Friday, January 29, 2016

Beginning of January

One day we surprised the boys with a visit to Chuck E Cheese after we picked up James from school. James had a blast! They had a bunch of new rides to check out. Rett wasn't a fan of all the noise, so he stayed put in a booth most of the time.

We got to go to a friend's birthday part at the pirate ship park and Rett was loving their snack options! It was torture for him to see the cupcakes and wait for them, but finally he got one! During the party he kept escaping to the playground to play on the swings, so after awhile I gave up and stayed up there with him. James found us with another one of his friends, so I was pushing all three of them. Rett got mad that I wasn't pushing only him, so he started having a tantrum and let go of the swing right as I pushed him! He fell backwards off the swing and onto the ground (luckily it was that cushioned material) and bit his lip. There was blood everywhere! I felt like the worst mom in the world :( James was mad at me because I stopped pushing him, and Rett was screaming his head off with blood dripping everywhere. As I took him to the bathrooms, he started crying at me and pointing back and saying "Swings! Swings!" That stubborn boy wanted to get right back on.

Whenever we get into the car, the toy cars have to come along for the ride too. Usually Rett only has one in each hand, but this day he just couldn't decide :)

James decided that he wanted to carry around a backpack full of toys and snacks everywhere we go. He insists that it isn't too heavy for him and we even weighed it at the scale at the grocery store and it is over 6 pounds! Carrying or pushing heavy things is one of the great sensory activities that is recommended for his occupational therapy, so I was excited that he thought this up all by himself.

I've always wanted to learn to play the piano and recently James has been more interested in taking "piano lessons". He has his own definition of what a lesson is, so I figured something formal would not go over well. But I figured it would be great to have a good quality keyboard in the house for me to practice and for the boys eventually. They both love it!

Anthony's parents were visiting an RV show in Daytona and they invited James to come along. He loved checking out all the nooks and crannies of the RVs. He would figure out how something worked and then was so excited to show everyone around him. He was a cute little salesman!

Passed out on the way home. That's how you know you had a great time!

We took the boys to the park and they decided to bury their cars in the sand and take turns towing them out.

Rett would escape into the mangroves and then yell, "Mommy, yook!" (look)

Monday, January 18, 2016

Phone Pictures

Anthony is doing some tank rearranging, so he had this empty tank stand out for a few days. James decided to crawl inside it and he got his head stuck! He was laughing and telling Anthony that his head was stuck, so of course Anthony came and got me to see it before he helped him :)

The view from the back.

James brought his new remote control army tank he got from Christmas to the park and we decided to take a walk to see the boats. I kept trying to run ahead so that I could get a picture of them walking and they thought it was a race! So I kept running ahead and turning around and by the time I was ready to take a picture, they were past me again. Little stinkers!

I got some nail stickers in my stocking and after I put them on, James looked and said, "Whoa! Cool Mommy, you have solar panels on your nails. I bet it makes your fingers really strong". He wanted me to put solar panels on his nails too, but I didn't have any more. I'm sure Anthony was grateful for that.

We decided to drive all the way to the pirate ship park one afternoon (it takes about 30 minutes from our house) and while James found a friend to play with, I followed Rett around. At one point he found an old cookie in the diaper bag and decided to lounge on this spinning thing and eat his cookie. He is such a goofball!

We drove to Gainesville to visit my mom and do some work at the condo for New Years. We stopped by the mall to have a look around and we had to do a train ride. I wasn't prepared for how long it was! It was at least 15 minutes of driving around and around to the same places in the mall. I kind of felt like I was being held hostage by the person driving the train, but the kids loved it.

James discovered some safety goggles in one of his toy bins and decided it was cool to wear them everywhere. One morning he came and found me and said, "Mommy, you know why I'm wearing goggles? I am training for catching lomsters (lobsters) like Daddy". 

Rett was just looking too cute during dinner one night so I got some pictures of him :)

Rett loves the swings so much! It is the first thing he goes to at the park and will swing as long as someone will push him.

While Rett was swinging, James made a beeline for this boat that was parked at the shore. They made a quick stop so that one of them could get off and use the park bathrooms, and the poor guy waiting in the boat had his ear talked off by James. He kept asking him questions about his boat and his motor and showing him his boat that he drags around everywhere by a fishing line.

James used some of his money from his piggy bank with his Christmas money to buy a toy helicopter at walmart. He was in heaven!! It has a rescue crane so he has been using it to rescue trains off the track, other toys, you name it.

A few weeks ago when I picked up James from school I saw him on the swings of his school playground. I was floored! James hates swings and has always flat out refused to sit on one and swing by himself. He will swing on our laps if we swing with him, or he will lay down on his stomach and swing a little bit, but he has never wanted to sit by himself and swing. He kept asking me to push him higher and I couldn't believe it! His occupational therapist said that it is really typical of kids with sensory processing issues to dislike swings, but it is a really good sensory activity for them if they can handle it. I was ready to push him on the swing for hours if he wanted, I was so excited for his progress that he was able to swing and enjoy it! Now it is one of his favorite things to do on the playground.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Christmas 2015

Christmas Eve we decided to take a trip to the beach because we can! We love that we live where the beach is always an option :)

Anthony made a little sandman.

Burying James in the sand:

Rett saw us burying James in sand, so he wanted to be buried too.

James making a sandangel:

Rett got upset when he saw me walking towards the water with James, so he threw himself face down in the dirt and starting having a fit. I looooooove this stage.

A lot of our trucks got buried in the dirt and needed to be towed out by James' tow truck. Rett also liked it when I would use one of our sand molds to make small turtles so he could smash them immediately.

Christmas morning James was the first up and he came into our room to say good morning and get the ipad. After he asked for some breakfast, I asked him if Santa had come. He got this big grin on his face and said, "Oh! I forgot to check!!". He checked the Christmas tree and then came to get everyone to open presents. He and Rett checked out their new easels first.

Then it was time for stockings!

James showed Rett how to use his new ferry boat toy for the bathtub.

We had our annual Christmas T-shirt contest. I think my grumpy cat shirt won by a small margin :)

After the rest of the family arrived, we opened more presents! Rett loved his new lift the flap book from Mimi and Papa about zoo animals. He brings it in the car all the time now and we will hear him growling when he gets to the page with a lion. He thinks growling is what it is called!

James was so excited to get his remote control submarine. He was sad that Santa didn't bring him one (since that was one of the things he asked for) but his  response while opening it was perfect! He was so happy!

After presents we ate a ridiculous amount of food for dinner and then everyone started on their way home while we worked on getting the kids to bed. It was a full and exciting day!