may or may not still be sleeping. So, he comes downstairs very quietly and whispers to me to ask if Lydia is up yet. Cooper, however, not having to worry about that, got up, walked out of Jake's room, stood at the top of the balcony right outside Lydia's door and YELLED "JAKE, I'M UP!!!!!!!!" Fortunately, Lydia was downstairs with us and was awake but dh was still lounging in bed until Cooper blew off the rafters. LOLOLOLOL!!!

Their backgrounds are quite different too. Cooper was diagnosed at 3 1/2 and has had speech and OT and a LOT of biomed/special diet. Like I said he is GF/CF, corn free, rice free, refined sugar free, dye free, etc. He gets about 30 supplements a day. (I only had to do 1 thank goodness! I'd be so worried I'd mess something up!) Jake, OTOH, diagnosed at 16 mos, intensive behavioral therapy, ST, OT, no biomed other than omega 3's. Cooper apparently started out very "high functioning" for lack of a better term and Jake did not but is now. Oh, the only other difference I saw was that Jake's motor planning gross motor wise is more mature than Cooper's. Cooper is very tall (size 10 boys) and Jake is very small (size 5T) and so I don't know if that helps Jake out and inhibits Cooper or what. Jake has been in gymnastics since birth practically so I think that has been a huge benefit to Jake. He is very agile and quick on his feet. Cooper had a hard time climbing onto a bar chair (not a stool, just a taller chair) and has some posturing and mannerisms that look like decreased body awareness in space.

Oh, one more thing, Cooper already gets some of the stuff we are working on in therapy right now such as what other people know and why. He just made a few comments that let me know he knew that and that is something we've had to work on a little bit for Jake to understand why/how people know what they do.

Just interesting. Cooper is a darling child and Jake is very fortunate to have a friend such as Cooper.

[bayoubaby1]

Glad to see that things went well!

[Lori]

Cooper is only 5 years old? He sure has come a long, long way! Very cool they are so close!!!! ;-)