Category Archives: Aspen

A “Conversation”

Posted on January 6, 2011 by | Leave a comment

“Hi Mommy!”  Emma said this afternoon into the phone.

“Hi Em, how are you?”

This is a standard question which Emma never fails to answer with a cheerful, “I’m fine!”

“Did you have a good day at school?”  I asked, knowing that she did not have a good day.  In fact, Emma’s teacher wrote us an email describing how Emma was unable to focus, wept for a good part of the day, cried for me and zoned out for much of the rest.

“No you cannot go on the baby swing.  It’s too small!”  Emma said in answer to my question.  “You have to wait over here!  You have to go on the big swing.”

I knew what Emma was referring to as she was picking up on a “conversation” we’d begun before she flew back to New York.  I have no idea why the swing in “Seal Park” was occupying her mind, but it evidently was.

“That’s right, Em.  You’re too big for the baby swing!”

“You have to wait.  You have to swing on the other one,” she continued.

“How was school today, Em?” I asked, hoping to bring the conversation back to the present.

“It’s too small for you!”  Emma laughed.  And then she said something else, but she was wandering away from the phone so it was impossible for me to hear what it was.

“Hey,” Richard said into the phone.

“Was she okay when she came home?” I asked.

“She’s been great.  Happy as a clam,” he answered.

Okay then.

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“Sorry Bubbles”

Posted on January 5, 2011 by | 2 comments

Emma calls the stars in the sky – Sorry Bubbles – it has a certain poetic beauty to it.  She used to call fireworks, rain and the noise motorcycles make, “bubbles”.  But “sorry bubbles” remain my favorite.  This New Year’s Eve she referred to the fireworks, which showered Aspen Mountain as “fireworks”.

“Look!  Look at the fireworks!” she cried.  Then she made noises, which sounded a bit like the noise fireworks make.

“Does the noise bother you?” I asked.

“Yes!” she said, covering her ears.

“Does it scare you?” I asked.

“Noooo!” she said, laughing.

“Do you want to go outside with Daddy and watch them?”

“Do you want to stay inside the boy’s house?” she answered.  Which meant she wasn’t asking a question, she was stating a fact.  She wanted to stay in our friend’s house and most definitely did NOT want to go outside in the 10 below zero cold to watch the fireworks with her Dad.  Richard stayed close to the house and occasionally jumped up and down to keep himself warm.

“Dance, Richard!  Do your dance,” Nic’s friend, Eli said, from the warmth of the kitchen.

“Daddy’s jumping!” Emma commented.

“He’s trying to stay warm,” we told her.

“Daddy wants to see the fireworks.  Daddy’s cold,” Emma said.

Later as we made our way back to our house and after the fireworks had ended, Emma looked up at the sky and said, “Sorry bubbles!  Look at sorry bubbles!”

“Is that what you call the stars, Em?” I asked, confirming what I suspected.

“Yeah!”

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Making Sense of It All

Posted on December 31, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Yesterday as I was driving the children with all our ski gear to the slopes, Nic said, “Mom, did you get me a new pair of poles?”

“No Nic, I didn’t,” I said.  “What’s wrong with your poles?”

“I can’t use them any more,” he answered.

“Why not?”

“The baskets fell off.”

“What do you mean the baskets fell off?”  I asked with growing irritation.

“I don’t know.  They fell off.  I can’t ski with them.”

I began imagining the long lines at the rental shop at Buttermilk, how we were suppose to meet Emma’s Challenge Aspen ski buddy in less than five minutes and we were just leaving the house.  I said as much to Nic who now sat quietly in the back seat staring out the window.

“Mommy’s so upset,” Emma’s voice could be heard saying, from the backseat.  “Nicky’s so upset.  Mommy’s angry.”

“Oh Em,” I said.  “I shouldn’t have gotten angry just now.  I’m sorry Nic.  Don’t worry, we’ll borrow a pair of poles and get you a new pair this afternoon.  Okay?”

“Okay,” Nic said.

“Hey Em?  Are you excited to go skiing?”  I asked.

“Yeah.  Ski with Mommy and Nicky and Matt!” Emma said.  “Mommy’s upset.  Nicky’s upset.  Nicky wants to jump off the diving board.  I’m sorry, it’s closed.  Nicky’s crying,” Emma continued cheerfully.

This kind of dialogue from Emma is typical, she applies whatever logic she can to a given situation, usually however, it’s incorrect.  She will come up with reasons for someone’s upset with things that have recently upset her.  If Emma doesn’t get to the Aspen Recreation Center by a certain time during the week, the diving board is closed and she cannot jump off it.  As jumping off the diving board is one of her favorite activities, she is upset when she realizes she won’t be able to.  That Nic is now upset, it stands to reason, he must be upset as she is, about the diving board.

“I don’t care about the diving board Emma,” Nic grumbled.  “And I’m not crying,” he added.

“Hey Em.  Nicky’s not upset about the diving board.  Nicky’s upset because I was cross with him about his ski poles,” I explained.

“You got that right,” Nic muttered, giving me a grin.

“Nicky’s upset, Nicky’s angry, Mommy’s so upset, Mommy’s angry, Emma’s upset, Emma wants to jump off the diving board,” Emma said.

