Behavior...

Woo... We have major slippage.

JT's behavior is a little extreme right now. Hitting, kicking, biting, throwing stuff at people, throwing stuff just at nothing, headbutting, SCREAMING, laying down kicking throwing fits and squeaking.

Oh man. I'm usually the one that gets the brunt of his anger, although Audrey is a target if she happens to be really close at the moment.

UGH.

He's doing fine otherwise... he's just stressed from the change I think. He's counting A LOT - whenever he gets upset he counts. Alphabet, too. He lines things up, gets upset when we mess anything up - usually that doesn't bother him.

Ah... we will ALL be glad when school starts again...

Christmas Present Time

JT loaded up on gifts today!

We opened so many... here are the ones that he enjoyed the most:

From Santa:

(except it's a yellow plane)

From mommy and daddy: Skechers light up shoes (ooh, they're gonna *love* those at school!).


From Nanny: soccer ball.


From Great Gran: Transformers.


From Papa and Ginny: Scooter.


Hooray for Christmas!!! He even opened a few himself :)

Merry Christmas!

I got so many presents. Here are my favorite presents from everybody.

Santa brought me a water baby.



Mom and dad bought me Skechers Twinkle Toe shoes that light up.



Papa and Ginny bought me a scooter.



Nanny bought me Cinderella perfume.



Great Gran bought me an Aurora sparkly Barbie with a sparkly horse.


JT even bought me a cute Webkinz.

Gummibar

JT LOVES these YouTube videos! It is hilarious to watch him... He is just fascinated! He even said "Ni-ni, bear" when we were putting him to bed a few nights ago.

Here's his 2 favorites:

SANTA!!!!!!

I am SO excited. Santa's coming tonight. I'm going to get presents tomorrow!!!

There's already a lot of presents wrapped already. I can't wait to open them ALL!!!

I miss my family.

Mommy and me are watching Santa on the computer. You can see where he is. I can't wait until he's here. He's getting closer!

(NORAD Santa Tracker)

Happy Christmas Eve!

Bug Squasher

JT LOVES this iPhone app. It is pretty funny... the bugs run across the screen, and when you squash them with your finger, they really squish... visual effect and audio, too. He thinks it's really funny when I yell, "GROSS!" (seriously, sometimes it is!).

There's a level with cars that he's pretty fond of, too. When you squash the cars, they make a crashing noise and blow up.

Anyway, definitely a boy... bugs, stunts and action scenes are his favorites!

Wheel of Fortune

The Hubs and I have always loved Wheel of Fortune. We're both really good at it, and between us we can figure out any puzzle faster than the contestants.

Anyway, our kids have joined in the WOF love. Watching tonight, JT and Audrey really got into it, too.

JT likes to tell them what letters to buy (and will tell them "No" if Pat says their choice is NOT there, haha!). Audrey sounds out the letters that are there and tries to solve the puzzles!

Looks like Wheel of Fortune is Family Fun Time!!!

I'm just excited that my kids share our interest in something - it's hard to find something the whole family enjoys!

I Read a Book!

JT got a little book for Christmas from school - it's a little Elmo book with each letter, big and little, and then a picture with a label next to it.

He read the whole book today... The letters. But he went through every page, pointed out each letter, and then flipped the page to the next one. This is a kid who used to flip out when we'd try to read books in order, because he just wanted to open/close, open/close...

I am SO excited!!!

The Tree!

Here is the beautiful 9' Seneca Spruce tree that The Hubs won. Audrey is standing in front of it.

Harmonica

After a week of trying and giving up, this morning JT figured out how to play the harmonica! The look on his face when he heard music was priceless... he was pretty shocked!

And the Winner Is...

The Hubs!!!

Haha - seriously, though...

So far, this month his store has won 3 competitions.

First, they won some Polo/Ralph Lauren sales event. The Hubs won $300.
Next, he won a coat day event. He split the $1000 prize with his ASM.
And... today he found out he won a Christmas tree sales event - and we get a FREE Christmas tree - a 9' one!!! I am SO excited - Dillard's has beautiful trees.

Not to mention the money....

Letter SOUNDS

JT pulled out another shocker...

After school a few days ago, he not only labeled letters, but also said what sound they make!

Big deal!!!

Letter SOUNDS

JT pulled out another shocker...

After school a few days ago, he not only labeled letters, but also said what sound they make!

Big deal!!!

The Hubs's Store

I forgot to post...

The Hubs's store made the month for November! It's the first time the store has made it's month in over 2.5 years :)

(Made the month = beat sales from last year).

YAY THE HUBS!!!

We Love Juice

Walking down the stairs, half asleep this morning...

JT: Joo, joo...
(picture the most pitiful voice ever)!

But he's requesting, no prompting, didn't even ask him... :)

HUH?!?!

JT is talking up a storm. There are so many examples...

