Saturday, December 27, 2014

All I Want For Christmas Is A Screaming Sully!

I was voice-blogging with my phone but I kept forgetting to post it on here! Right now I'm just sitting at the computer, eating ice cream while Scott works on building Judah's bed. I swear it's like work 24/7 around here. Are we just unbelievably inefficient? Or is life like this for all parents??! I feel like I'm going to spend the rest of my days working down a to-do list that never stops growing!

Christmas was pretty cool this year. All of our kids were filled with Christmas excitement. When we put up the tree Judah was just in awe, making sure we remembered the star on top and sitting in front of the tree for quite a while after we were done.. like he was gazing out at the ocean or something. He let us know that we needed presents under the tree. Pointing below the tree & saying, "presents!". Then he ran around the house searching for presents. Finally I just put his present from his teachers under the tree. I thought that might suffice. He saw it & instantly ripped it open. Then he asked & searched for more presents, haha. He pointed to the fireplace and said, "fire?", basically pointing out that we didn't have that Christmas tradition happening either. We can't do presents until the night before. This year we were wise not to mess with the garland & just do ornaments. We decided to let the kids put the ornaments wherever they wanted.. because they were going to get moved around, thrown and sucked on plenty after it was done. And they loved doing that of course. Judah's fine motor skills in unwinding the fine string at the top of many ornaments was pretty amazing. Better than most adults could have done!

Sebastian's behaviors have calmed down some. He's trying really hard. He's seeing a psychologist now. Less than a week after our first session we were having emergency sessions, "interventions". We had two of those. Today Sebastian was with Daddy all day (shopping & home). He threatened to punch Daddy in the face, told him he hated him, threw a wooden train track at him, etc. Sadly, this is much better than usual. Sebastian at our second appointment..


 
 
Today Sebastian was telling Daddy that he was not his friend anymore. Willow walks up to Sebastian and loudly proclaims, "Bastian, you're my BEST FRIEND, Bastian!!!"

Daddy is currently building a bed for Judah (see above). It will be a loft bed, a nice espresso colored wood. It's going to be 50 inches high & with a ladder built in. 20 minutes after he started building he said, "Do you think Judah is going to be able to climb down a ladder in the middle of the night?" Judah is up at least twice every night, as is baby sister. So that was the first time THAT had occurred to us, sigh. Maybe we could put Willow in a bed like this just to keep her from climbing into bed with us every night!! Willow is actually sick right now, fever & achy. She says her neck & her feet hurt. Her feet seem to always hurt when she is sick - that's a telltale sign that she is sick. Interestingly Sebastian always says that he "can't walk" when he feels sick. If Judah had more language perhaps he would tell us that his knees buckle when he gets sick? What is happening with our children...

The kids were just exploding with happiness & frenzy on Christmas morning. The gifts weren't really handed out, the kids just started opening. I'm not sure quite how that happened. Daddy had the camera & got some great photos of the kids. Sebastian got a robot dog from Santa.. that he hasn't even taken out of the gift bag! We spent a lot of time trying to find a "robot" for him. He told Gramma not long ago that he has never gotten what he has asked Santa for (which has only been one thing to my knowledge - a really expensive Thomas the Train track piece). There was no way we weren't getting one of the 2 things that he asked Santa for this year! These items were: an invisible sander (a timer with sand, only without the sand so nobody knows when it's done.. duh) and a robot toy (vague!!). So he got a Zoomer, a $70 robotic dog. And that was a GOOD price for one!! We bought that I think literally the day before Christmas. And the Zoomer is still in the gift bag, has never been taken out.. and is now cozied up in the back corner of Sebastian's closet. What is happening with our children.......... You have a robot dog!!!!

Willow got a remote-controlled dog. It's sooo adorable. Unfortunately we didn't have the right size batteries for it - it takes the size that often go in smoke alarms. Who has those on hand?! I need to get her some soon. The battery issue has not stopped her from playing with her dog though!! That's for sure. She's such a dog girl.

I got Sebastian a guitar. He DID take that gift out of the box.. immediately so. Then Daddy decided he was going to tighten the strings. Sebastian stood in front of him and attempted to tighten a couple himself. Suddenly one pops! Busted string. They both immediately look over at me, as if I'm going to flip out or something, haha. At least that was only a $20 item, not a $70 one. I was really apprehensive about getting him that dog, given his level of destruction lately. One day he hurled the recliner into the couch & broke my wooden filing cabinet (as he was shoving it in front of a door to trap Willow & Daddy in a room) all within under 10 minutes. One day he hopped up on the dinner table barefoot & began dancing around our plates. There was an aide here. Daddy wasn't home yet. It's the kind of stuff that would probably be decent entertainment if it were happening in a movie, but in real life it just sucks. Like cars crashing off of cliffs & things like that, cool in movies, crappy in real life.

I should go help with that bed. Scott got me a sewing machine & French press (it reads - "have a GOOD cup of coffee" on the box, haha!) for Christmas. I got him an alien shooting game & a Dungeons & Dragons rule book - items that are completely foreign to me.

The kids all gifted one another this year. Judah's aide wanted him to buy gifts for each sibling and us, which brought about the first year of the siblings gifting one another. He made us a plate - it's really cool. He bought Willow a Sophia doll that she absolutely adores. Sebastian bought Willow an Elsa (Frozen) tiara that goes with the dress I gifted her. Judah got the absolute coolest gift of all, Sully. Sebastian & I found this Sully toy at Wal-Mart the other day and HAD to get it. Check it out:

http://youtu.be/MS5A0S_zFVk

http://youtu.be/XIeTd5m4IZE

Sometimes when Willow cries at night, Judah goes to check on her & climbs into her bed to sleep with her.
 
 
 
Willow with a Christmas gift from Meemaw & Granddad. The kids were all fighting over putting this together today.
 
 
 
 
Tonight Sebastian finally had a meal that he liked/approved of.

 

And Scott is getting closer to his goal...

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

"You Can't Catch Me, I'm The Gingerbread Man!!"

This is a pic of Judah and I in his class after we finished making his gingerbread man. I brought in the dough for the cookies. The kids cut and baked their own cookies. Unfortunately Judah would not eat his. He was very concerned about the gingerbread man remaining whole. He was a little stressed watching the others chew on Gingerbread feet and gingerbread arms!! They have been reading the story, so gingerbread men were very real to him! Pretty fun way to spend my birthday!!

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Santa

Willow was so worked up about going to see Santa. She didn't really understand how to answer the "What would you like for Christmas?" question. I didn't want to force an answer on here so I explained it as Santa giving her a "surprise" (she loves surprises & prizes). I asked her what she would want it to be. I did get a "cat" answer out of her. Her first answer was "a Christmas tree". She had the same answer yesterday. We should really get on that, haha. She also answered, "Pixie" and "a cup" and some other answers that weren't even nouns, haha.

Funny thing was, when we made it to Santa, her chatter suddenly stopped, her smile disappeared & her eyes grew big. She held my hand with one hand, the other hand was shaking a bit at her stomach. She had her pink travel cup around her neck. She had worn this all day long.. something I got for free that seems to be pure treasure to her. She had on her "Santa dress", a pair of black sparkle tights & her shiny black dress shoes. I had brushed her hair (she is beginning to allow this) and put in a headband that had a green & red sparkling flower on top. It had fallen off when I got her in her car seat. She was so concerned that it would be out of place if I put it back on (she had checked in the mirror the first time) that she began demanding a "new one". This Santa visit was SERIOUS STUFF.

She didn't speak a word to Santa. She barely looked at him. She did sit in his lap though and allow her picture to be taken. Last year she wasn't even in the picture - she was actually in the same outfit this year (minus the cute "Mrs. Claus" looking hat). Last year she was so freaked out we just couldn't bring ourselves to force her into a picture.. at your 3rd kid it really doesn't feel like complete necessity anymore. One year we handed Judah to Santa while he was sound asleep. He would have been kicking & screaming had he been awake - he was at that age. People asked us why we weren't waking him up. He was peaceful & with Santa.. and that was the only way that would be happening - if he was asleep! Honestly we felt that we had lucked out when we saw that he had cried himself to sleep while we were waiting in line!