It’s a bit like watching an Olympic Sporting Event where the newscaster does an ongoing narration of the events as they develop.  Only Emma is reporting on events with reasoning which has nothing to do with what’s actually going on.

“Mom, make her stop,” Nic said irritably.

I began laughing, “I can’t Nic.  She’s just trying to make sense of it all.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense,” Nic said.

“It does to her,” I answered.

“Whatever,” Nic said.

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Milestones

Posted on December 23, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Early this morning Emma climbed into our bed.  “Hi Mommy!”

“Em, it’s too early, you have to go back to bed,” I said.

“Okay.”

I listened to her make her way back to her bedroom.  When her bedroom door closed, I marveled at how just months ago, this would not have happened.  In the past, Emma would have refused to leave or screamed until one of us took her back to her bedroom where she would not have gone back to sleep or she would have left and begun screaming minutes later.  This morning, there was nothing but silence.  The silence accentuated by the thick layer of snow covering everything and which continues to fall as I write.

Later, when something crashed into one of the windows, causing the dogs to start barking downstairs, I tiptoed into Emma’s room.  She was in her bed, with her head on her stuffed green monster, Muzzy.  “Hi Mommy!”  she said.

“Hi Em!”

“Just you and me,” she said pointing to herself and then me.  “Just you and me in Emma’s bed.”

“Yes, I said, sitting on her bed.  “You and me” is something Emma has begun saying for a few months now.  It is another milestone.  She says it as she points to each person she is referring to.  While this may seem inconsequential, it represents an astonishing leap in cognition as well as tremendous developmental progress.  One of the telltale signs of autism – a lack of pointing – is something Emma is now beginning to do.

“Muzzy, teddy bear,” Emma said, pointing to her monster.

“You love your Muzzy, don’t you Em?”

“Yes,” she said.

And I love that Emma has taken to referring to her stuffed monster as “Muzzy, teddy bear.”  It’s such an apt description of what he is to her.  And like all things Emma, her choice in “teddy bears” is a bit unconventional.

Emma just came into the room where I am writing with her “twin”, an enormous doll I bought for her one Christmas.  I ordered it over the Internet and had to send a photo of Emma, with instructions on the correct eye, hair and skin color.  When the doll came, complete with Christmas party dress and faux fur stole, Emma looked at it and wandered off.  A pile of unwrapped presents remained under the Christmas tree abandoned.  Every Christmas we have attempted to entice Emma with a few things we think she might enjoy only to have her barely take notice of any of them.

“Look!  Doll!” Emma said  as she sat down with the stripped down doll in her arms.

“Oh Em, you have your doll with you.  What’s her name?” I asked.

After a pause Emma said, “Girl.”

Then she picked up some of her picture books and began “reading” to “girl”.

“Have Eddie come, get christmas presents?” Emma said while we were still in New York.

“We’ll be in Aspen for Christmas,” I told her.

“Open Christmas presents at Granma’s house,” Emma said.

“Yes!”

For Emma to show even a remote interest in opening any presents this Christmas will be a first.

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Our Tenth Anniversary

Posted on December 22, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Today is Richard and my tenth wedding anniversary.  For those of you who know how old our son, Nic is, it will not take long to calculate the years do not add up.  This is because, Nic, at 8 months old was at our wedding, wearing a little black velvet tuxedo, with his chubby cheeks and bald head, he was adorable.  Richard and I have never been ones to go the conventional route.

Richard planned a whole day of indulgences for us, today.  So last night we both went to sleep early as we knew we had to get Emma up and ready to meet her ski buddy, get Nic organized before going into town to begin our day together.  At around midnight both of us were woken by screams, emanating from Emma’s bedroom.  In the darkness Emma’s figure could be seen standing by the window looking north east onto the upper ditches of Red Mountain.

“Emmy, what’s going on?”

“I need help!”  she cried.

“Okay.  Come on.  Let’s sit on your bed.  It’s going to be okay,” I said, as Emma pulled at her ears.

“I need help!  Ears popping!” Emma screamed.

“Emma, it’s okay,” Richard said.

“Come on, baby, sit down next to me,” I instructed.  “Go like this,” I told her, demonstrating a yawn.

Emma watched me, as she always does when her ears hurt from the changing weather outside.  “It’s okay,” she said.  Then she held her nose and blew, causing her face to turn red.

“That’s not going to help, Emma.  That will only make it worse,” Richard said.

“Here.  Do this,” I said, demonstrating again.

After ten minutes or so of continuous cries for help, I told Richard to go back to bed and I stayed with Emma, trying to stay calm amidst her pleas for help.

I massaged her ears, pulling gently on them, hoping it would ease the pressure a little, all the while aware of the pressure in my own ears.  Emma is so incredibly sensitive to the sensations within her own body, and often they cause her great pain.  I looked out the window and saw the clouds, which have enveloped the valley these past few days were lifting.

“Mommy!  I need help!  You have to stop screaming,” Emma said tearfully.  “Belly go bang, bang.”

“Em do you have to throw up?”

