1/31 - Tee ball and Eli in therapy now

I'm not really sure where the month just went but I but hurry and post this. The first 1.5 weeks of the year were great because we were a family still. But then Brad had to leave again to go out on the ship for almost a month. We enjoyed being a family and finally got a tiny glimpse of what that may look like here in Florida. It's been a tough 6.5 months with Brad being gone for 6 months of that time almost. That is the life of a military family who gets really bad luck with orders and deployments :(

Once Brad was home and saw Eli's daycare situation, we decided we really did need to change. The new place that we chose is so very expensive (and it's the only place where we have to pack his lunch - even crazier why it's so expensive) BUT it's totally worth it. He LOVES it!!! I think morning time is horrible right but that should change in a few more months. Right now, since it's been so cold, they won't let the kids go outside and play like is on the schedule. Instead (this is the part that kills me) they have them sit on a carpet and read to them for 30 minutes!!! What? Sure, let's trade exercise for something completely sedentary and boring for that long for 3 and 4 yr olds. Besides that, he loves his 2 teachers and says "I never want to change daycares again. I love this place." Music to my hears. :)

So Nana's birthday was on January 4th and we had a little party for her here. The boys (headed by Brad) made Nana a cake and frosted it. We took it easy during the day and then Aiden invited Nana into his tent set-up in his room in the evening. After dinner we we had some cake and Nana got to open her presents and she got some new jewelry so she can get all fancy.

The first part of January had pretty nice weather. Here are the boys on a dirt mound. I had to post the close up rather than the other picture I had because I needed to be able to see Eli's crazy one-eye closed pose and Aiden's typical I'm-trying-to-smile but won't look at the camera face. These boys crack me up.

We had some fun while Aiden still was out of school. He had break for 21 days which is a lot. While I was trying to do laundry the boys got their sheets out of the closet and it was quite funny how long they entertained themselves with crib-size fitted sheets.

Aiden "Smarty Pants"

Eli "Speedy Pants"

We signed the boys up for i9 t-ball and it started the second saturday in January. The first day was crazy with the coaches kids' not wanting to be separated at all from them and then no one really having any idea what was going on. Aiden and Eli hit like champs off the tee which was cool. Eli would hit the ball and then run to get it. He cracks me up. We finally got him to run the bases and on his second (and last) at-bat he still picks up the ball that was thrown/rolled to almost home base and yells "touchdown" as he crosses the plate and then hands the ball to the head lady. Oh my. Needless to say, he had quite a few parents laughing. Aiden did well but I needed to explain the game to them a bit more before we went. Aiden retrieved the ball a few times in the field and then just would chase around the other kid running. Eli did the same thing and finally got the kid out right before they touched home plate. It was very comical. Eli thinks it's funny when people swing and miss the ball on the tee and then he laughs. I told him that wasn't nice the first week and we talked about it. The second week he did the same thing and that weeks lesson was on respect so needless to say, a coach went over and talked to Eli for a minute.



In an effort to make them better a t-ball, I got out our tee which our movers damaged and taped it back up. I also found a bat and wanted to at least teach the boys how to hold the bat. Eli looks so very uncomfortable and has a really had time remembering how to even try and hold it. After this week in therapy, I understand why more since he doesn't have the trunk rotation that most kids have. Aiden did better but doesn't want to turn his face forwards which is weird to me. For right now, we are teaching Eli as a righty but when Brad gets back I might have him try as a lefty. Aiden is definitely a lefty.


On the same day the boys had t-ball for the first day, we also had tickets to the circus, which the boys have never been to before. They enjoyed it for a bit and the motorcycles in the ball were their favorite part. Eli was done with it about half-way through because he was so tired (he still normally naps) and then Aiden started asking how much longer it was. We stayed for the whole thing but as soon as we got in to the van and started driving this is what we found. I cannot even remember the last time Aiden took a rest; especially in the van (he can't sleep in the van usually). I also realized how cheap I am because the prices at the circus were just insane. It was about $11 for a snow cone or bag of popcorn. Just insane.





