Judah went to the bathroom TWICE on his own today. I'm talking walked to the bathroom and pottied. The first time was this morning when I was in the bathroom getting ready. He strolled in & went potty, on the big potty! He seems to prefer the big potty now. This evening I let him know just one time that we were going to potty and THEN we could watch the Polar Express (as he was requesting). Typically this would be a tantrum, me ripping the dvd out of his hands and a 30 minute meltdown, disruptive, walk/roll to the bathroom. I had planned on coming back to cue him again, but before I knew it he was in the bathroom and starting to pull his pants down! I walked in to be there for assistance if he needed me. Again, he used the big potty, he didn't do anything on the potty but who cares! He followed a cue just one time after me saying it and he was doing the process on his own! While in the bathroom he got on the stool before I had pushed it to the sink. I said, "Did you want a ride?" and he replies, "Yeah!!" and grabs onto the counter to balance. He completely understood me. He turned the water on by himself and turned it off when cued. He didn't try to stay and play, just got his sticker, made a kissing sound with me as I kissed his head, and strolled out of the bathroom! I was sure I was in a dream.
During music therapy Judah was sad when another kid started crying. He also made direct eye contact with others, specifically a girl he had met before. He was sitting a foot away from her, studying her face for probably 5 minutes. She did the same back to him. This was a group session. Sebastian joined. He had really been looking forward to playing the different instruments. He really enjoyed getting a turn to play the xylophone. He also liked when they put his name into a song and of course the dancing. Judah was in the middle of the group the entire time, energized & happy to the max. I sat behind him while he was on his pillow, when I was able to haul him there. Angie didn't have to physically control him but maybe a few times. This was a big group and he was the most active one there, the other kids appeared subdued compared to him. I realized quick, especially after seeing each kid's parent sitting behind them, that I definitely needed to be behind my kid. Angie's 2 adult helpers would occasionally coax Judah at times. We drove directly home afterwards, which was easy. Usually Judah & I stop at Whole Foods to eat & shop. It makes me feel like the drive is worth it. But I now I know that isn't really necessary.
When we arrived at music therapy Judah went right into the circle and took a seat on the floor next to Angie, the music therapist. He was all smiles! We played the drums first and he was very appropriately interactive, playing each drum as it was handed to him. At the end of therapy he was getting tired. He reclined back in my lap and sang the goodbye song! Usually he doesn't sing much, if any, during therapy. It was kind of loud in there and Judah was singing quietly, so I couldn't hear his words very well. I did hear him sing "Time", which is the name of the girl he knew in the group. The song involved singing each child's name during a part of the song.
Willow got in a lot of shopping time with Daddy today. All of the kids crashed out easily tonight. We put them down around 8:30. Their new bedtime is 7pm with the exception of "movie night" on Saturday. So to them it felt like they had stayed up quite a bit past their bedtime. Ahhh.. another good trick!! I'm seeing a rare occurrence of children sleeping in tomorrow!
We went to Grocery Outlet for the first time today after living here for over 5 years. If you live near one I hugely recommend that you check it out. Prices are the same or significantly lower than Wal-Mart. I don't know if they take coupons, if they do you could get killer prices all of the time! It's family owned, but they are all over the place. The main reason I went was because I quizzed my Facebook friends on where to go for the best price on Almond Milk. Much to my surprise, this place won, hands down. With the lowest Almond Milk price in town, they sell out quickly when the shipments arrive. This store also rotates inventory, so new products will be coming in! Their vitamin selection is large & extremely affordable. They currently have a good number of frozen GF meals to choose from, and at the best price in town. Even though they didn't carry everything that we usually get (brand wise), they are 5 minutes from us. That's the best part. We usually drive 30 minutes to get to Wal-Mart and Costco to shop! And spend even more time driving to the natural food stores! This takes 2 afternoons to accomplish. We are crazy!!! Grocery Outlet had some of the natural food products we buy. It will be a handy store for sure. The kids had a blast, since it was a new store and since they had huge ramps at the entrance.
Movie night was interesting. Judah sat with Daddy in the recliner. Willow sat in a box just her size, and closed the lid. I fed her snacks in her box and found out that she loves raisins. Sebastian had a list going of all the night time activities that were to take place. One of them was to put flowers on the table. Another was to decorate the table even more with bowls of fruits, vegetables, cookies and muffins. He had to make do with our selection of popcorn, raisins, pineapple, sweet potato chips, and gf tortilla chips. He also had "school" in his room today, where I was asked to draw a picture. I drew Doctor Octavius by studying a sticker on his wall. Later we played ice hockey on his floor with a chunk of ice that he popped out of a cup. He had frozen it overnight. He always has a frozen experiment going in the freezer. My hockey stick was the skinny end of our broom and his was a fat, foamy bat. He got the better end of the stick, literally. At one point he hit the ice puck so hard that it crashed into the wall directly below the window. Half of the ice chunk shattered! I was facing away from the window. I felt the ice particles spray the bottom half of my body. I thought I was feeling glass from the window showering my legs. It truly sounded like a window being shattered. They must use that as a sound effect for movies/TV. Daddy wasn't too happy about the ice hockey game, but it was really fun.. and we may do it again (when Daddy is at work).
Judah will try to say pretty much any word you ask him to now. It's so cool! Willow repeated Sebastian this morning saying, "Start the toaster oven!" It was so clear! It truly shocked me! Her enunciation seems to have taken shape overnight! She repeats whatever we say, and now she can repeat an entire sentence! This skill also seems to have happened overnight. Apparently her brain did a lot of growing last night!! I think she is saying them on her own too.. I will pay better attention to that tomorrow. She is a smart, little chatterbox at home. However, in public she studies the environment with her huge brown eyes, not saying a word.
During music therapy Judah was sad when another kid started crying. He also made direct eye contact with others, specifically a girl he had met before. He was sitting a foot away from her, studying her face for probably 5 minutes. She did the same back to him. This was a group session. Sebastian joined. He had really been looking forward to playing the different instruments. He really enjoyed getting a turn to play the xylophone. He also liked when they put his name into a song and of course the dancing. Judah was in the middle of the group the entire time, energized & happy to the max. I sat behind him while he was on his pillow, when I was able to haul him there. Angie didn't have to physically control him but maybe a few times. This was a big group and he was the most active one there, the other kids appeared subdued compared to him. I realized quick, especially after seeing each kid's parent sitting behind them, that I definitely needed to be behind my kid. Angie's 2 adult helpers would occasionally coax Judah at times. We drove directly home afterwards, which was easy. Usually Judah & I stop at Whole Foods to eat & shop. It makes me feel like the drive is worth it. But I now I know that isn't really necessary.
When we arrived at music therapy Judah went right into the circle and took a seat on the floor next to Angie, the music therapist. He was all smiles! We played the drums first and he was very appropriately interactive, playing each drum as it was handed to him. At the end of therapy he was getting tired. He reclined back in my lap and sang the goodbye song! Usually he doesn't sing much, if any, during therapy. It was kind of loud in there and Judah was singing quietly, so I couldn't hear his words very well. I did hear him sing "Time", which is the name of the girl he knew in the group. The song involved singing each child's name during a part of the song.
Willow got in a lot of shopping time with Daddy today. All of the kids crashed out easily tonight. We put them down around 8:30. Their new bedtime is 7pm with the exception of "movie night" on Saturday. So to them it felt like they had stayed up quite a bit past their bedtime. Ahhh.. another good trick!! I'm seeing a rare occurrence of children sleeping in tomorrow!
We went to Grocery Outlet for the first time today after living here for over 5 years. If you live near one I hugely recommend that you check it out. Prices are the same or significantly lower than Wal-Mart. I don't know if they take coupons, if they do you could get killer prices all of the time! It's family owned, but they are all over the place. The main reason I went was because I quizzed my Facebook friends on where to go for the best price on Almond Milk. Much to my surprise, this place won, hands down. With the lowest Almond Milk price in town, they sell out quickly when the shipments arrive. This store also rotates inventory, so new products will be coming in! Their vitamin selection is large & extremely affordable. They currently have a good number of frozen GF meals to choose from, and at the best price in town. Even though they didn't carry everything that we usually get (brand wise), they are 5 minutes from us. That's the best part. We usually drive 30 minutes to get to Wal-Mart and Costco to shop! And spend even more time driving to the natural food stores! This takes 2 afternoons to accomplish. We are crazy!!! Grocery Outlet had some of the natural food products we buy. It will be a handy store for sure. The kids had a blast, since it was a new store and since they had huge ramps at the entrance.
Movie night was interesting. Judah sat with Daddy in the recliner. Willow sat in a box just her size, and closed the lid. I fed her snacks in her box and found out that she loves raisins. Sebastian had a list going of all the night time activities that were to take place. One of them was to put flowers on the table. Another was to decorate the table even more with bowls of fruits, vegetables, cookies and muffins. He had to make do with our selection of popcorn, raisins, pineapple, sweet potato chips, and gf tortilla chips. He also had "school" in his room today, where I was asked to draw a picture. I drew Doctor Octavius by studying a sticker on his wall. Later we played ice hockey on his floor with a chunk of ice that he popped out of a cup. He had frozen it overnight. He always has a frozen experiment going in the freezer. My hockey stick was the skinny end of our broom and his was a fat, foamy bat. He got the better end of the stick, literally. At one point he hit the ice puck so hard that it crashed into the wall directly below the window. Half of the ice chunk shattered! I was facing away from the window. I felt the ice particles spray the bottom half of my body. I thought I was feeling glass from the window showering my legs. It truly sounded like a window being shattered. They must use that as a sound effect for movies/TV. Daddy wasn't too happy about the ice hockey game, but it was really fun.. and we may do it again (when Daddy is at work).
Judah will try to say pretty much any word you ask him to now. It's so cool! Willow repeated Sebastian this morning saying, "Start the toaster oven!" It was so clear! It truly shocked me! Her enunciation seems to have taken shape overnight! She repeats whatever we say, and now she can repeat an entire sentence! This skill also seems to have happened overnight. Apparently her brain did a lot of growing last night!! I think she is saying them on her own too.. I will pay better attention to that tomorrow. She is a smart, little chatterbox at home. However, in public she studies the environment with her huge brown eyes, not saying a word.
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