“Yes, belly go bang bang,” she said running into the bathroom.  We sat together in the bathroom for awhile.  “Daisy!  You cannot hit.  I need a bandaid!  You have to wash it,” Emma scripted, taking a number of older conversations and putting them together in some sort of creative medley.

“Where does it hurt, Emmy?” I asked.

“Here,” she said rubbing her chest.  “I want a bandaid!  I want to get into the pool. It’s broken.”

I stroked her head and brought a bowl from the kitchen to place next to her bed.  I was able to get her back into her bed where she lay, occasionally whimpering.   After a few hours she was able to fall asleep with me by her side.

When she woke up this morning, I said, “Let’s go see if Daddy’s awake.”

“Okay,” she said.

Upon seeing me, Richard said, “Happy Anniversary Honey.”

We laughed as Emma leapt into bed beside us.  “No banging!” Emma said.

“Do you still feel sick?” I asked.  “Do you feel okay, Em?”

“Yes,” Emma said pulling the sheets over her head.

Together we can do what neither one of us would want to do alone.

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The Aspen Carousel

Posted on December 21, 2010 by | 1 comment

While there is no actual carousel in Aspen, Emma has devised ways to bring the concept here nevertheless.  As I write this, Emma is sitting downstairs where my mother has set up a toy carousel on a little table next to the Christmas tree.  It has lights and plays music, which Emma sings to as she knows all the songs.  The horses and animals move around as the lights flash and the music plays.  Prior to our leaving for Aspen Emma said, “Go to Aspen, go downstairs for carousel.”

“That’s right Em.  Granma keeps the carousel downstairs.  We’ll need to bring it upstairs to the living room,” I said.

“Get Aspen carousel.  Play on Granma’s carousel!” she said.

Now sitting in front of it, Emma said, “No Emma cannot sit on the carousel!  It’s too small for Emma.  Carousel for babies.”

“It’s too small for even a baby, Em.  It’s a doll’s carousel,” I said earlier.

“It’s too small,” Emma agreed.

“Carousel all done,” Emma could be heard saying just now as the music on the little toy carousel abruptly ended.

The other “carousel” Emma loves is at the ARC.  For those who have visited the Aspen Recreation Center, you will know there is no carousel.  But Emma has created her own by sitting on a ball and allowing the current of the “lazy river” (a waterway with a current propelling the body around and around) to push her along as she sings “carousel” songs.  “Go to the ARC?  Go on the carousel?” she asked a few years ago.

Utterly confused we corrected her, “But Em, there is no carousel at the ARC.  The carousel is in New York, we have to wait til we get back home.”

“Go on the Aspen carousel,” Emma insisted.

“We can try to find one, but I think we’ll have to drive a long way.”

“Aspen carousel,” Emma said matter-of-factly.

“Well let’s see if we can find one nearby,” we said in an attempt to placate her.

Eventually one of us figured out the connection when Emma said, “Go to carousel in indoor pool in Aspen.”

“You mean at the Rec Center?”

“Yes,” Emma confirmed, nodding her head.

“She must mean the lazy river,” one of us said.

The next time we came to Aspen, sure enough Emma raced over to the lazy river and, while balancing herself on a ball floated happily around and around while singing a medley of “carousel” tunes.

We have learned Emma is rarely wrong about such things.  If she says there is a carousel at the Rec Center, then there must be something that to her represents a carousel.

There is one more carousel Emma likes “going on”.  She runs around the kitchen island and sings, usually with the dogs joining in, which makes her run all the faster as she remains terrified of them.  It is a catch-22, the faster she runs to get away from the dogs, the more they think it’s a tremendous new game.  After a few laps, Emma will speed off to the safety of the upstairs where she knows the dogs will not follow her.  Carousel derailed.

Last night during dinner, every time someone at the dinner table got up, Emma would scoot into their chair saying cheerfully, “Now sit in Uncle Victor’s chair!” or “Now sit in Granma’s chair!”  It was a kind of impromptu musical chairs, which Emma devised regardless that no one else was in on the game nor was there music playing.  While this was not another “carousel” game, at least Emma didn’t call it one, it did have similarities.  Music, movement and silliness are Emma’s favorite things.  It’s no wonder she loves coming out here.  There are such endless possibilities.

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All Together

Posted on December 20, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Richard, Nic and Emma finally arrived in Aspen after a series of mishaps Thursday evening.  Emma saw me first and ran, as though heading for my arms, but at the last second, veered away, saying, “Hi Mommy!  It’s Mommy!”  and jumped up and down, pointing at me from about five feet away.

I caught her and said, “Hi Em!  Remember, arms around and squeeze!”  Which she did as I kissed both her cheeks.  I have been working with her on the art of hugging family members and though she hasn’t got it down yet, she at least understands that if you put your arms around the other person and squeeze, that will pass for an acceptable hug.  It’s a start, anyway.

Richard and Nic, on the other hand, returned my embraces easily and without hesitation.   This is my family and I am ecstatic to have them here with me through the holidays.

