Noah's Birthday Outing (in lieu of a party)

Once we decided not to do a friend party this year, I knew exactly where I wanted to take Noah for his birthday. I used to take my little brother and sister there when they were kids, and they always had the best time.

The cool part is that you don't have to be a member to swim. They offer day passes for non-members. It's not super cheap, but definitely affordable. Fortunately for us, Noah had on his autism shirt. I usually put it on him when we go out to potentially crowded places, just so people are a little more aware of him. Add that to the fact that he's so cute? Well, apparently that equals a big discount. Like almost $20 off the price that we should've been charged. Score.

This was the Best. Decision. EVER.

Noah had such a good time. We ended up staying for four hours, only for a brief 10 minute break to eat a snack. Other than that, he was in the water. Little man couldn't get enough.

 

I think one of the best parts of this place for me was the fact that I didn't have to play lifeguard the whole time. I mean, we act like his bodyguards constantly anyway, but because it was so shallow, I wasn't panicking every few minutes trying to keep him alive. haha.

He ended up having such a great time, that I almost feel bad for not taking him sooner. There are only a few more weeks to take him, so we've already planned on taking him at least once a week until it closes.

He's not spoiled at all...

:)

Birthday Day

We do birthdays big around here. It's mostly because we have so much family... I mean, we haven't even seen Brad's parents for Noah's birthday yet! I'm blessed that my grandparents live a really long time, and that we have so much family nearby.

It ended up being a little cloudy and cool on his actual birthday, so we decided to just hang out at home. Keep the day simple... play with toys, eat a cupcake... just be together.

The day started with his annual birthday balloon wake-up call. Pretty sure it was a total Pinterest idea, but I started doing this two years ago. It was a huge hit, so I kept it up. :)

 

 

The cute part was that he seemed to get it this year. For those of you who have kids that watch Curious George, there's an episode where they're throwing a surprise party for the Quints. One of the characters is blowing up balloons, and George yells (in monkey talk), "surprise!"

 

Well, Noah acted out that scene with the balloons. Over and over. :)

 

Downstairs, we had his birthday presents waiting for him. It took him about .3 seconds to get from the stairs to the one thing he's been obsessed with for weeks...

 

 

He got lots of practice outside, but I think we're going to have to take him to a big parking lot and let him go for it. All that turning around gets old.

 

 

And of course no birthday of Noah's would be complete without some dirt...

 

 

At one point, Noah grabbed both our hands and asked to go for a walk. So we did.

 

 

And once we got back, it was apparently time for a wagon ride. So we went.

 

 

It ended up being a perfect day. It probably helped that he got to do basically everything he asked us to do, but still... awesome awesome day.



4.

Four years.

It's been four years since this little guy made us a family.

At four years old, Noah has brought us more joy, more sweetness, and just more... everything. Everything good and right with the world can be found in my little guy's soul. He wears his heart on his sleeve, cuddling up when the mood strikes... getting a perfect frown when he scrapes his knee, whimpering, "okie, okie"... or throwing a fit when he hears his least favorite word in the world right now, "wait".

But I like that fighting spirit that's slowly showing itself lately. While it's not much fun to deal with as a parent right now? It's going to come in handy one day for him.

This little boy is amazing. While he sometimes struggles with expressing himself through verbal communication, he excels like a champ in areas like science and math. Hearing my (just now) four year old suddenly count, "three-six-nine-twelve"? Blows my mind.

He's now learning to put on his own shoes, sit up for long periods of time without leaning or propping himself up, ride a bike, make great eye contact, follow simple directions, learn "first and then", and other awesome accomplishments. Lots of small things, all adding up to big things.

Noah has taught us more about perseverance, patience, faith, and hope in these last four years than anything else. I adore this kid. I'm so happy he is who he is, and I'm forever proud to be his Momma.

birthday weekend

First, I want to say thanks for all the sweet words from my last post. You have no idea how much it helps to know I'm not the only one dealing with this kind of toddler craziness. This is why I love the blog world so much. So much cheaper than therapy. :)

Thankfully, the weekend went much better.

Saturday my dad, stepmom, and brother came over to celebrate Noah's birthday. Brad decided to do another seafood boil (dude loves those things). Our neighbor let us borrow one of their bike/big wheel type things, so he got to practice with that a little. I'm glad I decided to keep things simple this year. I think Noah had a lot of fun just being with his family.

My dad's presence is now synonymous with ice cream in Noah's mind. We don't keep ice cream here (and if we buy any for ourselves, we hide it), because Noah would insist on eating it for every meal. So the grandparents' love to spoil him and keep it at their houses for when he comes over.
Except this time, they came to our house. And within minutes of my dad's arrival, Noah went straight to the freezer, pulled out the ice cream my dad brought (he didn't even know my dad brought any), placed it on the table, grabbed a spoon, sat down, and waited for someone to dish it out. lol.



My parents kept the gifts small, per our request, opting to give him a membership to a local kids' museum. We use to go there ALL the time before our membership ran out. I'm so excited to take him again. I know he'll love it!

Last night, we headed up to my grandma's house to celebrate with my mom, stepdad, little sister, Mamaw, and aunt (grandma's sister). And of course, Chase came along too.

 

Also, no kid birthday would be complete without blue frosting. The kind that stains everything, including your teeth.

 

Noah loved everyone singing to him. He covers up his ears a lot with certain sounds, but it's not out of sensory defensiveness. It's more of a, "Oh, there's a new sound..." He loved it so much, we sang it twice. :)

 (see? I'm not blurry in the shots above, but I DO have blue teeth... score)

 

My parents, again, kept things simple. They still gave him something to open, but both my Mamaw and my parents gave us money to go get him what we knew he'd love, instead of guessing and ending up with toys he won't play with. Best decision ever, IMO.

 



 

And what is it with guys not telling you what kind of face they're going to make in photos? Like, girls will be all, "Okay, serious face" and "Okay, now a goofy face". But no, guys just make a face, leaving you looking like a goober. Whatever. I think Chase is the one that looks like a goober instead. ;)

 

My stepdad brought his bb gun along. Usually, they shoot the shotgun out there (because apparently, it's legal at my grandma's house... she lives in the boonies). But they played it safe this time (thank God).

 

 

 

 

 

The plus side to having a friend stay with us right now is that Brad and I get to go birthday shopping for Noah and don't even have to worry about coordinating a babysitter!

So that's where we're headed now.

 

Lots more birthday fun to come. :)

 





blog therapy (alternate title: who is THIS kid?!)

Most of the stories and pictures I share about Noah are happy ones. And to be honest, there really are a lot of these kinds of days...

Days where he's happy, smiley, and oozes sweetness. He's always been sweet. Aside from those first couple months of colic, he was all smiles, coos, and giggles 99% of the time.

 

 

Friday was not one of those days though.

Things went from bad to worse, starting with what was supposed to be a fun family outing. We went to pick out new shoes for me (I realized I hadn't gotten new running shoes since Christmas, and that may be why my knee and big toe have been hurting like crazy). I already knew it would be testing Noah taking him there, so I tried to make a decision as quickly as possible. Brad did really well watching Noah. Unfortunately, Noah didn't understand why he couldn't run up and down the aisles like he used to when he was a lot smaller. Brad would tell him "no", and I could hear the whining, followed by a dead-weight Noah falling to the floor. People look, we ignore them, and Noah can't figure out why we're being mean.

 

There's a pet store near the shoe store, so I tried to remedy the situation by letting him look at the animals... especially the fish. Dude loves fish. Figures he'd love the least social animal in there. lol.

 

Anyway, Noah was already annoyed with Brad. So when Brad told him not to touch the water, Noah turned around and told Brad to go away. He kept waving his arm for Brad to go away until Brad disappeared down an aisle. I happened to think it was hilarious.

We stayed there for a good half hour, just watching all of the fish. When we decided it was time to go, Noah wasn't having it. Cue lots of fussing and dead weight again. Brad had to carry him out like a football. The kid is a good 45 lbs at least. And tall.

 

We had to go to the grocery store, which I should've known would be a mistake since it wasn't Target (where his Starbucks barista girlfriend saves him some pumpkin bread). He was hungry (even after two freebie cookies) and spotted his favorite... Lays potato chips. He zeroes in on those bright yellow bags. I got him the snack size, and we tried to ring it up at the self checkout... which of course wasn't working. I told him to "wait", which is his least favorite word ever. Cue whining and fussing again. Finally, we got him his chips, and things got better. Except that our nerves were wearing thin and we still didn't know what to do for dinner.

 

I asked Brad what he wanted, and he informed me that he was driving to McD's, whether I approved or not. haha. Again, I tried to compensate for a crappy day, so I asked Brad to order Noah a vanilla cone. I handed it to Noah, and he proceeded to just hold it. Didn't eat it. Just let it sit there and melt in his hand. So I reached back to grab it from him, just to lick around it so it wouldn't melt all over his hands. He didn't want to give it up, even though he wasn't eating it. So when I went to grab it, he squeezed the bottom, causing it to break in half. So here I was holding a melting top to an ice cream cone.

 

We made it home in piece (albeit sticky).

