A Little Snow Fun!

For the first time in several years, we got a significant snowfall BEFORE Christmas! We ended up with somewhere in the vicinity of 10-12 inches. The kids are at an age where they love it - all 3 of them! Here are a few photos from their folick in the snow!

Look at those eyes sparkle!

Lexi
Maddie

Maddie
Shot of the trees out back
He was flinging snow and the wind caught it and brought it right back to his face! He didn't like it much!

And the winner is...

A couple of weeks ago, we did our annual Christmas card photo shoot. I always thought that by the time the kids were 3-4 years old, we'd get GREAT photos since they'd be able to listen and understand us when we gave them direction. Um, no. The twins are now 3 and Nate is 4...and we had a whole host of not listening issues. But here is the winner of our Christmas card photo for 2007. Followed closely by the runner up and then some of the other attempted shots.

The winner!

We had a tough time deciding between this one and the winner. But we decided that people probably want to see the kids' faces.
Lexi trying vehemently to give a good scowl...you know, since we'd told her to smile big.
I absolutely LOVED Nate's smile in this one.
Despite being told NOT to open the boxes....
Our little drummer boy...and girls.
We were doing the fingers to the dimples to indicate smiling...this was Maddie's rendition.
I kind of liked this one too but not enough for it to be the winner.

Painting, Reading and Dress-up, Oh My!!

The life of a pre-schooler

Last Monday, we had parent/teacher conferences for Nate. As I discussed in one of my previous posts, Nathaniel is doing great at school. He's talking a lot, interacting with other children and listening better during storytime. During the conference, we also had the chance to speak with his occupational therapist and we were surprised to hear that he's really improved since the end of last year. Nate can now cut a 5 inch line with the scissors without any help. He's also doing really well when it comes to writing within the lines (although the lines are made twice as large as normal) and will do practically any tactile activity that he previously wouldn't do. Granted, he still doesn't like it but at least now he'll do it without too much complaint and will do it for quite a few minutes.

As in the past, he still has his favorites within the classroom...pretty much anything dealing with numbers or letters will draw his attention first. At the beginning of the year, Nate resisted the changing of activities but with the use of a timer and given a choice of 2 unpreferred activities, he'll now change with just the verbal commands of the teacher.

And the best part of conferences? The cd of photos that was provided to us by Nate's teacher! I'm SO excited to have photos of Nate in his own environment! I absolutely love it.

The pictures you say? Of course, I'll share!! :)

One of Nate's unpreferred activities - painting. You can see the "ick" look on his face!

Drawing at the easel.
YMCA! Oh, sorry! Nate likes the construction hard hat!
Sharing a pillow with a friend to do some reading.
Playing with a friend at the sand table.
Ah yes, and my most favorite pictures of all. One of the red flags of autistic children is the lack of pretend play. You can imagine my excitement when I heard that Nate has been loving the dress-up clothes!! :) Joe wasn't quite that excited! But look at how cute he is! I can barely stand it. And not only that but him putting the dress-up clothes on is a big step in pretend play!
I love this one!!
Nothing like a princess dishing up some pizza and cookies!

3 Years Old

We finally got around to taking the girls' 3 year photos. What seems to be our new norm, Maddie was a camera ham and Lexi was pouting and difficult. We did manage to get a couple of her without the frown though. Check them out! Lexi's in the pink, Maddie gray.

At Last...The Birthday Photos!

Due to some technical problems (read: Blogger not uploading my pics), I haven't been able to post these until now. Hope you enjoy! Just a few from the day of their birthday party!!

The best pic we could get of the two of them. Lexi was a real pill and would NOT cooperate for photos. Maddie's in the brown, Lexi in the pink.

Maddie had NO problem hamming it up for photos though.
Another of Maddie...
And again...love that smile!!
Our attempt at getting Lexi to cooperate...didn't work.
Go ahead...make my day....
A couple from opening presents.


Birthday cake! :)

YUM!

It's All About Natey Today!

Since the beginning of the summer, we've seen steady improvements with Nathaniel; his speech, his comprehension, his listening skills. He had a bit of a lull near the end of the summer but now all of a sudden, it's like he's going through a huge mental growth. He's been voicing his own thoughts and comments more frequently. He's also been sharing some of his school day with me on his own free will. When I first started asking him about how his day was or who he played with, I would only get a loud, vehement "NO!" or "All done school!" Talking about school at home just wasn't right. It was almost as if we talked about it at school, he had to go back right at that very moment we were discussing it. After a few weeks of repeatedly asking him about his day and who he played with, he finally began to catch on that just because we were talking about it, didn't mean that he'd have to go there. So in the last several weeks, he's been volunteering information as soon as I pick him up from school; "play sand table and play science area" and then he'll pause and say "play B*******, play J****" (friends names) Then last week out of the blue, he told me who the Busy Bee was for the day. And the day after that he told me who the Busy Bee was for the day AND who was the Caboose. The day after that came information about the Clean Up Crew and the Snack Helpers. It was amazing and a day that had been a long time coming.

And then out the blue he started clapping the syllables to words. I told Joe about it and we agreed that one of his therapists or teachers must have started this concept with him. Today when I picked him up, I asked his therapist if this was a concept she was working on with him. You can imagine my surprise when she told me no, that she hadn't even mentioned anything even remotely close to that with him. She said she'd check with the other therapist, but she didn't think that the other therapist was working on that either. She seemed thoroughly shocked, as was I. Where did he pick that up? It's funny because he's quite good and has only been wrong on a couple of words. The one off the top of my head that I can remember he did incorrectly was orange. He gave it one syllable instead of the correct 2.


Yesterday, I received two emails that really meant so much to me. The first was from his SLP (Speech Language Pathologist). She said that everyone on Nate's preschool team agreed that we needed to have an earlier than scheduled IEP (Individualized Education Plan) because Nate was doing so well. His IEP was originally set for April; and here only a little over 2 months into the school year, we're re-evaluating because he's excelling. Music to my ears. She also told me that they're seeing major, MAJOR improvements with him. He's talking more and more to the teachers AND the other students. Academically, he's met or exceeded a lot, if not most, of the goals set for him for the year.

The other email I received was one from his preschool teacher. And as simple as the email was it made me tear up and made me so proud of my little guy. For 2 and a half years now, we've been pushing and teaching and doing everything in our power to help him be where he needs to be socially. It started with 2 days a week at preschool, where he cried every morning I left him there...to now, when we get to school, he's so excited to be there that he literally cannot stand still. It started with him speaking no more than 3-4 words (total words, not phrases)...to now, him putting together 4-5-6-7 word sentences/phrases. It started with little to no eye contact with anyone...to now, he'll force eye contact if he thinks you're not listening to him. It started with not even noticing another child standing in the same vicinity as him...to now where he's initating conversations and play with other kids at school. And that, my friends, is what the teacher's email was concerning. She's seen him trying to talk and play with the other kids. Here's an excerpt from her email:

Also, Nate is starting to initiate play with his friends and today he gave a couple of his friends hugs as they were playing. We are working on getting him to ask his friends to do activities with him. Ex: "Chase me" "Run with Me". Most of the time when he initiates play he will join a friend at an area and make a comment about what the friend is doing and then start playing with or next to the friend. The other day he walked up to a friend, put his hand on his friend's back and then started talking and then playing. :)

THAT is what we've been working so hard to achieve. THAT is why we spent all summer going to a friends house and having friends over. THAT is why we talk every single day about friends and school. THAT is why he's going to school 30 hours per week instead of staying home with me and the twins.

You cannot imagine the emotions I felt when I read that. The hard work, the frustration not only on my part but his part, the looks from other people who don't know/understand our situation with him...it was all worth it. And yes, there were days where I did question whether it was all worth it.

His teacher also gave me other snippets of info that made me chuckle. The fact that she hears "Good job, Ms. S*******" at least once a day puts a smile on her face. What can I say? We're a praising type of household. We like to let them know when they've done a good job. And apparently, Nate just likes to return the sentiment.

Now we await a meeting date/time for his IEP meeting. We're excited as to what the meeting and the future will bring for him. I'll be sure to update after our meeting.

****Sidenote***** I still have birthday pics to post of the twins party. Maybe tomorrow! :)

The Great Pepper Incident of 2007

Have I mentioned recently that the twins have been extremely mischievous as of late? Today it was the one that WASN'T Alexis.

I was testing a new mashed potato recipe tonight for dinner (one that I want to use on Thanksgiving) so I fed the kids and had about 20 minutes until the potatoes were done. I had PLENTY of time to give them all showers before they'd be done. As usual, I took the girls in first and when they were done, I dried them off and told them to wait for me in the living room while I finished Nate's shower. About a minute into Nate's shower, Lexi came running into the bathroom yelling "Maddie do it!!! Maddie do it!!" So I gave a yell out telling Maddie to get out of whatever she was into. I didn't hear anything else about it so I just figured everything was great. So I finished up with Nate and sent him out.

I wasn't prepared for what I saw when I stepped out of the bathroom: one complete (minus 1/2 tsp I'd used in the new mashed potatoes recipe) bottle of pepper completely emptied all over the kitchen and living room floors. And one Madison, giggling, naked, jumping on the couch.

I was not pleased.

But rather than get all worked up, I grabbed the camera and video camera. Take a gander...

The first area of carpet that I came too...

Take a closer look at that pile...
The Great Dr. Pepper herself...
One small area of the kitchen floor...
And more of the kitchen floor...
Wasn't me!!

And for your viewing pleasure...the interview...

Happy Birthday My Sweet Girls!

Yesterday was the twins' 3rd birthday. We celebrated on Saturday and there'll be more pics to come this week. For now, here are the pics taken on their birthday each year.

The Quiet...The Meek...The Sickies!

Nate's been sick since last Friday...and it seems the girls have not been spared. Maddie's fever started yesterday, Lexi's today. Maddie has all but lost her voice and is just barely squeaking out words! Take a listen! The first one is Maddie, the second Lexi and Maddie again in the last video!