While we are here, Em is skiing with a buddy provided by Challenge Aspen.  (Except for today when it is so messy out with rain, slush & snow even Emma seemed less than enthusiastic.)  “Look!  It’s raining!  We cannot go skiing when it’s raining,” she said upon waking up this morning.  “That’s just silly!”  she added, pointing out the window at the rain.  And indeed, it did seem to be a bad idea, though there were the intrepid few, who defied all logic and were on the slopes, my brother and his wife being two of them.

I am relieved Emma was not among them, however, as the patches of sheer ice, mixed with the slush caused by the milder temperatures and rain, made for some interesting driving along our road.  I can only imagine what the skiing was like.

“Would you like me to read to you?” I asked Emma earlier this morning.

“Yes,” she said, sitting between my legs on the couch usually taken over by the dogs.  Emma pulled a blanket over us and leaned her head back against my chest.  I have been reading Balto, the Siberian husky whose statue forever memorializes him in New York City’s Central Park.  Emma, despite her fear of dogs loves the statue in Central Park and often climbs on it, as the photo below shows.

Emma seemed to enjoy the story and listened quietly as I read the last twenty pages to her.  When we finished the story, she looked out the window and said, “No, not going to go skiing!”  Go swimming at the ARC.  Go jump off the diving board into the cold water!”

“Yeah.  Okay.  That sounds like a good plan,” I said.

“Go swimming now,” Emma said.  Upon seeing my hesitation, she said, “You have to ask Mommy.  Mommy!  Can I go swimming at the ARC?”

“Em, you’ll go later, it’s not open yet.”

“You have to wait, it’s broken,” she said, looking at me to see if she’d gotten it right.

“No, it’s not broken, it’s just not open yet.  It’s too early,” I explained.

“It’s too early,” she said.  Then she peered out the window at the morning light and said, “You have to wait til it’s light out.”

“No, Em.  It’s light out, see?  We can see the mountains, but it’s too early for the pool to be open.  People are just waking up and having breakfast…”

“Later,” Emma said, clearly not interested in my long-winded explanation.

“Yes.  Just a little later.”

“One minute,” Em said.

“More than one minute,” I said, wondering if I should use the opportunity to bring over a clock and discuss the concept of time.

“Later,” Emma said with finality.

“Yes.”

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The Next 32 Hours

Posted on December 15, 2010 by | 1 comment

To say I am counting the hours until my family’s arrival would not be an exaggeration,  32 hours, weather permitting.  And during those 32 hours I will have opened my store, launched my e-commerce web site: www.arianezurcher.com, worked an eight hour shift and gone to see my friend and inspiration to all of us, Amanda Boxtel demonstrate Berkeley Bionics eLegs at the Aspen Club this evening.

Richard will be equally busy, going to Emma’s school for her parent/teacher conference, working, packing, going to Nic’s school Winter Concert where he will play “Lean on Me” on his clarinet (!) making sure Merlin is cared for while we are away, before getting to the airport and onto the airplane.  Flying with Nic and Emma is always stressful and anxiety producing even though Emma is one of the world’s best travelers.  It is more the mental gymnastics one inevitably goes through before the fact which causes the most worry – What if she has to pee and the plane is stuck on the runway in some endless and unforeseen delay?  What if she freaks out for some unspecified reason?  What if her favorite DVD doesn’t play properly?  What if, once in Denver, the plane to Aspen is delayed or worse, cancelled?  What if…

I have flown with both children a number of times on my own and it’s always nerve wracking.  The good news is, even with some substantial delays and mishaps, both Nic and Emma are terrific travelers.  Emma loves when the plane begins zooming along the runway and in the past would race her legs up and down as though she were running, propelling the plane forward as she laughed and made buzzing noises.  I haven’t seen her do that in over a year now, but it was hilarious when she use to.  Now, more likely, she will simply gaze out the window with a little content smile and occasionally hum.  She knows she will have her Cokie or as her head teacher at school writes – Coqui – which I rather like, giving the tattered blanket a certain, je ne ce quoi.  Emma has been talking about the fact she will have full access to Cokie on the airplane for over a month now.  “Take Cokie on the airplane,” she has said more than a few times.

“Yes, Em.  You’ll have Cokie with you.”

“Have Cokie on the airplane,” Emma will repeat as if confirming an important appointment.

“Yes,” we respond.

“Good!  Take Cokie on the airplane.”  Then she will nod her head and grin.

Both Emma and Nic have been looking forward to coming out to Aspen for a while now.  Nic cannot wait to see his beloved Granma and her dogs and Emma can’t wait to see her Granma, go skiing with her Uncle Victor and Aunt Susan and go swimming at the ARC (Aspen Recreation Center) after skiing.  I cannot wait to see both children and my husband tomorrow afternoon and have not thought much beyond catching sight of them and just hugging all of them.

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Priorities

Posted on December 14, 2010 by | Leave a comment

I have been away on business these past few days, which means I am away from my family and I miss them terribly.

This morning I received an email from Emma’s school saying she spit on the bus again, despite the fact she knows she will not have any cupcakes when she comes home and now will have limited access to her blanket, if this continues. I am not in New York to help deal with the situation, and even if I were, I doubt my presence would have much impact on her behavior. Knowing Richard is doing all he can to cope with this as well as working, packing for his and the children’s fast approaching departure to join me out here, going to Emma’s parent/teacher conference, Nic’s school concert where he is playing the clarinet, and all the other things he needs to do and get done before leaving this Thursday, I am feeling terrible that I’m out here worrying about the positioning of our store mirrors and whether our sign will be hung by tomorrow, when we hope to open our doors to the public.

