Castaway Island Preserve 2014

The weather here albeit pretty bipolar, has been beautiful lately!  We are trying to spend as much time as we can outside before it becomes unbearably hot.  We visited this treasured spot about 10 minutes from our house.  It is a hidden gem for sure.  It is a free activity for us, which is always great!  There are a lot of trails, bridges, paths, and overlooks.  The scenery is beautiful.   The three of us had a fantastic time here this past weekend.   Here are some shots from our time there.   Please forgive me, I pretend that I am a seasoned photographer that knows what she is doing.  I like to mess around with color, black and white, and different exposures and saturations.  I love it.  Wish I had more time to practice this hobby.  You have to admit, I have a great model. :)

Pure joy!   He was so excited to be free and be outside.

We ran into a couple of photographers and they asked if we wanted them to take a few pictures of us.  At first we hesitated because we know how hard it is for others to get photos of Grayson, but then we figured it was worth a shot.  I am so glad they offered, these are the first family pictures we have of all of us in months!

It was a great day and we are hoping to go back really soon, before the weather is too brutally warm.

February 2014

 Here is our little "lovasaurus"wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!

 A little Risky Business action...

 It has been beautiful, but chilly, weather here over the last few weeks, so we decided to try bowling.  We went into it like we do all new things these days, with no expectations.  He did great!  The noises, people cheering and clapping, balls flying down the lanes, and pins falling down didn't bother him at all.   He was excited to give it a try!  We got bumpers and this nifty little slide to help him bowl.

 Here is his first frame, bowling with Daddy!

 After each time the bowl rolled down, he would intently watch the ball go down the lane and knock down the pins.  We would get a little smirk and then he would RUN back to the machine to get another ball.  Daddy would get it, grab his hand, and off they went!

 Ahhh the excitement!   Strikkkkkkkkke!

 Claps for good bowling!

 Mommy got to be in a few pictures too!

 Grayson loved doing it over and over again.  He bowled for all three of us for about 4 frames.

 "I am so good at this!"

 Then.....we got a little tired so we sat.

 And leaned back to check the score.

 This bowling thing is exhausting!

 He had some french fries, got some pep back in his step and bowled another frame or two.

 All in all a very successful activity that we are sure to do again.    We have been spending a lot of time outside recently.  If we are dressed appropriately, it is gorgeous.   We have gotten very brave and started to go down the big kid slides at the playground.  His signs are coming along really nicely.  We get to practice "slide" and "swing" a lot!  Below are pictures of him signing for both activities before we start them.

 Happy kid, has loved the swing since he was teeny tiny!

 Great Grandma JoJo and Nonny Andrea came into town last weekend.   They got to go to Chuck E Cheese to play and spend good time with Grayson and Daddy.

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.