It's official...

It has now been TWO WHOLE WEEKS since T decided he was potty trained. I wish I could tell you that I came up with some new, fantastic method to potty training kids, because then I could sell it and fund my crystal habit (Beads, not meth!!) But that's not the case.

Two weeks and a day ago (Three Sunday's ago, if that's easier) T stayed dry all day. He was in his pullup, but he asked to go when he needed to, and at the end of the day he was very proud to say that he was dry. So we celebrated and I tentatively asked him if he'd like to try "big boy undies" the next day. He said that he did, and that was that.

I suppose we could call this the "Cheer" method, because every time he went in the potty, we cheered. Every time he came up to us and said that he was still dry, we cheered. He now tells me about 30 times a day that he's dry, while proudly grabbing his undies (to show me maybe? No idea) and I cheer every time.

We also got this nifty chore board and he got to put a smiley on it every time he used the potty successfully. Green was for pee, orange was for poo, and yellow was for staying dry through a nap or overnight. I realize the irony, but he picked his own colors.

Melissa and Doug chore chart on Amazon

And now, please excuse me while I enjoy our victory and pack for campingpalooza. T is excited about eating grilled cheese on the "hot fire". He says it really fast, "hotire", while rubbing his hands over an invisible hot fire. And when I asked him what he thought about camping this year, he liked the idea because Curious George went camping. For more on last year's campingpalooza, check here.

faith, redux

Earlier this week, T lost what he calls his "Blue car". It's a blue fireworks car from his Thomas Trackmaster set, and he was completely distraught over it. He kept wailing "du dar!!" over and over again, until we figured out what he wanted and joined in the search.

Alas, it was not to be found, so I told him that we should pray. "God hears us when we pray, and if you ask Him to help you find your lost toy, He will", I assured him. So, we prayed.

And he immediately started expecting his blue car to pop out of wherever it had been hiding and appear. He was getting more and more frustrated over his continued lack of his blue car, despite praying, and I reassured him that sometimes we have to be patient, but that God always answers. Always.

But it's been two whole days, with no car in sight, so I turned to Ebay. Because his prayer needed to be answered, his faith rewarded. (Notice who's actually lacking faith now??) The auction ends at 10 o'clock tonight, but I won't be needing it anymore, because...

He found his car!

When Jesus said that we need to have the faith of a child, He wasn't kidding. While I wanted to teach t a lesson about faith, it was I who learned the most.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find..."
 ~Matthew 7:7

Read about his first prayer here

*sniff-sniff*

 We've been spending a lot of time outside in the sunshine, in between the cold and snow(!!) storms. PA weather can be a little nuts. I blame the groundhog. The kids picked our yard pretty clean of dandelions the other morning and gave me this lovely bouquet. (Ssshhhh don't tell them they're actually weeding. Then I'll have to do it.)

spring bouquet

T was so pleased to bring the posies to me as I enjoyed the last of my coffee. Flowers are something that he acts out instead of names, so every time he brought me some, he yelled for me and sniffed. ("Mo-EE!  *sniff sniff* then shoves it up my nose graciously allows me to enjoy eau-de-weed. No, not that kind!)

Other actions-for-words include dogs (arf-arfs or sometimes licking) sleeping (snores), and drinks (a very impatient sign for drinking). And lately he's been acting like a puppy and/or crying when he's stressed. So if he ever comes up to you, licks your face, mimes taking an angry drink and starts snoring, you'll know he's an excited puppy who's hungry and tired.

*Sniff* mommy!

 We've been spending lots of time at the park, too. E loves to head to the exact opposite end of the play area from wherever I am, and especially likes to climb up to the highest vantage point possible. She scares a lot of parents, I think, because she's the size of someone half her age. Her balance is great, though, and she always comes when I offer her cookies. (That last part is only partly true, she'll hold out for chocolate.)

We love spring, *sniff-sniffs* and all. ;)

I know how SPD feels...

