Boxing Zurg

What a find! I'm at a very well known discount store.....and found a blow-up boxing thingy of Toy Story/Buzz & Zurg for $5 - it's a little bit taller than Sam. PERFECT I thought for those 'angry' moments Sam has - brought it home and told him that he is to 'box' or 'hit' Zurg when he gets angry, instead of his sister or throwing his toys. Well, it is an amusing toy to say the least. BOTH kids have fun 'tackeling' and punching it - Sya drags it out of her brothers room and rolls around with it. Well, regardless if it is being used for the purpose I intended it for - it was well worth the $5 bill!! Except the time when I turned around to see Sam drag it towards his sister so he could punch it into her.....that was to be expected. Oh well......she has started pummeling him when she doesn't want to be bothered - that was a matter of time and it has arrived.

This afternoon Sam was a little irritable - mouthy day with a lot of hitting mommy & daddy.....so I put him in t/o and he cried and yelled for me to go away (he could see me from where he was....so I moved). I gave him some time and then went in to the room where he was - and between the yells/demands, etc. I finally got out of him 'why' he was in t/o. He said - "I don't know, I'm complicated mom" - I asked if he was complicated or confused......he then said confused. We then discussed the reason and blah blah blah.....all was good - however, he would not give me a kiss until he gave nana one first (he knew thats where we were going in a few minutes...) - I see where I stand.

NO MORE pull-ups!!! He has been 'trained' officially for two weeks now - WHOO HOOOOOOOO - so much for thinking he was potty trained two years ago!!!!!! What do parents know? - all I know is we cannot control what comes out OR what goes in - when and WHERE! He is getting better at aiming - middle of the night pee's are interesting. He may or may not make it in time - thats to be expected OR he may have trouble aiming due to natural male circumstances - in his words "my wiener was too big so I missed" - good one. HOLD IT and aim - oh wait, I know a 39 year old that has troubles with that so I guess it's lifelong problem......I didn't say that:-) Honey, if your reading this - get over it.....LOVE YOU

So much more to write - but I am tired and am going to bed. Just needed to write something......

More Transitions......

Well, a big week ahead! PreSchool starts Tuesday:-(( :-)) Good times, tough times, and I SURE hope times of getting him up and at'em NICE & CALM!!!

Really, nothing new. Same old stuff. It will be difficult to get him to Wholistic Therapy with Kari - to do his sensory stuff - he LOVES that place; and difficult to get him to Biofeedback - both are in Hastings and with pre-school M-TH mornings - we are really limited. Not sure how we'll do this - but on the other hand - we'll be saving $120 a week until we figure it out. A couple people have said they see a big difference in him - we do to - but we also live with him and see ALL of Sam:-) I honestly can't say which helps him the most.......I just know things are not worse and he enjoys both. Therapy is EXPENSIVE - we pay out of pocket since our deductible is sooooo high. We don't even have it submitted - we'd end up paying more out of pocket - and may or may not reach the deductible. Health care - whatever.

On another note....the other day we were playing 'cars' (more like crashing....) on his car mat - ALL three of us:-) He was naming his cars/trucks and I asked him what he wanted to name the dune buggy. He said "Steve Carrell because it's funny." WHAT??? Then he finds a bee outside on the driveway - dead of course. I said - oh poor thing, I wonder what happened. He said matter of factly, "Mom, it had a crash landing." Quote of the week: "Mom, you're my best girl in the world forever!" Loved it:-)

Transitions and then some....

WOW I haven't blogged in a long time! Shed a few tears this week - our babies are not babies anymore!! First, Sam was giving us fits not wanting to go to bed - he hasn't liked his car bed or his room for a while now and he was also telling us we needed a different house. We weren't going to sell the house, so the next reasonable thing was to get him a big boy bed. Well, he is now sleeping in a loft bed. Yes, up high. The whole time daddy & Sam were puting it together, Sam was saying how awesome his bed was and that daddy was doing it wrong:-) Nothing like bruising the male ego:-).......Daddy did it right and Sam is now very happy in his BIG boy bed. The first night he went up and down the ladder probably 20 times to 'go to the bathroom' - yeah right - he just had to get the newness out of his system - finally fell asleep after 11:00.

Now his little sister......I took the kids to daycare Friday (MUCH needed time to myself since Don had been gone to much...) and went to a few garage sales. Drove by one and saw a nice white wood toddler bed and she took my offer - Nasya does not fit on the changing table anymore and her room is so small I kind of wanted to get the crib out of there as well. So - WHAM BAM - it was done that night!! Was not expecting any of that......now all of a sudden she is not a baby :-( I cried when I put her to bed - and am still adjusting. But her room is cute and I think she is loving it:-)

We went to an awesome birthday party today for Gideon Ramirez - it was a baby pool/sprinkler party - and both kids did GREAT! Especially considering it was during their nap time -

OK - now for the clencher......it is 10:50pm and Sam is still not asleep......a while ago he called for daddy. Daddy came out of his room laughing pretty hard - which does not usually happen. He said, "I cannot deny that he is my son!!" - reason being: daddy took care of whatever the problem was and then Sam said, "Oh, wait - I forgot something..." turned around on his bed like he was going to climb down - pointed his hiney towards daddy and tooted......laughed and laid back down.

NOW - he is wanting to rock again - bawling and bawling more because of our frustrations - is ELEVEN o'clock!!

Mom, is that the Throne......

Well, after a bit of a rough day, Samuel decides to go potty twice within a 5 minute period (supposed to be in bed, go figure) and says to me, pointing - "Mom, is that the throne?" YES somewhere he heard the toilet of all places is also called the throne - porcelain throne. I hesitate ever giving more information than necessary for many reasons - primarily because it ALWAYS prompts MORE questions than you could imagine causing the conversation to be MUCH MUCH longer than I'd like!!

It is 10:20 and he is curled up in the recliner next to me - he kept coming out of his room saying 'I just can't do this....' - meaning go to sleep. So he came out again, I ignored him and he curled up and was asleep within on minute - actually cute!! I was definitely in LALA land thinking he would conk right out at 8:45 - since he did not take a nap. (He did fall asleep on me for about a half hour after a mega fit....) NOOOOOO - dog only got MAYBE 10 minutes of my attention:-(; AND 3 baskets of laundry to fold, behavior sheets to fill out for therapists to figure out 'triggers' - before I forget details, finish listing several items on ebay to pay for therapies, shower, dishes, OH AND RELAX are all the things I still have yet to do and MOST of it will not get done - AGAIN!!!!!!!! I decided to BLOG my frustrations thus taking up more time - OH well - my sanity is worth it:-)

Well, we have had a week or so of GREAT behavior overall! Yes, struggles, but not near what we've experienced in the past. TODAY however, we revered back. SO - I'm trying to find out the cycles - what causes them, weather, circumstances, etc. I want to do a better job of logging but just can't do it all. He has been pooping in the toilet for a 'solid' week now - until today. He was in the middle of an hour long meltdown and pooped in the middle of it - he sat in it for an hour NOT letting me touch him or change him. His fit was all about puting Nasya back to bed - he wanted nothing to do with her - mind you he had just woken up from his VERY brief nap and this can be typical of him when his sleep is 'off.' AN HOUR of things being thrown - yelling - kicking, throwing more, all while Nasya is finding comfort with me - only making things MUCH worse. NOT FUN. Thats how the morning was also - different circumstances -

He woke before me - I heard footsteps and then the toilet lid crash down. I thought YAY he did it on is own FIRST tHING in the morning!!! WOA was I wrong. I came out - he had no pants on and was sitting on his bed - he yelled for me to get him - so I went in. THEN he yelled for me to go away - to the front room. Yeah - never know sometimes! So - I ignored him as he kept telling me to go away - I eventually got out of him that he did NOT go in the toilet - so I immediately ran into the bathroom - What I witnessed led me to believe that he had a um......
stiff problem with mechanics - causing him to not be able to aim very well. So - I spent the next 10- minutes cleaning the toilet, floor and wall.

Well - so much more to write - went to Hastings today (LOVES Kari his OT); was a rough day for Nasya - in a nutshell they played a lot; he was too rough with her; he gets very frustrated way to easily and quickly - and she always gets the brunt of it!! There you have it - and now I'm going to go tuck in my Hunky and kiss him night-night:-) He's a good boy...
n

Amazing People in Our Lives.....

As I wipe tears from my eyes, (happy tears:-)), I am reminded of amazing people that God places in our lives. There are very special friends we may not see as often as we would like, but we always know how awesome they are. Well, I was definitely reminded of that this evening.

