Life in 1000 Words

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:37:00 +0000

He makes me laugh with all his new "comfort paraphernalia"

cousins

...we're snotty faced and grubby this week.

It went by waaaay too fast.

what's up

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:46:00 +0000

Yesterday I had another ultrasound. Here is a picture...

The baby was camera shy! It kept turning away from the "screen" and we didn't get any nice pictures. I didn't write about anything yesterday because I was waiting for the doctor to call me today. (ugh!) That is the problem with our insurance company: they won't cover an ultrasound done by my doctor in the doctor's office, I have to go to the imagining center where a technician does the ultrasound and isn't allowed to tell me anything. That is not cool when I can see that something isn't "normal". The picture doesn't show it, but the baby has a spot on it's brain. The doctor called me this morning and told me it's a CPC, a choroid plexus cyst. (You can read about it here if you want details.) It's small, probably nothing to worry about and that often they go away, but she wants me to go to UCONN and get a higher level sonogram done. So...I guess that is in the works.

❤

Today

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:45:00 +0000

I love...
Zofran this morning. Maybe I'll actually be able to get out of bed and stay out soon.

Play time in bed with Colton. We have Steve's iPad for watching movies, a puzzle, books, his Pooh bear, monkey, 2 binkys, sippy cup and bristle blocks.

Colton's teasing.

Daniel is amusing himself right now.

My iPod.

Comfy blankets.

Baby movement.

Many of His "fingerprints" in the last few days.....

I don't love...
Colton's teasing.

Feeling sick.

Not being able to nap.

The night after a Full Moon.

Our insurance company.

Waiting.

use it or...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:03:00 +0000

I was totally expecting to be "back" last Thursday!!

On Thursday I babysat for my niece. Lessons were terrible.

Friday Daniel's lessons were mostly independent. One thing I like about Time4Learning is that I can print out his activities and scores. If he gets a 14% on something, I know he was goofing around and probably just listening to sound effects. I gave him bonus stickers for all of his 100s and I'm hoping he'll remember that a good effort is rewarded! (I realize less than 100 can still be a good effort...)

You know that saying, "Use it or lose it"?

I find that's how it is with photography. I've hardly touched my camera since September or October...and I can tell. It's not as comfortable in my hands, I'm rarely pleased with my pictures and I miss it. I guess that's one more thing pregnancy does for me. When you feel sick, you focus inward and you don't really see what's going on around you so much. I don't want to commit to any kind of challenge...except to take pictures more often. Here are a few I took recently that I'm happy with. The first and last I didn't have to touch- they came out how I wanted them to...and yeah, I could work on not cutting off the top of his head, but I was focused more on what he was doing. That is the sort of thing I want to remember. The middle one needed some help in PSE.

Sunny morning, complete with jammies and dust motes. :)

I loved that Daniel was so willing to sit here and pose for a picture with Colton. He put his arm around his little brother, so I'll overlook the lack of eye contact. ;)

We worked on sharing and taking turns today. Daniel sometimes has a hard time with it, but he loves his little brother and I love to see them enjoy each other. We had therapy this morning and then we went to Dunkin Donuts for a treat afterwards. Daniel was so cute with his frosted donut and Colton with his little baggie of chocolate glazed Munchkins. Love it. :)

Smashing ice...so he could eat it.

Okay, Colton is calling me and I want to get dinner started before I feel icky again. ❤

Oh! Before I go! Good news on the therapy front. They are keeping the clinic open. I don't know how it's going to be funded, I guess I can learn more later. All I know now is that it will be open less- they are consolidating their hours, but his therapists still really want to see Daniel and we're going to start going on Fridays pretty soon. Whatever- he's still going!! :)

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:55:00 +0000

I made some delicious blueberry muffins today. Mr Colton liked the tops. I knew I shouldn't have dipped them in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar! He wouldn't eat the rest! I'd post a picture...but I need to practice taking pictures in the kitchen, obviously. The ones I took were terrible. Good thing I found something I could eat! Lately I don't really like much of anything...sometimes candy, sometimes sweets, sometimes meat or fruit. Pregnancy is weird.

