He definitely has an imagination—making a train out of pool toys, complete with sound effects!
Pool train!
Daddy’s shoes
Closer and closer…
So we had storms last night so today was pretty cool. At the warmest part of the day (when the sun was actually out) Owen didn’t want to use the pool…but then of course wanted to use it after dinner when it was too chilly. But, he agreed to play in his water table on the deck with his new water toy. Which lasted for about 10 minutes.
Then he started shooting the water towards the pool. And going a few steps closer to shoot at the pool. And then closer. Then he was getting water out of the pool (to use in his toy).
Pretty soon, he was in up to his elbows. :>>
I stopped him before he toppled over the edge. 🙂
Owen got a pool!
Well, I guess technically we all got a pool… 😉
After some thought, I decided I’d rather spend the money on a smallish above-ground pool (even if it only lasts for a season) instead of $400 for the three-month Country Club pool pass. (If you remember, the community pool is close, but the hours and dates stunk, the kiddie pool wasn’t very good, and it’s quite expensive.)
This way, I don’t have to convince Owen he wants to go during the limited hours they’re open (and be upset that we’re wasting money when he refuses to go), I don’t have to haul everything down there (toys, diapers, snacks, sunscreen, water, towels, etc.), we can easily work around his nap schedule, and when Katie arrives we can be outside when she’s napping and I don’t have to drag her along. Oh, and Tom and I can use it when Owen is napping or after bedtime.
So, we did a tiny bit of research (I asked for recommendations on Facebook and read Amazon reviews) and we ended up at Walmart picking up a 12′ x 30″ pool. It sat in the house for a day, during which time Owen was very excited and kept asking daddy to build his pool. 🙂
It took Tom quite a bit of work to get it set up (it has to be on very flat ground, and nothing in our yard is flat) but once it was up and filled and tested, we were good to go. Except then Owen refused to go in. |-| And once Tom physically grabbed him and lifted him in, Owen clung to him like a spider monkey.
It took a good five minutes before Tom got Owen’s feet in the water, then deeper, then setting his feet on the bottom…and then Owen LOVED it.
Then daddy had to get out to start grilling dinner, so it was mama’s turn with Owen.
I think if we wouldn’t have had to eat dinner, he would have stayed in all night. 🙂
We saw my car!
We were coming home from Walmart when we saw my old car! At first we weren’t quite sure, but then as we got closer, we knew it had to be—it had a temp plate…and the same ding in the bumper! What are the chances? I’m glad she found a new home. 🙂
Snip snip!
I was just cutting tags off Owen’s new clothes from Costco and he walks by and says “Snip snip.”
:!::?::!::?:
What? Where on earth did that come from?! I don’t think I’ve ever said it and I can’t recall it from any cartoon…
Still, it cracked us up.
Wilmington Children’s Museum
We had been wanting to take Owen to the children’s museum, so Tom took today off and we headed over early. Once we actually found it (the address in Yelp was wrong, plus it’s in a quiet residential neighborhood with bad signage) it was pretty good.
Owen got to plant some basil with daddy:
He liked the circus mirrors:
And this mirror—“Look at all the Owens!”
Playing grocery store (he likes the buttons):
Here he got to be on TV with daddy via a green screen:
We had fun, but it’s not somewhere we’ll be rushing back to.
Owen is 3 years 3 months today!
Look at all the bubbles!
It’s amazing the difference new batteries make!
April photos are online!
Daddy splashing Owen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0-2dPme-nc
Tom thought he’d surprise Owen by splashing him… Little did he know he’d LOVE it and want more. And more.
(Here’s the HD link for the same video.)
Happy Mothers Day
http://themommyhoodmemos….for-birth-kits/
:heart: Happy Mothers Day to five new mothers who will benefit from the Clean Birth Kits I just donated… :heart:
Bloggers for Birth Kits is a simple initiative to rally bloggers to reach out and help mamas in Papua New Guinea. These women may seem very different to you… but they are mothers with the same heart—mothers who desire to deliver healthy, thriving babies just as we do.