The boys have been asking me for a sleepover and then I realized that they haven't slept in the same room since we moved here. In AL they shared a room and then we had a toy room but we separated them since Aiden wasn't napping and Eli was and it was making thing challenging. I let them stay up and be pretty quite for a while but at about 8:45/9:00 I told them they had to go to sleep. Aiden usually falls asleep within minutes of tucking him in so he was beyond exhausted the next day since he didn't get near as much sleep as he is used to.



Last week after t-ball the boys decided to go next door and make paths in the empty lot next to us. They would take the shovel and walk around the lot with the tip of the shovel in the dirt and then come they would both line up and follow the path all around and then they would switch and the other would draw the path. It's so funny how they can actually entertain themselves if we let them. If this world of electronic driven junkie kids (mine included often), it's nice just to give them some toys/tools and be outside and see what they will do.


This picture of Aiden and Eli is too precious. It was right after rest time and Aiden needed to read me his book and Eli came in right as Aiden started to read so Aiden just read the book to Eli as I watched. Too precious. Let's talk about reading. Aiden is doing awesome. He knew a handful of sight words before he started Kindergarten but has just done awesome learning how to read. He just got moved up to D level books (it only goes to E in the system his teacher uses) and that is beyond a K level anyway. His teacher told us he has all his K sight words down and there are 3-4 in the first grade list that he didn't know but to move on to the 2nd grade list. Just amazing. He will only check out non-fiction books at the library which cracks me up but he's doing a great job of reading.

Eli started occupation therapy a few weeks ago. He is going to the same place that Aiden went when he did therapy in Jacksonville and we were fortunate enough to have Mrs. Lisa (who was Aiden's therapist) to work with him. She tested him and has been seeing him for the past couple weeks. I never realized how much he does actually struggle with some stuff and how much work he needs to do. He has mid-line stuff going on as well as bilateral problems and trunk stability and rotation issues. He's not really enjoying t-ball right now and I think a lot of it is that he can't physically move how he needs to be able to do stuff. At least now that he's working with Mrs. Lisa he will slightly entertain doing therapy stuff at home  which he wouldn't do before. Even stuff I would have him do for fun (which was never fun because it's so hard because of his issues) he would just quit on. Mrs. Rusty was the queen of obstacle courses so Aiden helps me make them and then Aiden and Eli do them. Aiden would do them all day and Eli asks if he has to do it "just once?" They are so different. I'm not sure how we ended up with 2 kids with sensory processing stuff but they are opposite. Eli likes loud, physical stuff and Aiden ... does not.

This was one our our at-home courses: I pick out 3-4 colored mini cotton balls and showed Eli. He had to remember the colors and then had to jump 10 times on the tramp, jump with 2 feet over the tubes, crawl with the tunnel stuffed with pillows and blanket so that he can barely fit, then pick out the color cotton balls, go back through the tunnel, over the tubes and back to the drop-off area where he had put his cotton balls down and use the thongs to pick them up and put them in the cup. We then compared his cup with my cup (where the original cotton balls were at) to see if he was right.

Here is another picture of the boys doing a "challenge" that I gave them one night (Eli doesn't like doing therapy so I have to try and make it fun or a game). They had to pull the tube all the way out and then push it back in. Eli (in the red jammies) was seriously concentrating to push it all back together. I have to let him wear it like a belt after he pulls it out because that's the only joy he gets from this. Aiden will do it all day because it's fun and that's just Aiden. :)

The boys really are too cute. I've been having some listening issues with them lately so I've gone back to my Celebrate Calm CD's and have established a few rules and incentives to get us back on track. These boys really do love each other.














Wednesday this past week marked the 100th day for the kids in Clay County Schools. It's big deal although I don't remember ever celebrating 100 days. This was Aiden's crown that the made and he's wearing 100 fruit loops as a necklace. His teacher did some pretty fun stuff for his class that day.



Here are some random pictures of the boys and I playing around. In this first one Eli is trying to stand on my leg and is being completely silly and then started to fall down. Aiden gets the photo credit for that picture. In the picture below, Aiden is now balancing and also laughing a lot so it looks like there is something in his mouth. I've had to play with them every now and then for them to get a similar experience to when daddy is here (although daddy is so much better).