I opened my email and saw a forward. I typically delete forwards - I just don't have time, so if you send them - only send the REALLY good ones! Anyway, this friend doesn't usually send forwards so I opened it. She's a creative goddess - and she had sent a photo of what looked like a new creation of something she might sell on Etsy - a quilt of some sorts. Then I read the text. Don, who was sitting next to me, asked what was wrong. I assume he could see the tears welling up in my eyes. In a nutshell she created a quilt called "Putting all the Pieces Together" and beneath the photo is a description of Sam and his mommy (moi:-)) and what we've endured - I had told her all the pieces had come together with the diagnosis, etc. and this is what she has created. I think she is auctioning it off for Autism Speaks, I'm not quite sure. Regardless, the fact that someone would take the time and thought to create a work of art for our amazing Sam touched my heart like I have not felt in a VERY LONG time! Thank you RJB!

Big Boy Pants!!!!!

YAY - big boy underwear for three days!!!! Only a few accidents. Ironically, #2 has been the easier of the two options:-) After two years of this potty struggle - I THINK it is going to finally happen. Two years ago, Sam was so excited to go potty in the toilet - this lasted about two months. Nasya joined the family and it's been a battle ever since. Yes, we once again tried everything. The 'passive' method & the 'intense' method via therapist options. Neither worked. Tried the - 'he'll do it when he's ready' method and it's taken a LONG time. He is sooooooo stubborn. He would go through a phase where he did NOT want wet pants and would change his pull-up every time he pee'd and then he'd go through a phase where he wanted to sit in wet pants. ARRRRGGGGGHHHH! It has been so frustrating. None-the-less - THREE days now and he has been soooo proud of going in the toilet.

He is at daycare this AM and demanded to wear big boy pants, so we'll see how it goes. I pick him up in 1 1/2 hours. He doesn't tell you when he has to go - so yesterday for example, I was talking with the neighbor outside and Sam was trying to get in the house, the door was locked. Well, he ended up having an accident and that was why he was trying to get in the house - wish he would have told me.... We had gone through the garage door - not the door he was trying to get in and thats why it was locked. Oh well, I still praised him for his efforts!! I don't want him to hide or be upset - actually I think he was embarrassed since he had to wisper in my ear what had happened in his pants - he did not want our neighbor to hear.....he is a good boy:-)

SO - his nickname for Nasya is now 'Cutie Bug' - which is what I call them both at times. It is soooo cute - she fell down outside yesterday and he came up to her and said - "It's okay Cutie Bug Nasya, it's okay!" He also calls me Cutie Mommy sometimes - Love My Kids!!! I actually got out of the house last night for 2 hours and when I came home - Nasya came running to me saying "MAAAAAA" and knocked me over - I LOVE going away for a while and returning to see that my beautiful kids miss me - makes it allllll worth it!

YES - a very positive blog - however, does not mean there have not been mega trials since the last time........gotta change it up once in a while:-)

Bossy Sunday

From the moment Sam awoke on this beautiful sunny day - he has been loud and very bossy. Demanding loudly - not requesting/asking to do things or have things. It started with wanting to go outside at 8:45AM - Don and I barely had our eyes open (ie: caffiene/coffee) much less being ready to 'talk' with anyone. Mind you, we HAVE to be ready to talk usually at 7AM or so - it is NEVER a casual/gentle morning. Today just seemed to be as though someone snuck in and gave him 5 Red Bulls on top of his usual behavior - (Uncle John???) we told Sam daddy had to eat and get dressed. Yelling ensued as though the world completely revolves around him - sometimes if you say "First -------, THEN --------" it works - NOT today - NOT in the least bit!!!!! So it was unbearably loud and unenjoyable until he got his way. There is NO getting through to him when he is like this - he does NOT hear what you have to say - SO if we have the time and ENERGY to wait it out (with throwing, yelling, kicking etc for however long......) we do so in order for him to understand it does NOT get his way by doing this. But when you have days where EVERY little thing is handled like this by Sam - you simply cannot muster the energy to fight out every battle. It is exhausting to say the least. EXHAUSTING.

I am giving in to things as a mother that I am very against - he usually gets his watered down juice in bed - I am a BIG advocate for only water in bed if anything. However, it is NOT worth him waking his little sister next door NOR is it worth having another half-hour/45 min battle over a drink. I VERY much dislike this and many other power struggles that we have. But when your life is constantly involving this type of behavior - you CHOOSE your battles depending on conditions. Another problem with this is his sister - she will begin to think some things are ok or 'not fair' if Sam is getting his way with something but not her. So, when she is awake and I don't have to worry about her being awakened - I typically work through the painful meltdown to get the point across with Sam. Unfortunately she can be in the line of fire - so I'm usually lugging Sam to his room several times or doing whatever it takes to keep her safe.

Well - thats it for now - maybe I'll add more later and maybe I won't:-)