Every minute a women dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths occur in developing nations. For every woman who dies in childbirth, another 30 women incur injuries and infections, which are often preventable. (Source: World Health Organization.)
Photo from http://themommyhoodmemos.com/bloggers-for-birth-kits/
The specifics:
- Soap (for the birth attendant to wash her hands). Use a hotel-size soap or cut a regular bar of soap into 1/8-sized pieces. (Microwave the bar of soap for 30 seconds to soften it for cutting).
- One pair of plastic gloves (for the birth attendant to wear).
- Five squares of gauze (to wipe the mum’s perineum and baby’s eyes). Gauze pieces should be about 10×10 centimeters or 3×3 inches.
- One blade (to cut the cord). You can buy individually wrapped sterile blades at the pharmacist or buy utility blades (much cheaper) at the hardware store. We teach the women to boil the blades for sterilization, so utility blades work just fine.
- Three pieces of strong string (2 for tying the cord, 1 for “just in case”). String should be about 30 centimeters or 10 inches long.
- One plastic sheet (for a clean birthing surface). Sheet should be approximately 1×1 meter or 1×1 yard and can be purchased at your hardware or paint store.
- One sandwich-size ziplock bag (to pack the contents).
I strongly urge you to visit the site and make a donation for yourself…and other mothers who are less fortunate than you.
School screenings findings meeting
Long story short, the school didn’t really seem to think Owen was in dire need of any special education—which, yes, is a good thing—but they did notice some areas in which he was on the lower end of normal (some language and social stuff)…but still normal (and said he was actually quite advanced on a lot of language stuff).
That said, we were able to request a more formal language evaluation (since that’s what we’re most concerned with) and classroom observation (his speech issues we’re concerned with might be better observed—or negated—by seeing him interact with kids for a longer time period)…so we are waiting to schedule those. Best case scenario, we are hoping that we can get him into a social situation (preschool) with other kids which will improve certain aspects of his language skills because he will learn from the other kids and also have to use his language to communicate with them (instead of with us who already understand him pretty well).
As a sidenote, these findings have NO effect on our ability to get the ABA (applied behavioral analysis) Therapy benefits through the military, so even if we don’t qualify for any special education programs through the school district, we will still get the one-on-one therapy.
Volcano Take 2 & Owen’s first s’more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zipn1Pmmqlw
Watching the volcano.
Attempting to roast a marshmallow. He looks close, but he was actually about two feet too far away. We kept trying to move his chair closer, but he kept dragging it back. I guess all our warnings of “FIRE! HOT! DANGEROUS! STAY BACK!” worked a little too well. 🙂
Investigating the still-cold marshmallow.
Where the marshmallow actually spent most of its time…
Daddy to the rescue!
When it finally came time to eat it, he was more interested in watching himself eat it than actually eating it.
Volcano, Take 1
Well, we were going to have a “volcano” (fire) tonight with s’mores (Owen keeps asking about marshmallows)…until Owen was eating a marshmallow and didn’t quite chew it fully before swallowing…so he half choked and ended up barfing all over Tom. So that was the end of the volcano (good thing Tom hadn’t started the fire yet) for the night.
Discovery!
This is what happens when Owen rediscovers an entire bag of cars we picked up and put away last week.
Sesame Street USO Experience
Since its debut in July 2008, the Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families has taken its message to more than 248,000 troops and military families and performed 433 shows on 131 military bases in 33 states and eleven countries.
We learned tonight that Owen really doesn’t do LOUD. (We know he doesn’t like sudden loud noises and in general he doesn’t like loud areas…but I was holding out hope.) So, yep, the Sesame Street thing was a fail. But let me start at the beginning…
We were in the third row on the end of the aisle. I was excited because it meant I could get good pics of the stage and Owen would be close enough to see. The mom next to me said “You know they come down the aisles right?” obviously warning me. I said no I didn’t know, but we’d see what happened (if Owen liked it or was freaked out). I loved the Sesame Street sign.