Priorities. We all have to prioritize. We juggle as best we can. But it is our families, our friends, the people in our lives who are most important. All of this is trite, I know, but when I am told of Emma’s behavior, I remind myself of these things, because it can feel so terrible. Richard and I will figure out a way to ensure she stop spitting, it may take some time, but we will be able to rid her of this behavior eventually, just as we have worked with her on countless other inappropriate behaviors. Perspective and priorities..

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The Phone Call

Posted on December 11, 2010 by | Leave a comment

I hadn’t spoken to Emma in two days as I’ve been away on business. It’s always difficult traveling, leaving Richard, Nic and Emma behind. But it’s particularly tough not being around Emma as her phone skills are lacking. With Nic I can talk to him, ask him how his day was and feel a modicum of connection. But with Emma it’s more elusive. I called the house a little while ago, having not changed the time zone on my laptop, forgetting it was just 7:00AM on the east coast and Emma may still be asleep what with her new “sleeping til it’s light out” schedule and woke everyone up. I was hoping to exchange a few words with Em, though really would have felt happy to hear her sweet voice, but instead heard her murmur something in the background as Richard said, “Why are you calling so early?” in a groggy tone.
“Oh no!” I said. “What time is it?”
“It’s just 7:00,” Richard answered. “I’ll talk to you later.” There are some things years of marriage and no amount of love can penetrate – sleep.
An hour later Richard texted me saying everyone was up, so I called again.
“Hi!” Richard answered the phone. In the background I could hear Emma’s baby doll humming to the tune of “Row, row, row your boat.”
“Hi!” I said. “What’s Emmy doing?”
“She’s giving her baby doll a bath.”
“Where?”
“In the kitchen sink,” Richard said. I could hear the baby doll humming again, indicating Emma had just pressed her belly button to make her do so.
“Really?”
“Yeah, she washed her hair with shampoo and rinsed it out. I wonder how long it can stay in the water before it short curcuits,” Richard said.
“I don’t know. But that’s pretty great.”
“Yeah, she played with it all last night too. Now she’s put a towel on the floor and is drying it off. Hey Em! Come say hi to Mommy!”
I could hear Emma talking to her baby doll and then her footsteps running toward the phone. “Hi Mommy!” she said, still not quite into the phone.
“Hi Em!”
“Mommy’s staying at Granma’s house,” Emma said sadly.
“Yeah. I’m at Granma’s house. How are you?”
“Bye Mommy!” Her voice was heard to say as she sped off. I could hear the baby doll launch into another rendition of Row, row, row your boat in the background.
“Hey,” Richard said.
“Oh, I barely got to speak to her,” I said.
“Yeah, well you never know how long she’ll talk,” he said.
“I know. You have to get everything in quickly.”
For today, my brief conversation will have to do. Knowing Emma is playing with her doll makes me happy. Richard is hosting a sleep over with one of Nic’s friends, brave man that he is. Tomorrow Emma takes her gymnastics class and I will wait to hear how everything went.

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Emma & Our Barbeque

Posted on August 26, 2010 by | 3 comments

Last night we walked up to our cabin for a barbeque.  I posted once before about our cabin –  “Zurcher’s Folly” dated July 5th, 2010 – it’s a one room, rustic cabin with no electricity, only cold running water and an outhouse just far enough away to make you reconsider the urgency, particularly if it’s in the middle of the night and you’re female.

A group of us made our way down the hill and over the stream that each summer the beaver dam up, and then up a little way until we rounded the bend and caught a glimpse of the cabin’s red roof.  Emma was ahead of us riding on the four-wheeler with my nephew, Bridger.

Em & Bridger Heading Out on the Four-Wheeler

Colter, my other nephew was leading the way in a piece of machinery I actually do not have a name for, but it looks formidable, with much of our food in the back.  It was a procession and Emma was ecstatic riding along with Bridger as the rest of us trudged behind bringing up the rear.

Briger & Em Lead the Way

The Rest of Us on Foot

 

The dogs frolicked and fought over various sticks, pushing and shoving like small children, very nearly toppling my mother over on a few occasions.  As the cabin came into view everyone picked up the pace, dashing up the log steps and throwing themselves onto the now bare mattresses (they were once covered in quilts my mother and I meticulously made, but the mice got to them and now they are without) which serve as beds, sleeping two or three each.
“Have dinner?”  Emma asked, wasting no time in getting down to the essentials.

“You have to wait.  We’re going to eat together,” Richard said.

“Snack?” Emma asked.  It was good to see her father’s negotiating skills had not passed her by.

Then when none of us responded immediately she said, “Muzzy have snack?”  It was her killer instincts at work, going straight for the jugular.  What parent in their right mind could veto that?   Particularly as this was displaying everything we have dreamed of, attachment to a toy, pretend play…

Smart kid, I thought.

“Sure Em.  What does Muzzy want?”

