My view

This is how I usually see Nathan as he is grabbing onto my legs and wanting me to get him something or wanting me to hold him.  So what did I do, I grabbed my camera and took pictures.  It was funny because I tried a couple of times and the light was not good or I was not happy with the picture so I just keep waiting until I was in the correct place.  Toward the end of me trying to get the perfect picture he started to stop holding onto my legs when I grabbed the camera.  I thought this is a good way to break him of that habit.  Anyway, it only worked for a day and he still continues to hold onto my legs and sometimes I even have to walk with him hanging onto my legs.  If I have something in my hands I can not pick him up.  

Julianne met with her teacher today for an assessment before school starts.  She had to read a few books and write a sentence.  She seemed to like her teacher so we will see.  She has been having some really rough days lately.  She is so emotional about everything and very hard to get along with.  She has suffered through many consequences this past week and I think it is a combination between not being able to suck her thumb and her starting school next week.   Sometimes I really don't have the patients to handle her.  I try to ask her to express what is really bothering her but most of the times she can not talk about it.  School does not start until next Wednesday, so we will see how the next couple of days goes.

Mallory had her last day of summer preschool today.  She always has a good time and enjoys going to school.  She is pretty laid back and enjoys must of what she participates in.  I feel bad I don't really mention her too much and it is not because she does not do a lot it is mostly because Nathan is at that age where he is discovering so much and has new things he says everyday.  Julianne is also going through some changes lately so she has been on my mind.  I guess it all evens out with time.  The time and devotion I have for all of my children is equal.   

Things I am grateful/thankful for:

-seeing how a balloon man at a festival can make my kids day

-appreciating when my kids say that they like my dinner and want me to make it again

-not having to answer annoying telephone solicitations since getting caller ID

-watching girls Olympic gymnastics

-having a challenging yoga class

Smashed Thumb

On Friday Julianne smashed her thumb (Yes, the one she sucks) while getting her bike out of the garage.  I was on the phone and she asked me if she could get her bike and I told her yes.  The next thing I know she is screaming her head off, a scream that I don't hear very often.  Our step ladder was on a hook above her bike and it had fallen off and smashed her thumb.  The nail is cracked toward the bottom and the nail was off when she first smashed it.  I does not look too bad so I don't know if the nail will stay on or fall off.  So she has had some adjustments at night not being able to suck her thumb.  She tells us that she can't fall asleep when she really does.  She started looking at books before bed last night and I think that might have helped.  So we will see what happens.

In the car today Nathan kind of said "mom where's fire".  We saw a fire truck drive by and we were talking about it and then he said that sentence.  Which is his first sentence and he did not say it again so he may not have said it but Julianne said that is also what she heard.  I was shocked to hear him say that.  He really only says some single words and cries; he is not even close to saying sentences so it was funny and shocking.  Like right now he is crying at the freezer because he wants a dicle.  

Nathan's eczema has been kind of bad lately.  It may be because of the weather and leaving the windows open, he had Doritos the other day, or he had a bite of my cereal with milk.  So who knows?

Things I am grateful/thankful for:

-perfect weather days

-leaving my windows open in the cooler weather

-hearing Julianne improve in her reading skills

-getting yeast to work for our pretzels

Free air conditioning

We have had the air conditioner off for more than two days.  The weather hear has been fantastic.  The nights are low 60's and the days are high 70's low 80's but the best is that the humidity is really low.  I love leaving the windows open especially while I am sleeping.  We have a great attic fan that circulates air throughout our house and it is just like having a fan in the upstairs sucking all the air up from the downstairs up to the upstairs.  We had an attic fan while I was growing up and I never really understood what it did but now I do.  

We went to the local farmers market on Wednesday and it was nice.  There were a lot of vendors there, live music and lots of great samples.  We did not buy any produce since I did not know what was there but hopefully we will go next week and I will get some local apples and hopefully some home grown tomatoes.  It was defiantly not like my beloved Knoxville Farmers Market but for a smaller suburb it was good.  There is a bigger Farmers Market in the Short North area on Saturday but I have not made it down there yet.  I will try to make the Wednesday Farmers Market a regular occurrence and then it will become my new favorite Farmers Market since I can't travel to Knoxville every Saturday.  

Today we took advantage of the great weather and went to a Columbus Metro Park and had a picnic and went on a short hike.  The girls had fun hiking and Nathan enjoyed throwing rocks into the river.  On our way back Mallory said "Look the moon is following us".  It was a great comment and she was enthralled with the moon and asking us where it was going?  Oh yeah and I have a funny story about here in the restroom at the park.  She was going "#2" (Julianne told me today that going "#3" is actually diarrhea, I did not know there was a #3) and had locked the bathroom door.  So as she was going she screamed and said that there was a spider walking by her feet.  She was screaming about it and talking about it and kind of freaking out.  I said I could not help her since she locked the bathroom door.  Then she started to really freak out since a large flying spider flew behind her.  She started screaming so loud and getting really scared and I could not get to her since the door was locked.  I told her to unlock the door but she was frozen.  Anyway she ended up unlocking the door and flying out of the stall with her dress up and panties down.  I had to wipe her and flush the toilet.  D and Julianne could hear her outside in the car screaming, that is how loud she was screaming.  It was a great story.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:

-watching the Olympic opening ceremony (it was amazing all the people that participated in it and the logistics it took to pull it off).

-sharing days like today with my family.

-having Nathan be snuggly with me last night.

Autism Speaks

I just got back for an Autism Walk Kick-Off Event which is a fundraiser for Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks is an organization that raises funds for research into the causes, prevention, treatment and cure for autism; raises public awareness about autism and it effects on individuals, families and society and to bring hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder.   The speakers at the event were very inspiring, emotional and dedicated to helping kids with autism. My 16 year brother is on the autism spectrum and I personally see how this effects people.  My stepmother spoke at the event and 12 years ago my brother was diagnosed with autism and at that time she was told that it was very rare and that there was not a lot of things she could do.  She said that even today they do not know anymore than they knew at that time as to why it occurs and what factors "cause" autism.  However, it is more prevalent today and more and more kids are being diagnosed.  Another story was of a father who's son is severely autistic and now that he is older they just had to put him into an institution because of his biting, aggression and sudden outbursts.  He was deeply hurt and angry that he had to put him into an institution.  I think that for me even though I personally know someone that is autistic it would be different if it was my child.  I think that some of my days are bad or hectic or I did not practice enough patients today but I need to appreciate days like that knowing that others may be having a harder time.  

Here are some statistics that I learned from the event:

• 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism
  
• 1 in 94 boys is on the autism spectrum
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined
• Autism cost the nation over $90 billion per year, a figure that is expected to double in the next decade.
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases
• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism

I will be putting together a team for the Autism Speak-Walk Now for Autism which occurs on October 12th and will be asking my friends and family to join me on my team.   

Things that I am grateful/thankful for:

-Seeing a rainbow coming out of the Autism Speak Event

-Turning up the radio in the car and singing when a good song comes on

-Spending alone time with my husband 

-Kissing my kids goodnight

Until next time...

   

Some thoughts on Nathan

I have analyzed my son's lovable behavior with myself and have come to the conclusion that he is very possessive of myself and does not want anyone else to snuggle with me but yet he does not want to snuggle with me. My son is not very snuggly or huggy. He loves to play, be active, observe, be in the action, etc. so he does not really have the time or want to snuggle with me or anyone else. It is really hard to even get through a few pages of a board book with him because he will look at it and then after a few pages he starts to want to throw the book. My husband and I have done studies (our own experiments not real ones) with him to test different hypothesis and we have discovered that he does not want to snuggle with me however, he does not want anyone else to give hugs or snuggle with me. We have had the girls on me hugging and he yells at them and tries to pull them off of me and then I pick up him and he stays with me for about 10 seconds and then he wants down. If the girls return to their hugging positions he immediately starts acting up again. this is the same when Dwight and I are hugging. He cries and tries to move my hand off of him and then I go to hug him and he really does not want anything to do with me.

It is so funny to do these little experiments on him and or other children. I remember we used do these experiments with Julianne and she would love to be held by me and to give me hugs and kisses and would not like it if Dwight tried to hug myself or her. So it is just fun to see how they are different. I remember that Mallory did not really care either way. We love all our children and their different personalities and I think that discovering/predicting/analyzing our children's personalities is great joy of being a parent. When all my children were babies I always wondered how they would act and now they are at the point where I generally know their personalities and I know that these will change over time and through different situations.

Things I am grateful/thankful for:
-getting a close parking spot at our gym.
-watching great dancing on television.
-seeing Julianne bring herself out of an uncontrollable emotional state.
-having a great next door neighbor who is a very nice person and a good parent.

Zoo Day

Yesterday we visited the zoo and had lots of fun.  This was the first time I had been to this zoo in at least 15 years.  The zoo has changed a lot and it is about 3 times bigger than it was before.  In the four hours that we were there we only saw a little less than half than the zoo.  The girls and my friends boys all had a great time together.  My double running stroller was a nightmare in the crowded narrow paths and my arms are sore from it so my lesson is that I will bring another stroller next time.

Last week we had a science lesson about the sun and what it does to our environment, to our bodies and to the plants.  After that discussion we decided to see if the sun could make smores. We made a pizza box an oven (Family Fun magazine idea) and baked the smores in it.  The chocolate melted beautifully but the marshmallows did not melt well but they still made tasty treats.  

Things I am grateful/thankful for:

- Going to the zoo with my best friend and her children. 

- A generous mom giving me a buy one admission/get one free admission coupon

- A zoo employee finding my lost wallet on a water ride.

- Seeing Nathan excited to see me when I come home (saying Mama) only to reach down and     give him a hug and him say "wawa" (wanting my water bottle, not me). 

- Seeing Nathan give Julianne and Mallory a hug after not being with them for awhile.

- D saying that he missed me from being gone all day the previous day.   

Fabulous Friday

We had a great day on Friday. We had two of my friends over from Graduate School. Unfortunately one of my friend's husband got transferred to Dallas, TX so she will not be here for long. It has been nice to see her again after so many years of living in TN.  

In the afternoon after Dad got home we cleaned the cars, I was not much help because I was taking lots of pictures, and to our surprise the Ice Cream Truck came and we got lots of treats to eat. It was a great day for all of us.  

 

 

This is the first time that we have seen the ice cream truck in our new neighborhood. It was a great treat.  

Nathan's eczema has good days and bad days. Yesterday it was acting up and as I was taking lots of pictures of the action outside I took a picture of his legs.  

 

Another great thing about yesterday is when we went outside the sky was beautiful. The clouds were white and puffy and the light was shinning through the clouds.

 

Things I am grateful/thankful for: 

-The ice cream truck and all the joy it brings to a neighborhood. 

-The blue and pink stains the girls get on their faces after eating ice cream truck snow cones.  

-Appreciating the clouds and sky and how they are different everyday.