Here's a cool one:
I made JT some chicken nuggets and chips. He was munching away, so I got him more. I set down the plate, and JT shook his head no. He said, "joo" (juice). Hooray!

He took off his shirt (not sure why, he was upset about something). Once he calmed down, he was watching Yo Gabba Gabba in just his diaper. I sat down next to him and said, "oh no, JT, you're SO COLD!!!". I snuggled him while The Hubs got him a shirt, and JT suddenly said, "coh, bur" (cold, brrr). It was adorable.

So, so many words this weekend. We are LOVING the language and communication!!!

We can ask for kisses or hugs (or 'nose') and we get them. Adorable!!

It's kind of crazy to us. We're still surprised whenever he starts talking!!!

Talking

JT is REALLY starting to talk... we have TONS of echolalia. TONS. But he gets the meaning of the words as he repeats them - very cool.

At the bus stop two days ago, JT was talking to himself. "Whe sissy? I don know. Whe sissy bus?"

SO EXCITING!!!

When I went to wake him up yesterday, he stretched and grabbed his sippy cup, handed it to me and said "joo" (juice). A week ago even, he would've handed it to me and squeaked LOL. Anyway, I was picking out his clothes (really quick, just didn't want to go back upstairs) - he picked up his cup from the dresser, handed it back to me and said, "JOO". Cracked me up!

He's talking a TON around here - we love it!

Love

Audrey really has earned the reputation as the sweetheart at school. All the moms tell me when they visit that she is always such a precious little girl.

Apparently one day another kid was really upset, and Audrey went to hug them. Her teacher said "Everyone needs a Audrey in their class"...

Her best friend is Mercer. He is a super cute little boy in her class. When I went to help last week, Mercer's mom was also there... they both talked us into staying for lunch. They sat in between us, and they turned around maybe once to say hi. The rest of the time they were facing each other (not even facing the table!) and laughing and giggling. It was REALLY cute!

Anyway, we're hoping to hang out with them - especially over Christmas break. I'm not sure Audrey can take two whole weeks with no Mercer!

Dog

After JT got off the 'bus' today, he heard the neighborhood dogs barking...

He said "dah!", then repeated it so I could hear.

When I told him that was right, he said "dah, woo-woo".

Super cute :)

Audrey Kisses!!!

I would apologize for multiple posts in a day, except this is a progress blog, and that's a GOOD thing!

Audrey came running in the room wanting me to watch something... Of course, JT is following her (awwww...). She leans forward, does her 'mm..mm...' gimme a kiss noise... And JT leans forward and KISSES HER ON THE LIPS!!!

He hasn't done that since two and a half years ago (and only then because she would freak out and he thought it was hilarious).

Today has been a great day!

"I don't know"

Add this to the list of things that shocked me...

JT has been playing with those 5 Yo Gabba Gabba characters... and he walked up and only had 4 (all but Muno).

So I said, "JT, where's Muno?"

He looked right back at me, didn't miss a beat, and said, "I don know". And proceeded to go look for him in the living room.

HUH?!?!!

Well, add that to the list of things that I had *no* idea he could do... but obviously he can when he wants.

Yep, JT appropriately answered a question.

Oh yeah, and as we're looking, he's going, "Whey Moodoh" (where Muno - pronounced moon-oh).

Yo Gabba Gabba

Yet another birthday present... Our family really knows what JT likes!

My aunt and uncle bought JT a set of the 5 Yo Gabba Gabba characters. For those who don't know:
-Muno is the red guy with the two teeth
-Foofa is the pink one with the flower on her head
-Toodee is the blue cat
-Brobee is the green striped one
-Plex is the yellow robot

He opened the package, and was SO excited. He named all of them, and hasn't put them down in 24 hours. He even SLEPT with them!

The best part is when he sets them up, he says their names as he puts them down! Then he says "Yo Gabba Gabba!" (just like DJ Lance does at the beginning of the show). It is SUPER cute.

As a side note: My mom bought him a Toy Story shirt that we got on Thursday. JT pulled it out of the box, put it on OVER his long sleeved shirt he had on (the new one was long-sleeved as well) and refused to take it off.

Such a funny guy!!!

He has been wonderful this weekend. Last night he woke up at midnight (he had those hard plastic Yo Gabba Gabba figures in his bed, and rolled over on them). He only wakes up 1x/month, so I can't really complain... he slept in a tiny bit this morning, but not enough to make up for his 2 hours of awake time. He'll be in bed by 7pm tonight (funny... a year ago it was 11pm - haha! - he can't stay up past 8:30 now!).

Fits are still decreasing in number and intensity, he's got the echolalia going on BIG TIME - but that's absolutely wonderful. He uses the words appropriately after he learns them, so he's processing the meaning while he repeats. We're in the next stage of speech!!! He's always making noise - talking or making happy/loud coo noises. And to think there was a time when I wondered if I would ever hear his little voice!

