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!

Progress

I'm going to start updating this a lot with new skills... Since JT
is doing new stuff every day, it may end up being a lot of posts. This
is more for me - I like the idea of being able to look back and see
what's going on...

Sat/Sun 10.17-10.18
Got boots on himself, played outside. Came back in after a while, took
boots off and put tennis shoes on. No assistance. Took coat off
(unzipped part way, pulled over head) w no help.

Monday 10.19
-While running to the bus stop, JT yelled "stop!". When I stopped
with him, he giggled... He continued this game until we got to the bus
stop. Initiated/enjoyed game. Using words to tell me something/get
what he wanted.
-JT helped make brownies. 1st time he's had an interest in helping
cook! He added the water & oil, and helped ceecee stir. (He also ate
the brownies!)

Tuesday 10.20
-Grabbed Audrey's hand, played with her while holding hands.
-Played duck, duck, goose- not the running around, just the touching
the head & calling out duck or goose! Played that part correctly w
mommy, daddy & Audrey (ceecee).
-At Monkey Joe's, found mommy, pulled her hand to help get on a bouncy
thing. Just wanted help, perfectly capable of doing it himself :-)
Kept doing it, and then pulled mommy INTO the bouncy. Held hand until
the end of the slide/obstacle course. Saw mommy had no socks on, took
his off to match.

Umbrella!

I can use it... Mom got really wet, but I figured out how to stay dry!

Daddy + Audrey

Some daddy/daughter love!

Pigtails!

I'm wearing pigtails EVERY DAY!
My friend Mozaiah said I'm too cute in pigtails to not wear them every
day - so I do!!

Love and Eskimo Kisses!

JT loves his "Ceecee"! Eskimo kisses are his preferred method of
demonstrating this love :-)

He chases her down, pins her and Eskimo kisses her... And she couldn't
be any more excited about it!

Cheer Fun

Here's a cute pic of Audrey waiting to do the halftime show with the
other cheer girls...

Isn't she adorable? And it's amazing how much she looks like a
cheerleader...

"Through My Eyes"

This is a song/video by one of my friends - an amazing woman from my Children With ASD Board who is incredibly talented (and obviously loves her son). The children are all from the board... Beautiful children :)

Please check it out. It's perfect. See the world through their eyes...




PS - JT is in there around 0:50...

Love -

KD

Changing

JT is doing fantastic... He just amazes us daily. He's listening, following directions (even "JT - come here!" - sweet!). He hugs, he kisses... He talks (!) - picks milk or juice by saying the word, still uses objects to get what he wants, but also mixes in some words now and then...

He is in LOVE with Max and Ruby...

He is clowning at school :)
He got naked three times in a row last week in class, which the teachers thought was hilarious...

Anyway, good things are continuing. JT is one amazing little man...

Cheerleading Medal!!!

The Medal is the sportsmanship medal of the week. It was for 'Respect'.

Audrey earned the medal because her friend didn't have any pom-poms. She was sad and not cheering... So Audrey walked over and gave her one of hers, and held her hand and took her back to the lineup. Super, super sweet.

With the medal she got the two slices of pizza from the little Papa John's hut at the fields (ps - she shared them with her brother!), and she got a little card good for one free large Papa John's pizza. Sweet!!!

So proud!!!

All is Well!

It's been a while... Sorry to be such a slacker...

Knock on wood, but mostly everything has gone perfectly lately! JT is doing exceptionally well, as is Audrey (what else would you expect? They're perfect ;-) ).

The Hubs's job is going awesome. He loves his store, his numbers are doing well...

My work is going well. I've been writing for eHow.com and overstock.com mostly through Demand Studios. I am still loving that company... they pay 2x/week now, which rocks...

Our house is good, car is fine, cats are annoying (but cute).

I guess we made it through our rough patch... The clouds have parted and the sun is shining... Beautiful life.

Hope everyone else is doing well, too.

~KD