He loved seeing all the kids waiting in line and in the auditorium (“Look at all the kids!”).
He didn’t seem to mind the noise level of the auditorium (the first big challenge).
He loved that he got an Elmo spinny light toy (he LOVES those type of toys).
He let me take a picture (that turned out awesome).
He did awesome waiting the half hour—playing with the spinny toy and my phone (and the mom next to us even commented on how awesome his behavior was, compared to her 2yo monkey who wouldn’t stop climbing and moving).
But…he started saying DONE before the show even started. But it was a calm DONE, like a polite suggestion. I figured once he saw Elmo, maybe he would change his mind. Well, the first thing that happened was a guy came out to welcome everyone and give thanks to certain people…and Owen was okay with that…and I learned he apparently really likes clapping when everyone else is:
Then there was a video of the First Lady and Elmo, welcoming everyone and setting up the premise of the show. And he was okay with that. (This is one of the videos we saw.)
And then Elmo came out and it was LOUD and they started LOUD music and dancing.
And that’s when he became more emphatic with his HOME, DONE, and pointing. He would be excited momentarily when each new character came out, but it was still LOUD songs and he was not a fan. I kept trying to talk to him to hopefully calm him a little and get him through the music to where there would (hopefully) just be talking…but he alternated between putting his head in my lap (trying to hide) and pointing and saying HOME. I thought we might make it, but then he started whining and almost crying, so I knew we were done.
So about five minutes in (before the thing really got started—they were still in the warm up songs) I decided it was time to go and moved to get out of my seat—and he was off like a shot up the aisle, weaving through all the little kids in the aisle who were dancing, not even looking back for me. As soon as we got outside, he was completely fine, playing with his spinny toy and having a ball.
On the way to the car he started saying “Great job, mama, great job.” ❓ He’s been saying that lately and I assume he’s just parroting me saying it (I say it A LOT) but sometimes it’s appropriate for the situation. So I just thanked him, and eventually he said “Great job, mama, seeing Sesame Street.” So to him, he saw Sesame Street and he was just fine. 🙂
So in once sense I was disappointed (I kinda wanted to see the show—it wasn’t just for him!) but he was apparently happy AND we were out of there before it ended so we didn’t have to deal with the crazy traffic AND we got home in time for his bedtime AND at least we learned the lesson a cheap way (free tickets to something local), instead of traveling and spending $$$ on tickets for something in, say, Raleigh.
I’m guessing this is one of the areas we’ll be working on when we eventually start therapy. 🙂
Chromosome test results
I just technically got Owen’s chromosome test results. I say technically because the pediatrician read them to me over the phone—and of course it’s all Greek—he wasn’t even familiar with the exact result so he said he has to read up on it. I can’t even tell you what the exact findings were until I go pick up a copy of the report (it was too complex to write down over the phone).
That said, apparently it was recommended that Tom and I get tested, too. I’m assuming it’s so we know if we need to 1) watch Katie for signs and/or 2) get her tested early. If we’re clear, the mutation starts with Owen; if one of us (or both) have the anomaly, she’ll need to be checked because we will likely pass it down again.
For some reason, this is more disturbing to me than the initial autism diagnosis, even though it technically doesn’t change anything and there’s nothing we can do about it either way…it’s just knowledge.
Autism Roundtable
Well, unfortunately, it was pretty much a waste of time. It was basically for us to ask questions—which I actually didn’t really have many to start with and the few I had were answered pretty quick—and then the other people just wouldn’t stop yapping. Sure, there were some good points and some new info muddled in there, but it basically sounded like a mom’s group with everyone comparing and sharing stories (and on top of that, it sounded like everyone was MUCH worse off than me, so the info was stuff that really had no relevance). And at this point I don’t need a mom’s group to commiserate—I understand they might (and they were all thrilled to be out of the house away from their kids), but it just wasn’t what I wanted or needed. I did want to talk to some of the therapy providers that were there, but the yappers were still yapping 30+ minutes after the meeting was scheduled to be over, so I had to leave to get home to my babysitter (and for Owen’s bedtime).
GRRR.
Reading a story to mom
This is what Owen reading a story to mom looks and sounds like… He certainly knows his colors!!
What a little helper!
They must have mowed the course recently, because all of these putting green flags were in a big pile to the side of the green. Owen apparently didn’t like them there, so he put them ALL back in the holes!
Tractor tipping + Oh come on!
I got a really good deal on these cars that work on an iPad app, so Owen got them for Easter. And he is obsessed with playing with them! It took him a few days, but now he knows how to play the games, tip the tractors, “buy” stuff from the store, and move the pushpin on the map to get directions.
He LOVES tipping the tractors the most, which you can see in this video… And then something doesn’t go his way and you can hear “Oh, come on!” 🙂 I guess I must say that a lot since he’s obviously picked up on it!
Cool new bowl!
Thanks, Grandma Marsha—I love it!
Tractor Tipping
Those eyes!
Drop in and drop off!
Since the pre-school thing seems to be on hold for the moment, I thought I’d finally get off my butt and get us set up for the local drop-in childcare place—just so Owen has a place to go once a week for an hour or two for some socialization (and for those times I have a bunch of small errands to run where it would be easier without him). I’ve had the paperwork printed and filled out since January but just never quite got around to it…
So, the plan was only to drop off the paperwork…but once Owen saw the kids and toys, he wanted to stay (of course—I should have known better!). Sign up came with a free hour to “test” them out, so I used it for an unplanned run to Target (right down the street). Now, I’ve ran errands without him before, but he was always at home with Tom or my parents—this was the first time I just dropped him somewhere and left and it just felt weird. Of course he didn’t notice/care one bit (which is a good thing, I know).
When I got back, he was LITERALLY running around the play area pushing a toy and his hairline was damp—which meant he had likely been running around full tilt for the whole hour. 🙂 They reported that he did sit for a bit during story time and I noticed when I got home that they had changed his diaper (his name was written on it!) so I was impressed.
I really wish this place was a pre-school (they do some learning stuff but it’s NOT a school), but at least it’s something for now.
Pop tarts!
YAY!! Owen likes pop tarts! Yeah, not the healthiest food, but at least it’s another food.
Waiting to wave goodbye to daddy…
Tom left this morning for the last week of his 10-week class in Quantico… It was too rainy for us to wave from outside, so we waved from the window. It looks MUCH more dramatic than it actually was—about three seconds after we waved, he was off playing again. It’s a good thing he’s not as emotional (yet?) as mom is. 😮
Instructions!
Owen has taken to loving sheets of instructions. It started two weekends ago when Tom was building the shed, and now he finds instructions everywhere (his toys, our electronics, etc.) and carries them around saying “Instructions! Instructions!”
First couch nap!
Well, kinda.
Today was the first time ever he’s fallen asleep on the couch before his nap! He was watching Cars and I was in the office. I kept looking out every 5-10 minutes…but this still happened.
My first thought? OH CRAP.
My second thought? OH MY GOD HE’S SO CUTE.
My third thought? I HAVE TO GET A PICTURE!
Then I made the mistake of going out to show Tom (who was working on the shed) how cute he was…and Tom wanted to move him to his bed. I really didn’t want to because Owen does NOT transfer well (and never has—I think twice in his lifetime he actually went back to sleep after we moved him) but against my better judgment I let Tom move him.
And at first it seemed okay. For the first two minutes anyway. Until we were watching on the monitor and he was chattering. Then sitting up. Then playing. Then reading his books.
Yeah…no nap today.
But at least I got a super cute few pictures. :**: