Our little section of the neighborhood has three streets all tied together. So if you look at it on a map, it looks like the letter "E". The prongs of the "E" are Nutmeg (top prong), Elm (middle prong - our street) and Spruce (bottom prong). Now because we live in the middle, I usually take one of the other prongs and circle around so that my car is facing out towards the main street for the next time I leave the house.
We've lived here for five years, and I have never seen a sign to indicate that the vertical street (connector of all of the prongs) has a name.
So we are driving down Spruce one day and Benjamin says "What's the name of the road we're on?"
"Spruce." I replied. "And what road do we live on?"
"Elm." Benjamin stated confidently.
"You're right. And what is the other street behind our house?"
"Nutmeg."
"Very good!" We then turned onto the vertical street to make our way around to Elm.
"Mommy, what's the name of this street?"
"Buddy, I don't know the name of this street. I don't think it has a name. I've never seen a sign."
"It's Ryanne Street." Benjamin stated without hesitation.
Ryanne is a girl in Benjamin's kindergarten class that he is very fond of -- so I thought it was adorable that he named the street after her. Now every time we go down the streets in our "E" I ask Benjamin what street we are on -- and when we get to the vertical turn, he always says "Ryanne Street." I wonder if it will always stay that way...
December 24, 2011
Talking to Santa
I took a chance and Oma and Poppy bought us tickets to take a ride on the Polar Express. How exciting! Well that depends on who you ask -- I was worried that Benjamin would not want to get on the train and we would end up wasting a trip (2 hours one way) and a couple hundred $$$.
I put the idea in Benjamin's head about riding a train about a week prior to going on the trip. They had seen The Polar Express on TV, and I asked him if he would like to go on a train ride like that someday. His response was a typical "NO!" But once you plant an idea in Benjamin's little brain, he starts thinking about it -- even if he empatically insists that he doesn't want to do it.
So the day of the trip, we piled in the car (along with Auntie Boff) and headed on our way. When we finally got there, Benjamin saw the train, and it was whistling as it was going to be taking off any minute.
He asked, "Are we going to ride the train?"
"Yes, we're going to ride the Polar Express." I replied.
"NO! I DON'T WANT TO RIDE THE TRAIN!"
"Well we're all going to ride the train."
"I DON'T WANT TO RIDE THE TRAIN!"
"Okay, Benjamin. I hear you. We're going to go into the museum and look around and see the model trains. Then we're going to have dinner, and then we're going to ride the train later."
I'm not sure this satisfied him, but we all got out of the car (baby steps) and went into the museum. I won't bore you with all of the details -- we plowed through the museum in about an hour (note to self: kids do not care about old war rifles and Civil War artifacts). We went to dinner at a local pizza place -- where Sawyer decided to have a tantrum while we waited for a table because he was tired and hungry. (Note to self: next time bring granola bars or goldfish crackers in my purse.)
After dinner, we got in our pajamas and waited outside to board the train. At this point, Benjamin was no longer protesting, so I figured why mess with a good thing? We had a delightful time on the Polar Express -- we had hot-hot-hot chocolate and a cookie, we sang Christmas carols, and there were elves everywhere. The conductor came and punched our tickets, and Mrs. Clause visited with all of the children. When we arrived at the North Pole, Santa got on the train! He spent time with each child and asked them what they wanted for Christmas. I thought for sure Benjamin would stick his thumb in his mouth and go mute. He really surprised me, though.
"Benjamin, what would you like for Christmas?" Santa asked.
"I want a pillow pet." Benjamin replied.
"Well the elves made lots of those." Santa said. He turned to Sawyer. "Sawyer, what would you like for Christmas?"
"I want my daddy to come home." Sawyer responded.
"I'm not sure what I can do about that, but I'll sure try." Santa said.
Poor Santa! Sawyer made it sound like his daddy was deployed somewhere. Daddy just happened to be working and couldn't come with us that day. But in his little 2 and 1/2 year old brain, that is what he wanted at that particular moment. He really hasn't indicated anything in particular that he would like for Christmas -- other than maybe a truck full of M-n-Ms :-)
All in all, we had a wonderful trip and can't thank Oma and Poppy enough for such a great Christmas gift! Well, maybe it will be their turn to take the boys next year...
I put the idea in Benjamin's head about riding a train about a week prior to going on the trip. They had seen The Polar Express on TV, and I asked him if he would like to go on a train ride like that someday. His response was a typical "NO!" But once you plant an idea in Benjamin's little brain, he starts thinking about it -- even if he empatically insists that he doesn't want to do it.
So the day of the trip, we piled in the car (along with Auntie Boff) and headed on our way. When we finally got there, Benjamin saw the train, and it was whistling as it was going to be taking off any minute.
He asked, "Are we going to ride the train?"
"Yes, we're going to ride the Polar Express." I replied.
"NO! I DON'T WANT TO RIDE THE TRAIN!"
"Well we're all going to ride the train."
"I DON'T WANT TO RIDE THE TRAIN!"
"Okay, Benjamin. I hear you. We're going to go into the museum and look around and see the model trains. Then we're going to have dinner, and then we're going to ride the train later."
I'm not sure this satisfied him, but we all got out of the car (baby steps) and went into the museum. I won't bore you with all of the details -- we plowed through the museum in about an hour (note to self: kids do not care about old war rifles and Civil War artifacts). We went to dinner at a local pizza place -- where Sawyer decided to have a tantrum while we waited for a table because he was tired and hungry. (Note to self: next time bring granola bars or goldfish crackers in my purse.)
After dinner, we got in our pajamas and waited outside to board the train. At this point, Benjamin was no longer protesting, so I figured why mess with a good thing? We had a delightful time on the Polar Express -- we had hot-hot-hot chocolate and a cookie, we sang Christmas carols, and there were elves everywhere. The conductor came and punched our tickets, and Mrs. Clause visited with all of the children. When we arrived at the North Pole, Santa got on the train! He spent time with each child and asked them what they wanted for Christmas. I thought for sure Benjamin would stick his thumb in his mouth and go mute. He really surprised me, though.
"Benjamin, what would you like for Christmas?" Santa asked.
"I want a pillow pet." Benjamin replied.
"Well the elves made lots of those." Santa said. He turned to Sawyer. "Sawyer, what would you like for Christmas?"
"I want my daddy to come home." Sawyer responded.
"I'm not sure what I can do about that, but I'll sure try." Santa said.
Poor Santa! Sawyer made it sound like his daddy was deployed somewhere. Daddy just happened to be working and couldn't come with us that day. But in his little 2 and 1/2 year old brain, that is what he wanted at that particular moment. He really hasn't indicated anything in particular that he would like for Christmas -- other than maybe a truck full of M-n-Ms :-)
All in all, we had a wonderful trip and can't thank Oma and Poppy enough for such a great Christmas gift! Well, maybe it will be their turn to take the boys next year...
October 30, 2011
Sing It Loud
Benjamin surprises me a lot, and often when I least expect it. Singing is not something he does very often, and as a musically inclined mom, I sometimes wish we could enjoy that together. But every once in a while, I know he's listening. When I was listening to the "Walk the Line" soundtrack repeatedly, I heard him singing "it burns, burns, burns, ring of fire, ring of fire" around the house a few times. About a month before Vacation Bible School, we got the CD and started listening to it in the car. Now he would request specific songs, or even tell me to skip certain songs. But not once, in the whole month of listening to them over and over, or even during the week of bible school, he never uttered one word of the songs.
So when I heard him singing along with the track for "There Will Come A Day", I was floored! I was practicing the song for probably the 100th time, and I heard him singing parts of the chorus. He asked to hear it again, but then specifically said "I want to do it by myself." So I played the track -- but without me singing, he didn't know exactly where the song was.
But that's what it's like. I never know what is going to help him turn on his light bulb. But every time I get to hear him sing, it makes me smile.
So when I heard him singing along with the track for "There Will Come A Day", I was floored! I was practicing the song for probably the 100th time, and I heard him singing parts of the chorus. He asked to hear it again, but then specifically said "I want to do it by myself." So I played the track -- but without me singing, he didn't know exactly where the song was.
But that's what it's like. I never know what is going to help him turn on his light bulb. But every time I get to hear him sing, it makes me smile.
September 23, 2011
A whole year later
I cannot believe it has been over a whole year since I added to my blog! It seems as though the more active my children get, the less time I have for pursuits of my own choosing.
