Seuss Birthday

We're quickly approaching another holiday season! Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas-- and in our house both birthdays for the kids too.

I got to planning this year's party (we're doing a "Go Dog, Go!" theme), and I realized I never posted about last year's party. Last year, we did a Dr. Seuss themed messy play date and it was a blast! This was my first attempt at putting together a creative/fun kids party and I'm quite proud of it.

My wonderful sister helped me out by making a great invitation using her mad Photoshop skills:

I made all of the decorations myself by either finding free printables online or painting my own. These two big signs I made for decoration, and we also used the second to play "Pin the Heart on the Grinch."

I also made the cakes. They aren't anything special, just a box mix from the store, strawberry for Madison and Chocolate for Jacob. I got to play with my new cake decorating kit that I received as a wedding gift, and that was fun! Also, if you're wondering how I did the images, it's not that I'm an amazing artist. As much as I wish that was the case, this is how I did it. That trick changed my life. I actually found and pinned most of my ideas for this party on Pinterst. You can check out my boards if you want to see where I came up with some of the other ideas.

For the messy play stations, I tried to use as many different Seuss books as I could. We had a Sneech Beach Dig (not pictured), which was just a large bucket of beach sand with sea creatures to dig for and find.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the Grinch game either, but the kids loved it!

What you're seeing in the next two pictures is the "Who Snow," made out of cloud dough. It molds and shapes easily and is a lot of fun. It was by far the most popular station.

Madi and cousin Liam playing in the Who Snow

Jacob wasn't impressed with the texture, so he just watched.

There was also a table with some giant Dr. Seuss coloring pages, which I think was Jacob's favorite. Here's a picture of the Birthday Buddies at the coloring table:

Another station was Bartholomew’s Oobleck Goo, made out of corn starch and water. I added food coloring to make it green. This stuff is a lot of fun! It's acts like a solid and a liquid at the same time and was quite fascinating to the kids. Also not pictured is the "Fox in Socks Puppet Box," which had supplies to make sock puppets. There were more adults than kids at that one, but hey! Everyone had fun. 

My sister and her daughter playing in the Goo

 Time for Food! My food table was a lot of fun. Again, I tried to make sure everything tied in to the Seuss theme.

This is what we served:
 Green Eggs and Ham (deviled eggs and rolled Ham)

Grinch Punch (green Hawaiian punch and sprite)

Yink’s Pink Ink (pink lemonade)

Star Belly and Plain Belly cookies (iced sugar cookies)

Hop on Pop Kettle Corn 

New fish, Old fish, Swedish fish, Gold fish

From there to here, from here to there, yummy veggies everywhere!

Everything had a theme-appropriate sign, all of which I made using my own mad Paint skills. That wasn't so easy...I need to invest in Photoshop! I had signs for the stations too, but didn't get pictures of those. I was too busy running around to make sure pictures were taken, but I'm happy with the results. 

Star Belly Cookies and Hop on Popcorn

Lorax Cookies and Seuss Sticks

Swedish Fish and Goldfish 

Grinch Punch

Green Eggs and Ham

Please note the awesome Seuss Straws on the right in the above picture. Those were a dollar store find! The next picture is not exciting, but I did want to show that I bought mini board book versions of Seuss books as party favors.

 Jacob was very excited to wear his Green Eggs and Ham shirt and he loved his cake! This picture captures his excitement pretty well.

All in all, it was a blast and the kids had so much fun. It was one of those times where I was pretty sure it was going to be a complete mess (kind of like my wedding), but it all pulled together in the end!

Pretend Play!

Over the past couple months, we have been trying to get Jacob used to the idea of pretend play. He has always preferred "concrete" forms of play that are specific activities with little to no imagination needed. This has been one of my biggest concerns with him since it is a behavior that is typical in children with Autism.

What started out as complete meltdowns in trying to get him to do something other than puzzles, books and blocks gradually turned into a distant interest. He would sit and watch as Austin and I, or whoever else was there, would play with dolls, pretend food, or cars. This was exciting on its own, because before he wanted nothing to do with it! Even if he was looking at us like we were crazy, at least he was watching.

Over the last several years, my cousin Katey has been a wonderful friend and teacher for Jacob. She is passionate about helping him and has spent the last two summers home from college as his habilitation provider. She worked with him a lot on pretend play, and I truly feel that she has helped him progress tremendously. In the last month, Jacob has started to ask to play with his "house" and has even done some pretend food play on his own. Everything he acts out has been something that we have shown him to do, but it's a start!

I'm writing about this today because I feel like we have made a leap in progress again. He asked to play with his house again and I brought it down for us while Madison napped. This is a Playmobil Summer House, which is great for him because there are so many pieces and he can put it all together, but not so great for Madi, who likes to put everything in her mouth. So we only get it out while she's napping or out with daddy.

Jacob got the people out and labeled them all for me, "Boy, dirl (girl), boy, dirl." Then he set up the table and beds as he usually does. He likes to set up the table but doesn't bother with any of the house's many other pieces unless we ask him to. I asked him if he thought the boy should take a bath and he told me, "Lay down!" This is a new phrase for him and he's been saying it a lot, so that's good. Then, he put all the dolls in their beds and said, "Boy, dirl, nigh nigh!"

Jacob playing with his "House"

Later in the day, long after we had put away the house, Jacob kept saying, "Bed, bed, bed!" to me. I wasn't paying him much attention because I was brushing my hair, but he kept saying it. I finally looked around and was about ready to ask him if he wanted to take a nap. What I saw when I turned around was that he had taken a pillow and put it in a laundry basket, which he was laying down in. I was so happy to see that! I asked him if he was pretending to be in a bed and with a big goofy smile on his face he said, "Yeah!"

I know that seems insignificant compared to other children his age that are talking up a storm and coming up with wacky stories all over the place, but for us this is a huge deal! He is self-initiating in pretend play, which hasn't happened hardly at all. I was proud of him for just repeating what we did when we played with the house, but I have never ever pretended to make a bed with a laundry basket. That was completely his idea. It's a big step developmentally for him, and I am a proud momma!

Summer Update

It's been a few weeks since I've posted and a lot has happened! The family trip to Disneyland went as well as expected. Jacob was crazy with excitement when he met Mickey Mouse, and Madison especially loved the dancing and singing that happens in the "It's a Small World" ride.

The trip was excellent, and my children behaved well, although they were exhausted. I will say that Madi had enough of the stroller before our two days in the park were up, but she was a trooper. It is definitely a different experience, enjoying the park as a parent. I have always been a fan of Disneyland, and have been to the park with my parents as a child, and also as an adult. Last time I went, it was just Austin and me, which was great because we were able to do whatever we wanted without worrying about the agendas of various group members. I have always been a thrill seeker and lover of the "big kid rides," but this trip I found myself getting excited about the little stuff and the shows. I was more interested in seeing how my children reacted to their surroundings than having fun myself. Needless to say, they did not disappoint and I had a blast!

I downloaded the Disneyland app on our iPad before the trip to help give Jacob an idea of what we were going to do. It was a great tool for helping to prepare him and I'm so glad I did. (The app was free, for anyone who is interested). He still looks at it almost every day, and he calls out certain places he remembered and liked. This has been a great activity for recalling memories with Jacob.

Another great thing from our trip: Since we have been home, Winnie the Pooh has been loved in our house as much as The Rodent (Mickey Mouse), and for that I am thankful.
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I have some other exciting news! In the past month, Austin and I have finally set a date for our wedding (you know, the one that was supposed to happen and then Madison happened instead. ;)

We will be married this October in a Masquerade Ball wedding inspired by the Phantom of the Opera. I am so excited- this theme encompasses the geekyness in my soul. It's going to be a small backyard wedding, and I'm attempting to DIY for almost everything, so it has kept me very busy! (Which in turn has kept me from posting).

