12/15 - Yes we are alive

I've never been away from the blog for this long. Brad has been extended out in San Diego and things got really crazy here and I'm just now recovering. Recovering isn't even the correct word. I can breathe now at least. Recovery will happen once Brad is and the holidays are over. So what has happened in the last month?

Well, my mom and I took the boys to the fair. We went on Veteran's Day around 1pm and got in free and then we also bought some wristbands and then just went wild. Aiden loves the fun house with mirrors and did a great job navigating us through it. We all went on the giant ferris wheel which was great because then the boys could see all the other rides and we knew where to go. Eli just made the cut-off for many of the rides so his world was great. He needs to grow really fast next year so I don't have to go on so many rides. The boys had a ton of fun but we left around 5:30ish because it was starting to get completely crazy with hundreds of people showing up and we were tired.

Aiden has had a few events at his school over the past couple weeks that I've been able to go in and help with. He is doing so great in school. His teacher just told me he has a few first grades sight words to work on and then he can go to second grade. I had no idea he knew so many words. My mom and I were able to go to Aiden's class one day and help make rice krispie treats which I had never actually made before. It was fun and the kids did a good job following the recipe. Aiden really wanted Nana to help at his table and that was cute to watch. Aiden's teacher invited the parents in for Thanksgiving for Pumpkin Pie which was fun. Aiden started off crying because someone gave him a slice and I ate a little bite and then convinced him to try a bite and he liked it. He then proceeded to have a second piece of pie. They even sang a few songs for us and they looked adorable in the attire they made for themselves. Aiden has earned a V (very good) for his behavior everyday this year. His teacher said an 'E' would be extremely hard to get and if you saw one or two during the year then that was really good. Aiden finally got an 'E'! He was so excited and had no idea. I called him over and then took his picture when I showed it to him (middle right picture) and he was so excited and then held up his paper to show me. 

Eli's daycare invited the parents to come and have Thanksgiving lunch. We signed up to bring mac and cheese and green beans. It was cute and the kids made their own place settings. Eli ate a ton of food which doesn't really surprise me. We were able to read a few books together while the rest of the parents showed up. Nana and I didn't get the memo that we would be almost the only women because all the dad's came (there was one more mom). It was a bit shocking but warmed by heart too. Eli's daycare is going okay. It was touch and go for a while but we are just trusting in God that he is in the right place and with the right teacher. I used to get things from his folder almost everyday and when he moved teachers, there was nothing in his folder ... for weeks so I eventually stopped checking it. I finally did check it last week I realized that they have started to doing things which is great and that he missed a birthday party (boo on mommy for not checking his folder). 

Brad was able to take leave and come have Thanksgiving with us which was great. We did a low-key dinner here and were just excited to be together. The night that Brad came home, a group of guys from church came over and helped do a bunch of random stuff like change lightbulbs, get all my christmas stuff out of the closet and put a ton of boxes in a closet, trimmed a hedge, and then put chrismtas lights around our house on the roof. It was so helpful because they did almost everything on my to-do list for Brad which enabled us to have family time together instead of Brad is here to work. I actually had A TON of grading to do so Brad played with the boys quite often so I could grade. I did take a solid couple hours off and we went to Wild Adventures in Georgia. It was about 2 hours away and I was nervous after driving that far and not seeing one sign for it. You then pull up and it looks like it's in someone's backyard and I got really nervous. It ended up being awesome for the ages of the boys. They were able to go on about 70% of the rides which was great. Military got in free which is why we went in the first place. We had a blast there and it was much colder than we were hoping. We were there for 6 hours I think and I was certainly worn out. 

 After church on Sunday, we made a stop to Home Depot on the way home to get a Christmas Tree. I wouldn't be able to get one without Brad so if we were going to have a tree we needed to get it now. We even put it in the stand and in the house before Brad left. I put lights on it after a few nights and then the boys wanted to put ornaments on it so we did that for a bit one night. I never actually went back to "fix" anything so we have a ton of ornaments from hip height and down and few from me that are up higher. I also added a few lights on the house as well. It's not in the picture below but we also have our blow-up train and my 3 spiral christmas trees. Our house looks quite nice. I blew the circuit the first night so I had do some creative plugging in so that everything wasn't going to the same circuit (the garage and outside outlet are on the same circuit). I haven't really decorated inside because well, I would have to take it down and if I don't have time to put it up, I surely won't have time to take it down. :)  It can stay in the box and hopefully next year will be less hectic and I can properly decorate.

