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!!!