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The kids have been busy too. Madison is seven months old now, and she is crawling all over and cruising the furniture. She is an incredibly busy lady who is difficult to direct. She's also started getting some solids,  and she is OBSESSED! Every time she sees someone eating something she has to crawl over and open her mouth as wide as she can. It's cute and very funny.

I am slightly concerned because she doesn't seem too interested in making a lot of closed mouth/syllable type sounds. She babbles all the time, but it's mostly open mouth sounds. I'm trying not to be too paranoid, but given Jacob's delays, it's proving difficult.

Jacob is doing well. He's started spontaneously using some sentences to make requests, and his vocabulary is growing every day. Unfortunately, he's also adopted a nasty temper, which has been very trying on my patience. Any time he hears something he doesn't want to, such as the word "no" or a redirection when he is misbehaving, he puts his hands over his ears and screeches a most horrible banshee screech. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with that one. It's really hard to reason with a child who can't hear what you are saying because he screams every time you try to talk to him. I'll let you know if I crack this code in the near future. Any suggestions are always appreciated.

I finally got Jacob in to see the developmental pediatrician that we have been waiting to see for some time now, so we are on the road to finally determining a diagnosis for him. Hearing problems were ruled out by the Audiologist, and he no longer has tubes in his ears. I'm pleased to hear that he can hear fine, but I can't help but mourning the news a bit because it means his delays are developmental and there is another cause somewhere. Some people might judge me for that, but it's just how I feel. It's hard for me to cope with the knowledge that my baby might struggle socially and with communication for his whole life.

Anyway, we are going to do some bloodwork to rule out genetic disorders like Fragile X, and if nothing is found he will go through extensive testing for Autism.

No matter what, I love the little guy and putting a label on him is not going to change that. The only reason I want answers is so we can find out if there is anything else I can be doing to help him.

Thanks for reading this update! Hopefully it won't be too long before I post again.

Over-Sharing on Facebook

I see a lot of negativity in the social media world aimed at people who share pictures and stories about their children on a regular basis. Although it has not ever been directed at me personally to my knowledge, it sometimes makes me feel self-conscious about the updates I share. Then I take a step back and remind myself that I have no reason to feel that way.

I have an eclectic group of friends on Facebook that have many different interests, some of which I couldn't care less about (Such as sports or who they are currently fighting via text message). I do, however, care about my friends and want to hear about their lives. That's why I have subscribed to their updates. I think it is only right to assume that people feel the same about me if they have chosen to be "friends" with me.

This article, which I read this evening, made a very good point. Everyone tends to over-share, whether it is about their children or not. I have a couple different thoughts about this. For one, I think that people are less inhibited by the face to face social barriers that stop us from saying too much in person. You can't see anyone's reaction, so there is less embarrassment if the reaction is negative. But mostly, I think people are craving reassurance, connection, and validation from each other.

However, I do not think that sharing pictures of your children on a daily basis, or letting me know how you feel about the football game you are watching is too much information. There is a limit, of course- I'm not interested in seeing graphic pictures of what your son ate after it came out the other end, nor do I want an every-20-second play by play of the game I have no interest in. Am I going to "un-friend" you because of it? No, but I'll probably hide that particular post. Honestly, the only thing that really gets to me on Facebook is negativity. Too many "The World Hates Me" posts will probably get you axed from my newsfeed.

I have three major reasons why I share regular updates about my children on Facebook. My number one reason is that I am proud of my children! I love them, and I want to share their accomplishments with my friends. Also important to me is the fact that I have many friends and family members who live far away and are not able to see us as much as they want to. These people enjoy my updates and it is a great way to share despite the distance. My third reason is simply the fact that I am home with my children all day, and if I didn't talk about them, I'd have nothing to talk about!

I'm not going to apologize for my updates and pictures of my children, nor will I discontinue posting them if someone decides to get their panties in a wad over it. I genuinely like seeing what my friends are up to via Facebook, and I assume they enjoy seeing what we're doing. If that's not the case, then I imagine it's a lot easier to click the "Hide Updates" button than it is to complain about it.