We were on base twice last weekend for Christmas stuff. Last weekend the squadron that Brad is checking in to had their children's christmas party and I took the boys to it. They had blast watching Santa fly in on a helo and then just playing in the bounce house and watching a magician/comic for a bit. Aiden was obsessed about participating in a cake walk (I didn't even know what it was). Well, he had a complete breakdown after his second time walking because he still didn't win. They let him participate in the last one (they had 4) and surprise, he won. They totally let him win because he was crying after the other one from not winning. My kids seems to do that alot and I told them I am tired of it. I told them I will be a better mommy and make sure they are disappointed more often because clearly they need practice in how to deal with disappointment and loosing. So, we have been practicing that lately :)  

So the rest of this is just some randomness that I wanted to include: 

I never thought I would see the day where Aiden would peel an orange but here it is. I'm so thankful for all the therapy he has gotten and how much it has transformed him. He hasn't received any on-going therapy since we have been here in FL and is doing great and his food choices are coming along so well. 

Little Eli had some testing done the other day and we had to stop by the store so I could get some cold medicine. We found these santa ears and Eli tried them on. He' facial expressions just crack me up most of the time. He did well on his testing but is very weak in fine motor skills but also scored much higher in cognitive thinking skills than I thought which is sorta troubling for me. He can be smart if you make it fun and a game but usually doesn't want to put in the effort to have to think. I think this child is going to test me so much when it comes to school and academics.

 We were able to help a friend celebrate her birthday a few weeks ago. The day before this and the day after this had highs in the 60's and this one day it was about 80 degrees in Florida at the end of November. It was crazy warm at the park and the boys were seriously sweating. They had lots of fun celebrating Jordyn's birthday and seeing some of their friends again though.

 This is Brad and I when I dropped him off the the airport after Thanksgiving. He really does balance me out which is why it's so hard on me and us when he is gone.

We did do our Thanksgiving tree again this year. It wasn't the same without Brad here though. I have a before and after picture but Blogger isn't letting me access to those so I'll have to post them next time. I love our Thanksgiving Tree and it's so neat to see what the kids have come up with every night. It's great when I've had a stressful day where everything seems to have gone wrong because it also puts everything back into perspective for me and I realize how truly fortunate and blessed we are.

In mid-November I was blessed with tickets to see Toby Mac in concert. I invited Arin along we had a great time. We were shocked to find out our tickets were floor tickets, just one section back from the stage. There were lots of awesome artists there too. Our friend from Maryland, Cindy, sent the tickets to me about 2 months before the concert just for fun. How awesomely nice that was. 

Things are going to be busy here over the holidays as Brad's parents come to visit us. It will be great to see them and it will be an awesome Christmas present to get Brad home before (or on) Christmas Day. Merry Christmas everyone!!

6/2 - Aiden's 5th birthday

We had Aiden's 5th birthday party yesterday (Saturday) at the house. He chose a dinosaur theme this year. He found the cake he wanted months ago so I went to make the basic rectangle cake on Thursday evening. We'll, I used my Coke recipe (using a can of coke rather than oil, eggs, etc) but used a different brand than normal. As I'm pouring it into the pan, I'm thinking it looks to runny and then notice on the box it says mix for 4 minutes (my normal brand is only 2 minutes) so I pour it back in to the bowl and continue mixing which thickens it up. After I let it cool some and flipped it over to let it cool some more and then ice it, disaster strikes. It was so moist that it stuck on the bottom of the pan in the center but I just assumed it was because the non-stick stuff didn't work since I dumped the batter out of the pan and it must have messed up the no-stick stuff. I get another cake mix on Friday morning and re-do it. Outcome: it still sticks!! I figure I actually need to use the eggs and oil but am totally frustrated by wasting my time and money on cakes that are sticking. Brad goes to the store on Friday evening and puts in an order for a 1/2 sheet cake with just chocolate frosting. Brad picks up the cake on Saturday morning (party isn't until 3:00pm) and then he looks at the dinosaur skeleton Aiden wants and makes a draft using the end of the fork. I then start to trace it using the white icing and get scared to death I'm going to mess it up so I hand it back over to Brad. He pipes in the rest (almost all) of the dinosaur and then I add the oreo crumbs I already prepared and a handful of dinosaur eggs (jelly belly candy). It turned out quite awesome I think.