Moon in My Room

Papa's birthday present to JT... He loves it! It cycles through
the phases with the remote, or you can push the smaller button and it
syncs with the current moon phase. Cool!

Heart

So cool...

Yesterday, The Hubs and I were in the kitchen making dinner.

Without us noticing, JT brought one of our little kiddie stools into the kitchen. I have a heart ornament (or rather, HAD a heart ornament) hanging on the knob of one of our cabinets.

I heard something, so I looked behind me to see JT standing on the little stool, arm reached as far as it could go towards the heart, and he was saying "haw" (still no last consonant, but very clearly heart). Of course, using words, JT got his "haw" and he has enhanced the living room/dining room Feng shui with the heart dangling from a knob on the curio cabinet!

He's been talking a TON here at home... when he takes a bath, he is just constantly talking. I can understand a lot (I LOVE "oh doh" aka oh no, and "uhoh".. he says "whee"). Today he was in the bath, and he said "peepee pawee" (peepee potty). I tried to take him, he didn't protest but didn't pee either :-/

JT is also high-maintenance all of a sudden... this is definitely not a complaint! He used to play alone forever... I'd have to go check on him and intrude to get his attention. Now he'll play for a little while (not very long, haha) and come and find me and hover until I get up and play with him. Great progress - he wants to play with me - but it definitely limits my ability to actually WORK while he's here... oh the price of progress :-)

He plays a lot with airplanes - really makes them fly (sound effects and all!). Love pretend play - especially when they fly around the living room and crash into something! He also makes his 'guy' (he says that word! Too funny - I kept saying go get your guy - so now all G.I.Joe stuff is "guy") slide down the banister complete with the 'wheeeeeee'. He's really into countdowns and blastoff too... 5-4-3-2-1-BLASTOFF!!! Making toys blastoff, making him blastoff.. then as it comes down, he does the sound effect and as it lands, says "OWWWW". Cracks me up!

All in all, JT is continuing his awesome development.

Why Walgreens is Awesome

Mommy's Happy Birthday

Four years ago today, a little boy was born fighting to breathe. After making it through 16 weeks of (preterm) labor, he arrived in the world with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck – his saving Audrey being the fact that he wriggled his hands between the cord and his neck.

He fought through pneumonia at 2 days old. He endured a trach at 9 months to pull out a stuck penny in his esophagus. He had 15 ear infections in as many months, and then finally got tubes. He survived a full-arm cast at 18 months for over 6 weeks when he broke his forearm completely through. Not once would you have guessed this little boy was sick, hurt or suffering.

He was diagnosed at 26 months with autism. He has problems communicating, socializing, interpreting the world around him and behaving like the rest of us do.

He fights every single day. I see him take everything in, try to make sense of things that others might never notice. I watch him try to force himself to do things he really doesn’t want to do – things that scare him. Every day, this little boy wakes up and faces his fears head-on, and refuses to let anything get in his way. He never, never, never gives up.

That little boy is my inspiration. For four whole years, his entire life, he has fought for every tiny thing that he has. It is by sheer determination that he is even here; let alone the fact that he is where he is.

He is proof that life is what we make of it. He wakes up every day with a smile on his face. Imagine going out to battle every day with a grin that could melt the world. That is JT. He is ready, he is excited, and he knows he’s going to make the best of everything that comes his way. He loves to make others happy – in the midst of his crazy life; he wants everyone else to share in his joy.

JT has taught me that most things are accomplished through sheer determination and grit paired with a whole lot of persistence. He has given me a whole different perspective on life and what living really is. I know now that being different isn’t bad, and that conforming is completely overrated. Great things happen when we dare to be different.

Every day, that little boy goes out to fight, and I have the pleasure to be in his corner. He is the toughest person I have ever met.

I love you, baby JT. I believe that you will reach the stars. You are one special kid, and you will make a difference in this world.
To infinity and beyond little buddy!!!

Happy #4 - it will be your best year ever!!!

Thoughtful...

I decided to lie down with JT today on the couch. Since The Hubs usually gets kicked out of our bed by Audrey at 4am, there's a regular pillow and comforter there...

They were on the floor (where JT put them this morning after his 'just got up' cartoon watching).

JT got up, grabbed the pillow off the floor, pulled my head up and put the pillow underneath it. Then he got the comforter and shoved it all on top of me (he needed help to straighten it).

So cute!

He also has a new game he loves on the iPhone... His favorites include the ShapeBuilder app, the Smack It app, the Skee-Ball app, the DoodleBuddy app and the Blowfish Poppers app. He has completely figured out my iPhone, and when I hand it to him he turns it on, slides the bar, gets to his games, exits them and starts whichever other one he wants... And he figured out other things... like how to rearrange all my apps (NOT fun to try to figure out where your 'phone' app is to call someone, LOL) and even delete some of them!

I can tell he's getting a little tired of being at home... he'll be happy to go back to school this week.

