Potty Training Days 3 & 4

This weekend was day 3 and 4 in our potty training adventure with Jack. He has really gotten the hang of going pee on the potty. Today he even self initiated going to the bathroom which was so exciting! His only accidents this weekend came when he had to go #2. This will probably take a little longer for him to get the hang of, but we are so very proud of how well he is doing. We still have to keep an eye on him because he has become a little obsessed with flushing the toilet which we hope will decrease one the novelty of using the bathroom wears off (hopefully). We are continuing to log his usage so we can continue to provide reminders. He has started to verbalize more of the words he has been hearing and seems to really understand what I'm asking when I say "do you need to use the potty?" I am looking forward to sharing all his progress with his ABA therapist this week.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve! I will post again soon in the New Year

Potty training: Day 2

I don't have a lot to report, but today was very similar to yesterday. We had a few accidents a few at home, but only one at social. My afternoon was slightly better especially since Justin was able to leave work early. The one thing I did notice today is that he was able to tolerate sitting on the toilet for longer stretches but that didn't necessarily bring more success. I think the plan for the weekend will be to keep tracking his usage, especially the time between accidents and successful potty usage, and focus on more frequent visits to the potty for shorter periods of time. He must have drank a lot more water during his bath then usual because we had two accidents tonight before bed that were only 15 minutes apart. Hoping tomorrow we can have a good day and work on learning his pattern. Hope everyone has a nice night!

Potty training day 1

We just got Jack down for bed and I thought I'd take a minute to reflect (it's the teacher in me) on our first day of potty training. I am very relieved that we decided to start potty training on the same day he started his holiday social group. This way his ABA therapist could help me get the ball rolling. This was a very good thing since the day started out a little rough.

He woke up in a pretty pleasant mood and he even had a successful first pee before getting dressed for SG. I had been doing my best to prepare for what I thought the most challenging aspects of potty training, but of course what I wasn't prepared for was when he had a major meltdown because he didn't want to put on his underwear. I tried a couple time to put them on him but after several failed attempts I decided not to fight him anymore and took him to SG in a diaper. I discussed what happened with Jessie and she texted me a few hours later to let me know they had gotten him to wear his underwear and he even had used the bathroom. She said they had to completely remove the diaper from view so he would know it wasn't an option which is when he gave in. Apparently there was one moment during the day he saw another child with a diaper and requested "I want a diaper" (which is an awesome verbal request from him). So with that knowledge, I hid every single diaper in our house before picking him up.

My afternoon was kind of rough. We are tracking when he goes and when he has accident because he will more and likely get trained to go on a schedule. I would set the timer for bathroom breaks and had about 3 consecutive times when he would sit and nothing would happen and them he would get off and in less then 5 minute have an accident. I know this is all part of the process but it still got me a little down. I decide to lengthen the time between bathroom visits and am very please to report his last two pee's of the day were on the potty!

He is sleeping in a pull up just in case he has an accident in the middle of the night and with ASD kids night time potty training can require a whole different training process. I am very excited to relax and am trying to pump myself up for day 2. I will try and post again with an update soon.

Have a great night!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  I hope everyone had a great day yesterday.  We had a very nice day with my parents and sister.  The kids really enjoyed all the fun new things they got, and Peyton got to experience her very first snow.  We got about 3 inches of the white stuff before it stopped falling late yesterday afternoon.  Justin had to go back to work today but was able to sleep in this morning and go into work a little later thanks to the snow.  Texas doesn't exactly have to deal with this very often so we depend mostly on the sun to help make driving conditions better.  It has already started to melt today but by tomorrow with a high of 50 degrees in the forecast the snow will be a distant memory by tomorrow night. 
 
Christmas eve day since my parents were in town we had the opportunity to go out and get some family pictures.  I was so excited with how everything went and we got some great shots of the four of us.  We even got one with everyone looking at the camera!  I have put off getting our family picture taken for a while now and I think its because I was scared.  I kept thinking that the whole process would be to difficult for Jack to handle.  Would we be able to get Jack to sit still and/or look would he even look at the camera.  Would we spend the entire session chasing after him or would he have a meltdown...I could go on but will spare you my crazy mothering woes.  I still haven't gotten over all my fears when it comes to hiring a professional photographer for a family photo shoot, but I am very happy at how our armature session went.  We have a really good camera and with all the technology available I have been able to play around with our pictures and I think they look pretty good :-)
 
Today we got out of the house for a quick trip to Wal-Mart (the one with a McDonald's inside) and me, Jack and Stacey had some lunch and picked up a few random items, while my mother stayed at home with Peyton so she could nap.  We also did a little cookie decorating with Peyton this afternoon which she had a blast doing.  I am trying to pump myself up for tomorrow because it is day one of Potty Train.  I have been  preparing myself by talking with Jack's teachers and ABA therapist who has set up a very specific plan for us to follow so I am trying to remain positive.  I will be sure to keep everyone posted on his progress.  I hope everyone has a great rest of the week! 

Merry Christmas!

I have been anxiously awaiting my parents & sisters arrival. We are looking forward to spending some time with everyone. We are sad Justin's parents & grandparent weren't able to come but his grandpa is recovering so we hope to find time to see them when everyone is well.

The picture I posted was made by a fellow warrior mom who's blog & FB page I follow. It is a very good blog that I would highly recommend

http://lookinginlookingoutourasdfamily.blogspot.com/?m=1

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Getting ready for Christmas...

As you know from my last post we still hadn't gotten around to decorating the inside of our house.  It was partly due to our busy schedule and by the time the kids went to bed we would discuss putting the tree up, but would wind up not wanting to get up from the couch :-)   So, I decided while Peyton took her nap on Wednesday and I had some extra time and energy, I would put up the tree and lights.