It's hard to see put I cut out little dinosaur prints and put them outside from the driveway up to the front door. I then decorated the door with an 'A' and had dinosaur window clings on the side windows. The goodie bag eggs were a nice touch for the dinosaur theme. There were lots of unexpected guests so I got really busy real fast. That said, I didn't even take that many pictures. I made the eggs with baking soda, water, and black food coloring and then hid small dinosaurs in them. I gave everyone a round tinfoil pan with two eggs inside and a new toothbrush. They were supposed to excavate the dinosaurs. I also had vinegar in syringes to help the excavation process. It was a hit. Unfortunately, Aiden didn't want to do it but I put a tinfoil pan up away from the rest so that I could sit down with him and do it later. I was so bummed when I went to clean up and saw that towards the end of the party, someone must have grabbed it. Therefore, this cool sensory project I made for Aiden, he didn't even do. I think I'll make a few more eggs and still have him do it. It takes a few days for the eggs to completely dry put I think he would have fun doing it and discovering something. The backyard grass maze was a hit. Lots of kids running around and playing tag. It was drizzling a few minutes before Aiden's party started and was steaming hot about 30 min after it started. The kids were outside running the maze, playing basketball, using the stomp rocket, and excavating eggs. It was fun. To get some reprieve from the heat, we came in for some cake. It was delicious.

Apparently Saturday was a party day. There were a handful of people there who were party hopping that day so half of them left after the cake was cut (and eaten thankfully). Aiden was very excited to open presents so we let him do that. He had lots of fun and it was sweet that the other kids were showing him how to use some of the toys he got. Mrs. Rusty (his occupational therapist) came with her 2 boys and Aiden was really excited about that. Mrs. Rusty is the closest friend I have here and Aiden just adores her and her boys, especially JB. Aiden got an electronic bank and both of her boys helped Aiden put all his coins in the bank. He's been asking for a bank since Christmas (daddy got one then) because as Aiden will tell you, he is "saving for car for when he turns 17." He just cracks me up. Ms. Jessica, our Cubbies helper, came to the party and Aiden was so excited. Although unplanned, she was a huge help. Eli just wanted to play outside in the water but Aiden was inside opening presents and playing with them and I was chatting with Rusty for a bit. Rusty and her family stayed for a bit and it was so much fun. The boys just all played together so well and Eric (her husband) and Brad were just chatting it up and Rusty and I could actually talk and have a conversation (although it was mostly about therapy stuff). Maybe I missed my calling. I love OT stuff but when I volunteered in college, it was at the VA and while I enjoyed it, it's a much different experience when you invest yourself in something that interests or effects you.

Overall, it was a great day. It went from a party of 2, to a party of 4, to a party of 6, to a party of 9 and ended up being a party of 12. It ended up that the two people from Aiden's daycare class that RSVP didn't even come. I had 2 late RSVP's (they called the night before) from his class and they came. The neighbor down the street came which I didn't know about and even brought 2 cousins to join in on the fun. One of his favorite daycare teachers came which he was excited about. For some reason, Aiden gets more focused on the grown-ups coming rather than the kids (JB was an exception). I think he just gets along better with adults and likes to talk them more. Kids his age tend to imaginative and ... he's not. :) He's very realistic so he can be imaginative if it makes sense and could be real. God knew exactly who needed to be at this party and it turned out great and was a great memory for Aiden. We are so thankful for the other kids and grown-ups in his life.

This past year has been a great developmental year for Aiden. He has become so much more independent with physical things (putting on his clothes, opening containers/bags), going potty, etc) and that has opened up a new level of freedom for him. His still loves routine but we don't have to use his picture schedule anymore (although he does use it sometimes). His ability to look ahead and plans things is quite amazing (in my opinion). He thinks things much farther out than I would think he should be able to. He is communicating so much better but still has a very hard time controlling his emotions and being able to communicate through his frustrations. He continues to strive to please people and not upset them which is sweet but I don't want him to base his life and his well-being on the response of others. I've done that it's no fun. I pray for more freedom for him than that. I love that he has a heart of gold but I pray he can balance it and learns that disappointing and/or offending people is not the end of the world.

5/19 - Aiden's Preschool Graduation

Aiden had his preschool graduation on Tuesday night. That still cracks me up. There was no graduation from preschool or even elementary school when I was little. You got a pat on the back (maybe) and life went on. His school worked really hard on having the kids sing a couple songs and have hand motions. The preschool (Journey) did a great job with making it such a special event for these kids.

We got there early to make sure we got a good seat. It didn't start until 7:00pm so we pretty much let Eli run around the sanctuary from 6:20-7:00pm. He must have run about a mile if you add up all the laps he did. He played on the iPad during most of the service but that was fine because at least he was still and quite. He did a great job. 

They brought all the kids up on the stage and had them sing a few songs. I was wondering why Aiden was asking me such random questions through the week. He was making a heart with his hands and asking me where his heart was at on his body. I saw him play the air guitar a few times when we were playing music and wondered where he saw that at. He would also practice clapping and then spinning his hands around and telling me "that's how it's done." He had a blast singing the songs. Mrs. Jennifer, his teacher, sat in the front row and did all the hand signals with them in case they forgot. Aiden did not forget a thing. Not only that, he was so intensely looking at her to make sure he was on cue with the signals and the music. I've never seen him that focused before. He only did minimal nervous activities (wiping of the ears and eyes) compared to a few days at church when he performed with the children's choir. 

They took the kids out of the sanctuary and helped them all get their caps and gowns on and then they all came in. I didn't get any good pictures with my camera of Aiden walking down the isle. I'm hopefully to pull one off the video that Brad took and get a still shot though. Anyway, he walked out with his classmates and they all sat down. He was the third or fourth one to go up in his class. They called his name and said he was honored with the award of "Most Likely to be a Pilot" and put up a picture of him in his flight suit. It was too cute. Mrs. Jennifer gave him his diploma and then he walked over to his spot. He waited while everyone else got their diplomas. At the very end, the teachers told them they could throw their hats (all the hats had names in them) but Aiden was the only one that I saw out of about 22 kids that did not throw his hat. You can see in the second row of pictures, the picture to the right, only has his hat on. It was too funny. Mrs. Jennifer even tried to tell him it was okay. I asked him later why he didn't throw his hat and he said he thought he might hurt someone by doing that. Such a sweet heart. We tried to get a family picture but it was late and Aiden didn't have any nap that day. I asked Eli if he could tell Aiden "congratulations" and give him a huge. You can see the outcome of that in the picture to the right of the text in the middle. Aiden was so upset and annoyed that Eli gave him a hug.

After the ceremony was over and I quickly realized there would be no cute family pictures of our little preschool graduate, they had some cake and punch set out. We all had a small piece of cake. As you can see in the bottom row, Aiden really liked the cake. I was slightly mortified when I looked up and saw Aiden his plate but then also thought it was slightly funny. He LOVED the punch. Eli, of course, loved the cake. He actually didn't like the punch though. Eli doesn't actually care for the taste of lemonade, tea, soda, etc. It's good but it's so funny considering how much he likes different kinds of food. Eli is a water kind of kid (or juice if it's offered to him). Overall, we are very happy for Aiden.

I've been in contact with the placement specialist for the school he will be attending in Jacksonville to figure out what to do with him. Our very smart, yet quirky and pretty fearful & safe kid, will need to be put in the right environment (that's what his therapists and various teachers have told us) in order for him to thrive. I just have to have faith that God will make that all happen. It's so hard when we move all the time and have to re-start testing/evaluation processes all the time. Aiden's class was spending quite a bit of time preparing for the graduation and did not do seat work for a few days. That included a few days leading up to the event and few days afterwards. He was complaining to me that he didn't "get" to do seat work and he was sad about that and wanted to do some at home. He says, "I don't understand why we don't do seat work anymore." I try to explain to him that his class has been busy getting ready for graduation but he doesn't want to accept that as an excuse. The kid just loves to learn. He was doing some serious math this morning as I was making a treat: cinnamon rolls. He looks at the package and sees that there are 8 and then says, "hey mom, there is enough for all our family to have two. "Two and two and two and two make 8" as he points around to each of us and continues to add two fingers counting on his hands as he points at us. He then starts doing math during lunch today and says "did you know that 2 and 3 make 5?" Brad says, "yes I did. Great job. Who taught you that?" Aiden responds with, "my mouth." We were a bit confused and upon a few more questions to Aiden, he said his mouth is what tells the answer out loud but his head it what counts. What a fun kid.