 

Me, being ever the optimist, decided we needed to take a time out. Go for a walk. We put Noah in his wagon and walked around the neighborhood. It's part of our little summer evening routine, and it never fails to lift our moods. It really was a nice break.

 

Until we got home. Brad went to get something out of his car. Noah was with him. Noah proceeded to shut his fingers in the door. Kid was screaming.

 

Thankfully, because Noah was the one that shut it, it wasn't a hard shut. His fingers aren't even bruised, but I know it hurt.

 

The pain made him angry. Brad was trying to put ice on it, while I attempted to comfort him. Because that's what moms do. Every time we said, "It's okay", he only escalated. As if to say, "What the flip are you talking about, it's most definitely NOT OKAY!"  I tried doing the deep pressure occupational therapy techniques to help him calm down. It usually works, and that's what we're supposed to do. Well, Noah wasn't having it.

He hauled off and smacked me.

 

My sweet, happy, smiley baby boy... who until this week hasn't hit anyone ever... hit me.

 

That did it. I couldn't take any more. I broke down into sobs.

I can put up with a lot. A lot a lot. I can handle my kid never calling me "Momma". Ever. I can handle the fact that he doesn't really have friends (nor does he care). I can handle that I'm still having to change my very large 4 yr old's diapers that he's outgrowing. I can handle that I'm constantly making two meals for dinner, because he's such a picky eater. I can handle that my son can't tell me what he's thinking or feeling. What he understands and what he doesn't. I can handle the onslaught of opinions about how to parent and help my son. I can handle running him around to therapy after therapy, in hopes that one day all of this will add up and result in a high-functioning ASD person. I can even handle tantrums... they really don't bother me that much, because I refuse to indulge them.

 

But having my naturally tender-hearted boy, who I do so freaking much for, turn around and smack me when I'm trying to comfort him? Yeah, that was too much. I can't handle that.

 

Frankly, I think it's okay to admit when something is too much. Parenting a special needs kid requires putting on a brave face every day. Not letting the struggles dig their way into your heart and make you resentful. Allowing God to step in and give you the strength to deal with all of the extras that come along with this particular call in life.

I totally understand why he hit me. It had nothing to do with me in particular. His fingers hurt, it made him mad, and this was his only way to communicate his anger and frustration. It made him feel better to lash out.

 

I adore my baby. Our days are almost always good. This is just a blip compared to the big picture. But sometimes it helps to write it out. Get some blog therapy. In my case, I had to get it out, so I can move on and celebrate my baby's birthday this week.

 

Here's hoping for a few days of no tantrums and lots of fun. :)

 

A mini Noah update

Every day, Noah turns more and more into a typical toddler. Now that he's on a routine and better sleep schedule, he's no longer constantly sleep deprived. Which means he wakes up and wants to do stuff. Like be pulled in a wagon in 90+ degree heat.

Or play in the car...

Or eat paper...



Or explore in the garage...

 

Or bake cookies...

 

 

And then throw the cookies...

 

 

 

Seriously, by the end of the day, I'm exhausted. It's a good kind of exhausted though.

He's also making his preferences known more. Last night, he absolutely did not want to wear his Thomas pj pants. However, he was cool with wearing comfy shorts. I guess the pants were making him too hot at night?

And oh the tantrums.
For the first time in his entire almost-4-years of existence, he shoved someone when he got mad. He was cranky (he actually was sleep deprived yesterday), and his speech therapist was making him work for his goldfish crackers. He knew they were in her lap, so he reached for them instead of doing what she asked first. Of course, she didn't give him one, and he pushed her a little. My sweet, tender-hearted little boy who makes people laugh because his tantrums are so mild... shoved someone. Speech therapists will do that to ya though. haha. I swear she makes that little brain of his do more work than he ever has before. It's uncomfortable for him.

But oh my goodness, she has done more for him in the last month than the public school therapist was able to do for him the entire year. It makes me want to cry and hug her neck. And also be angry at our local school system for being so crappy... to the teachers, therapists, and kids. Seriously, our area's schools are awful. But I won't get into that here. We'll just leave it at, "My kid will not be attending them." ;)

We've been working on waiting recently. Noah, being autistic and an only child, absolutely loathes the word "wait". He's getting much better though. He'll get annoyed at first, then look intently in our eyes and repeat, "wait!"

Or if we tell him to clean up, he'll respond with "wait!" haha.

I can't believe he's turning 4 next week. It's just too soon. It's gone too fast. We've got a lot of celebrating to do this weekend, starting tonight with "uncle" Chase coming back into town. And hopefully some 4 yr birthday pictures squeezed in there too.

Have a great weekend!