 

Now the only thing we need to do is finish putting on a few decorations and get out the other holiday decor for the house.  I am hoping that we might find time to do some of those things tonight or over the weekend.  Peyton loves the tree and when ever she comes into the room if the lights are not on she will point to the tree and say "oh no! It's off!"  It is possibly the cutest thing she has done.  The only thing that Jack has noticed so far is the lights.  Since he enjoys to be visually stimulated sometimes he likes to inspect the lights very closely.   Last year his favorite activity was taking off the decorations so it will be interesting to see how both kids react once we add the ornaments.

 

I finally got Jack off to school this morning after we decided to just let him sleep in after a long night of being up for a few hours in the middle of the night.  Peyton didn't sleep very well either and passed out on the floor around 10 this morning after we got back home from dropping him off.  I was the lucky one because Justin slept with the monitors last night since I had an early workout this morning.  Hopefully I can repay him the favor by letting him get a few good nights sleep this weekend.

 

My newest workout adventure is from a recently purchased Groupon.  It is for two weeks of unlimited classes at a Boxing place located very close to our house.  I have taken 4 classes so far and am really enjoying it!  I have never taken a boxing class before, but am having a blast and I find it very therapeutic to get in a good workout and punch a bag, lol. 

 

I am not really sure the last time I gave a good over view of the progress Jack has made, so here is a little update on how things are going for our little man.  Since he started working with his ABA therapist this summer we have seen good improvement with his language.  He has been working on learning to use his words functionally and to communicate.  We have also seen improvement with his receptive language.  He can follow some simple instructions and he seems to understands more of what we tell him.  Jack is not yet able to tell us verbally how he is feeling and will not spontaneously tell us what he needs or wants, but one of the things autism has taught me is there are many ways to communicate and you don't always need words (of course they would be very helpful at times).  He has learned some basic questions and responses such as "What is your name?" "How old are you?" and " Where do you live"  He does a good job with these but we still have to make sure we have his full attention and if there are any major distractions in the area it can still be a challenge.  He must learn new skills in a one-on-one setting, but once he has the skill he has been able to generalize those in controlled small group setting and/or with us here at home.  He really enjoys school and loves working with his ABA therapist Jessie who he sees twice a week at home and at Social Group which he attends once a week.  We just had his yearly ARD which was to update his IEP goals.  We have been able to increase his goals and add a lot of new goals for him to work towards.  Jack enjoys the consistency of his busy schedule so I am hoping that the time off school won't be to hard on him.  We are looking forward to having our families in town for about a week and he will attend his Social Group for 5 days (2 the week of Christmas and 3 the week of New Years) which will provide him with some structure during the holiday break.  I feel very lucky that we were able to see Santa, but we are limited to how many Holiday activities we can do.  Jack has many sensory needs that are ever changing which and make going into new and unfamiliar environments unpredictable and difficult at times.  We try very hard to expose him to thing children his age would enjoy, and sometimes it works out great and other times it does not.  Since the weather has been so nice I have been able to take him to the park to play which he has really come to enjoy.  Justin also thought that since he really loves cars he took him to a car dealership one Sunday, when they were closed, to look at all the cars up close and he loved it!  Jack really has fun going to Target and has come to expect a new car with each and every visit.  So if anyone is looking for all the hot wheel cars in Texas you will need to come to our house :-)

 

Its hard to sum up in words everything that is happening these days but hopefully this gives everyone a pretty good glimpse into how things are going here at the Griggs house.  I really hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and if I don't have time to post again before Christmas, a very merry Christmas!

 

Here is a little poem that I found last year and thought I would share again, I hope you enjoy it!

 

An Autism Christmas Poem

 

Twas the Night Before Christmas
And all through the house
The creatures were stirring
Yes, even the mouse

We tried melatonin
And gave a hot bath
Asleep early for Christmas?
...an unlikely path

The children were finally
All nestled in bed
When visions of Christmas
Ran through my OWN head

Did I get the right gift?
The right color and style?
Would there be a blank stare
Or even, maybe, a smile?

Friends & family come
But they don't understand
The pleasure she gets
Just from bending her hands.

"Just make her stop it," some say
"Just tell her "no",
“You must learn to be tough.."
On and on they go...

We smile and nod
Because we know deep inside
The debate is moot
Let them all take a side

We know what it's like
To live with the spectrum
The struggles, triumphs
achievements and regressions.

But what some don't know
And what some don't see
Is the joy that we feel
Over simplicity.

She said "hello"!
She ate something green!
She looked me in my eyes
She did not cause a scene!

She peed on the potty!
Who cares if she's ten;
She stopped saying the same thing
Again and again!"

Some others don't realize
Just how we can cope
How we bravely hang on
At the end of our rope

But what they don't see
Is the joy we can't hide
When our children with autism
Make the tiniest stride

We may look at others
Without the problems we face
With envy, with wonder,
Or even distaste,

What we want them to know
What's important to see
Is that children with autism
Bring simplicity.

We don't get excited
Over expensive things
We jump for joy
With the progress work brings

Children with autism
Try so hard every day
That they make us proud
More than words can say.

They work even harder
Than you or I
To achieve something small
To reach a star in the sky

So to those who don't get it
Or can't get a clue
Take a walk in our shoes
And I'll assure you…

That even 10 minutes
Into the walk
You'll look at us all
With respect, even shock.

You will realize
What it is we go through
And the next time you see us
I can assure you

That you won't say a thing
You'll be quiet and learn,
Like the years I learned to
When the tables were turned.