4/24 - therapy

Aiden's therapy has been going pretty well lately. He's in the final stretch of his occupational therapy and only has a few weeks left. He has gotten SO SO SO much stronger over the past few months. We did encounter a bit of a hiccup a few weeks ago. At first we thought he got a spider bite (even the doctor thought so) but it turned in to ring worm. Needless to say, that is spreadable so when he was at OT, Mrs. Rusty needed to cover it up. Well, Aiden doesn't like things on his body like that. He's only worn a bandaid once or twice and can't stand that. Rusty put on Coban which only sticks to itself but it still had Aiden way out of his comfort zone. He was way upset and she took him calmed him down. It took a good 25 minutes or so but she did it. After he calmed down, she let Aiden make a boo-boo on her (with chalk) and then cover it up and then she was able to put one on him. He wore it for the rest of his 10 min of therapy but he was not happy about it.

She was trying so hard to make him smile and he wanted nothing to do with it.

The next week at therapy went much better. I wasn't sure if I was up for fight that Aiden was going to put up about getting the bandage on but Rusty said to bring him. We got there and he picked out what color he wanted and had it on in 5 minutes. I was shocked. He asked me to wear one too during his therapy time. Below you can see Aiden doing part of his obstacle course.

Mrs. Rusty got some new toys and Aiden really enjoyed carrying them around and velcro-ing their arms together to let them hang.

Aiden has always been scared/tentative to jump and be air born - even if he is landing on something soft. He's finally starting to get over that. It's so exciting and fun to watch. Not only is he jumping and getting some air under his feet, but he is also willing (sometimes) to land with a crash (on a mat). I never thought I would see him voluntarily do this. I think it's something that most parents probably don't think twice about but when you have a child who refuses to do certain things, you notice it more. I even had to take a little video for Aiden so he could see how awesome it was.

He has been saving his therapy dollars (he gets one at the end of every therapy session if he earned it) and bought something out of Mrs. Rusty's store. He searched for about 15 minutes and put lots of thought into his purchase. She just got lots of new stuff and he ends up buying this old (kind of a baby) camera. It's pretty cool with all the noises and stuff but it was a little surprising to me that this was his favorite thing.

Last week at therapy Aiden ran in and said, "I need to get my bandage!" I just about fell over. What a huge change from 3 weeks ago. Below you can see him in the spandex swing. He had to pick-up these balls that light up when you hit them and put them in with him. The lights were turned out and he eventually was swinging in the dark with the light-up balls in the swing with him. He then ended his session with some fine motor skill stuff.

I've noticed lately that while I've never been concerned about Eli and his developmental skills (he's been right on time) that I need to pay closer attention to him. He still hasn't figured out what hand is his dominant hand so he switches back and forth between his left and right all the time. He has also been always been pretty strong with his hands but I've noticed recently that while he is strong, he is not very accurate. He has trouble doing the fine motor things. He can't even get most stickers off the sheet. I've started trying to work with him and .... it's different than working with Aiden. Aiden will pretty much do whatever I or Mrs. Rusty ask. He may not like it but we tell him how many to do and he'll do it. That's not how Eli works. Eli will do one and then say, "you can finish the rest mom" or "I don't like this" and just leave. Mrs. Rusty has given me some tips so hopefully I can start "talking" Eli into doing more therapy type exercises. He refuses to hold a pencil/marker/crayon correctly so I need to step up my game and work with him a little more. I've definitely taken it for granted that Aiden just does therapy so well and wants to do well with it.

3/13 - Therapy x3

So I'm behind on posting to the blog. I have no excuse except for that I've been exhausted and then we took a somewhat impromptu family trip and were gone for a bit. Here are the last 3 weeks of Aiden's therapy at Excel Rehab and working with Mrs. Rusty. As always, Mrs. Rusty keeps Aiden on his feet and guessing about what he is going to do during his time with her. The blew bubbles a few weeks ago which is often hard for Aiden because he doesn't always pucker his lips and he often blows way too hard. He did a crab walk for the first time and also learned a new way to do a frog jump. He also got to play on the zip line by walking (and trying to balance) around on a huge tube and then falling in the fall pit. There was some mini-trampoline jumping involved too which is he starting to like. He had to keep track of how many more circuits he had to do and when he got to #3, Mrs. Rusty was helping him with using his fingers to hold up three. He likes to use his thumb to pull down his pointer finger but that is the easy way to hold up the #3. Mrs. Rusty was trying to show him how to use his thumb to hold down his pinky finger to show the #3 but he has a very hard time doing that.

Last week Aiden comments on the way to therapy, "I wonder what Mrs. Rusty is going to have me do this week." I have to say, I don't think we have ever done the same thing twice there. It's quite amazing she can still come up with new stuff. There is usually an obstacle course involved but she often lets Aiden design (and build) it and it is always different. Last week she had him get enough sticks/shapes to make an 'X' and an 'O' (for tic-tac-toe) and then climb under the tent that was only about 1 foot off the ground. They then each put down their letter and he had to crawl back and get more letters/shapes. Aiden is definitely getting physically stronger using his hands and fingers and is actually starting to finally get some basic body coordination (he didn't really start jumping with two feet off the floor until after he turned 4). Mrs. Rusty has shifted a lot of his therapy towards sensory stuff and the more surfaces he comes in contact with, the better. Because of this, he does lots of crawling, tunnels, swings, etc. He is getting much better about movement (and not minding it). Bath time has been ... challenging with Aiden the past few weeks. We did a few weeks of being really patient, nurturing, and encouraging during bath time and trying to have him take control and actually clean himself. We made a certain level of progress with that but it's just so tiring. He can make bath time/shower time last 5 minutes or 45 min depending on the mood he is in. Last week, after talking with Mrs. Rusty, I decided to try a new strategy. It's much much MUCH less stressful on me but I was not sure if it was appropriate for Aiden. I felt like over the past month or so that much of our bath time is spent on negotiating and that just wears me out. Here is a typical bath time:

Me: Ok Aiden. You've got to play for 10 min but now it is time to soap up and get clean. Do you want to do soap on your body or clean your hair?

Aiden: I don't want to take a bath.

Me: I know but you've had fun playing for a bit but now we need to get clean and then you can play again.

Aiden: I want to get out now. I don't want any soap. [He often starts crying here]

Me: Ok Aiden. Do you want to do your hair or body? 

Aiden: [Cries and whines a few more protests]

Me: We will start with your body. Would you like to use the poof or washcloth?

Aiden: I just want to use no soap.

Me: You have to use soap Aiden. That is how we get clean. You can choose the yellow soap or the blue soap. Which one?

Aiden: [cries and tries to play with a toy]

This scenario continues and Aiden continues to try and evade giving an appropriate response/option which further extends bath time (and my patience). So now, before bath time, we remind him he is in control of his bath and he can make the decisions. He gets to play for 10 min and then it's time to soap up or wash his hair. I ask him what he wants to do and then I count from 5 to 0. By the time I reach 0, he knows (we remind him at the beginning of bath time and before we soap) that I get to make the decision and that no matter how much he cries or protests, it will not matter. Before we would try and accommodate him so that he would be an active participant but ... things need to change. The first night or two we did bath this way, he screamed bloody murder through the whole thing. He did not like any decision that I made (soap type, washcloth/sponge/poof, order of things, etc) but he did learn that I was still going to do it my way if he decided to not participate. Although he screamed through the whole bath/shower, it was less stressful for me because the constant negotiation was done. By the end of the second bath/shower, he made his first decision (to use a washcloth). He is not yet cleaning himself but I think we are getting closer. The last bath night we had went pretty well and he only cried through part of it. He is learning that when he makes the decisions, he has more control over his bath and he can do/not do what feels okay and not okay. 