Sawyer is now 2 and 1/2 and Benjamin is 5. Benjamin has just started kindergarten and -- for the record -- we have not had any issues with getting on the bus. Thank goodness! Kindergarten is an all-day affair, and Benjamin is ready for bed by 8PM every night. I cannot say the same for Sawyer. He is up at least once in the middle of the night wanting some milk. And then he doesn't want to go to bed -- he wants to sleep with us. Now we only have a Full size bed, so it's a pretty tight squeeze for everyone. This has been going on every night for MONTHS. So we decided it was high time to nip this in the bud so that everyone involved could get a decent night's sleep. The last two nights have not been pretty -- Sawyer gets up and asks for milk. Scott gives it to him and puts him back in bed. Last night he got back out of bed and pounded on our door for a while and hollered about "door locked" at the top of his lungs (not locked -- just child-proofed). He finally quit and went back to his bed. Hopefully we won't have to do this too many more nights before he gets a clue permanently.
Benjamin has made great strides over the past year. During his second year of preschool, he had TSS support, which helped greatly with his ability to pay attention in class and follow directions. We've started out this year in kindergarten with TSS support, but hopefully can wean him off of it in a few months.
Sawyer is the one I feel badly for. Benjamin goes to school all day now, which leaves Sawyer at home without a playmate. I think it's been a difficult adjustment for him. Hopefully I will be able to spend some "Mommy and me" time with him on my days off.
I know there is a lot that I'm leaving out for now, but if I keep at it, I may be able to fill in some of the gaps.
Sawyer is now 2 and 1/2 and Benjamin is 5. Benjamin has just started kindergarten and -- for the record -- we have not had any issues with getting on the bus. Thank goodness! Kindergarten is an all-day affair, and Benjamin is ready for bed by 8PM every night. I cannot say the same for Sawyer. He is up at least once in the middle of the night wanting some milk. And then he doesn't want to go to bed -- he wants to sleep with us. Now we only have a Full size bed, so it's a pretty tight squeeze for everyone. This has been going on every night for MONTHS. So we decided it was high time to nip this in the bud so that everyone involved could get a decent night's sleep. The last two nights have not been pretty -- Sawyer gets up and asks for milk. Scott gives it to him and puts him back in bed. Last night he got back out of bed and pounded on our door for a while and hollered about "door locked" at the top of his lungs (not locked -- just child-proofed). He finally quit and went back to his bed. Hopefully we won't have to do this too many more nights before he gets a clue permanently.
Benjamin has made great strides over the past year. During his second year of preschool, he had TSS support, which helped greatly with his ability to pay attention in class and follow directions. We've started out this year in kindergarten with TSS support, but hopefully can wean him off of it in a few months.
Sawyer is the one I feel badly for. Benjamin goes to school all day now, which leaves Sawyer at home without a playmate. I think it's been a difficult adjustment for him. Hopefully I will be able to spend some "Mommy and me" time with him on my days off.
I know there is a lot that I'm leaving out for now, but if I keep at it, I may be able to fill in some of the gaps.
Bus Motivation
We are taking Benjamin to the Children's Museum this weekend so he can get on a school bus. He wouldn't ride one when his class went on a field trip in the spring, so hopefully, we can get him to work himself up to getting on the bus. I know he has a year before kindergarten, but there is NO WAY I am driving my kid to school every doggone day. And he will have to ride the bus home anyway cause Scott will have left for work and I will not be home yet either. Oh the joys of parenting and autism! It's like BIll Murray getting on the bus inWhat About Bob?
Bob: "Baby steps get on the bus. Baby steps get on the bus. Baby steps get on the bus."
Busdriver: "Bob, we have a baby schedule to keep."
We're making progress though, cause Benjamin ASKED the doctor to check his ears while they were at the pediatrician's for Sawyer on Monday.
And then we take two steps back...I painted my nails one evening about a week ago, which I have not done in years (literally). Benjamin saw my hands in the morning and had a FIT. "Take sparkles off, Mommy!"
And then this morning, Benjamin said "I like Mommy's sparkles." I just don't get it. I guess I'm not supposed to.
Bob: "Baby steps get on the bus. Baby steps get on the bus. Baby steps get on the bus."
Busdriver: "Bob, we have a baby schedule to keep."
We're making progress though, cause Benjamin ASKED the doctor to check his ears while they were at the pediatrician's for Sawyer on Monday.
And then we take two steps back...I painted my nails one evening about a week ago, which I have not done in years (literally). Benjamin saw my hands in the morning and had a FIT. "Take sparkles off, Mommy!"
And then this morning, Benjamin said "I like Mommy's sparkles." I just don't get it. I guess I'm not supposed to.
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