~Christine Muczyk

 

Jack's visit with Santa

Since Justin and Peyton are out of town visiting Auntie Joyce and Uncle Michael this years visit to see Santa was just me and Jack.  This is our second year but we have started attending events put together by an organization called especially needed  They host events for the special needs community.  They do events for Fall and Easter but the visit with Santa event is my favorite.  I made our appointment for 9:30 this morning since Jack is a morning person and he is much more easy going at this time of day.  This year the event was at a church in Frisco.  They had Mickey and Minnie Mouse to great us as we walked into the room (which is the part I know Peyton would have probably enjoyed) and Jack was all giggles when he saw them.  They were waving at him and he just could not stop laughing and smiling.  He was laughing so loud everyone in the room was looking in our direction, but at least it was because he was deliriously happy and not having a complete meltdown.   He kept waving and saying bye-bye to them both, and was even brave enough to give Minnie Mouse very quick and somewhat hesitant high-five. 

Once we made it past Mickey and Minnie we had a few minutes to wait until it was our turn to see Santa.  The room was really nicely decorated and they had hot chocolate and cookies for the kids, but even though Jack will eat the occasional cookie he wanted nothing to do with the food table.  We finally got our turn and Jack was very excited to see the tree and Mrs. Claus, but when we got closer to Santa he started to get a little nervous.  I sat down with him and since he gets all excited and happy when anyone says: "say cheese" they were able to get a really great picture!

 

 

We had to wait again while they processed and printed out the pictures, so Jack was able to run around and explore the room.  He some how made his way back on stage with Santa and Mrs. Claus, but since they were taking a short break he wasn't holding anything up or getting in any ones way.  He started climbing on chairs and was much more interested in Mrs. Claus then Santa.  She was talking with him and asking about Matter (who was on his shirt)  He smiled and was having a great time and of course was in constant motion. 

 



I am so proud of our little man he has come such a long way in the past year.  The picture turned out great and I am so thrilled they caught him when he was looking at the camera and smiling!!!  I think this may have been the moment I had been waiting for to truly get me excited about Christmas.  I now feel like I am ready to put up the tree and start decorating the inside of the house :-)

I hope that everyone has a great weekend and...only 17 more day's till Christmas!

December is here

I hope that everyone has been enjoy December. The weather here in Texas has been sunny and warm the past week so the kids have continued to enjoy playing outside, sometimes in shorts and t-shirts :-) They keep predicting cooler temperatures to come, but we haven't seen them yet. Personally I would be perfectly happy keeping the current temperatures as they are, but I know many people I know want the cooler weather to make it's appearance so it starts to feel like Christmas. We have been keeping busy as usual between Jack's school and therapy schedule and I Peyton and I finally made it to a play date this morning. It was nice seeing our friends and hopefully we will be able to start participating again more regularly. Justin got some Christmas decorations put up on the outside of the house but we still haven't gotten around to decorating the inside yet. The inside decorating will have to wait another week because Justin and Peyton are leaving tomorrow evening to take a daddy-daughter trip to visit Joyce and Michael in Champaign, IL. While Jack and I are going to have a fun mommy-son weekend here which will include a visit to see Santa. I will miss my little lady but I know she will have a blast visiting with her aunt and uncle and she is very excited to meet and play with there dog, Barnaby.

This past weekend Justin and I had a very rare but exciting opportunity to have a date! We have found a wonderful girl who works at Fossil who came over to watch the kids while Justin and I went out to have lunch and see a movie (Skyfall which was terrific). We don't get many opportunities now a days to get out, just the two of us, without the kiddos. We usually try and find time to have a date night when we have family in town, but this was one of the first times we left the kids with a babysitter. Finding a babysitter is a very big step for any parent and since our families don't live locally we had always discussed how it would be nice to find a babysitter so we could have the occasional "date night". Finding a person who you trust is hard enough but finding someone who will understand and is willing to watch a child with autism can make the search even more difficult. I have always had a hard time leaving the kids with anyone, which I am always told is a normal mom reaction, but I do realise it is important to find time to be a couple. So I am very grateful we have found someone who the kids really enjoy being with and who we can trust.

I hear Peyton waking up from here nap so I will have to sign off now. I hope everyone has a great week!
   

Thanksgiving Vacation turned out to be a "stay-cation"

Thanksgiving vacation started a little early when I got a phone call from Jack's teacher telling me Jack needed to be picked up from school because he was throwing up :-(  I had just gotten Peyton down for a nap so I was very lucky that my wonderful neighbor Jessica was home.  She came over and sat at the house while I drove up and picked Jack up from school.  There had been a stomach bug going around so I thought that is probably what he had caught. I brought him home and we had a very eventful afternoon.  Since nothing seems to slow this boy down, I spend the first few hours chasing him from room to room holding a trash can.  Since the poor little guy couldn't keep a single thing down he finally ran out of gas and I got him settled in our bed with his three favorite movies (Cars, Cars 2 and Matter's Tall Tails).  Justin slept with him in our bed over night and in the morning he stayed home to take him to the doctor to find out he had Strep.  Since he wasn't able to keep anything down they had to give him a shot of antibiotics, which works well for us since he doesn't do well take oral antibiotics.  Justin brought Jack home and then took Peyton in to be tested.  Her rapid strep test came back negative on Friday and we did all we could to keep the germs at bay, but come Monday poor little lady started running a fever.  We called the Dr. and started her on an antibiotic.  At this point we were still planning on making the trip.  Her only symptom was a fever and Jack was feeling much better.  I was hoping we had caught it early and after a couple days of antibiotics  she would be up for a long car ride.  Unfortunately, Tuesday night before bed she started throwing up, so we decided it was best to cancel our trip.  Traveling with two kids 4 and under is hard enough to try and do it when both are sick/ recovering from being sick.