OK. Back to therapy. Mrs. Rusty just got some lycra fabric that she has hung up to be a swing. Aiden has mixed feelings about it. He likes to swing but he doesn't like the feeling of being supported but still being able to move. He would rather just be restricted I think. We've made good progress in the world of slides. He's gone down the slide head first with Mrs. Rusty a few times and last week he even went head first down through a fabric tunnel.

This past week at therapy, Aiden got to build a house. He was so excited and he looked super cute because he just found this pair of overalls in his drawer and he has never worn a pair before (that he can remember). He had to use his fingers and hands a lot to make sure it was all connected the right way. After he was done building a house, it was time to play in the swing. The fabric was still up from last week so he had to find a way to climb in and go for a ride. Mrs. Rusty even twisted him up a few times and let him go to untwist. He had to/got to "fall" out of the swing a couple of times. He is getting SO much better at allowing this to happen. Aiden doesn't like the feeling of falling and wouldn't even fall into the ball pit a few months ago. He has never been willing to jump off anything either. He will hop off a curb but not even with two feet at a time ... until about 3 weeks ago. He has played games at home very now and then that include jumping over something and onto the bean bag but he'll only do it if Eli is doing it and he will only take 1 or 2 turns. He has recently started trying to jump off of things (nothing crazy) but he's actually trying to jump where as before, he would avoid having to jump. Even when I had him in Gymboree and he was supposed to jump off of something onto a mat ... he would never do it. PROGRESS. He is making steps forward and I am so happy for him.

We will have to start working on eating therapy again soon but I am thankful for the steps in the right direction for Aiden. He is being able to live life a little more freely and experience more. His world is so black and white and I can appreciate that because that is often how my world is. It's so different though seeing it from my point of view and also being able to see how limiting it can be. When you live in black and white and don't allow room for gray, you don't realize how limiting it truly can be. I am so grateful to God that he has placed people in our path that can help Aiden (and me) to broaden our world some.

2/28 - Roller skating, monster trucks & therapy

I need to start doing better on the blog. It's just that I've been so tired and I always seem to have so much to do. Let's do a quick rehash of the last couple weeks. Aiden went to his very first roller skating party. His friend, John Britton (JB), just turned 5 and Aiden went to celebrate with him. Here he is playing games with JB's older sister. She was so sweet with Aiden.

It was pizza time and of course Aiden will not eat Pizza. He had a granola bar I had in my purse. He also got to try Sprite for the first time. He knew it was a kind of soda so he wanted so bad to like it but his face screamed "This is sour but I will love it because big kids like soda." It was too funny.

I was not sure if Aiden would even try roller skating. He said he wanted to try so we just got some of the skates that go over your shoes. The picture below is the first time he stood up. I was taking a gamble because I literally helped him stand up, told him not to move, and then stepped back for a minute to take a picture.

He did much better than I ever thought he would. He said he really liked it and "wanted to get some skates for home." The only thing he doesn't realize is there are no smooth surfaces near home and it will only be that smooth in the roller rink. This poor child will not even ride his bike on the road because it is "too bumpy." He would let go of my hand and do short sections by himself. I was really thankful that it was a small enough place that they let me go out in my shoes on the rink and hold Aiden's hand.

Here is a quick picture with the birthday boy! John Britton tried the next step up from Aiden's skates. Aiden asked why his were a different color and when I explained it to Aiden, he said he would rather be safe in the orange skates. The kid cracks me up. He said he didn't want to "go too fast" in black beginner skates.  

After Aiden decided he had enough skating, he played a few more games. Did I mention they have tickets with all these games? Needless to say, he counted up all his tickets and was only off by one!! That's pretty shocking. He told me had 86 tickets and he ended up having 87. Not too shabby for a 4 yr old.

We have found a game that Eli really enjoys. It's a story-telling game. He's got such a fun imagination that he enjoys coming up with stories and taking turns with us sometimes.

Therapy is going well for Aiden. He is getting so much stronger now and the focus has shifted from fine motor control/strength to more gross motor control and sensory stuff. Here he is below pinning crabs onto his shirt. The pinning is great fine motor control but the fact that he didn't mind pinning those to his shirt was quite amazing to me. He normally doesn't like stuff pulling/tugging on him so I was quite surprised when he loaded his shirt up with crabs.