I then got a really good workout by dragging the kids around the track (a pathway in our house where we play tag and chase - in the living room, through the kitchen and back to the living room) in their sleeping bags. Aiden is actually strong enough to pull Eli but it's a relatively slow pace and Eli only functions at a really high pace or completely sedentary. It's also good therapy for Aiden so it actually really worked out for all of us.





I have some more therapy pictures to post in the next few days but those will have to wait. I'm teaching at JU in the classroom again this semester but only have to go in 2 days a week (versus 3 last semester) and am teaching 2 on-line courses for the College of Southern Maryland. I was a bit too ambitious this semester and realize that next spring semester will have to be very different with Brad deploying for 9 months. I'm a little too busy at the moment but my commitments have been made and I can't change anything now. I'm trying to make enough time for Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). It's such a great way to get in the Word and truly learn it but it's also a huge commitment to truly do the work. Brad comes home in just a few days and we are beyond excited.

5/15 - A Lawn Maze & Both boys at Therapy

We are living up the last few days of our grass mazes right now. Here are pictures that were taken almost 2 weeks ago so you can imagine how high/good the grass and mazes are right now. The boys (and I) have had so much fun running around in them. We plan to mow it all down tomorrow and then let it grow again over the next 2 weeks and then make more mazes for Aiden's birthday party.

After some outdoor time in the maze, we came inside and did some sensory painting. I mixed shaving cream with some tempera paint. I got out cookie trays for the boys to play on and then I found some cars to play with as well. At first they just played with the cars and making paths on the cookie sheet for them. After a bit, I added the colored shaving cream. Aiden did play which was great although he did not get any shaving cream on his hands. Eli had fun and didn't mind getting "dirty" as long as he could rinse them off and then dry them off. They had a great time. I'm determined to eventually have Aiden touch the shaving cream but we will work up to that I guess.

We were grateful to have the opportunity for Eli to go to Aiden's therapy last week. Eli has never been to Aiden's therapy here in Alabama and I really wanted him to see what it was like. They were both super excited for about 1.5 weeks leading up to the day. It was so important to them that I woke-up at 5:30am (eastern time) to drive 6.5 hr and met Brad straight at the location of therapy in Montgomery. There was no way I was going to miss this (and potentially cancel the appointment if I wasn't back in time). 

We got there and right away, Eli just wanted to run around and play. He quickly learned that is not how things work at therapy. Mrs. Rusty set up an obstacle course for them. I took it for granted that Eli has not experienced some things like a ball pit. Part of the obstacle course was standing in a ball pit and Eli was quite scared that he was just going to drown in all the balls. 

Eli got tired of doing the obstacle course and wanted to "play." I wasn't sure what he meant by that but I feel like I have watched Mrs. Rusty enough to know I could figure out how to make whatever he wanted to "play" with as part of something to do with therapy. We did lots of different things. He really liked the reacher thing (see directly below this text, top row). He grabbed those crabs and put them up on the platform and then put them down and then back up. He kept switching between his right and left hand. I was surprised he had the strength to do it but he was more accurate with his left hand than his right hand. 

Overall, Eli had a blast. He definitely learned that therapy is not doing just fun things and that he has to do things he doesn't like to. I think this helps because Eli realizes Aiden doesn't get to go and play all during his therapy time. 

4/15 - Easter

So I need to catch up with the blog. I guess that's nothing new. OK. To make this easier, I'm going to do a few posts. Let's start with Easter. I missed church on Easter morning. I was so tired and just couldn't function. I was sad but we had been running hard on our vacation and I just needed the rest. The picture to the right is Eli enjoying a few pieces of some candy. Man that smile is awesome.







Here is Aiden putting together the Easter puzzle. The pieces were hidden in eggs around the house and then it fit together by re-creating/tell the story of Jesus and His death. I had a little guide that the Easter Bunny left to go along with it. It was fun and a great way to put the focus on God rather than candy :)

The afternoon was beautiful so we went outside to play with their new toy the Easter Bunny left: A Stomp Rocket. You step on this little red/pink air bladder. It's connected to a stand which holds the rocket. The harder you jump, the further the rocket goes. Sounds like fun huh? It is. It's a great way to be outside and get some exercise and have fun.