I was really sad about not getting to see my folks and sister, and I think Justin could tell, so he suggested I just take Jack and go for two nights and he would stay home and take care of Peyton.  I debated for a while but thought that might not be a bad idea, so I packed Jack and I a bag and we started on our drive to Springfield.  About 45 minutes into our drive I realized that Jack, who is usually always excited to be in the car, wasn't not going to make it 7 hours in the car. We also ran into a nice traffic jam that sealed the deal, so I turned around and headed back home.  Everyone was so understanding but after the "we're not going, we're going, we're not going" emotional roller coaster I was exhausted so it was best we stayed home.  We hadn't planned on being home so Justin went to the store and since all the turkeys were frozen solid he got us some really great steaks and lobster tails for us to make Thanksgiving day.  We still made mashed potatoes which is Justin's favorite part of Thanksgiving and I made my mom's crescent rolls, which is mine.  We didn't have any left overs to enjoy over the weekend, but I think we are going to make a turkey this weekend to satisfy our turkey craving :-)

Jack and Peyton are finally feeling better.  We spend a majority of our time at home since both kids were recovering from Strep.  Its never easy to be pinned up in doors for such a long period of time, so we ended up watching a lot of movies, oh well.  Jack did discover he is a Harry Potter fan, which makes his mama so proud, so it wasn't just a week of Cars movie ever made :-).  We finally made it out of the house Friday afternoon and took a trip to downtown McKinney for there Dickens of a Christmas celebration.  Peyton enjoyed a fun trip to the candy story and even talked daddy into a new Elmo doll which is her new favorite toy.  It along with her night night blankets much always come with us.  Justin also was sweet enough to watch the kids Saturday afternoon while I got out and had lunch with my friend Kara and got to go see the move Breaking Dawn 2.  It was a nice Thanksgiving break, but Jack was very happy to go back to school Monday morning.  He had a great day both there and in his ABA session. 

We are planning to try and decorate the house for Christmas this weekend.  We will be hosting Christmas this year and are looking forward to seeing both sets of grandparents and Justin's grandparents (Jack and Peyton's great-grandparents) at the end of December.  Until that time we have several weeks to prepare and do our Christmas shopping.  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and has a wonderful week!

It's already November...

The past week I have been telling myself to get on the computer and update the blog, but as you can see I have been a very good procrastinator :-)  The Griggs family has been very busy the past few weeks, so I will try my best to cover all the important things that happened.

Halloween 2012:
Since Halloween this year fell in the middle of the week we kept things pretty low key.  We picked the kids costumes out a few weeks prior.   Since Jack still doesn't shown much interest and still lacks the verbal skills to help pick out his own costume, we decided that this year he would go as a Fireman and Peyton (since she is in love with kitty cat's) could be the cute little kitten he rescued.  I have a feeling my pairing might have not been as obvious to everyone else, but I still found the idea really cute!  Jack had a full day at school and had his usual Wednesday ABA therapy from 3-5, but once I got the kids fed and Justin got home we took off on a trick-or-treating adventure around the neighborhood.  Peyton wanted to walk all by herself and Jack was less interested in collecting candy and more interested in inspecting each and every car (and there licence plate) we passed.  We didn't visit to many houses but still ended up with a decent amount of candy. Peyton was a little scared of a few of the costumes we saw, but the highlight of her night was when she meet a  family walking around with a bulldog.  She was so excited to see that dog Justin said he had never seen her or any other child so excited about a dog, it was really cute.  Once we made the loop around our neighborhood Justin was able to transition Jack from walking/running around the neighborhood to going for a car ride to pick up some dinner for me and Justin, while Peyton and I went back to the house and handed out candy.  She enjoyed running to the door every time the doorbell would ring.  It was a great night and the kids and us were exhausted by the end of the night.

 

 

 

Color Run



I had a really fun time doing a color run with my friends Celina and Erin.  It was an off road 5K that included some obstacles and various people trowing powdered color on your while you ran.  It was a really fun event and if anyone ever has the change to sign up for one of these I would highly recommend it!  I didn't do a ton of running preparation, but ended up finishing in 33.55 minutes which is my best 5K time so far.  

Weekend with Grandma
This past weekend Justin's mom was able to come down and visit.  We had gotten to see her a few weeks ago when we went back to St. Louis in September to celebrate her birthday, but it had been a while since she had come down to see us here in Texas.  I think she really enjoy all the quality time she got to spend with Jack and Peyton.  She flew in on Thursday morning and had to leave to go back home today.  She was a big help around the house and was able to do some baby sitting for use while she was here.  She would stay with Peyton when I had to take Jack to school and therapy and I even got to do some kid less running around and had lunch yesterday with a friend.  Saturday night Justin and I had been invited to a fund raising event for the Notre Dame school in Dallas, which is a school for children with special needs.  It was a incredibly fun night, and since we don't get to many nights out together without the kids it was fun to get all dressed up a have a night out as a couple :-)  ( I tried to post a picture but I was having trouble so I will try and post the picture of us all dress up later)

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Thanksgiving is just a week away.  Jack will be off school next week and we are doing to driving up to Springfield to spend the holiday with my family.  I will post again when we get back and hopfully have some cute Turkey day pictures to share. 

Have a great week and a wonderful Thanksgiving!



The Autism Walk and a very big milestone!

First, I want to wish my dad a very happy birthday today!  We enjoyed getting to see him, my mom and sister this weekend when they came down for the Autism walk.  The walk this year was really fun!   Our team "Jump up for Jack" did an amazing job and we raised $1805!!  I want to thank everyone who donated and came out to support Jack, our family and to  help raise awareness for those living with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. 

 

 

I have two really great story's to tell about Jack.  The first one was a very wonderful and exciting moment in my life and one that I have been waiting to happen for quite some time.  Jack has been working very hard at school and with his ABA therapist Jessi to increase his verbal skills.  He has words but doesn't always use them correctly or most importantly hasn't learned to use his words to communicate.  The process is long and we have started to see lots of growth, but this past week we had a pretty exciting break through.  He can now (with just a small prompt of the first sound) answer the questions: "What is your name?" and " How old are you?"!!!!  The first time I heard him use this sweet little voice to say "Jack" and "four" I about lost it.  He has come so far and he works so hard that every little accomplishment he makes I want to throw him a party.  I know that he still has to work at generalizing this these skills with other people and in different environments but it is a very important step towards hopefully getting him to learn how powerful and meaningful language can be.

 



The second story I have to share is exciting and kind of funny.  Jack and Peyton were playing outside over the weekend.  Peyton was chasing the cat and playing on the slide and Jack was enjoying his car especially the new Hummer he got when he and Justin took their weekly trip to Target.  After a short time I looked at him and he was trying to ride a toy tractor that use to be one of Justin's old toys.  I found this quite humorous since this isn't a riding toy and Jack looked like a giant trying to ride such a small tractor.  I then took a closer look and saw that he was pushing the Hummer in front of the tractor as he moved along the porch.  I yelled for Justin to come and see and then it donned on me...he was recreating the wagon ride we took at the pumpkin patch the weekend before.  The wagon at the pumpkin patch (or at lease the one we went on) was pulled by a Hummer, and he was pretending to go on a wagon ride like the one we had been on at the pumpkin patch.  It was so sweet and exciting to see him pretending and remember something he had experience.  

 

 

 

 Have a wonderful week everyone, and I'll post again soon!



Pumkin patch fun

This past weekend we took the kids to a pumpkin patch.  It was a really fun Saturday morning.  Jack and Peyton had so fun walking through the hay bale maze and jumping in the bounce houses.  Peyton got to experience her first pony ride and based on her reaction when it was over she really enjoyed herself.  She kept asking for "more" and was crying when she had to get off.  Jack didn't seem very interested in the horses, but was very excited when he saw that the wagon ride we went on was being pulled by a hummer.  He was so excited and once the ride was over he had to walk around and inspect everything he could about that vehicle.  The weather was perfect and we were able to stay for about and hour and a half.  Jack did great and Peyton had so much fun she fell fast asleep on the way home.  It was a very fun family outing.  Later that afternoon we took the kids out and got them their Halloween costumes.  Jack is going to be a fire fighter and Peyton is going to be a kitten. 

I am so sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks.  I think the last post I mentions I was getting sick and unfortunately that lasted a little longer then I would have liked.  I am finally back to 100% which is good since this weekend my parents and sister will be coming in town for the Autism Speaks walk.  This will be our second year doing the Autism walk and I am very thankful for all our friends and family who have are going to come out and walk with us. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Go Team:  Jump Up for Jack!

10 years ago today...

Justin and I walked down the isle and said "I Do"!  We have been married for ten years and it has been a fun, sometimes crazy, but amazing journey!  I feel so lucky to have married my best friend who is the sweetest and kindest man I know.  He is always been there to support me, he is a loving husband, and a terrific father.  He loves me for who I am and I am exctied to see what the next ten years has instore for us!

We did our big anniversary celebration this summer with a fun and relaxing trip to San Francisco and Napa. Tonight, Justin had arranged to have someone come and watch the kids and we were going to go out for an anniversary dinner, but unfortuantly I am sick :-( so we are going to try and do it another night.  Justin left for work a little later then usual so I could get a little extra sleep. I was able to get Jack off to school this morning with no major problems (which the way thing have been going this week was a major acomplishment).  Maybe this was Jack's anniversary present to me or maybe he knew I could use the break since I wasn't feeling great, but regardless of the reason... it I'll take it :-)  Now, Peyton and I are enjoying a nice relaxing morning at home.  I am feeling better then I did yesterday, but hopefully by tomorrow I will be feeling even better so we can get out of the house and have a little family fun! 

I hope everyone has a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!

 

back from the Lou...

I wrote last week about us going back to St. Louis but didn't really expand on the reason for the trip.  We went back for a surprise birthday party weekend for Justin's mom.  We had a fun weekend getting to see lots of people who we haven't seen in a long and don't get to see as often as we would like.  We got to St. Louis Friday afternoon and took the kids over to Edwardsville for some pizza at Pantera's.  Justin called his mom and asked if she could run over and meet one of his friends to "pick up" something.  She thought we were coming into town next weekend.  She walked into the restaurant and saw all four of us sitting at a table eating pizza and was completely surprised, it was great!  We got to visit with her for just a little while because we needed to head over the the hotel check in and get ready for the suprise dinner she didn't know was happening.  We had a little time so Justin's friend Parker came over with his daughter Grace and we all went swimming in the hotel pool.   After we got done swimming we got everyone ready and went to the surprise dinner Justin's sister Joyce arranged.  It was a really nice family party at a restaurant in downtown St. Louis and we had a fun night visiting and eating.  The kids lasted way longer then I expected them to but called it a night around 8:30 which was when we headed back to the hotel.  The kids were really tired from traveling so we did our best to calm everyone down and get to bed.  Jack had a fairly major melt down in the hotel room that lasted longer then I would have liked but once I got him calm he fell asleep.

 

Saturday, the kids woke up early (as usual) and we grabbed a quick bite at McDonald's with Joyce, Michael and Justin's parents.  Jack doesn't always like to eat as well as he does at home when we travel, which unfortunately makes him more likely to meltown in situtuations he would rather not be in.  We tried ordering him some pancakes and sausage which are things he would usually eat, but since his usual meal out consists of a cheeseburger he was a little confused and refused anything we tried to give him.  Justin was able to talk with the people at McDonald's and they were nice enough to make him a plain cheeseburger.  He finally settled down and started to pick at it while we were still there, but ended up eating  more of it once we left and were back in the car. 

We then headed over to Ekert's which is a farm located in Belleville IL that has an apple orchard this time of year that you can go take a hay ride and pick your own apples.  Peyton had so much fun and kept wanted to have a "bite" of all the apples.  Jack had fun playing the mini golf with Justin in the play area but isn't a huge fan of apples like he was when he was about 18 months old.  It was a beautiful morning and the weather was great.  I got some fun pictures of Peyton eating apples and looking at the goats.  The kids took a nap in the car on the ride back to the hotel and Justin drove them around while I went to get ready for Surprise Party #2.  This party was a bigger event with more of her friends and family.  They had it at the church, which is also the church Justin and I got married in.  There was lots of space so the kids were able to sit or run around and did really well considering all the new and unfamiliar faces.  The party was a lot of fun and she was successfully surprised for the second time and had no idea that the party she was going to was for her.  Jana and Glenn did and great job organizing this event, and I am glad we were able to come.

After the party was over we took the kids over to Justin's parents house and they got to play around their yard before we took them back over to the hotel.  Peyton started to feel warm to me and in the next few hours she had (what felt like since I didn't have a thermometer) a pretty high temperature.  Justin's parents were coming over to visit one last time so they were nice enough to stop by the store and get her a little Tylenol.  I am not sure if she just got run down with all the traveling or if her body caught a little virus.  She was still running a fever all day yesterday but fortunately she woke up this morning and the fever had broke.  I am going to keep an eye on her and make sure she gets some much needed rest. 

We woke up the next morning and took the 9:15 flight back home.  The plane ride both to and from went really well.  The kids did great!  Jack was a little anxious when we boarded the plane but once we got him seated he started to relax.  He wanted me to sit close to him and hug him tight, but once the plane took off he reached for a magazine in the seat back in front of him, leaned back in his chair and started to read... it was hilarious!  I wish I had thought to take a picture.  Peyton slept on both flights and was only upset when going though security in STL when she had to send her blanket through the x-ray machine.  She started crying and screaming for her "night-night".  People were looking and the TSA agent was so nice she grabbed the bin as it came out and immediately gave her back the blanket. Traveling with kids is always so entertaining, you never know what is going to happen.  

I am very happy to be back home and since I traveled the past two weekends I am looking forward to just being home for a while. I hope everyone had a fun weekend and enjoys the pictures I took from our trip.  Have a great week and I will post again soon.

Viva Las Vegas!

I had a fantastic weekend with my friends Kara and Becky in Las Vegas this past weekend.  Becky has a long time friend who owns a wedding planning business and he was so generous and got us a free room and some pretty awesome perks!  We stayed at the Aria Hotel and Casino which is located very close to the Bellagio.  We were picked up from the airport by a limo and taken to the hotel to find out we were going to be staying in a penthouse suite.  We were so shocked and never dreamed the room we would be staying in would be so amazing.  It had a living room, dinning room, kitchenette, two bedrooms and three bathrooms.  He also set it up and we were given free limo service throughout our stay.  Not bad for three stay at home mom's. lol.  We were only there for two nights, but we really stated to get use to the "celebrity" treatment :-)

We did a lot of walking around and enjoyed seeing all the different casino's.  We watched the Bellagio fountains and also took a ride up in the Eiffel tower which has an amazing view of the Strip and the mountains.  We did a little gambling and had a really fun and late night out Friday.  Saturday night we went out and had a nice steak dinner and then headed over to have drinks at the ice bar called Minus 5.  We had to wear parkas, boots and gloves and the cocktail glasses were also made of ice. 

The weekend of course went by really fast but it was so much fun spending time with two great friends!  I was really happy to get back Sunday night and see Justin, Jack and Peyton.  I think everyone was happy to have me back home... I am not sure which one of them missed me more :-), but I know the kids had a great weekend getting some quality daddy time.  

I am going to start packing again very soon because we are leaving Friday and flying back to St. Louis to visit see our family and friends.  I hope everyone had a great weekend and I will post again next week. 

Happy 18 months!

Today Peyton is 18 months old! She is such a funny, smart, and cute little lady.  She is already starting to talk with purpose asking for things like water and snacks.  She has started to say a few two word phrases, will try to repeat everything we say and has gotten very good at labeling.  She has recently formed a pretty strong attachment to her blanky, which she calls "night-night".  She still loves to watch Jack and continues to enjoy playing with" kitty's".  It is so much fun watching her pretend play.  Her newest toys this week came from our very sweet neighbor Jessica, it is a baby doll play set which includes a stroller, swing/car seat, diaper bag and pack-n-play.  She has been playing doll's non-stop since she brought it over Tuesday morning.  I had to dig out all her dolls just so she had one to put in each toy :-)

Jack has been doing better in school and starting to adjust to his new schedule.  He decided that he wanted to wake up extra early this morning.  I first heard him playing in his room around 4AM, but tried to wait till it was absolutely necessary to get him which was about a quarter to 5.  He was in a terrific mood, which is always helpful with such an early morning wake-up call, but I am hoping to get in a short nap later this morning when Peyton takes hers. 

I do have a few things to get done this morning before I can lay down and relax starting with going back up to the school for a room parent meeting and coffee with the Principal.  I also need to start packing and getting ready for my fun girls weekend to Las Vegas!  My friend Kara is turning 30 next month so me and our friend Becky are going to help her celebrate!  Thank you Justin for giving me the opportunity to go and have a some fun while you stay and have fun with the kids this weekend.   

I am going to sign off for now.  I hope everyone has a great weekend...I know that's my plan ;-)

Fun trip to Target!

This morning Jack saw the cup Justin has on his dresser full of our loose change. He got Justin to get it down for him and they started playing with the coins. Jack was very interested in the money and even started to name the different coins.

He then grabbed the cup and walked Justin to the garage door and said "Walmart" we looked at each other a little surprised. We know he knows a about Target since justin usually takes him shopping there on the weekends, but we didn't know he knew Walmart?!? (not a play we go to very often). So I decided since he asked and we were just enjoying a leisurely morning at home, I would go ahead and take him to the store. We drove to Target (it's closer) and when I parked the car I said "here we are at Target" he started to clap. He walked with me into the store (didn't ask to be carried) and asked him "where to we need to go?". He started off and headed to the toy department were they keep the hot wheels. He picked out a package of cars and immediately headed back to the front of the store. I had to stop him and convince him to take the slightly cheaper package, which he was fine with, and then continued on his way. He walked into a check out isle (which again I had to help him get to the one that was open) and set the car on the checkout counter. The woman took the package, scanned it and handed it back to him and he waited patiently while I paid. He then walked back to the car with me, holding my hand when we got to the parking lot.