He had to find the crabs before he could pin them on and he had to do that by digging through some beans (sensory).

Of course Mrs. Rusty turns everything into a fun game and adventure so Aiden doesn't realize he's doing all the these things that make him work and be uncomfortable (which is awesome). Here he is looking out a periscope. He thought that was pretty cool.

Once he had collected all the crabs he needed and then the rocks he needed to build a campfire, it was time to start a fire by rubbing the fire sticks together (they were rhythm sticks with lots of grooves in them; sensory again). He had fun doing that. As always, he had a fun adventure with Mrs. Rusty being a pirate for the morning.

And then there is Eli. Poor Eli. He's been a tad emotional lately. Here he is in the van after a complete breakdown before I failed to exit his door at daycare first. Both of the boys were holding open a door and due to logistics of the building and what doors you can enter/exit through, I needed to go out Aiden's door so I could come back in Eli's door and then go out Eli's door again. Well, Eli wanted me to go out his door first. Wow. You would have thought I had tortured the kid. He screamed the whole block home. I tried to rationalize with him (for some odd reason, that didn't work) and also promised he I would go out his door first the next day but that didn't do anything. He refused to get out of the van when we got home. I would unclip his seatbelt and he would buckle back up and scream that he wanted to go back to daycare. This went on for a while. Brad came out and we tried switching places/roles for a bit. Needless to say, Brad finally kinda convinced Eli to come in after about 30 minutes of screaming outside (and eventually getting him out of the van and locking him out so that he would have to come inside). He is a persistent little booger. A few weeks ago he did something similar about getting a piggy back ride to bed. He pitched a huge fit and had a breakdown before bed about not getting a piggy back ride. We explained he chose that option (we are heavily focusing on giving the boys options and making them realize they are in control of the outcome because they know what it is going to be) and maybe next time he should chose a different option. Needless to say, he put up a great fight and cried himself to bed that night. Well, he also woke up at 3:00am crying so I run into his room. I ask him what is wrong and he says, "I want a piggy back ride." Are you kidding me?????  Nope, he was not kidding.

While Eli has his rough moments, he also has his great moments. He LOVES bath. We had a great time together the other night playing. I played with him for about 30-40 min in the bath and it was great for both of us. He does fine playing by himself so I just let him do that often forgetting that playing with me could actually be fun. Um. I have no fun pictures to post of Aiden. He is still crying/screaming through a good portion of his bath time. Sometimes his bath lasts 15 min and it's all screaming and sometimes is lasts 40 min (with about 10-15 min screaming).

God blessed us with a neat opportunity to go see a monster truck a few weeks ago. We were literally on our way to dinner and there was a giant monster truck parked by a business a few blocks down from our house. The boys thought it was amazing and had never seen one this close up. They were letting them even climb up in it.

Aiden thought sitting on the tire was pretty fun. It was so huge. Eli was scared to death for me to try and lift him up on the tire. Brad lifted Aiden up so he could see inside/underneath the monster truck.

Aiden really wanted to get up in the drivers seat. Eli was way too scared but once he saw Aiden up there, he decided it would be okay ... for about 2 minutes. 

We got them down and then Eli just wanted to play with the spinner wheels on the monster truck and Aiden wanted to go eat dinner.

I picked up the boys early from daycare the other day and had their bikes in the back of the van. We went to park down the street and rode around for a while. Eli is really starting to get the hang of using the pedals!! We ran around the playground for a while putting pretend fires out and getting some exercise.

In the academic world, we have a huge breakthrough: Eli can write his name. It's pretty crazy to watch because he switches between his right and left hand. On this one he wrote the first two letters with his left hand and then switched to the right. On the paper he did after this one, he wrote his name using his right hand for the first two letters and then switching to the left. Crazy. He doesn't want to hold the pencil/crayon/chalk the "right" way yet but at least he's making some letters. 

Aiden has learned all about logos and started getting a little obsessed with Fords (those who know Brad know he LOVES Ford trucks). So, I taught Aiden Toyota (our minivan). Well, he also knows Chevy ("short for Chevrolet" he will tell you) and he follows that up with "daddy doesn't like Chevy's." It's too funny to hear him say it.