We arrived home from Hawaii Tuesday morning! Once all that laundry and the souveniers are put away and the mail has been sorted through, I'll share some pictures and the details of our trip (some of them are quite comical)!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
We're back!
We arrived home from Hawaii Tuesday morning! Once all that laundry and the souveniers are put away and the mail has been sorted through, I'll share some pictures and the details of our trip (some of them are quite comical)!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Leaving Tomorrow!
Tomorrow morning bright and early, Ben and I will be heading out for the airport to fly to Hawaii!!! I'm so excited! Please pray for safe travel for us and that our boys will cope well without us while we're gone. Now that I'm home from church I have the afternoon to pack and finished getting all the details ready. I plan on taking a ton of pictures so keep a look out for them when I return on the 29th!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
One small step forward...
Austin has this cute toy calculator he received as a birthday present last year that he loves. It has several different games on it but Austin could care less, he just likes to push the buttons and hear it talk.
Yesterday while I was on the computer and Austin was sitting on the floor next to me playing I heard a tiny voice say "You got 20 apples!". I immediately whipped around at looked to Austin. Sure enough, he was holding his calculator (properly even!!!) with one thumb on the right arrow button and the other thumb on the left arrow button. He was navitgating the cursor around the screen to "gather the apples"! The most you can get is 20 apples so when I heard that I about fell out of my chair! He usually only can get 3-5 on his own because his hands mirror each other (if the left hand opens and closes, the right copies). So he can't push the left button without pushing the right, he's only able to navigate in one direction. (Hard to describe!) Here he was using each hand correctly, one at a time, all by himself!!! Nearly in tears from being so proud of him, I grabbed the camera but wasn't able to get a picture of him holding the calculator correctly.
Austin's First Dentist Appointment
I know what you're thinking...Austin's nearly 6 and he's just now having his first dentist appointment? Well, long story short-I had a hard time finding someone who was willing to treat him with his limited ability of comprehension and willingness to open his mouth. =)
Anyway, after putting it off long enough, I finally was able to get Austin his first dentist appointment this past Monday. My dentist agreed to see him even though they've never worked with anyone with such disability.
The appointment went ok. I told the hygenist that even if she only cleaned one tooth, I'd be happy. LOL At first Austin was ok with the whole idea, he sat in the chair fairly relaxed until she gave him the sunglasses to wear. He put them on (just long enough for the picture) and then he thrust them at me as if to say "I don't think so!". He then refused to wear the "bib" which I understood due to his sensitivity. With a few tears (thankfully he wasn't sobbing) he let the hygenist clean about 3-5 teeth before he started pushing her away. THEN...in came the dentist just for a look-see and would you know Austin opened his mouth all the way for him!?!?! I couldn't believe it, the stinker! Dr. Schonfield didn't see anything to be concerned about thankfully. The hygenist then attempted to paint fluoride on Austin's teeth (which he tolerated since it was a tiny paintbrush).
All in all, I think it went well. He never burst into tears or bit anybody so there's hope he'll get used to it! Too bad the office doesn't accept Medicaid...so now I get to go through that lovely process. *sigh*
Anyway, after putting it off long enough, I finally was able to get Austin his first dentist appointment this past Monday. My dentist agreed to see him even though they've never worked with anyone with such disability.
The appointment went ok. I told the hygenist that even if she only cleaned one tooth, I'd be happy. LOL At first Austin was ok with the whole idea, he sat in the chair fairly relaxed until she gave him the sunglasses to wear. He put them on (just long enough for the picture) and then he thrust them at me as if to say "I don't think so!". He then refused to wear the "bib" which I understood due to his sensitivity. With a few tears (thankfully he wasn't sobbing) he let the hygenist clean about 3-5 teeth before he started pushing her away. THEN...in came the dentist just for a look-see and would you know Austin opened his mouth all the way for him!?!?! I couldn't believe it, the stinker! Dr. Schonfield didn't see anything to be concerned about thankfully. The hygenist then attempted to paint fluoride on Austin's teeth (which he tolerated since it was a tiny paintbrush).
All in all, I think it went well. He never burst into tears or bit anybody so there's hope he'll get used to it! Too bad the office doesn't accept Medicaid...so now I get to go through that lovely process. *sigh*
Friday, April 11, 2008
10 days to go!