Eli running away from his rocket

Here is Aiden using the stomp rocket. He got it right away and loves it. They did a great job taking turns. You can see Brad sitting in the hammock and the boys moved their chairs over by him. They would run over and sit down for the 10 seconds that it took for the other one to put their rocket on and launch it. These things go pretty high. Even Brad and I were having fun. Eli had a little bit of a rough time at the beginning. He wouldn't step on it hard enough so the rocket would just barely pop off the base and then fall and hit him. Because of this, he got in the habit of stepping on the air bladder and then turning and running (so he wouldn't get hit) and then turn around but by then, the rocket already landed so he didn't get to see it. It was pretty comical to watch actually.

I finally realized you can actually tilt the rocket in a direction and then stomp on it so once Aiden saw that, he was all over the place. He is aiming straight at the house right now. It was good for him to experiment with it and I think its a great way to teach kids about angles and trajectory. Eli liked doing is this way better because he knew it wouldn't hit him.

It is well documented that Eli loves to be naked (naked = with underwear in our house). He also loves to either take naps naked or changes into his jammies. I think Eli probably got naked for naps and then never put clothes on after that. After some fun of playing in the yard, it started to sprinkle. It was weird because it didn't even really look cloudy. We watched the rain for a bit and then we got the great idea to go out and play in the rain. 

 
Eli was on board for that right away. He ran out there and was dancing away. Brad and I were out there as well with no shoes on just dancing. Aiden got ready by putting his jacket on so his arms wouldn't get wet and rain boots, and then came out to join us. They were having so much fun dancing around. You could tell Aiden didn't really want to come out but that we were all having such a good time that he wanted to be able to come out and have a good time.

Eli even tried catching rain in his mouth to drink. Aiden tried it but got water in his eyes and got a little upset. He handled it well though and stayed out there and still danced with us for a while. 

This is one of my favorite pictures to the right. It really demonstrates how life is experienced (and enjoyed) through the life of someone with a sensory processing disorder and one without. It significantly alters the way Aiden experiences life and how much and/or if he is able to enjoy things. 

 

This is a video and it will only work if you are viewing the blog through Blogger (not as a Facebook note). It's the boys dancing in the rain.

And after all that dancing, God created a wonderful (and brief) rainbow for us to enjoy. He is so amazing and great to us. It was a great Easter.

3/31 - Park & fake snow

Brad took the boys in the morning last Saturday to Bass Pro Shop. I took them in the afternoon to Pratt Park (aka Castle Park) for the first time in a few weeks. They had a ton of fun running around. We explored a new area and found a cool new path that the boys really enjoyed. They were running around and finding rocks and then throwing them into the water and watching them sink. It was fun to just watch them play for a bit and I was super excited that Aiden actually picked up dirty rocks to throw. :)

The boys thought it was fun to take pictures of each other at the park too. The one below is cute because you can see them looking in to the screen so they can see themselves while Eli is taking a picture.

Little Eli is so fun. He lost one of tubes last week and is no longer pulling on his right ear all the time. 

After lots of running around in the afternoon, we decided to let the boys have a movie night. Here is the plate I made for them: carrot stick, 2 vanilla wafers, strawberry for the nose, and chicken nuggets for the mouth. They both thought it was pretty fun.

Here are Aiden and daddy doing a craft (therapy project) before Cubbies last week. 

I decided to take Aiden to the dr on Monday because his arm started to get much worse where we thought he had a spider bite. It turns out the dr thinks that it is ring worm although it did not present like typical ring worm at the beginning. They took a skin scraping sample to make sure it's nothing crazy but it's already starting to look a ton better.

