Winter, Big boy bed, and more!

So it may be hard to see, but this picture was the start to a very big change for Grayson in 2014.   He started throwing his leg over the side of the crib. I don't know if he was just stretching or plotting an exit, but I wasn't willing to take a chance.  We decided to get him a toddler bed, and exactly four days later, we had a new bed in his room.  Yes, we could have gotten a "tent" to put above it, but his sleeping pattern has been horrendous lately anyway.  For the last month, he has been up for between 1-3 hours in the middle of the night.  Not crying or upset, just awake.  Babbling, yelling, kicking, running around the crib.... So we figured, if this moving to a bed thing was going to be a shitshow, we might as well do it now, while we aren't sleeping anyway.

We were both very nervous since any two year old might have an issue with this transition, but typically children with Autism have a much harder time with transitions, especially our little man.  We could not have been more thrilled with his reaction.

 After bath time we do naked reading in the room.  Him, not us. :)   And as soon as he saw the bed, he ran right for it.

 Pulled the covers over himself and laid down.

 We were so excited that we dressed him in his PJs in bed and read his stories in his bed.  How do you think he felt about his new bed?  That smile is worth a million words.

He typically sleeps in a bat cave with black out shades on the windows,  but because this was a new thing, and we were sure he would get out of bed, we put a nightlight back in his room. Didn't want him running around in the dark. He fell asleep great, just like he normally would.  As soon as the clock struck somewhere between 1 and 3,he ran around at night for hours, just like he would in his crib.   Then I decided to turn the night light off.  That  fixed that problem.  He is about 50/50 now, two weeks later for being awake in the middle of the night for an extended period of time, but he stays in the bed.  Nap time has been a different issue.  After about a week of no naps, and yes, he does NEED a nap, I decided to use the pack and play for nap time.  Of course, if he is given the option to run around the room, he is going to.  If not, he has about a 80% chance of napping.  So, I will do anything to increase his chances of napping.

 One day I decided to put him on top of the mailbox as we were playing outside.  He loves it and now likes to be put up there to look around, then get down, and go back up again.  It is a great workout for Mommy's arms.

Grayson's teacher at pre-school asked if we take hand me down clothes. Duh, I said.  I couldn't have been luckier with the bag she gave me.  All Ralph Lauren Polo tops.  I couldn't resist this picture.  What a handsome little devil.

 We have actually had a winter this year!  A late one....but nevertheless, a winter!  We have been building lots of fires and Daddy is an expert pyromaniac.  Grayson loves them.  Above he is enjoying a snack by the fire and below he is admiring the fire from afar.

 He has made so much progress in so many areas recently.   This ATV was a gift from his godfather, for his second birthday.  He was scared when we have tried to put him on it in the past and cried to get off immediately.  I don't know why I was feeling confident, but I put him on it, and away he went with a great big smile on his face.

At circle time at ABA they watch videos on the computer that are teaching different skills.  All of his therapists there always tell me that he loves circle time because of the music.  So we decided to download the songs on our Ipad and let him watch them here.  One of his personal favs is Usher singing the alphabet with the Sesame Street crew.  Who wouldn't love that??!

Side note- things are going very well at ABA.  He is signing for about 10 different objects; cereal, chip, banana, raisin, music, slide, swing, drink, ball, and jump.  We are thrilled that he has been able to imitate these signs since that was one of our biggest priorities when starting ABA.  Imitation has always been a huge struggle for Grayson.  So we have overcome that obstacle, and we know that G knows that when he signs for something he gets something, but based on the amount of incorrect signs, and scrolling, going through multiple different signs when asking, we are still working on trying to get him to link the correct sign with the correct reinforcement.  Nevertheless, they love working with him and always tell us what great work he has done that day.   He is starting to babble a ton more.  So they are trying to have him make a verbal request as well as signing for an item. Any verbal request that comes out of his mouth is celebrated and reinforced. Since that is going so well, they are now trying to shape his sounds.  This is where imitation comes in again.  He has NEVER imitated vocally, so I am sure this will take time, but we are thrilled with the prospect.

We always have made leaps and bounds of progress socially and sensorily.  We went to Pump it Up last night for a party.  It is a place with inflatables for jumping and sliding.  Last time we were there was a year ago for another party.  This is when we had just started with Early Intervention and were at the peak of all of his issues.  We had a Grayson glued to our bodies that would scream cry when we would put him down.  There are three different rooms that you are in, 40 minutes in each room.  By the last room, where we got to eat pizza and cake, he started to mellow out a bit.

Fast forward a year.   He LOVED it.  Went right in and did a few laps and circles with a smile on his face.  Then went right with Daddy down the huge slide which resulted in a huge smile.  They had a mini roller coaster with two small hills.  He transitioned so well between the two activities and was such a good listener when it was time to switch to the next room.  We went in all the inflatables, obstacle courses, and slides alike.  He kept grabbing one of our hands and pulling us back to the start to go again.  What a pleasurable time we all had.
Really makes us look back at all the progress he has made, and although we still have a lot of work to do, it reminded me that this is a marathon not a sprint, and we have to stop to celebrate the great successes that we have achieved along the way.   Enjoy the two videos from the fun we had last night!

Zoo Lights 2013

This year was the second annual Zoo Lights put on by the Jacksonville Zoo. I had never heard of it before a few weeks ago, but it seemed cool enough.  Especially seeing Grayson's eyes when going to look at Christmas lights.  Being able to see all the lights and have room to roam=an excellent day in his eyes!  We strolled around a little, but he was so amped up, he wanted OUT of the stroller after about 50 feet.   We also took the train around the zoo, which was really neat.  All kinds of light decorations on the perimeter. The above "selfie" is from the train.

 This little nook was really neat....all kinds of purple lights.  So cool.

 Mini photo op with Daddy and Mommy.  Too bad the lights are so much more impressive in person!

 This was our view for pretty much the whole night.

 Thumbs up for Hanukkah!

 Merry Christmas from Flipper!

 Wish he was smiling, but what a face!

 Last stop...the carousel!  He LOVED it.....We just planned our first trip to Disney for the end of February.  I think it will be great once the rides actually start.  The waiting in line and waiting on the ride for it to begin......not so much.   But the smiles that followed when the ride began were priceless.

 A stolen kiss.....one of my favorite pictures in a while.

McGahee Visit 2013

We had a great visit with the McGahee family this past weekend.   We wish they could have stayed for longer, but we made the most out of the time we had.  We loved playing the drums together.  They are pictured many times on this blog..but notice the different outfits.....

Love this picture.  I was singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider to try to get some smiles from my man and they both kept looking up.  Thought it was hysterical.

And then we were just super smiley.   Look at the pose on the hand and the ankles crossed.  James is still looking for that pesky spider on the ceiling.

"Grayson I am right here.... look at me."

Some quality play time with the shape sorter.

Introducing Baby Luke!   Just chilling on the play mat.

Three cousins.

Post nap time playing.  AKA Grayson sitting nicely trying to steal James' Fruit Loops.

Three cousins at snack time.   Well...G and J are snacking.....Little Lukey is just eyeing the bag.  "When do I get some of those?"

We took a trip up to the park to do a little swinging and sliding.

Walking home from the park.  Too exhausting for the big kids....they have their own transportation.

The Motley Crew-all the boys.

While on this trip Jennie and I had decided to get tattoos in memory of our mom.   We both took sayings that she had written off of cards or letters to us and had the tattoo artist trace them on our wrists.  Now it forever looks like she signed us.  

I had such a cool moment while getting my tattoo done.  Punk music was on the Pandora station of the radio.  When it was my turn to get in the chair, the song finished, and on came Dion and the Belmonts "Teenager in Love."  This was the song that would play when my mom and I would go to our favorite arts/crafts festival in south Florida called Woodstock.  Anytime it was on the radio she or I would call the other to listen to it together. We were all speechless as it was so different from the music that had been playing for the entire hour that we had been there.  We knew my Mom's spirit was there with us.  What an amazing day.

The finished products.  Jennie's on the top, mine on the bottom.

Hanukkah 2013

 So this year Hanukkah fell VERY early. With all that had happened in the month of November, I was not at all prepared for celebrating Hanukkah when Thanksgiving rolled around.  That being said, we couldn't let the holiday pass us by without getting any presents for our little guy.  Above is this year's holiday card.

 Grayson sitting with all of his wrapped loot.  This year I decided to try something different.  I used wrapping paper, tons of it, last year, and he couldn't have cared less about what was inside.  When I would get his attention, he would have trouble even getting the ripping started and would lose interest.  So, I decided this year I would use tissue paper. Much easier to get into.

Got him a travel magna doodle.  Here he is with Daddy showing him how to work it.

 This was the hit of the presents.  8 strings of colored beads from the Dollar Store.  Little things in life.

  He did so well with the tissue paper.  He was engaged and was able to get into the gifts with ease.

 Working with a new puzzle.  Showing off his mastery of matching!

 Being a goofball with his beads!  Great smile!!

 He likes to do this move all over the house.   The floor, the couch, the crib......

 Ripping into another present.....out comes, a blankie!!

 Connecting beads makes him happy.  Actually the sound they make while hitting them together makes him happy, but whatever!

 Playing with his new drum set his godfather, Lucks, got him.  

 He is going to be a drummer.....melt all those ladies hearts.

Our annual drive to enjoy Christmas lights.  He was so attentive to them this year, looking up in amazement as they stretched across each street.