....and I never got to finish this today, so I'll just post it and see you tomorrow!

some more...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:04:00 +0000

Lessons were great today. Seriously. They were absolutely fantastic. Daniel was engaged, he loved it, (Colton napped through them!!!!) and Daniel and I were both proud of the work he did.

I am remembering to let go of "grade levels" and to just work with Daniel where he is at. Where does this pressure come from???! I feel like we're finally getting into the swing of things again. There were the holidays and Steve's vacation, then a whole bunch of sickness on top of really not knowing what direction we were going with Daniel's lessons. We took a long break from math while we waited for the testing with the neuropsychologist. I read an article awhile back about backing off isn't giving up, it's giving it time. I've reread that so many times because as a homeschool mom the weight of Daniel's success in homeschool (and life) sometimes feels really, really heavy. It's freeing to give myself permission to step back and breathe for a bit. Anyway, we did some math today (Time4Learning.com) and Daniel did very well and he also did the worksheet that went along with the lesson. (yay, Daniel!) We did some science and language arts as well and it was fun!

I went to www.pickupplease.org the other day and scheduled a pick up for a whole bunch of stuff we had to get rid of. I have pretty much given up on taking things to Goodwill because they are picky about what they take (no toys) and I never remember to put the stuff in my car when I am driving in that direction. So... I found a place that comes to us...and they take just about everything! That said, garbage is garbage...if it belongs in the rag bag, I don't pass it on! ;)

Colton climbed up onto the couch and showed me the letter S on the wall.
He pointed to it and said, "esss!" :) hehe!

I have been trying to make our house more homey with things that we already have. We are loving this lamp that Steve's grandfather made. It feels like I can breathe in here again... in most of the rooms anyway... it's nice to have rooms and areas that are FUNCTIONAL and not full of extra clutter! I still have work to do, but huge improvements have been made around here! yay! Yesterday I actually heard Daniel yell at Colton for making a mess in the toy room. I went in to investigate and found that Colton had dumped a bucket of Toy Story toys "just because". He looked sort of annoyed to be yelled at and then put them back in the container. :) This doesn't mean that the kids aren't allowed to PLAY in the toy room...it means we're trying to get over dumping stuff just for the sake of dumping and the "toy nests" that Daniel was making before are (hopefully) a thing of the past!

We should know after tonight whether the therapy center will be staying open or not. I've been praying...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:10:00 +0000

He grabbed a tomato off the windowsill and started eating it the other day. :)

We all continue to thoroughly enjoy his funny, little toddlerness. ;)

I love watching these two play together more and more often.

I love it when I can see that Daniel likes watching Colton enjoy himself and that he's happy.

"Colton, where is your big brother?"

I love watching these two together too.

We are finally feeling better! This morning I told Daniel that we were going to see Miss Emma and Miss Nadia and he smiled big, pointed into his mouth and said, "Oh good! The germs are gone!" (I told him last week when he kept wanting to leave and I was still sick that we had to stay home until our germs were gone.)

Hopefully we aren't counting down to our last therapy appointments. From what I understand the state is not renewing the Birth to Three contract with the therapy center we go to and is giving it to some out of state company. (I don't know how that works when the kids are here?!) This is a shame for many reasons. I love this place because the therapists are actually good ones. Good therapists are hard to find. There is another therapy center that takes our insurance...but unless I hear rave reviews from our pediatricians office of how things turned around there, I don't think I'll call. The place was terrible, couldn't keep therapists, couldn't find new ones and started leaning towards family fitness (not a bad thing, but disappointing when you are looking for THERAPY), day care and birthday parties. When I spoke to the owner she had great visions and plans for the place and great ideas for Daniel, but nothing ever came of it and the place started to seem really shady and his temporary "therapists" weren't actually therapists at all. Anyway, I'm sending my letter to the Governor today and hopefully he'll be barraged with letters, call and emails and the place will stay open...

Yesterday was our first day "back" after being sick and not bothering with school for a week. Daniel's visual schedule helped get him on track. We all sat down at the computer to do some lessons together. It was fun to have Colton on my lap and he enjoyed some of the lessons too. :) Daniel asked to do a Language Arts segment and we chose an activity where he had to identify the first, middle or last sound of a word. Part of this is way too easy for him (the reading/letters/phonics bit...) but the last time he did this activity it seemed like he didn't truly understand first, middle and last. Anyway, it was great to see him get it now and Colton loved repeating letter names, sounds and some words. He's been saying a little more everyday and I'm fascinated that a kid so little can communicate so much. I try not to compare him to Daniel, but Daniel is all I have to go by. I don't know what's normal. To me, it's not normal to communicate back and forth with a child so small so much. (Of course, it's probably IS normal and I think Colton is in the normal range for his communication and not especially advanced. He has a pretty decent vocabulary, both spoken and signs, but rarely puts two words together yet.)

I am nesting like crazy.

I either feel sick or bursting with energy-

there is no in between.

If I'm sick, I don't want to move.

If I feel good, I'm going to go, go, go until I can't.

I just wanted to take a minute and try to tell you how much you all mean to me. Sometimes I don't know what to blog about...or how much to blog about...how "real" to be... I guess all that just goes with the territory, right? Your comments, your emails, your letters and surprise packages mean so incredibly much. Sometimes they are from people I know...or sorta know. Other times it's from someone I only know through blogging, but whatever the case, it's heartwarming to know that I have so many great friends. Thank you for your care for me and my kids, your support and your continued encouragement. ❤

much love,
Julie

I couldnt stay away!

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:33:00 +0000

I could be doing things while Colton naps today...but I can't seem to stay away! I can't (hardly ever) nap when he does, but I've been busy most of the day, so I guess it's good to just lay down for a bit.

Updates and "stuff"

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:33:00 +0000

Today is another sick day. Everyone is slowly, slowly getting better. I managed to get a bunch of housekeeping stuff done yesterday (tons of breaks in between) and I played with Colton a lot, but we were all exhausted and in bed at 6.

Poor little guy woke up in the middle of the night saying, "help! Help!" he needed a drink and his Binky and to lean his head on my shoulder.

Today Daniel is watching movies and drawing. Colton and I are eating cookies and watching Kipper on the couch. I made cookies this morning and I'm hoping that maybe they'll be something to grab when I need an emergency snack? I have no appetite and almost nothing appeals to me. I'm not sure if it's the pregnancy or the flu making me feel like that. Colton has been super picky with food lately, but he finally ate some steamed broccoli last night.

...and I just got a phone call from the therapy center that it will be CLOSING February 17th. Seriously?! This therapy stuff is such an uphill battle. Of course they are going to appeal it and parents are writing letters to the governor.... More on this later probably.

I've fallen behind on my emails this week. If I haven't gotten back to you, I will soon.

Have you noticed Blogger's new Reply option in the comments section? I love that! I'm going to catch up on my replies there, too. I'm not sure if you'll get an email if I reply to you or if you have to subscribe (or check back!).

Also some people can't always leave comments or see that section. I've heard that using Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer fixes that problem.

I hope all of you stay well and healthy! When I feel good again, I am going to remember to be thankful for good health!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:54:00 +0000

Thank goodness for Steve's iPad. Colton is sitting next to me in bed watching a movie. I'm hoping to rest for awhile. SLEEPING might be pushing it. ;) Steve and the boys are on the mend...now it's my turn. I'm glad that it's just an achy, bad cold and (so far) no fever. Still, they all got to rest and I find myself wishing for the same. Life goes on whether I'm ready or not. Diapers, meals, refereeing who gets the remote and redoing laundry because someone dumped the clean basket on top of all the rest and I can't tell the difference with enough confidence to trust that I know. And it's only 7:30!!!
Today is one of those days when I wish for one of those hospital bed tables so I could sit up in bed and do lessons with Daniel and work on other things as I feel up to it. The stairs are killing me lately. So is standing still. Now I'm reminded why I start counting down the weeks and days of a pregnancy- because I can't wait to feel strong again. I get so out of breath and actually have to do breathing exercises as I stand at the counter so I don't keel over. I don't know if it's normal or not, but it's normal for me and I don't like it!!! 22 weeks to go...

Whoops! Getting ahead of myself...23 weeks to go. Boo! Haha!

Testing...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:55:00 +0000

...the new Blogger app for my iPod. :) I love our snuggle time. I'm tired and want to take a nap, but I think as soon as I fall asleep he'll wake up!

sickies

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:21:00 +0000

Various forms of sickness whether it be ~~morning~~ all day sickness or fevers have kept us all either on our toes...or in bed lately. I guess that is just part of winter. Yesterday Daniel seemed to feel the worst and it's obvious he doesn't feel well when he curls up with a blanket and doesn't move. I put the small tv/dvd player on the floor in the kitchen and he got in his sleeping bag and stayed there until bedtime. I felt so bad for him, especially because he didn't say anything or complain, he just lay there. Colton was pretty miserable this morning, but it's harder to keep him still. I gave him some medicine and I think it's helped his fever, so he's playing again and not so grumpy, but he's definitely not himself. Steve is home from work again. He's got to be pretty sick to stay home. I'm starting to get a cough, but otherwise feel okay. I had to take my prescription for the nausea this morning or I think I'd be telling a very different story! On Thursday I'll be 17 weeks...so the icky part will be over, well, one of these weeks!

When everyone is sick I don't really know what to do with myself. As long as Colton will let me, I think I'll work on editing pictures today!

...

I just gave the boys popsicles. Colton wanted to strap his monkey (he's shown a new attachment to it!!!) into the chair. I told him that first Colton could sit in the chair and eat a popsicle and then his monkey could have a turn. Colton ate his popsicle and then got his monkey and buckled him in. Then he came and got me from the office, brought me to the freezer and wanted a popsicle for his monkey. hehe! I showed him how he could pretend with playdoh on a popsicle stick. He liked that!

This is the face I get when I ask him to look at the camera!

problems, dreams and homeschooling

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:58:00 +0000

Last week we saw a Pediatric Neuropsychologist to help determine the difference between "can't and won't" for Daniel. We've been struggling a lot with lessons this year and I've been at my wits end trying to figure out what to do. It has been very apparent to me that Daniel's original diagnosis was spot on. Moderate - Severe Classic Autism. Sometimes it's moderate and we have pretty good days and with some care and attention things can be almost "normal". When it's severe I just have to keep reminding myself that his "bad day" isn't my fault, there is not much I can do about it and we survive.

I am waiting for the test results now. I'm looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. I know they're not going to be that good. It's not encouraging when the doctor leans forward and tells you, "He has a looooot of problems". Well, I'm glad he didn't sugar coat it, but, really. From what I was able to remember of his quick summary after the testing was over (At this point Daniel was licking the table and giggling like a maniac and would. not. stop.) he recommended some kind of ABA program, a social skills group/class, and lots of life skills lessons. I don't have a problem with any of that...I just need to find someone to pay for the ABA (looks like $90/hr), a social skills group that doesn't fall through (and someone to pay for that) and we've been working on life skills. Academics? I don't know. I really don't know.

This year the best lessons have been on Time4Learning.com. We sit down and do the lessons together otherwise he'll get sidetracked and just be silly or click on things for the sound effects. Daniel usually does well on these lessons. He understands it, he's usually interested and he'll get 80s, 90s and 100s on his tests. He does very poorly when he has to listen to a story, listen to text, read text he's not interested in, etc.

I had a day or so when I thought that I can't do this (homeschool) anymore and the best thing for him would be to go back to school and then I remembered the two biggies.

1. He can't handle a regular classroom and goes into survival mode dealing with the sensory overload. We saw it happen before, it would happen again.

2. If the school doesn't present things to him in a visual manner, it does't matter what they teach, he isn't going to get it anyway.

We can take care of #1 at home and we're doing our best with #2. Now, we wait.

I guess I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at times, frustrated, impatient because I want a plan of action now and a little bit heartsick. I've been having these dreams. I know pregnancy dreams can be crazy anyway, but this one really stood out to me and I remember a lot of it, I think because it was so symbolic of my thought processes lately.

We were driving in a mini van through a really nice town. I think part of the time my dad was driving. He was at least in the car with us. We were at a stop light and when I looked around I marveled to myself that such a nice New England town had such terrible roads. Not just unpaved roads, they were rutted and horribly bumpy- way worse than any dirt road (except for maybe one) that I've ever been on. We were on our way to a restaurant/bar. It wasn't a trashy bar, it was a fancy outside one with twinkle lights and a fresh open air feeling. I kept looking at the menu and I couldn't figure out what I wanted. Everyone else seemed to know and they were waiting on me (but it didn't seem to really matter). Our waiter was French and I couldn't understand a word he said whether it was in English with an accent or if he was just speaking French, but he was really trying to communicate with me. It wasn't uncomfortable though. After awhile he left to give me some time to think and then it seemed like suddenly he was back and there were several guys all dressed in military uniforms (sorta like Marine dress?!) and there was either an announcement or just an internal realization that they were leaving for war. Now. Someone handed me a magazine so I could jot down some parting words, but I couldn't find a free page and I felt super stressed because everyone was watching and waiting and I didn't know what to say. I finally got some words on the page and then looked up for a minute, got distracted and when I went to finish, I couldn't find what I had written, so I wrote my address and barely finished when some other guy took the magazine and pen and they all had to leave. And we didn't think of them as soldiers, they were warriors. Here and gone...and we were pretty sure they'd be safe, just gone for a long time.

Anyway, the dream bothered me enough and was clear enough that I looked up some dream meanings. Bumpy roads, trouble communicating, indecision, conflict, anxiety, leaving before I was ready (Daniel started Pre-K when he had just turned 3...), school would be like sending Daniel off to war, (in a sense)... Some of it was obvious, other things I looked up because it was the second night in a row that I dreamt about soldiers and that seemed significant. The dreams stopped when we came up with a plan, at least for this year, to continue homeschooling.

popping in real quick...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:26:00 +0000

I uploaded these pictures hours ago and this post has been sitting here waiting for me to finish it! (Or start it!) Anyway, I'm going to have to be fast because it's almost time to get the boys ready for bed. Here is Mr. C. He loves to play in the sink while I'm in the kitchen. I'm trying to keep the sink clean so that I don't mind that he plays there. Of course that's not realistic all the time, but it's kind of nice for him to have something fun to do that close by and not messing up recipes! We'll just have to make the time to make cookies or something and just have fun.

Yesterday I moved the DVD player to the kitchen and cleaned the toy room. *fingers crossed* We may have found a solution to the messy toy room problem!!! I like that Daniel is close to where I am, he interacts way more, he tells me things, I get to see what he's doing better and he doesn't dump toys all around him (possibly with the intention of making it so horrible in there that everyone else stays out?!). I like getting to see things like he does.

Baby Einstein and Aladdin

I still hope to catch you up on some things, but I find that I don't have the time now to do a good job of it. Maybe sometime this week I'll get some quality time at my computer!

One other quick note that only affects a handful of you...I closed my pregnancy blog so it's private now and I'm the only person who can read it. I don't want anyone to think they are singled out or excluded. It's just going to be my pregnancy journal, just for me. Maybe sometimes I'll be brave and post a belly picture on here or something, but I want to keep the other one private. No offense or anything intended.

❤

just a little note

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:07:00 +0000

Super busy day today... sometime I'll try to get back and rewrite some of that other post. some of you have been trying to leave comments and it's not working. I don't know why. You can email me if you want to tell me something. :)
❤

On the iPad today!

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:09:00 +0000

Noooooooo! I just lost that whole post!

battery

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:31:00 +0000

First I want to thank everyone for the comments and emails in response to my post yesterday. I hesitated to publish it because it wasn't cheery and happy and I hate "poor me" posts, but I'm glad I posted it because your encouragement has been so helpful. Thank you.

Yesterday morning was rough. We're still struggling to get back into a good routine after Christmas. Daniel was verbally contradicting everything I said. "It's not a thunderstorm....that's not rain...that's not lightning...that's not a door". We were doing a lesson about thunderstorms and he didn't want to do it. He even had to sit there and think a few times on how to contradict what I had said. Frustrating. Not fun. When it was time to leave to go to therapy, I asked him to put on his coat and stand by the door while Colton and I got our coats on. He told me it wasn't a door, so I told him that the next time he contradicted me he was going to have to write ten times, "It is a door, It is a door, It is a door..."

He thought for a moment and conceded, "It looks like a door". Grr! :) lol! (Funnier today than it was yesterday!!) Therapy went pretty well...but the car wouldn't start when it was time to go! I called Steve and my phone battery died too! (Thank goodness for free wifi because I could message him from my ipod!) We went to the grocery store and ate lunch in the car while we waited.

Sometimes heroes come with beards. hehe.

Steve jump started my car and then followed us home. It took him 45 minutes to get to us, so it wouldn't have been time to go home by the time he got back to work. I have a brand new battery in the car now. It's icy out today, so hopefully we make it to Daniel's appointment with the neuropsychologist. I am really looking forward to his final report (which I won't have for a little while yet...).

Colton is officially weaned...but now that I don't nurse him down for his nap, nap time is a bigger struggle that it was before. I "rocked" him in his stroller for about 45 minutes before he fell asleep. He cried and screamed most of that time. Daniel gave up his nap at 18 months. Colton is almost 2, but he still needs it most days to get through dinner without a meltdown. I read that kids his age need 12-14 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. When he skips his nap, he'll sleep from about 8pm-8am, so maybe he's just getting enough.

tired

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:49:00 +0000

I am tired. I'm tired of guessing. Tired of wondering if Daniel knows what I'm talking about or not. Tired of dragging two crazy kids to church by myself. Tired of having no control. Tired of feeling on my own. Tired of wondering if I'm doing it right. I have worked so hard to get Daniel to like going to church...to stop fighting me about it...to look forward to seeing our friends...but I can't get him to sit and behave, to stop wandering around, messing with the musical instruments, throwing himself on the floor to avoid me, banging his hand into things in protest, using his headphones as an excuse to ignore me, yelling "ouch" when I touch him, making me drag him out because he won't walk. We did time outs yesterday, naughty chair in the Mother's Room, threats to go home. Nothing worked. His punishment has to be immediate otherwise I don't think he gets it. The only thing I can think of is to go home...but the thing is he wants to stay (which I should be thrilled about)...and if we go home it's just more of the same thing we do everyday and we all lose out...and Satan wins. (Ephesians 6:12) If my brother didn't tell me that it's worth it every week and that we belong there, I honestly don't know if I'd go...and I know the worst thing I could do is isolate ourselves more than we already are. I hate it. I'm tired of it. I've tried not to worry and think too far ahead, but if I can't do it with two, how am I going to do it with three?

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:17:00 +0000

The Toy Story craze continues.

Ellie, you worried that Daniel wasn't interested in the Toy Story DVD because he barely looked at it when he opened it... he watches it every day.

Both boys love Shaun the Sheep (a show on Netflix) and Daniel drew some pictures inspired by the show this morning.

Now...if he could just stop acting out the part with the farmer's bare rear end sticking out the window, that would be great! (long story short, he takes things very literally. I've tried to tell him it's okay to think it's funny on the show, but it is not okay to show the neighbors his behind.)

Colton makes me laugh. Seriously, he's my sunshine.

How I would love to hop on that treadmill just walk for a mile or two. No exercise allowed yet for at least a few more weeks.

basic rules

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:24:00 +0000

Lately it feels like Daniel is constantly asking for more food...so today when he got up I gave him his chocolate milk and then made pancakes. It was a real struggle to get him to eat the pancakes and to stay in the kitchen. Over and over again we struggle with the "basic rules".