Aiden had therapy on Monday this week. Here he is playing a game with me while we were waiting. It's a subtraction game where you take eggs away from the hen house. He thought it was pretty cool and had fun doing it. I'm still trying to decide what to do with him next year about school. A lot of it depends on where we end up living at and if I can teach any classes at UF. I just need to be patient and know that God is in control. The thought of home-schooling terrifies me because I'm the kind of mom that needs a break but ... we'll see what God has in store for me. Last week was very frustrating at daycare for me and Aiden. On Monday, after we returned from Aiden's dr appointment, the Big Green Bus was there in the morning. It threw Aiden all off because it normally comes in the afternoon. I was frustrated because I pay for that service so I would have rearranged things if I knew they were coming in the morning. All the classes had already gone and the babies were in there when we showed up. The man offered for Aiden to come in for the last 10 min but Aiden didn't want to because he was so freaked out with the timing and that it wasn't "his class." I finally got him calmed down and then walked him to his classroom to find out his class was actually in the classroom next door and they were eating lunch at 10:40am. His world was rocked again. Not his classroom. Not lunch time. Not his normal seat..... Poor kid. He was about in tears when I left. I felt horrible that he was so upset and was frustrated that they were eating lunch at 10:40am. It was spring break week around here last week but I felt like they were just putting all the kids down early for nap which frustrates me. Nap is supposed to be from 12-2 but they get down there at like 11:30am and don't get up until 2:15/2:30pm usually. That's a long time when starting at 11:30am you already begin yelling at kids to lay down and be still and do not move. Anyway, my stomach was unsettled and I felt like I needed to go talk with Aiden. I went there at 11:40 and all the kids were already down for nap and most were already asleep. I said, "you got them down here a little early today" and was told, "no we didn't. This is normal." I got even more frustrated. I brushed Aiden to help him calm down and he said he wanted to go home with me. I'm a sucker so I let him. He had to go to a neurologist appointment with me and Brad but was very good. It was the first time at the neurologist and he wants me to have a sleep study done. I go in at 7:30pm on a Monday and then will get to leave mid/later afternoon on the following day. I drop Aiden off at 2:20pm (normally I get there at 2:00 or 2:15pm and they are still sleeping and the lights are off and Aiden gets so upset because he thinks he is going to have to nap). Even though his teacher will tell him he can sit by her because everyone is about to get up, he won't. He goes to his cot, lays down, and cries. So, I was SHOCKED when we got there at 2:20pm and everyone was upstairs. That was awesome and has NEVER happened before. This made going back to daycare much easier for Aiden thankfully. Brad picked up the boys at 4:30pm and Aiden tells him he has had 3 lollipops (in just 2 hours). I was not happy to hear that! I understand a treat now and then put 3 lollipops in 2 hours - seriously. If you have having to bribe kids to behave that much in that short amount of time, you have some serious issues. 

I made some fake snow on Sunday night and brought it with me to therapy. Mrs. Rusty actually got Aiden to touch it which I was shocked about it. He didn't like it all but he eventually made a snow ball for Nana. :)

I got Eli a little interested in the snow that I made. I added some more shaving cream to it because it was a little too powdery. Eli did not like the texture of it at first but he didn't mind playing in it as long as he had something to wipe his hands on. Aiden came over and poked at things a very times. I then gave Eli a syringe with vinegar in it and he added it so some snow and we watched it erupt and bubble. He thought that was pretty cool. 

Tuesday was another frustrating day at daycare. I go to pick up the boys in the afternoon to see that Aiden didn't eat his lunch (almond milk and yogurt). He had a different teacher for lunch and she didn't know that he was supposed to get his lunch box. He said he told his teacher that he has a lunch bag but I'm sure he was shy about it and/or only said something once rather than insisting he get his lunch bag. That teacher apologized but it was just the wrong day for that to happen after such a frustrating day at daycare the day before. Needless to say, I'm praying what to do about daycare. Switch to a mother's day out program? Pull them out of daycare? Just get Aiden during nap time? That would be fine if it was just 2 hours or so but as I have found out, nap time is more like 2.75 hours, not 2. I'm praying for guidance on this one. He is learning and the social interaction is good for him. Eli is doing pretty well at daycare but the other kids are a pretty bad influence. Many of them are non-verbal and like to hit and throw and most of them LOVE picking their nose and eating it. GROSS. Those are things I prefer Eli not pick up but when you are surrounded by them all the time, you will pick them up.

Grandma Jo and Grandpa Dave sent a box for the boys for Easter. They opened it on Tuesday evening and had fun doing that. They both got bath soap/shampoo and Aiden hands his to me and says, "here mom, you can have it." I started laughing. I asked why he didn't want it and he said, "it's a present for you." After some more probing he says, "I don't like to use soap." He cracks me up. They both got giant stuffed animals too.

Oh yeah. And they also got some peeps. Last year neither of them would eat peeps but this year they both ate it.

Now on to the posts about our vacation to TN.