I know this doesn't sound like a huge exciting story, but for Jack this is a quite an accomplishment. He doesn't always follow directions and has a tendency to bolt when ever we let him loose. He never attempted to leave me and being able to talk him through the process of shopping was very exciting!
Also him associating taking money to o the store to buy something was exciting.

I just had to share this story with everyone today because it was a really exciting moment for us. We have had a fun weekend with my sister I town and Jack and I are about to go have lunch with her and take her to the airport. Hope everyone has had a great Labor Day weekend!

the first week of school...

Today is Friday and Jack is finishing up his first week of school.  We have had a little bit of a rocky start.  Jack did ok the first day but Tuesday was when he started to have a few issues.  Jack has had a decrease in his outward aggression (trying to hit us when he is upset) and started having more self inflicted aggression.  This started a out a few months back with slapping/hitting his legs, then moved on to his hips and now has graduated to slapping/hitting himself in the face.  When he gets upset in a situation or starts to have a meltdown that is when the hitting will start.  This has been one of the hardest autism behaviors we have had to deal with yet.  Watching our little man get so upset and not be able to tell us why or what is wrong and getting so upset (for sometimes what seems like no reason) is heartbreaking.  We do our best to interrupt/stop this behavior, but the key is to stop him from hitting without drawing to much attention to it at the same time (not the easiest thing in the world to do since the first natural reaction is to say "Jack don't hit yourself") 

The behavior at school has been happening when it's time for the class to go to recess.  I know that playgrounds have never been Jack's favorite activity, but I don't know why he is having such a violent reaction to this particular activity.  I have talked with his teacher and we think it might be that the weather has been really hot and maybe he doesn't like being outside in the heat?  I also found out that recess comes just before lunch so maybe he has been hungry?  I don't know, today I mentioned that when he is hungry he tends to get upset much quicker.  So, I send him more choices for his snack and suggested that they try to make sure he eats well at snack time, or if its possible to feed him before taking him out on the playground.  I am not sure if this will help or not, but its worth trying.  I hope that once he gets more use to the new school routine some of these undesirable behaviors will become less frequent. 

On a much happier note, my sister is going to be coming into town for the weekend!  She is flying in tonight and staying till Monday.  I am very excited to see her and I know she is excited to see the kids.  I have been telling Peyton that Aunt Stacey is coming to visit and showing her Stacey's picture.  She points to her and says "Stayee" its really cute.  She has become quite the little talker and will try and repeat everything she hears.  I can't believe how big she is getting and that she will be 18 months in just about two weeks. 

I am started to hear her wake up from her nap so I will end my post here.  I will be sure and post again soon.  I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!

School Home Visit

We just got home from dropping Justin off at work.  He stayed home this morning because we had our in home visit to meet Jack's teachers for the new school year.  He has the same teacher as last year Mr. Tyler and the two assistant teachers will be Ms. Lynn, who was also there last year, and Ms. Stacey who the new addition.  Jack was very excited to see both Tyler and Lynn this morning and gave them a big smile, but still continued to run around and play outside while we talked.  We discussed what Jack had been up to this summer and some of the new things that have been happening.  I know that Jack will enjoy getting back into his school routine, but that the first few weeks will be an adjustment.  He will have a much bigger work load placed on him this year.  He will have school 5 days a week from 7:45-2:00, Mon. and Wed. he will have one-on-one in home ABA therapy from 3:00-5:00, Thurs. he will attend an ABA social group also from 3:00-5:00, and on Tues. see his OT therapist after school for a 30 minute session.  Fridays will be his one free day without any additional outside therapy :-) 

Since summer has started to come to an end and we have gotten back to a more normal routine after all the summer school and traveling, we have started to see a decline in some of the aggressive behavior he was starting to have back at the end of the school year and the beginning of summer.  He has been doing really well working with Jessi and we have started to hear more spontaneous language from him.  It has been mostly in the form of labeling, but more language is always good.  We are still waiting for that break though moment when he realises if I ask for something I will get it, but change doesn't happen over night.  I look forward to seeing what gains Jack has this school year.  This will be Jack's last year at Lawson and next year will be his big transition to Kindergarten.  I am of course already worried about that transition but I know it is an entire year away so for now I will do my best to keep those feeling in check.

I hope that everyone else who is starting or will be starting school soon, have a great year!  I wish all my fellow teachers back at Gordon Bush Elementary in East St. Louis a great school year and want to let them know I thinking about you.  I will be sure and post again and let you know how Jack's first day goes and hopefully have some cute new pictures to share.

Have a great week!

Waiting for school to start...

We are just about two and a half weeks away from school being back in session.  Jack is all finished with summer school but will continue with OT and seeing his ABA therapist three days a week, which should help the next three weeks not feel so terribly long :-) The kids and I survived the week Justin was in New York, but the kids and I especially was very happy to have him back.  We will spend our last few weeks of summer hopefully going to or having play dates and we will  have to start doing a little back to school shopping.    

I am doing my best to keep the kids active despite the lovely heat wave we have been enjoying.  I got the kids a new sprinkler on an outing we took to The Home Depot one afternoon, and one of their new favorite activity is playing with ice cubes outside on the porch.  This past Monday we went to an in-home play date and things went pretty good.  Jack of course found the toys and was perfectly happy playing and enjoying the new toys.  Peyton, on the other hand, still needs a little more time adjusting to the whole play date experience.  She does not like it when I leave the room or get to far away, and so far doesn't really enjoy playing with other kids.  This morning we went to Burger King and met a few friends to have a little breakfast and play on the equipment.  Jack decided it was more fun to play in one of the booths climbing back and forth from one bench to another by walking over the table.  Peyton did a little better and liked the giant tiger toy, but still got scared when any of the other kids would get close to her or try and play on the same equipment.  I know she will get better with her social skills especially when we can start attending play dates more regularly again once Jack is back at school. 