Eat at the table
Wear regular clothes during the day
Wear jammies at night
You make a mess, you clean it
If laundry is folded, don't you dare throw it around the room
When you're finished with your dish, bring it to the sink

I know that there can be exceptions, I guess I'm still trying to figure out what is important as far as daily structure and when it's fun to just relax. One truth remains: Daniel needs structure and visual support....and consistency.

Today is day 3 and Colton didn't even ask for nursing when he woke up. I've noticed that he's not nearly as clingy and needy either, which doesn't really make sense to me...(although he was restless last night). Yesterday he and Daniel played together so much. I would have thought that taking away his comfort would make him more needy, but it's like it gave him the okay to go do his own thing.

I feel okay today. I'm always afraid to say that because it might not stay that way. I'm going to put some laundry away. Steve, if you're looking for clothes, look in your drawers! ;)

today

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:38:00 +0000

"Mom! Take a picture of the horse!"

Daniel and Colton have been playing very nicely together today. I found them in the playroom, under the sleeping bag, giggling and watching a movie together.

Who taught Colton to say "cheese"?!

After I took the picture Daniel asked to see it.

Today we're working on cleaning up after ourselves. Daniel HAS to learn that it is not okay to empty laundry baskets especially after the laundry has already been folded. If he empties the pantry to sit on the bottom shelf he must put all the cans back when he's done. Balls and canned goods are NOT to be thrown in the house, dishes and cups and to be put in the sink and papers in the garbage. I put all the clothes and things back in the changing table which doubles as Colton's dresser...but they can't empty it and throw all the stuff around just because. I can't keep up! I've put more toys away...meaning that they're locked in the attic. Daniel can have them back if he cleans up and/or asks for them specifically. I feel sort of bad about it because if the kids have toys I want them to enjoy them, but Daniel has been dumping toys and it is actually hazardous to be in the playroom much less try to walk in there. It's like he needs to be surrounded by stuff and it's all mixed together and jumbled, not even played with. I don't understand. It's almost like he does it because if it's bad enough no one else will go in. The only good thing I see about it is that I can go through the other rooms, gather toys and then just throw them into the playroom and you can't even tell and then the rest of the house is picked up. It's just that this is no way to live. Is this an Autism thing or what?!

This is day two of Colton going to bed and waking up without nursing. We're saving it for just before naps. He's been surprisingly okay with it. Daniel must be growing. He is constantly hungry. Speaking of that...I'm feeling okay, so I'm going to make a pizza for lunch.

...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:10:00 +0000

I love him.

I can't even say how much.

He makes me laugh how he helps himself to my ipod and finds Dora on Netflix all by himself.

Daniel still (almost) always is dressed as Woody. He finally has a few outfits (both daytime and jammies) so it's not such a negotiation to get him to change.

Daniel has been asking for Dixie lately. We've talked about this before, but it breaks my heart just a little bit more each time.

I want to blog...I guess I'm out of practice because I don't really know what to say.

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:33:00 +0000

I was scolded this morning for not updating my blog...and I had to remind that person that my desk has been taken over, we've been sick, Colton doesn't let me sit and do (almost) anything and I haven't really been taking pictures because everything just looks and feels dark and uninspiring!! I guess I usually write around my pictures. I pick a few and write about them. Except that I haven't been taking them. I want to and there is something about this time of year that always makes me want to start some sort of photography challenge...which would actually be a good thing because I've sort of stopped taking pictures lately. Guess I'm in a funk. We've been doing a lot of resting and sleeping and napping and laying around this week+ that Steve has been home. It's been nice, but there really isn't much to talk about. I love that he's been home with us, but I'm sort of looking forward to getting everyone back into a routine. I'm hoping to feel better because even though "it's normal", puking everyday isn't normal and I can't talk myself into that. So, Ellie, when you asked me a couple of weeks ago how this pregnancy compared to Colton's. I can't remember what I told you...but I'm thinking that in it's own way, this is worse. But then not being able to lay down at all for an entire 9 months was really awful, so maybe this isn't so bad. Only...morning sickness is waaay better than "evening sickness". Too bad I can't choose! Either way it's no fun. That said, our days haven't all been horrid, but I don't really have much to say about them either. For today, I'd like to finish making the bread I have started (no, I'm not doing a super job homemaking or anything- we're desperate for something the kids will actually eat!!!)... and I hope to set up the laser printer on this computer so we can start lessons again on Wednesday.

catching up

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:43:00 +0000

Wow. I didn't realize over a week had gone by. I had a few blog posts in my head, but either ran out of time or energy to post them! Maybe that's good...one of them was a super good, happy post and the other was was quite peevish. It had to do with a father at the therapy center thinking it was okay to tell Daniel to sit nicely on the couch while I was busy trying to reschedule some upcoming appointments that are different because of holidays and days off, etc. Long story short- it really made me mad and this was the 4th time in as many weeks that a "stranger" has taken it into their own hands to say something to Daniel about something. It doesn't matter to me whether it's warranted or not (yes, I would like Daniel to sit nicely on the couch in the waiting room...), but when I'm standing right there and busy with something it is not helpful to think that as a stranger you have the authority to step in. Goodness. I was shocked, I guess. I didn't say anything, but I think that's the last time I'll not say anything because I'm really tired of it. I wanted to tell him (the father) to just wait until his little mouse of a boy is close to 70 pounds and a sensory seeker with no outlet. (But that would be mean...which helps no one...) So, anyway... it took a lot of thinking and I finally realized that it's when STRANGERS say things to Daniel that it bothers me because last Sunday was our church Christmas Party and Daniel and Colton were all over the place. Daniel needed to be redirected or told not to do things lots of times, but I didn't mind and was mostly grateful for the help because I know it was done in understanding and love. Huge difference. When the party was over, so many people came up to me and told me what a blessing it was to see Daniel and to have him there and to watch him...which was a huge blessing and relief to me, because I am always hoping that we're not causing a big disturbance.

(Daniel was a present and a snowflake in the play!)

That sort of catches you up.

This past week hasn't been the greatest for me. I'm 12 weeks, but feel more sick than ever. I was hoping to start seeing some improvement by now!!!
Monday was therapy with that "incident". Daniel did NOT to well with OT, but did great with Speech, which is right after it.
Tuesday I had a migraine (it had been in the works since Friday- next time I know to take something for it early, but I didn't have Tylenol in the house at the time...) so I was on the couch, miserable and puking. Ellie came early to avoid driving in the rain, which was nice, but I didn't have anything cleaned up and ready and very few groceries in the house.

Wednesday I went for an ultrasound, which was fun, but it seems like I have marginal placenta previa and it caused bleeding. Not fun. Wednesday night we opened presents with Ellie.

Thursday I did some running around and shopping and then Ellie went home. I was sick that night.
Friday I had very little energy and have been spotting on and off. I'm not in pain and it's not becoming heavy, so we're just taking it easy through the weekend... Friday night Daniel went to Activity Club. They had a pizza party, watched a Christmas Madagascar film and did some exercises. Daniel seemed to enjoy himself.

Both boys were up early today. Steve and I were not ready to be up. We were going to have our own little Christmas today and go to my parent's tomorrow, but we haven't done anything. I still have some food to prepare and gifts to get ready. I hope I'll be able to do it. Otherwise people will be getting late gifts and I'll feel like a loser....but we're just keeping it real. :P

Merry Christmas!!

snow playdough

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:56:00 +0000

I've been looking for activities and things to do to keep Colton occupied and happy. Yesterday we made "snow playdough". I found this recipe online:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 T oil
2 t cream of tartar
1 cup water
iridescent glitter

Heat oil in pan. Remove from heat and add water. (Make sure the oil isn't super hot before adding the water. I'm glad no kids were standing next to me!!) Stir in all the ingredients. Continue to cook over low heat until the mixture is firm. (4-5 minutes) Remove from heat. Set playdough on waxed paper to cool. Knead in the glitter. Store in airtight container.

Daniel made a snowman with an orange crayon-tip nose and googly eyes. We're saving it- I'm not sure how this dries. I liked how the dough felt to work with and the glitter was a fun touch. :)