Easter Sunday I came down with the flu. Thankfully not before enjoying an Easter feast at my mom's, but by 4 p.m. I started feeling really weird. My skin tingled, I felt dizzy, and sensitive to everything. we came home and I basically crashed on the couch as soon as the kids were in bed. The feelings continued today, and boy does it SUCK to be sick as a mommy.

Then tonight I realized that I've gotten a taste of how SPD feels, and it isn't fun. My skin is tingly and hurts with even gentle touch, kids yelling talking makes my ears ring, bright lights give me a headache, and I really want to go lock myself in my room, hide under the covers, and not come out. Oh, and let's not forget food! Only the softest, creamiest textures will do, and taking a bite of a crispy grilled cheese made me wince as much as T does when he's faced with something sticky.

Suddenly I understand why T has moments of pushing everyone away - that's exactly what I wanted to do today.

So if you ever want to know how sensory issues can feel, just get the flu!

PS you have to take a read at Diary Of a Mom's post today, called "his body does his feelings"- it's T to a, well, T!!

my very late Autism Awareness post

***

a·wareness n.

Synonyms: aware, cognizant, conscious, sensible, awake, alert, watchful, vigilant
These adjectives mean mindful or heedful: Aware implies knowledge gained through one's own perceptions or by means of information

*** 

Monday was World Autism Awareness Day, AKA "Light it up blue!"  Last year at this time we were right in the middle of Early Intervention therapies and evaluations. Autism was on my mind all day, every day. Last year was also the first time I'd heard anything about WAAD, and I tried to spread a some awareness in my little corner by writing and by making sure my family wore blue.

A year later and I'm in a quandary. I don't know if we should push for another round of evaluations, we're considering trying a standard K4 program next year, and there's been improvements in many areas. I've found myself wondering if I should forget about autism, if maybe it's not a factor. So another April 2 rolled around, and this time I didn't know what to say.

Monday night we visited with some of my inlaws, and my SIL commented that she was surprised we weren't wearing blue. I realized two things in that moment: First, that I had forgotten about this special day (I know, awful. Feel free to fire at will in comments.) But the second thing I realized was that my SIL, her husband, and her two little boys were all wearing blue! Even though I had forgotten, she had not. I willed back tears in that moment, as I felt like she was saying "We're here for you, we support you, and we love you."

So the awareness is spreading, and with it, understanding, patience, and help. With 1 in 88 now being diagnosed as "On the spectrum" it's becoming more common to know and love someone who has autism. Regardless of what comes next for us, I won't forget again. Maybe one day I can make a difference in someone else's life, even if it's just a little encouragement, the way my family did for me. 

<3

ouch

I totally missed Autism Awareness day yesterday, and I was going to post today with profuse apologies, explanations, and hopefully something interesting.

But this happened, and it's surprisingly difficult to type with a finger in a brace.

It was a gorgeous sunny day, so we went to our local park, the one that still has old metal playsets and merry-go-rounds. I had a moment of insanity and decided to climb to the top of the jungle gym and go down the slide with my kids. We were the only ones there, which turned out to be a good thing or my mishap might be on YouTube now. Anyway, my feet slipped out from under me halfway up, but I managed to hold on and not fall onto the woodchips below. In the process I did something painful to my finger.

My mom got all worried when I told her because she said "But you never get hurt!" Clearly my injury-free streak has ended. I got it x-rayed today and the technician said that she wasn't sure if it was broken, so I have to wait to hear back from my doctor. In the meantime I'm wearing this nifty brace that my sister fixed for me. Now my kids know that mommy has an owie, and will hopefully NOT grab at it.

So for now I'm milking my temporary injured status a bit. The Hubby even changed diapers and clothes for bedtime, and he picked up pizza for supper. Mmmmm, pizza.

Hopefully it's just sprained, but I'll find out for sure tomorrow. My now very late Autism Awareness Day / time of introspection / what am I doing, anyway??? post will be coming up sometime soon, after I can type more.

Now where's the motrin...

Dr Oshkosh and Cookies

~*~

  Sooo... I was going to also write about some of the silly things the kiddos have been up to lately, but I waited too long and have forgotten them. Bad idea, since this blog is supposed to be a journal for them to look back on one day. So in the future I promise to write about silly stories when they happen, instead of two weeks later. Instead I'll talk about E's big appointment at the Developmental Unit, which I've also been meaning to tell you about. Sorry it's not as funny though.

~*~

 
E is little. Like, literally almost the charts little. Which was fine, as long as she maintained her small growth curve, but for the last couple of months she hasn't. She's gained height but not weight, and her trend line took a nosedive, so our doctor sent us to Children's Developmental Unit. This is where we took T almost a year and a half ago and got his diagnoses. (I can't believe it's been that long already, wow! We've come a long way, baby.)

So off we went, leaving at 6 a.m. to get to Pittsburgh in time for her 8 a.m. appointment. Driving in traffic stresses me out to no end, so my mom graciously agreed to drive for me. Girl's day, yay! She's awesome. Surprisingly we had very little traffic, so even though we missed the parking garage and had to drive in a big circle to find it, then walk with my nose to my GPS to the building, we still got there in plenty of time.

Dr. Oshkosh, the same doctor that we saw with T the day I was positive we were getting an autism diagnosis, is the one who saw E. (Her name isn't really Oshkosh, but I had difficulty remembering her name and it rhymed with Oshkosh, so that's what I call her in my head.) E got a thorough checking out, including doing the same autism screening she did with T - "Can you feed the tiny scary naked baby?" Insert dirty look from my tiny blue eyed spitfire. That was actually pretty funny, because E kept watching the doctor like she was going to sprout a third eye or something.

The end result - my baby is too busy to register hunger!

Huh? Are you sure you're talking about MY baby? I wish I had that problem! I register hunger all day, every day, which is why I'm forever chubby. So she gets real butter slathered on everything, lots of peanut butter, whole milk dairy, and a Pediasure once a day.  She'll get weighed again in a month, and if she isn't gaining with the extra food, she'll get bloodwork done.

We started adding calories right away by going to IHOP for brunch - We'd been up since 5-ish, we were hungry, and generally Girl's Days involves decadent food of some sort. Cheesecake pancakes count for decadent, I think. IHOP even adds pancake batter to their omelets, so there were plenty of "extra" calories for her to enjoy. I don't have a picture of her covered in sprinkle pancakes and pink yogurt sauce, so here's one of her with her new sunglasses - such a lovable little diva. <3

stylin' with her new shades

  So far she's been enjoying her new diet, although she hasn't yet gained any weight. She has three more weeks, time to pack in those calories! Last night I made special no bake cookies for her and T that were as crammed with "extras" as I could get. Did you know, you can get kids to eat anything if you market it as a cookie? For reals. They recently discovered no bake cookies, so  I used what I had on hand to make these ones, and the kids are gobbling them up.

My Secret High Calorie Cookies:
* 3 packets of instant oatmeal - I used banana bread flavor, it's what I had
* A generous amount of peanut butter - 1/2 - 3/4C maybe? I didn't measure, but enough to coat the oatmeal well.
* 1/4C butter
* 4 Hershey Bliss dark chocolate pieces  (The kids like regular no bakes, and I knew the color would have to be the same or T wouldn't eat them)
* 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1. Melt the butter, peanut butter, and chocolate in a medium saucepan 
2. Add oatmeal and remove from heat. Stir well, until the oatmeal is coated.
3. Add the protein powder and mix again.

The end result will look... well we called these "Diarrhea cookies" as kids for a reason. Trust me, they taste WAY better than they look!  

Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper and put in the fridge until cold and set. Store in the fridge as well. I made a dozen medium-sized cookies. 

Total calorie count per cookie - I have no idea, but it's going to be fairly high with all the butters. The only low calorie thing in this was the oatmeal.