The countdown to Hawaii is down to 10 days already?!? Where does the time go? I really could use some warm tropical air right now! It's raining and 38 degrees outside thanks to the cold front coming through...brrr.
I'm feeling pretty confident that the boys will do ok while my husband and I are gone. Austin usually doesn't mind us leaving him as long as his routine isn't changed. In preparation for this, I've written a two page list of Austin's routine for my poor sister who is caring for Austin and Andrew while we're gone. I owe you big sis! Luckily, he'll be at school most of the day! Andrew did really well without us while we were in Baltimore and my sis' daughter will be entertaining him (she's 2 and a ball of energy!) so I'm sure he'll enjoy having a playmate while his brother's in school!
I'm feeling pretty confident that the boys will do ok while my husband and I are gone. Austin usually doesn't mind us leaving him as long as his routine isn't changed. In preparation for this, I've written a two page list of Austin's routine for my poor sister who is caring for Austin and Andrew while we're gone. I owe you big sis! Luckily, he'll be at school most of the day! Andrew did really well without us while we were in Baltimore and my sis' daughter will be entertaining him (she's 2 and a ball of energy!) so I'm sure he'll enjoy having a playmate while his brother's in school!
Monday, April 7, 2008
North East RTS Reunion
Wow! We had a great weekend! Austin, Ben, and I drove the 7 hour drive to Baltimore, Maryland where we got to stay at a lovely hotel and meet lots of new people and their kids with RTS. It's so encouraging to see how happy these kids are!
It is always so interesting how similar the kids are and yet they're so different! Some were able to talk clearly and ask questions, some would talk with encouragement, and as with Austin-some were non-verbal. All of them were so happy and in love with life though. I was always being offered a hug from Matthew (pictured above on the right)!
This is Sarah (almost 2 years)
In between meetings, our family decided to venture into Baltimore and go to the Aquarium. EXPENSIVE!!! It was worth the money though. The aquarium was huge! We didn't even get through it all! Austin adored the huge tanks of fish, even though it was wall to wall people (it was a Saturday afternoon). He had no problem pushing his way through to get a look at the tanks.
After the aquarium, we walked back to the parking garage where we had parked our car for a mere 3 hours...um...yeah...it was $18!!! Needless to say, an expensive afternoon!
We then went back to the hotel where we had a pizza dinner with all our new friends! Below is a picture of little Noah (18 months) with his Dad. Noah has gorgeous blue eyes!
The pizza dinner and all the fun made Austin quite excited...
So we took him swimming in an attempt to wear him out...can you tell it didn't work? LOL
Well all in all, we had a great weekend and are now just 2 weeks away from our next vacation...HAWAII!
It is always so interesting how similar the kids are and yet they're so different! Some were able to talk clearly and ask questions, some would talk with encouragement, and as with Austin-some were non-verbal. All of them were so happy and in love with life though. I was always being offered a hug from Matthew (pictured above on the right)!
This is Sarah (almost 2 years)
In between meetings, our family decided to venture into Baltimore and go to the Aquarium. EXPENSIVE!!! It was worth the money though. The aquarium was huge! We didn't even get through it all! Austin adored the huge tanks of fish, even though it was wall to wall people (it was a Saturday afternoon). He had no problem pushing his way through to get a look at the tanks.
After the aquarium, we walked back to the parking garage where we had parked our car for a mere 3 hours...um...yeah...it was $18!!! Needless to say, an expensive afternoon!
We then went back to the hotel where we had a pizza dinner with all our new friends! Below is a picture of little Noah (18 months) with his Dad. Noah has gorgeous blue eyes!
The pizza dinner and all the fun made Austin quite excited...
So we took him swimming in an attempt to wear him out...can you tell it didn't work? LOL
Well all in all, we had a great weekend and are now just 2 weeks away from our next vacation...HAWAII!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Home Safe and Sound
Our family has returned from our weekend trip to Baltimore, Maryland for the 5th annual North East RTS Reunion! We had a great trip, met lots of new people, and I'm sure took lots of good pictures (I have yet to look!). I've already finished unpacking since my husband is out driving the hour to the "meeting point" to pick up Andrew, who stayed with my sister while we were gone. I'll be posting pictures soon as well as some more news of our weekend!
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