Peyton is getting so big and talking more and more each day, its hard to believe she will be 17 months old this month.  Her favorite activities still include chasing her big brother and the cat around, and despite her resistance to playgroups she is very easy going kid.  This has been very helpful this summer with the new school schedule and therapy.  She always make the best of our time spent waiting for Jack to finish therapy and when we do find ourselves waiting in the waiting room she will spend the majority of her time telling people "Hi" and "bye- bye"  She is our little trooper!

Right now Jack is working with Jessi,  his ABA therapist, and Peyton is still taking her nap so I decided to do a quick update.  We will be leaving for Jack's OT appointment once his session with Jessi ends so I am going to go and pack snacks and water for the drive.  I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer and having a good week.  I will post again soon.

Back from CA

It has been a while since I have posted, but with all our traveling it took me a while to get back our normal routine.  Justin and I got back from our anniversary trip last Monday.  We had wonderful time in San Francisco and Napa.  We are very lucky that my parents were able to come down and stay with the kids.  We did some site seeing in San Francisco that included Fishermans Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, and Alcatraz.  Then we spend three nights in Napa and had so much fun exploring downtown Napa, visiting and touring a couple wineries.  The best part of the trip was getting to enjoy the beautiful and cool weather.  When we got off the plane in San Francisco it was actually cold, or at least cold to us :-)  Napa during the day was warm, but the morning and evenings were perfect, and since we are now entering the weeks of it just being HOT that is the part that I will miss the most...and the wine, of course ;-)

This week is Jack's last week of summer school.  He has only four more weeks to go before school starts up again.  As a former teacher I know how hard it is when back to school comes, but as the mother of a child with autism who desperately craves the structure and support school gives him I am very excited for school to start.  Jack has been seeing an ABA therapist three day's a week and still sees his OT twice a week.  When school starts Jack will continue seeing the ABA therapist three times a week after school but we will go down to once a week with the OT. 

Justin is leaving for New York this afternoon for work so it will be just me and the kids till he gets back on Thursday night.  I will try and post again soon, but am going to sign off for now so I can get a few minutes to just relax before Peyton wakes up from her nap.  Hope everyone has a great week!    

Back from Springfield...

The kids and I returned on Friday from Springfield.  We spend the week with my parents and had a fun week of swimming, playing and seeing friends.  We spend a lot of time at the pool but also got to visited the Springfield Discovery Center (which is basically a science center), went to a bounce house with my friend Haley and her two sons, and drove down to Branson to spend the morning swimming and playing with my friend Susan and her daughters.  We had a very busy week full of activity and both kids did a great job during our stay and on the drive down which was one of the things I was most nervous about.  This was the frist trip I made with just me and the kids.  I am very happy that there were no major issues during the drive and our stop to eat went smoothly.  The drive back was made easier because my mom came back with us.

Since we have been home we are getting the kids back into their normal routine and I have been getting ready for our next trip.  Justin and I will be leaving for our 10 year anniversary trip to San Francisco/ Napa.  We will be gone for 4 nights and the kids will be staying with my parents here in Texas. 

I was able to get some cute pictures and videos.  I will update more once we get back from our trip. Hope everyone has a wonder week!

Jack's newest therapy

Yesterday, Jack had his first session with his new in home ABA therapist Jessi. ABA therapy is short for Applied Behavior Analysis.  Below is a brief description about what ABA is and I also included a link for anyone who is interested in reading more.

What is Applied Behavior Analysis?

Behavior analysis focuses on the principles that explain how learning takes place. Positive reinforcement is one such principle. When a behavior is followed by some sort of reward, the behavior is more likely to be repeated. Through decades of research, the field of behavior analysis has developed many techniques for increasing useful behaviors and reducing those that may cause harm or interfere with learning.

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the use of these techniques and principles to bring about meaningful and positive change in behavior.

As mentioned, behavior analysts began working with young children with autism and related disorders in the 1960s. Early techniques often involved adults directing most of the instruction. Some allowed the child to take the lead. Since that time, a wide variety of ABA techniques have been developed for building useful skills in learners with autism – from toddlers through adulthood.

These techniques can be used in structured situations such as a classroom lesson as well as in "everyday" situations such as family dinnertime or the neighborhood playground. Some ABA therapy sessions involve one-on-one interaction between the behavior analyst and the participant. Group instruction can likewise prove useful.
ABA Therapy

Jack's first session was a "get to know you session" both for her and him.  She spent her time yesterday observing and playing with Jack working on getting him to engage with her in play, encouraging verbal imitation and eye contact.  She is going to use the assessments and skills he has been working on in school to design a program for him that will focus on increasing his verbal manding.  Most of Jack's undesirable behaviors come from his inability to communicate what he is feeling and what he wants.  We are going to have her come three days a week.  This summer the sessions will be taking place in the early afternoon, but once school is back in session the session will get pushed back and take place after Jack gets home from school.  I will keep everyone posted on how his sessions are going. 

Jack has two weeks off from ESY so I am going to take the kids to see my parents in Springfield, we will be leaving to head down there Thursday morning.  We are going to stay with them for a week.  I am looking forward to the kids having a fun filled week with their grandparents which will include a lot of swimming, but am a little nervous about the drive down.  Hopefully both kids will do well and it will be an easy trip....I hope :-)

Hope everyone has a great Independence Day tomorrow and I am sure I will have some fun pictures to share when we get back from Springfield.

Below are two videos Justin took of Jack playing in the backyard and wearing his new Cardinal hat: