Just the good stuff

Carver cracks me up. He wanted to be like Daddy after his bath and kept making "gang" signs. Then he wanted to see himself standing on our bathroom counter. cute, cute.

Carver is OBSESSED with gum and fruitsnacks (only Tree Top brand from Costco, though). Speaking of Costco... last time, he was watching a car chase scene from some adult-type movie: "Car moving... CRASH!" Of course, he loved it. Big sis was freaking out that Carver was watching a scary movie and he was in heaven. Another highlight of the trip was seeing a forklift up close. He wanted to stay and watch it. We follow it sometimes. :)

Routine is helping a lot. Mostly it's in pieces like "lunch-movie-school bus" and typical bedtime routines. I've been trying to run errands right when we drop the girls off at the bus stop since it follows the same pattern as speech or swimming days. I think it helps. It doesn't break up the morning as well, but it's worth the routine.

Have I mentioned that we are crazy busy? Speech is Mon/Tues and it pretty much takes the whole morning (but it absolutely worth every minute of the drive). Swimming lessons are Wednesday mornings and a little bit closer/shorter. Today the morning felt so LONG. It's weird to be home so long. Nice, too! :)

We're getting back to swinging almost every day outside. The weather has been fabulous this winter, which helps a LOT. I think it's time for me to suck it up and take them on a "wander" down the trail as much as I can. If you don't think about like a regular walk, it's not so frustrating.

Carver is the king of burps. I don't know how he can have such control and force! They are HUGE. And I'm pretty sure he's passing gas on demand when I'm drying him after a bath. What a BOY! Those are also the little clues to me that we will someday potty train him. That's an exciting feeling! :)

Carver loves to be tickled. Especially on his armpits. Today I got him to practice some speech words with the promise that if he's say "tuh-tuh-tuh" I'd tickle him again. It was MAGIC!

He ADORES his plastic tools. He uses them on boxes we'd ordinarily recycle and fixes the play fridge a lot. Something about those pipes just isn't right! He loves to be a worker, see workers and be a fixer. It is always motivating to him if I ask him to bring his strong muscles and do a special job.

OH!!! Carver has been SO afraid of bounce houses. He's sure they are going to pop and he doesn't like the noise they make. But we went to a friend's birthday party at a bounce place and he finally conquered his fear and LOVED it. It is a perfect fit for his sensory needs and I'm excited that we'll be able to do drop-in times now and then for him. He also got brave at a restaurant after the bounce house success and wanted a balloon. Wow! He's really growing up.

routines, separation anxiety

Doesn't Carver look handsome in his hand-me-down sports coat? I LOVE it. He loves it, too - especially sticking his hands in those pockets.

This week is spring break and I've done really well planning activities in the morning so we don't all go crazy at home together. Carver's done really well because I've maintained our afternoon routine almost completely. Lunch, then a little quiet play and playing in beans/rice, make a nest on mom's bed for a couple books (usually Curious George Makes Pancakes then the pop-up truck book, but right now he's fixated on Winnie-the-Pooh "tight squeeze" and we're reading it twice in a row), a nap, then a movie with fruit snacks, a snack, playtime with the girls and have to kinda wing it til dinner. Every minute can't be planned, unfortunately. So we've been successful at spring break. I have a glimmer of hope for the summer. Maybe we'll go outside at the same time every day or something, take a walk or go to a park. We'll get creative, but I think we might survive 2 whole months without preschool. Sigh. That sounds hard!

Onto the mystery of the week. I had to run errands with ALL 4 of my monkeys. It was a little... hmmm... crazy? Definitely. Whiny? That, too. One stop included returning a clear sterilite tote I'd bought at Wal-mart the week before. I'd picked up 4 at once and hadn't noticed a huge hole in the corner of one. So back it had to go. Carver FREAKED out. I completely traumatized him with the transaction. There was a long line (go figure) and so we got to cry about it the whole time we waited for our turn. I'm not sure if telling him ahead of time is a good idea, but he does best with time to get used to things - especially where we're going and what we're doing. Why didn't he understand that it was broken and we didn't want it? He understands the concept of broken. Why was this so heart-breaking?

Then today I returned sandals and a shirt I picked out for Derek at Costco. He didn't like them, so back they went. Carver was super worried about that at home, but cried only off and on. And we walked right up to the counter and he wanted to hand them to the cashier, which he did. (And incidentally, he was telling him "sandals, sandals" and the guy was so not kid-friendly. He ignored him and obviously figured something was "wrong" with Carver. He didn't win many points with me.) Then the freak out began. In fact, I talked to Carver the whole transaction about it and everyone is staring at a preschooler crying inconsolably about returning adult sandals. Is there something I'm missing? This is the sort of experience that makes me wonder again about cognitive delays. It's like something hasn't clicked in his brain, that there is a switch that needs to be flipped so he understands about separation and that we don't form attachment to plastic totes and sandals.

Along the same lines, Carver's finally gotten better about not wailing and crying everytime someone goes to the bathroom. Seriously, he used to fully lose it every single time someone shut the door at our house or at someone else's. Kids, grown-ups, people he loves, people he hardly knows. Now he only does that sometimes. Okay, maybe half the time. But still, that's better. And he doesn't cry and cry when Derek leaves for work. He totally gets that routine now. It's always right after breakfast, it's a very structured part of our day. But I guess you just never know when someone is going to need to use the restroom, not much I can do about that!!

Recent Successes

Here's a few things I don't want to forget:

Carver learned to JUMP a couple weeks ago! HURRAY for him! It's so cute, a full-body wind-up for a very little bit of air cleared by those little boy toes. We cheered and cheered!

Carver ate his yogurt without a drip TWO days in a row after preschool last week. He used his spoon to wipe his chin, too. I really believe it comes from a fabulous sensory diet at preschool. He comes home on top of his game. It's amazing to see.

Our dear friend, Sue, dropped by with a surprise for Carver. A brand new Sonicare toothbrush! She happened to have a stash at her house and wanted to share with us after reading his blog. Not just Carver, though - even mom and dad got one! I was so touched by her thoughtfulness and the generosity of her gift. WOW! Although it's going to take me some practice to get used to that kind of vibration in my mouth. I can't believe Carver loves it so much! It's pretty intense for typical mouths like mine. :) He LOVES it, though. In his mouth, on his cheeks, lips, neck, even his armpit once. (Yum!) Thank you, thank you, Sue!!

Carver's instrument of choice

Carver LOVES to play our harmonica. Well, it's actually Daddy's "Official Boy Scout Harmonica" and now a bit dented and covered in Carver spit. But it's a great alternative to the yum-yum and I don't even get tired of the noise!

Parent Teacher Conference

I met with Carver's teachers on Friday and loved it. We didn't address goals/skills, just chatted about how he's doing, what works and what challenges there are.

She said that he began the year very bus-oriented. He'd listen for cars and trucks and start shouting "bus" if he heard something rumble by. But she's noticed him become more school-oriented, which is good! He comes in super excited and likes to help everyone with their coats and backpacks, which all get hung up. Sometimes that involves yelling, "bus, bus!" and causing a little trouble with those who don't like loud noises. He's also a bit of the town crier at snack time, when he likes to announce, "clean up!" when it's time to clear dishes and wash hands. That brought a smile to my face. He loves that role at home now, too. It's pretty cute.... and loud.

They have circle time after everyone is in and settled and this part is tricky for him because it's hard to sit flat on the ground. He has been doing well with a rubber cushion:



with a wedge shaped foam on top:


His teacher thinks it's hard for him because it stretches his hamstrings and he's a little stiff. I believe it! She feels like he's making progress and now only uses the rubber cushion. I'd like to get one for home use, too, but we'll see how that fits into the budget right now. (I found www.therapyshoppe.com in my searching and it's an AWESOME website. I'm really excited about it!)

We talked awhile about Carver's desire for any attention, negative in particular. He has been known to sweep things off the table at school (just like at home!) and his teacher had a stroke of brilliance one day completely ignoring him. She pointed to the mess and didn't look at him. It took him a minute of waiting for something to happen, but then he hopped down to get the toys. If only I could always be so patient! It's good motivation for me, that's for sure! And it also impresses me to hear how they handle his antics. That same day he struggled to finish his "job" of beading (something he excelled at just two days before), he took 20 minutes to finish it before joining the rest of the class. He heard them moving on and doing fun things and finally finished. He was putting together an "if... then" behavior pattern, which we are working on at home, as well. Hurray!

He loves adult praise and attention so he LOVES his time with the specialists, his speech therapist and physical therapists. That time has been really productive, which is great to hear. He definitely likes one-on-one time with grown-ups. He invites me for that kind of play ALL day! :) I'm glad that it's working to his advantage in therapy.

The class is growing to 14 students in January and his teacher is pushing the district to open another class. It's really too many special need 3 year olds, even for 3 teachers! They don't even have peer models in their class. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, for everyone's sakes. I'm sure it's not easy for the district to balance all the needs in the schools, but this seems like a pretty important one to me.

We talked and laughed together about how Carver's diapers are a little snug and wondered about pull-ups. They had a good point about the stretchy sides being more comfortable. I think I'm still too cheap. And they aren't easier to get on. Besides, they aren't as absorbent since they really aren't intended as diapers. Maybe I'll try another brand. And hopefully Carver potty-trains before his diapers don't reach around him anymore! :)

Overall, I'm impressed and pleased with what I've seen at school. The projects he brings home are well-thought out and represent hours of classroom work, literally. These kids get very specific directions on the smallest details. What patient teachers! They are making all the difference for our little guy!