He has been talking a ton still... mostly repeating and labeling, but yesterday while on the couch playing a game, he started to slip off... while reaching for Audrey he said, "OH NO Sissy!" Funny!

:) All is well.

Thanksgiving Foods

Thanksgiving isn't exactly a kid's dream... At least our kids. Especially JT... He likes what he likes (and JT knows exactly what he likes!).

Thanksgiving Menu
Turkey? No.
Stuffing? No.
Mashed Potatoes? No.
Rolls? Yes!
Pie? No
Cool Whip? YESYESYES!!!

We were SO excited that he tried a NEW food!!! He grabbed my spoon as I was carrying my pumpkin pie to the living room, and I really thought he was going to try the pie. Instead, he took the spoon and scooped every bit of Cool Whip off the top.

He licked it with the very tip of his tongue... and scrunched up his face in preparation for yuckiness. All of a sudden his eyes got REALLY big, and he turned around as if to say 'no way you're getting this back'.

He got his Thanksgiving dessert... we gave him the tub of Cool Whip and let him go at it!!!

What's Thanksgiving if it's not eating yummy stuff you REALLY like?!

We were also surprised that he didn't flip out when The Hubs used the blender. A few months ago, the blender caused severe panic and screaming. He didn't even notice it. We have been working on the noises - there's a lot of gardening/maintenance people in our neighborhood, and they're always using leaf blowers. I started humming - it sounded *just* like them. At first, JT thought I was crazy, but now he waits for me to do it and cracks up. He was making me carry him past them, and now he walks - but still watches them carefully ;)

Oh - and he was WONDERFUL all day :) He is definitely mommy's little man...

5 days and counting til he turns 4... Wow.

Thanksgiving

We had a laid back turkey day... Just us.

Food was yummy, and there was plenty of snuggles!

My Thankful Video

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Sports!!!

Since Audrey doesn't want to do cheer, she decided on gymnastics and possibly swim (she can swim, but needs lessons... she wants to be on a 'team'). We're looking around for good places. She loved gymnastics when we were living in Little Rock, so no surprise there!

Finding JT sports turned out to be harder than I thought. I looked around, and couldn't find anything specifically for special needs kids. JT is SO athletically inclined that I know he'd love sports. I asked for help on the Autism Society of Wake County, and got some really great suggestions. There is a buddy program in Raleigh that offers basketball, softball and soccer (at different times in the year). It's for kids with any disability. A parent stays with the special needs kid during games, etc (to assist... they don't do it for them, but help a lot)... hence the name "buddy sports". There is also a hockey program here for special needs kids that I'm waiting to hear back on... Hopefully we can get him into that, it sounds awesome! And it's free. The buddy program is only $15, and they even get a little trophy at the end (how freaking cute is that).

Yesterday I found out that JT's Occupational therapy services are going to decrease (we have our official IEP meeting next Monday to put in writing his services- we've been on our temporary IEP from Tennessee until now). At first I was upset, he has so many sensory issues. The teacher pointed out he is in an autistic classroom, and all the kids have sensory needs, so they take a lot of sensory breaks and do a lot of activities geared towards that... plus the therapist is in there all the time.

She told me that JT's OT assessment had changed a lot since last year. A little background: A year ago, JT's OT from early intervention evaluated his fine motor and visual spatial skills at a 12-15 month old level. He was 36 months old. That's a big delay. His current evaluation (are you ready?!?!) shows he's age appropriate. He went from a 12 month old level to a 48 month old level in 12 months. AMAZING. She also confirmed that JT is making huge strides, and that they're not seeing the regressions or stalling that usually happens when autistic kids make progress. Another blow-you-away feat... JT is initiating social contact with his peers :) I am just astounded.

He is all about taking pictures right now... So to close, here's a picture of my little guy saying "CHEEEEE"!!!

Say "CHEEE"

Yesterday JT found my camera, and brought it to me - he even said "ka-qua". :)

I showed him how to turn it on, and he loves the display screen on the back.

He handed it back to me, and just for fun, I said, "JTmy, say cheese!". He looked back at me and said, "CHEEEEE!" and smiled SO BIG for the camera.

Totally shocking - he's never really liked cameras (besides looking through them) - definitely not a kid I would peg as a cheeseball! He continued for about half an hour, even pulling the camera back out and saying "CHEEE" to tell me to take another picture.

Super cute and funny!

Parent Reader

Today was The Hubs's day to do Parent Reader in Audrey's class. He just goes in right after their lunch and reads books to the kids. He brings in the books - Audrey chooses them.

He loves it... the kids are hilarious, and Audrey is VERY proud of her daddy.

Side note... last time The Hubs went for lunch, a little boy hugged him and then (loudly) whispered to his friends, "I smelled him, and he smells GOOD". LOL!!!

Anyway, apparently Audrey is a little bossy when daddy is there. She made the kids vote on which book to read first, and then on each book that came next :P Not mean bossy, just bossy. He had to correct her a couple times (she wasn't the least bit embarrassed or upset by this). Diva alert!

JT stayed home with me today.. every once in a while they have a Wednesday off, and today was one of them. He has been the best little man today - giggly and snuggly and playing so well...

At least he knows...

Today JT was in the empty bathtub (his favorite time to pee - with his diaper off). I noticed he was acting like he was going to go, so I asked him if he wanted to pee pee on the potty.

Usually (at least in the past) he would have squeaked and squealed and jumped off the potty mad at me.

Today, he sat there, said "pee pee potty" several times, then after about 30 seconds, he got up.

No, he did not pee pee in the potty. But that's some progress, and I'll take it!!!

He also had a very fun day today... At home just him and mommy. It rained a lot of the day, so we played inside. We made pumpkin muffins - he put in (and cracked) the eggs, poured in the water and oil, and then poured in the mix. He spilled very little :) Then he helped me stir for a few minutes.

He wants nothing to do with the pumpkin muffins of course. Before we put it in the muffin pan, he said "yummmm... coo-key". Oops.

Baby Letters

Sometimes it's hard to know exactly what JT knows and understands.

Yesterday we were in the kitchen, and there's a billion magnet letters on there. He's been messing with them since I found them Saturday night, organizing them in his own way and naming them.

I know he knows the majority of upper case letters (actually, as far as I know, he knows all of them). Some of the magnets on the fridge are lower case, aka "baby letters".

Surprisingly, he looked at the lower case b, and said "B".

I had no clue he knew any baby letters (besides the ones that look just like the big ones).

Cool :)

Yikes!

This morning at the bus stop, Audrey was playing the rhyming game. We are way past easy words, so now we're doing crazy ones.

Audrey: Mommy, what rhymes with Kit Kat bar? ... Shit shat jar?

Me: Whoa, that's a bad word! We can't say that Audrey.

Audrey: Which one? Shit or shat?

Me: Good point. Both.

She was laughing hysterically then.

I'm just hoping that she doesn't say it at school. I reiterated several times it was not allowed...

Book Fair

We have a book fair at school, and mommy bought me books.

We got a Barbie Mariposa book and a Fancy Nancy Tea Party book. I love them so much.

Injuries...

JT is returning to his old injury-prone days :(

(see:
http://JTduzan.blogspot.com/2008/08/medical-history.html
for his not fun early days... There's one ER visit missing from there from when he cut his foot on a broken picture frame - he broke it then stepped on it... no stitches only because it was 24 hours later - we were concerned it kept busting open - but got a tetanus shot)).

He busted his chin open Thursday night when he fell on the hardwood steps leading to our front door. It was a pretty big booboo, but it stopped bleeding so we avoided the ER.

Yesterday he was playing out back and I went to check on him - he was screaming. He turned around and there was blood all down his leg :( I got it cleaned up, and found a big scrape along with a big gash. It didn't bleed a lot, so again we avoided the ER. (Not to mention because of the picture frame incident, he is current on his tetanus shots!)

I am considering buying him a pillow suit for the remainder of his childhood... because this is just crazy. Boys will be boys...

His new nickname should be Tazmanian Devil or Daredevil. He is fearless...

Fishy

Audrey's idea :-)

Hamburgers

I love hamburgers. They're meat. I like ONLY cheese on it. No bun.

Daddy's going to make me my own tomorrow. I love daddy.

I know lots of Spanish now. More than mommy even. She knows French. I know Spanish songs, too.

I want to be a vet when I grow up and help animals.

I miss my friend Grant. He is my favorite friend. He is still in Tennessee.

Bye!

Past...

I was reading JT's blog from last year. It's pretty amazing how far he has come.

(Check out some of it:
http://JTduzan.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html )

A year ago, he was aggressive. He would hit, throw (I got smacked in the face with a plate - he stood over me and threw it down on my face), chase Audrey down and beat on her...

I see none of that now. None. He gets angry at appropriate times (for a 3-4 year old). He does not hit Audrey, or us. He throws - but not at us. He is just throwing - not when he's angry.

We had to test for seizures a year ago, since he would just space out - the therapists thought he might be having blank stare (petit mal) seizures. None of that.

A year ago, two different therapists suggested the possibility that JT may have mental retardation (MR). No such suggestions now.

He would scream so loud and hard he would sweat, turn purple and even cause nosebleeds. Our GP was beginning to think we'd have to do some sort of sedatives.

He was just starting to say words last year. He had never used words before.

He destroyed everything. Tried to break it. Throwing, smashing, whatever it took. Now he plays with toys (usually appropriately ;) ).

He's happy, funny and interacts and loves us (and everyone else).

JT is changing so quickly. I look back and realize how far he has come, and it gives me so much hope for the future. He is so incredible :)

Ho

Audrey is OBSESSED with Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. She is especially fond of the Hoedown Throwdown.

See the video:


We were singing the song yesterday before school... I was singing one part, and she'd do the next one.

There's a part where she goes "Do the hoedown... Throwdown". Well, I was singing the last part...

Audrey says, "Mom, this time you be the hoe".

Sweet.

Stay Away Swine!!!

The kids and I are vaccinated!!! I got the shot, and they both got the mist yesterday. Of course, they have to go back for a second dose in a month... but they're good for now.

Thank God our doctor got it in.

The swine flu hasn't really hit here in Cary yet. I've heard of other places hit really hard, but it's just not here yet.

Looks like we've dodged this bullet... hopefully!!!

Doctor Visit...

Yesterday was H1N1 vax day... My kids get the mist, not the shot. I wouldn't want the shot, so I go with the mist (if they weren't eligible, I'd have to do the shot... so thank God they don't have any major health problems).

JT was great in the waiting room. He played, only got upset when his friend from school came in and was screaming. It really upset him. We found a lift the flap book, though, and he quickly forgot about the yelling (hooray).

The nurse called us back, and explained JT would have to sniff it. I had to explain JT doesn't really follow those kinds of directions... The sweet nurse said we would figure something out, and got it ready.

I sat on the table, and held JT in my lap. Since JT was mad and yelling (no tears, just mad), he waited until JT exhaled and quickly shot it up there. I covered JT's mouth, forcing him to breathe in through his nose. It worked!!! We did the other side, and we were done.

Instead of being all worked up and throwing a huge tantrum, as soon as I put JT down, he was happy again (I was NOT expecting that!). He happily walked to the car, and was great while we waited for Audrey to get home.

We had to go back to get Audrey's mist, and there was a huge wait. We were there for over an hour. I thought for sure JT would be upset we were back.

He threw one 20 second fit. That's it. He played around the other kids (not with, but watched them).

AND - he was playing with this umbrella, spinning it. A 7 year old girl took his hand off, and told him she'd spin it so he could watch (she was being really sweet). Of course, this made JT mad. He squeaked, then looked her right in the eye and said, "MINE". Clear as anything. The 20 second fit followed. He got over it and played between/under the chairs.

I am super proud of him.

And, for the first time ever, he's not screaming at stoplights. This has been a problem his whole life. He's not not trying to get out of his seat, he just plays. It's awesome!

(maybe I should go knock on wood now...)

Cookie Monster

JT helped bake chocolate chip cookies today!

Fun parts:
1. He cracked the egg (thought it was HILARIOUS)
2. He tried cookie dough

He has also been so funny today (he's out of school). He led me to the couch, said "cow", pushed me down to sit on it. He then ran to get a blanket and pillow, put the pillow on my lap, and pulled the blanket on top of us and laid down. I have to note he was very careful about covering me up as well as him :D

Tonight we read our books, and he LOVES the Dr. Seuss Dictionary. He grabbed it, and brought it to me saying "ABCD". It's funny he knows - it's got the letters on one page at the top, then tons of little cartoon boxes with words that start with that letter for the next several pages. He gets it's an alphabet book.

He was very clear in his 'cookie' today (haha).

He started to play the LeapFrog Click Start (it was Audrey's forever ago). I noticed when left alone with it, he was trying the mouse out - something I really want him to get.

Fun times!

Time to Read!

Every night, we have book time at 7:45-8pm. We read for 30 minutes, and the kids get to choose the books we read. It is so cute! JT LOVES Corduroy's Halloween (we may be reading about Halloween ALL year!) and both love Snuggle Puppy (if you haven't read any of Sandra Boynton's books, do. She is my *favorite* kid book author!).

It's the best time of the day for us... and the only time the kids ever sit still!

Spaghetti and Forks

Spaghetti and Forks!

Saturday night, JT surprised us all. He used to LOVE fettucine alfredo - it was his absolute FAVORITE food (along with green beans). However, he hasn't wanted anything to do with it lately (either actually - or a more recent love - hot dogs).

Saturday night, I was eating spaghetti and he climbed on me and took my fork. I was shocked - JT's never really used a fork, and he's never eaten (or been interested in anything with red sauce). I handed over the bowl, expecting him to just play with the fork and run off with it...

HE ATE IT. Almost the whole bowl. Most of it using the fork. CORRECTLY!!!

Corduroy's Halloween

Corduroy's Halloween

This is JT's favorite book. It's a lift-the-flap book, and he LOVES looking under it (with the random "BOO!").

Every night, we read for about half an hour on the couch. For the past few days, JT has joined us, sitting for the WHOLE TIME!!! He brings this book every night (the kids pick a few of the bazillion books from upstairs to read), and likes to alternate one of Audrey's books with his one book. Super cute!

So Happy!

Bathtime and Bubbles

Does life get any better?! I think not.

Hmmm...

Audrey has decided she doesn't want to do cheer in the spring. Instead, she is specifically asking for gymnastics and ballet. So, mom's digging around to find a good 'fit' for us.

I think she likes cheer, but it's over her head right now. She was the youngest girl there, and the little ones weren't catching on like the older ones. It was for ages 5-7, and a 7 year old is way more advanced than a 5 year old.

I bet we'll be doing cheer in the future, but for now, we're looking for a gymnastics program and a ballet program to get her into.


In other news - Audrey is REALLY good at playing on the laptop. She can get around starfall.com, nickjr.com and fisherprice.com like a champ. Here's a pic of her showing off her mad skills:

Computer Time!

Here's JT playing on the "kid" laptop we just got :)

Maybe he's destined to be a computer nerd like mommy?

Cool Site

We have found the jackpot of all online game/kid websites.

http://www.starfall.com

It's the site that they use at the schools here, too.

Awesome site. Pre-reading, reading, academic and FUN stuff.

Highly recommend checking it out ;)

New ComputerS

Our old pc finally bit the dust. It was a great pc - we bought it about a month before we got married - so April/May 2002. It lasted almost 7.5 years!

However, its motherboard is fried. The monitor goes out constantly, and you never know when you can get it back on. Even though the drives are shared, the other pc's on the network can't see it - the pc locks itself up when it's accessed.

Anyway, all I needed off of it was pictures and music. Nothing else on there is a big deal - those are the only two things I use.

Over the past 36 hours, I have managed to get all the pictures off, and I'm working on the music (it is syncing it to my iPhone, so it's almost done).

Hooray!!!

I had bought a refurbished laptop to use since our pc was dying and I couldn't work at all... and my dad also bought a new laptop for me. I'm using the new one, the refurb is for the kids and The Hubs...

Audrey LOVES playing on the computer. Nickjr.com is her deal - she can get around that site like a pro. JT enjoys some of the easier games on Fisherprice.com - he can't figure out the mouse yet, so he likes games that are keyboard-friendly.

We're all having fun with them for sure!

Hooray for new computers!!!

JT

Seriously - check out his progress on the right hand side :)

He's tearing it up!!!

Kisses and Kicking :)

JT has been giving me (and ONLY me - haha) lots and lots of kisses (on the lips!). SUPER CUTE!

JT also had fun at school today. He was playing in the sandbox, and after telling the teacher 'No' after being asked to sit down (it's a rule) he said 'Kick' and showed them - by kicking a bunch of sand out of the sandbox.

His awesome teacher got some soccer balls out and they kicked something a little more appropriate ;-)

HOORAY for little man!!!

Follow Me!

JT started pulling my hand to lead me... Finally - showing us what
he wants!

Computer

JT loves our laptop!!! He climbs into my lap and plays/watches
tons of games.
Maybe he'll follow in his mommy & grandpa's footsteps and be a
computer nerd!!!

Worthless

Audrey: Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce, trece... Mom, what comes after trece?

Me: Audrey, I have NO idea. Mommy took french, remember? I can tell you how to count in french, but not spanish.

Audrey: Well, french is worthless. Why didn't you take spanish?


(I see her point now...)

Pudding!!!

He's interested in pudding!!! Cool - he's using a spoon!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Well, we had a good time in the end (haha).

It started with the mall trick or treating... JT was fine with the monkey costume (he loves it, that's why he wore it again). But when we got inside and started, it was just too much. Y'know, he's almost 4, people kind of expect (and wait) for him to say "trick or treat"... And he won't. Plus, people all in his face telling him he's a cute monkey, kids and other people bumping him and getting in his space, WAITING IN LINES (major meltdown starter there)... We hit 4 stores and we had to leave... Carrying a monkey that sounded like a velociraptor. Ugh.

We came home, JT and I stayed in to hand out candy while Audrey and The Hubs went out in our neighborhood. JT had an awesome time, he giggled, played with me, watched Alvin and ate our candy... He just doesn't like Halloween. Fine with me...

He said "cahkey" (candy), "poh-wee" (pony - he loves Audrey's costume of a princess on a pony), "twihtwee" (trick or treat) and "hee haw" (yee haw - as he was riding the pony). I'm impressed!

Audrey of course LOADED UP. She was the cutest Cinderella EVER, and she charmed all the folks handing out candy... One guy asked her what she had for HIM as he was giving her candy, and she promptly dug through her bag to pull out a piece for him. He told The Hubs he had an extremely sweet little girl, and explained to Audrey he was just kidding and could keep every bit of her candy (and I think they gave her more ;) ).

So, Halloween was a success in the end.

Nothing to report out of the ordinary family-wise. If you want to see more specific updates on the kids, they each have their own page... there's a feed on the sidebar for them. I have my blog under the blog list, just in case you ever wonder about my personal opinions or issues... I'm trying to streamline this blog into family updates/important info, so that everyone knows important stuff about fun family times!!!

My Page

I helped mommy pick a new page for me. I loved it the best. It's a unicorn.

It's my favorite.