This year Judah was walking in front of the camera.. this happened as probably 7 different kids took turns getting photographed with Santa. He would walk up to the monitor, check himself out, once even turning around & walking away as he checked out his backside! We were at my friend's coffee shop & knew a good handful of the parents there. Santa was in the back, kids were walking up to him when they felt ready or got bored with playing.. there was no line. It was pretty casual. My friend was running the Santa photography. Not one single parent complained to me about Judah walking in front of their kid, not one. Many smiled & talked to Judah. Eventually Judah made it to the Lego table and started chucking handfuls of tiny Legos into the air, like he was crashing cymbals in the sky that suddenly burst into a million tiny Legos rainbowing through the room. On his 3rd time making it to the Lego table to do this, my friend's kid walked over & joined him. Shit. Third time's a charm! We left. He grabbed one of the presents on the tables (decoration) and opened it as we were walking out, a trail of Peanuts wrapping paper behind him. He looked at the empty box as if he knew that's what it would be. He didn't even open it. He just set it on a table & walked away, ha.

Sebastian arrived with Gramma after we got there. Papa arrived. I definitely needed the help. At least 3 of my friends asked me when we got there.. "Do you have all three??" ha. Needless to say I couldn't order a coffee as I had to be on my toes, ready to dash across the room to Judah at any given second. He walked in front of the camera during one countdown and I couldn't pull him away! Thankfully it was my friend's kid.. and she thinks EVERYTHING is funny. The countdown.. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. and at that instant I yanked him away, the photo snapped and that poor kid's facial expression read, "What the heck is going on??", captured in time as his toddler Santa photo. My friend looked at me and said, "Perfect timing!!" with a huge smile on her face, ha. Some people understand that life is about the moment.. and that was what was happening at that moment. She definitely gets that. Judah did get a photo of his forehead taken as he was up close to the monitor when another countdown went off (no kid with Santa that time). These were all automatically uploading to FB.

Sebastian was very serious talking with Santa, nervous & worried too. He asked for an "invisible sander" (timer that uses sand) and a robotic dog. It wasn't until bedtime that he explained to us that the SAND was invisible, that's all. Of course this was with a, "Duh!!!" attitude. He asked if he would be allowed to keep it if Santa got it for him. ?? On the way home Sebastian let me know that he was very worried about making the "nice" list. He was very worried that he wasn't going to get any presents. He did everything I asked for nearly the first hour after we got home. But bedtime rolled around soon after, unfortunately. And the wild kid appeared. He jumped on Scott's back while Scott was on the floor picking up books. Scott had told him repeatedly that his back hurt right before that. He spit on his neck directly after jumping on him & then dipped toilet paper in the toilet & put THAT on his neck. His madness lasted for hours (last night he didn't go down until 11:30pm due to this stuff!). At one point he landed on Judah's head while Judah was in his bed trying to sleep. I very quickly got Judah out of bed and told him he would be sleeping in my bed. Sebastian asked, "Why does Judah get to do that??!" And I answered, "It's not a privilege. We are keeping him safe. He isn't safe sleeping in here." That just broke my heart knowing that he had just slammed his body on Judah's head. I think he was trying to jump on Scott & Judah was in between them.

Santa photos below... These are the best ones I got of them with Santa. Willow was pushing Judah in Santa's direction at one point, urging him to go see Santa. He did go up & shake Santa's hand, but was barely beside him for 5 seconds. The amount of people overwhelmed him & the excitement of Santa quadrupled that I'm sure. He was constantly on the go.





 

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Healed With A Hug

Sebastian behaviors continue to happen every night. He ran to the front door & barricaded it with the dog cage when Scott was arriving home. Sebastian threw toys & food at him minutes later, chasing him around the house. Last night he jumped around in 3 baskets of clean laundry yelling, "Clean laundry! Clean laundry!" Tonight while he was in a 100mph rage he followed Scott into the garage and came back with Willow's brand new Hello Kitty bike.. riding it through the kitchen. I got up from trying to get Willow down. She followed me in to see what was going on.. "My kitty bike!!" This craziness is upsetting in many different ways. When I see it very clearly impacting the other 2 kids, it hurts. He threw a water bottle at Judah tonight. Judah actually came to get me when this madness was taking off. We're looking into therapy.

I told Scott to separate himself from Sebastian.. Sebastian was running through the house with a bag of pretzel sticks, flinging it around in the air. I grabbed Sebastian and held him, he curled up on the floor, halfway pretending to get away and still screaming. I just held him and then started rubbing his back and continued to hold him for a long time. He calmed down. I didn't say a word. My tears started dropping onto the top of his head, but he couldn't see me, he didn't know I was crying. After much more silence, I told him that he was a good boy and told him how great he had done in karate tonight.. we also talked about his behaviors that had just occurred as we sat on the floor & ate pretzel sticks. He was okay after that. I was trying hard to think in "little kid" mode and talk to him in a way that would allow him to visualize and grab a better understanding of what I was trying to get across. It seemed to be sinking in. Of course, I'm sure it's not over. But I think, after our talk, that he may consider thinking in a new direction when he starts getting upset. And I definitely see a new option for us to use in helping him calm down. Kids need to be held & loved.. probably most so in situations you wouldn't assume could be healed with a hug. But as parents, that's something we should all see naturally.. why don't we?? I hope this remains crystal clear in my mind & comes to me naturally when these things happen. I love my kids so much, to the moon and back... and through the galaxies of complications & chaotic situations along the way.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Happy Birthday WIllow! You're 3!

Yesterday was Willow's birthday. I can totally believe that she is 3.. she looks it, she acts it.. well maybe she acts more 4. She's such a doll. I can't imagine being blessed with a more beautiful (inside & out) little girl. I love you so much Willow-bean!!

I just wrote my dad a big email in response to missing his voicemail yesterday. He'd called to wish our little lady a "Happy Birthday". I'm going to just paste that email here - since it has so much of what I would have written in here anyway! :)

Love you Willow!

Hi Dad,
 
Sorry we missed your call. Willow's party lasted a lot longer than we had planned! We didn't even get around to playing the "Pin the Bow on the Kitty" game I had made! I used that huge dry erase board you brought me as a big magnet for the game. Then I made a big Hello Kitty face out of poster board & put it on the dry erase board. I made bows out of different brightly colored ribbons & hot-glued a strong magnet on the back of each one. Each bow was very different, so the kids could pick the one they wanted and they would also easily be able to point out which bow was theirs at the end of the game.. making it easy to see who had won. The Hello Kitty bow was pretty big, making the game easier for 2 & 3 year olds, & more than one kid could potentially "win".
 
I was very proud of it.. and it was displayed in front of the fireplace throughout the entire party. But before we knew it, people had to leave to get home for dinner & such.. they'd been at our house for 3 hours! It was supposed to be a 1-2 hour party.
 
Willow pointed out to us after she saw her first Hello Kitty that Hello Kitty had no mouth! I had honestly never realized that!
 
Willow loved all of her gifts  - she laid in bed tonight telling me each one and smiling after she said each one. Then I'd name the ones that she hadn't listed and her face would light up again. We tried to keep the party small, but the gift pile still seemed to somehow outnumber the amount of guests we had. She got a bit of each of her favorites- Elsa ("Frozen"), My Little Pony, Hello Kitty & Sophia the First. Judah's aide brought in the biggest gift.. a Hello Kitty shopping cart! Equipped with a cup holder & a cup that looked like a travel coffee cup! J's aide was actually on the clock while she was there - she was a big help! She even did Willow's hair for the party! Judah was pretty overwhelmed by the amount of people and also hurt his leg outside, which only added to the stress I'm sure. I was kind of sad that he was overstimulated when we sang "Happy Birthday" & when Willow blew out the candle. Usually that's his favorite part, but he wasn't able to really enjoy it this time, due to the environment he was in.
 
J's party will be on Sunday. We will again try to keep it small.. inviting only 3 boys. Two of them are in his class. He's very good friends with his classmates. I've never seen Judah as happy in class as I have this year. He greets his friends every morning when they get off the bus, "Hi Jacob! Hi Ross!" Sometimes they even hug! He greets the 3rd kid too. The 3rd kid has some physical challenges that don't allow him to rough house with the other 3 boys. They are all great friends though. Judah loves to run around with Jacob & Ross in the gym. Scott & I each happen to have a friend with a 4 year old boy who has autism. They both have daughters Willow's age too! These friends were at Willow's party.. we'll invite one to J's party. More kids would just be too much for him.
 
If you have a chance to call tomorrow, I'm sure the birthday kids would love to hear from you! And Sebastian would love to fill you in on his karate - he seems to be a natural at that! He's actually taking a leadership & black belt class now - the instructors hand picked him from classes of more than 30 kids as a good candidate for those, so we signed him up!
 
Sorry again about missing your call. Today I was hit with a migraine, just too much going on at once.. this was a bad migraine though, vomiting & such. Scott had to take the day off work. I'm starting to feel much better though.
 
Talk soon, love, Molly.