“Yogurt!” Emma said.

“What kind?” Joe asked, never one to pass up an opportunity to get more language from her.

“I want yogurt,” Emma said.

“Yes, but what kind of yogurt?  Do you want peach yogurt?  Blueberry yogurt?” Joe continued.

“I want vanilla yogurt!” Emma said.

“Got it,” Joe said, rummaging around in his pack.

As Joe produced the vanilla yogurt, Emma sat down on the bench at the table, which occupies most of the floor space in the cabin.

“Here you are,” Joe said, setting it down in front of her.  “What do you need?”

“A spoon!” Emma answered.

She peeled open the foil cover and said to Muzzy, “Open wide!”

Muzzy’s Snack

“Mmmmm…  all done.  Now it’s Emma’s turn,” she said, after pretending to spoon the yogurt into Muzzy’s mouth.

“It’s my turn,” Richard said.

Emma looked at him.

“You say – it’s my turn,” Richard said.

“It’s my turn,” Emma repeated.

By the time the coals were ready and the burgers and hot dogs grilled, Emma had eaten her entire dinner.  She sat with us as we ate, serenading us with her favorite songs.  At times she became caught in a favorite refrain and needed to be reminded she had already sung that part several times and it was time to sing something else.

Emma Singing

“Go back to Granma’s?”  Emma said after awhile.

“No Em.  We aren’t going back until it’s dark,” Joe explained.

A little while later after we’d roasted marshmellows for our s’mores, Emma said, It’s getting dark!  Time to go back to Granma’s house!”

“You’re right Em.  It is getting dark.”

And with that she charged off as we gathered up our things.

Emma Waiting To Return To Granma’s House

When we were back at the house, Emma looked at Bridger, waved her hand goodbye and said, “Bye Bridger!  Thank you for the ride in the four-wheeler!”

Emma waving Goodbye and Thanking Bridger

Richard, Joe and I stared at each other in astonishment, literally with our mouths open.  This was unprecedented.  In the past we would have prompted Emma to say exactly what she said.  That she did it without anyone reminding her, entirely on her own, with terrific eye contact and waving her hand…

It was nothing short of amazing!

May I just comment on the incredible eye contact in almost all of these photos?  Have any of you who loyally follow this blog seen such great eye contact?!

It’s unbelievable!

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Emma’s Pal Muzzy and the Porkmepine

Posted on August 22, 2010 by | Leave a comment

While Ariane was taking a break, I took Emma for a ride on the ‘four-wheeler’, a small ATV that’s good on the unpaved roads here and the big fields beyond. We like to go early in the morning and late in the afternoon after a long day of swimming, walking, bowling, bungee cord jumping — in other words, all things physical and fun.

On our 4-wheeling adventures, it’s not uncommon to spot a variety of wildlife; deer, foxes, a family of coyotes (with four baby cubs!) and unexpected surprises, like today’s sighting of a large, chubby porcupine who was wobbling around behind the barn. Like most of the animals here, he/she? was fairly inured to human contact, but when we approached within fifteen feet I cut the engine, to see if he might stick around long enough for a good visit.

“Look Emma, see that? That’s a porcupine!”

No response.

He started wobbling in the opposite direction, crawling beneath the barn, which I assumed was his new living quarters from the practiced ease with which he hid away. Before he vanished I pointed to him again and said, “Emma, can you say porcupine?”

“Morepickpine,” she said, or something to that effect.

“No Emma, PORC-U-PINE,” I slowly enunciated.

“Porkmepine,” she replied.

“No Emma, not porkmepine, porc-ya-pine!” I smiled, shaking my head, changing my pronunciation of the second syllable so she didn’t think I was somehow talking about her (“you”) when identifying the animal.

“Porkapine,” she said.

“That’s right Emma,” I said, starting up the engine.

It was pretty funny, a little frustrating and a little encouraging. Frustrating because she still has such a hard time making distinctions in simple labeling. Encouraging because she was at least grasping the distinction between the words “you” and “me” when it came to identifying herself. Most of the time, she still talks like Elmo when she speaks of herself.

“Emma go on four wheeler?”

Sometimes I’ll just nod and answer, “sure Emma, let’s go for a ride.” But it’s better if I remember to correct her and suggest a more appropriate response:

“Emma, you can say, ‘Daddy, I want to go on the four-wheeler.'”

She will usually echo that response and occasionally (very occasionally) remember to phrase a question correctly. She has the same trouble with “you, I, me, she, he.” So we will often correct her when she says “you” when she means “me”, or “he” when she’s talking about a girl, etc.

Later in the afternoon, Joe took her out to play. She insisted on bringing her stuffed animal Muzzy along. See the attached photos Joe took after Emma buckled Muzzy’s seat belt in the car and then strapped him into a jogger, pushing him down one of the local bike paths. This new affectionate attachment to her stuffed monster-animal pal is another very encouraging sign. Muzzy recently accompanied her in a hospital bed, and now that he seems to have fully recuperated, she’s taken him for an outing in the countryside.

Emma may not care much about prickly porkmepines, but she sure does love her fuzzy Muzzy. And that’s just fine with you.

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The Performance

Posted on August 19, 2010 by | 1 comment

Emma loves nothing more than a birthday party.  And so it was with great excitement that she descended the staircase wearing her party dress with a pair of lime-green and black crocks on her feet last night.

“Oh Emma!  You look so beautiful!”  I said when I saw her.

“It’s Mommy’s birthday,” She said in response.

If we are having a few people over for dinner, Emma will say, “It’s a birthday party!”

“No, we’re just having some friends over for dinner,” I will try to explain.

“Party,” Emma will say, nodding her head and then she’ll add quickly, almost under her breath, “Birthday party.”  As though by saying this it will make it so.

It doesn’t matter how often we explain that any given holiday such as Christmas is different than a birthday it becomes a  – “Christmas Birthday party.”  If we are having family and friends over for Thanksgiving – it becomes a “Thanksgiving Birthday party”.  My mother’s birthday falls on Thanksgiving every seven years, which has only compounded the problem, making our explanation all the more inexplicable to Emma.  How is it that just two years ago we had a huge birthday celebration on Thanksgiving for my mother with relatives flying in from all over the US and now this year it’s a regular Thanksgiving.  As far as Emma’s concerned we are making things far too complicated.  A party is a birthday party no matter what we say.  And yet, now after the other night’s monologue I wonder if this is true.  Perhaps the subtleties are not lost on her, perhaps she simply is unable to express herself well enough to tell us how she feels and it’s the excitement she is trying her best to convey.  The kind of excitement we can understand and which we are able to share with her derived from a birthday celebration.

So it was last night as I celebrated a half-century of life, which does seem an awfully long time.  But age carries little importance to Emma.  Often when asked, “Emma, how old are you?”  She will answer, “Three!” or “Five!” as likely as what her real age is, “Eight!”  These are words, which she tries to remember but sometimes forgets.  When I hear her answer, it seems to me the number holds no meaning to her.    As it should be, I say.

Last night after the birthday cake was served and my mother had given a toast, Emma ran up to the front of the room, grabbed hold of a pretend microphone and proceeded to say in a loud voice, “Ladies and Gentleman!  Enjoy the show!”

Richard and I exchanged a nervous look.  Emma has been known to get up in front of an “audience” whether it’s on the subway and they are involuntary and captive or at any dinner party to sing.  Often Emma will sing the same song over and over until she is told to stop.  When we are home and it’s just us we will allow her to sing the same song repeatedly.  However even then we will try to redirect her and encourage her to sing a different song to break her out of the increasingly perseverative loop she can get herself in.

“Emma!  Would you like to sing?”  I asked.

“Yes,” Emma said, bouncing up and down.

“Okay, one song,” I said holding up an index finger.

Emma nodded her head, “Okay.”

“What would you like to sing?” I asked.

“It’s My Life,” Emma said.

It’s My Life by Gwen Stefani is Emma’s favorite song, hands down.  Not only does Emma know the lyrics by heart, but she has all the instrumentals down and does her best to make noises replicating them.  Our guests, all 50 plus of them gave her their attention as Emma began.  It was a flawless performance, which began somewhat timidly, for Emma is usually not shy in either pitch nor volume, picking up in intensity after the first few bars.  By the end she was dancing and singing with abandon.  When she finished everyone cheered and applauded as Emma beamed.  She ran over to me.

Looking into my eyes she said, “Daddy’s turn and then Emma sing again?”

That’s our beautiful girl – a Gwen Stefani wannabe, rock and roll princess who loves an appreciative audience.  I’m just hoping someone recorded it.

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M

Posted on July 6, 2010 by | 1 comment

I took Emma whitewater rafting today, while Ariane attended a seminar. Emma asked me to go rafting a few days ago, so I booked it for today and we slathered on the sunscreen. We went rafting last summer, all four of us, with Nic and Emma riding in the front of the raft, getting soaked and laughing like crazy. Nic was attending day camp today, so he didn’t join us. Just me and Em.

I assumed that Emma would want to ride in the front again and asked the guide to accommodate us (and perhaps prevent a meltdown if she was denied her preferred seat selection). The guide said sure, but when we climbed in the raft Emma wanted to ride in the middle instead. I was surprised and a little disheartened to be honest, thinking she had lost her gung-ho enthusiasm.

It was a gorgeous, crystal clear, blue-sky day. The river was running fast with lots of great rapids. Emma sat in the middle of the seat in the middle row. I was behind her to the left, the guide in the stern to her right. In the formerly coveted front row was a mother and father and their daughter Sydney, who looked about three years younger than Emma, but who of course, was talking like she was three years older. They were all laughing and screaming and squealing as they got soaked to the bone in the 40˚ mountain-fed water — acting pretty much like Emma and Nic and Ariane and I did when we rode together last summer.

Emma sat silently for most of the hour long ride, looking around, or maybe not looking around at all. Maybe just staring off in space. It’s hard to tell. I tried to get her more engaged and excited by alerting her to upcoming waves and waterfalls, whooping it up. She seemed to get slightly more jazzed, but not enough to laugh or scream like she would on a carnival ride, or like she did in our last raft ride. I got a little bummed but then I thought about how much Nic’s and Ariane’s company means to her — how much she laughs when we all play together.

“She misses Nic,” I thought. “Misses mommy too.”

It made enough sense that I stopped worrying about her autistic detachment and just enjoyed the ride, which was about as perfect as a raft ride could be. When we hit a calmer stretch, Emma started singing and grabbed the strap they gave her to hold, leaning way back until her head was resting on the seat next to me, whereupon I tickled her chin and elicited those squeals I wanted to hear. This was repeated many more times between the rapids.

I asked, “Are you having a good time Em?”

She replied, “Yeah,” with a smile as convincing as the eager tone of her voice.

“Me too Em,” I said, smiling back at her.

I noticed how much I’d been calling her ‘Em’ lately, instead of Emma. For some reason, the thought popped into my head that Em should be her stage name when she becomes a huge rock star a few miles further downstream. Then I thought ‘M’ would be even better, out-abbreviating Madonna and Cher and other one-named divas — assuring her charismatic status with a single letter. I pictured what the T-shirt ‘M’ logo would look like – maybe a graceful art nouveau scroll – then I got concerned that Bette Midler, ‘The Divine Miss M’ might claim trademark infringement.

SPLASH! My daydreaming came to an abrupt end as I got soaked head-to-toe by a big wave that blasted over the side. Emma sat upright, placid and unconcerned in her self-selected (and very dry) seat in the middle of the boat. “Em, you’re not even wet!” I laughed and the guide laughed too.

“Yeah, looks like she picked the right seat after all,” he added.

Mmm hmm. I guess she did.

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Zurcher’s Folly

Posted on July 5, 2010 by | 3 comments

Yesterday I asked Emma, “Do you want to go to the indoor pool?”

To my surprise she answered, “No.”

“Do you want to go for a walk?” I asked.

She said nothing, which could mean she wanted to or it also might mean she didn’t.  It could go either way.

I needed to be more specific.  “Do you want to go to the cabin?”

“Yes!” She replied.  She ran into the mudroom and grabbed a leash, which she attached to my shorts.  There is a history (as there is with almost everything she does) to the leash.  When she was a toddler, she became absolutely terrified of dogs, all dogs.  We would explain to her that the dogs wouldn’t hurt her and anyway they would be on a leash.  The only way she could be convinced to go on a hike was if she could hold the leash.  Over time that led to putting me on a leash and now it is a given that the dogs run freely, but I am on a leash that Emma holds and occasionally tugs on if I am not going quickly enough or conversely, am going too quickly to force me to slow down.  In any event, it works.

Off to the cabin we went, the dogs racing around fighting over various sticks they found along the way and Emma and I leashed together.

The cabin, one room, no hot water, no electricity, a wood burning stove and fireplace, was nick named “Zurcher’s Folly”.  My immediate family built it log by log and at the time, my father, in particular wondered if it would sit unused.   In the 1970’s the ranch had no houses on it, just fields, shrub, irrigation ditches some beaver dams, herds of elk roamed through each winter, bears and coyote took over in the summer.   The only structures were a barn and the ranch house at the edge of the property where a revolving door of people lived in return for taking care of the irrigation ditches, sometimes boarding horses on the land.

Since the cabin was built various family members have slept in it.  During a brief break between colleges I even lived in it for four months, packing my food and water in, sitting out on the deck looking out onto the Rockies and contemplated life.  The cabin has always held a special place in my heart, a place my family built with their own hands and hard work, a place of solitude, removed from everything else.  Unless an airplane flew overhead one would not know what year it was.  We go out to the cabin at least once every time we come to Aspen.  A pilgrimage of sorts, it is a reminder of what is important in life and what we all love about being in this part of the world.

My two children have been going out to the cabin ever since they were born.  So it was with a certain degree of excitement that Emma and I made our way through the grass and fallen trees before rounding the bend and caught our first glimpse of the cabin’s roof.

Emma immediately began to run.  After I’d unlocked the door, she dropped the leash and fell onto a mouse dung covered platform, which serves as one of two beds.  We stayed there for a few hours, me rereading the journal we keep where everyone who has visited the cabin over the past thirty plus years is encouraged to make an entry, and Emma singing and dancing.

On the way home Emma grabbed the leash once again and tugged on it.

“What?” I asked.

“Go to the indoor pool,” Emma said.

“But it’s too late now, Emma.  We have to go home and get dressed for the picnic we’re going to,” I said.

Emma pretended to cry with an exaggerated facial expression.  Sometimes this leads to Emma actually crying, what begins as a kind of joke can soon turn into the real thing.

I began to sing, “We can’t go to the indoor pool.  We’re going to a picnic.”

Emma picked up where I left off, “I want to go to the indoor pool,” she sang, then looked at me.

“We can’t, we can’t, we can’t,” I sang back.

Then Emma sang, “Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.”

We went on like this making up verses and melodies, sometimes overlapping each other, sometimes stopping mid “verse” until the other picked it up.

“I could hear you two singing all the way up the trail,” Richard said when we eventually returned to the house.

“Wasn’t that great?” I asked.

“She’s doing great, Ariane,” Richard replied.

And he’s right.

She is.

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