Halloween

Well, trick-or-treating didn't go well. In fact, it was awful. We went to the mall, and between people up in his face, people bumping him, waiting in line, having to ask (they would try to look him in the face and ask him questions in an already loud place) and just basically just crazy overload, he lost it. We ended up carrying out a monkey who was screaming like a velociraptor (that's the only way to describe this particular angry scream... it shakes the eardrum).

He busted the zipper on the costume during his tantrum, which was fine, since it won't fit soon (he is growing... again LOL). He didn't mean to, he was just pulling at it, and the zipper popped. No big deal.

We came home and Audrey and daddy went out in the neighborhood. He stayed here, and we passed out candy. He watched Alvin, giggling and playing with me, and brought me the candy bowl and said "cahkee" - wanting a piece. He also said "twihtwee" (trick or treat).

I took him out to the the jack-o-lanterns on the porch, and he looked and touched and said "puhpih", and looked inside and said "cahkoh" (candle). Hooray!!!

So, all's well that ends well :)

Right before bed, I let him put on Audrey's costume he had wanted to wear in the first place... A princess on a pink unicorn (his legs go in the back unicorn legs, there's a skirt hanging over that makes it look like they're riding). He galloped around the living room, happy as a lark, saying "Poh - wee! Hee haw!" Funny guy!!!

The one thing about life in general that really applies to autism... Just because it doesn't go the way you plan, doesn't mean it's a bad thing :)

What I Like

I love Beezy. She's beautiful and she has a pink nose. And she's the prettiest cat in the whole world.

My teacher's name is Mrs. Lawson. My other teacher's is Mrs. Tew. My teachers are the best teachers in the whole world. And they're beautiful. I love going to school.

I like school because I get to go outside and play with Mercer. My best friend is Cala. I like to play with Mercer, Cala, Myzaiah, Tommy and Lilly.

I played Alvin and the Chipmunks with Tommy one time.

Monet is my friend, too.

I sit with my friends Brodey, Ava J., Myzaiah, Carson at my work table.

I have special classes like P.E., music and art. I also have spanish. My favorite is art class.

My favorite time of the day is playing outside. I don't really like quiet time.

My favorite class job is line leader. The line leader stands at the front of the line and leads the others when we go somewhere.

I like to draw my homework. Sometimes I have to try more than once to get it right.

At home I love to draw pictures.

I got a new nightlight sea turtle. It glows at night. It makes stars and a moon on the ceiling (mom's note: it's a twilight sea turtle). It also lets you light up animals.

I love you,
Audrey

Dress Up!!!

JT playing dress up with Audrey's Halloween costume...

Love!

Rainbow Audrey

Leave!

Fun stuff!!! JT was playing with crayons yesterday, and I went
over to play with him... I think he figured I was going to take them
away, because he pointed (with his hand/fist) and said "weev" -
leave... I did, and cracked up.

He enjoyed the pumpkin carving this weekend... Grabbed the knife and
said "cu" (cut). Momma came to the rescue and took the knife before he
tried the skill (he was looking at the screen door)!

Football

Today, JT saw a bunch of peewee flag football boys practicing. He was fascinated - and when I told him it was football, he said "bu-ball" several times, mesmerized.

We are putting him in flag football and soccer in the spring... :-).

Right now, he's running around making a ladybug fly (sound effects and all!), then brings it to me and proudly says "bug!". He also learned "cay-coh" - aka careful... We say it enough to him...

Hooray!!

Walking Home

Another first...

JT walked home without holding my hand at all - and he didn't run into the street! Pretty big deal since there's no sidewalk...

Fall Beauty!

Just wanted to share... This tree is my favorite one in our
neighborhood right now. It's a pink color...

Chillin at the Bus Stop

Little man found a new hangout spot at Audrey's bus stop... The stone wall :-)

We messed up the routine today, so not the best of days... However, he was singing a ton this afternoon ("Bee-bah!"). I may have a recording I'll post in a bit... I did get a LOT of "NO" (at least he's using words instead of just screaming). He did not appreciate us having the car & having to pick up daddy... He prefers being here and daddy having the car (as do I!).

I did talk to his teacher today, who is just as excited about his progress.. He's making gains with language & social interactions there (huge in both areas! Yay!).

Hoping tomorrow brings more fun!

Chex Mix

Today:
- JT continued the "stop!" game... This time we added "go!" - and
he waited until I said it to go (he always said stop).
- He poured his own Chex Mix (that he's eating in an unconventional
way in the picture). I held the bowl, he handed me the bag when he was
done :-)
- Speaking of... He's been giving us things when he's done with them.
Crayons, drinks, food.
- And... He chooses milk "mik" or juice "joos" when he wants a drink.
He'll also say "peek" (pink) for strawberry milk if he chooses milk as
I'm getting the jug out of the fridge.

Me & Nanny

From their visit in September...

Chef JT

Helping Chef Ceecee stir the brownies!