Busy day! Bouncing, spelling, being cute..........

We went with Waya and Mrs. Rebecca to the Bounce Zone today- boy do I love it there! There are 5 HUGE bouncy houses to romp around in and I usually get in with him- but today he was Mr. Independent! He climbed up all 20 steps to the top of the big slide and did it alone about 20 times! There is a picture of him sliding down and a picture of us in the Sesame Street bouncer. He loves it here- I am going to have to take him at least once a month!

We also had a busy day of spelling when we got home.......... I had gotten us a drink to take outside (tea for him, bottled water for me) and I went to the side of the house to hang shutters. Well I came back and he had written Purified all over the porch! It was so funny- he must have read it off the bottle of water! He also spelled baby after hearing people talk about a baby on Days of Our Lives; well at least he spelled that and not other things they may have been talking about! He also spelled Birthday all day again- he runs around saying happy birthday- up cake (cupcake to most of us!) and I have been trying to teach him the birthday song since his is next week.

He is an entrepreneur too- he is going to open the first Don'ts Pharmacy! Where did that come from??????????? (sorry the picture is upside down- couldn't figure that one out either!)

RSTLNE.....................Any guess what that is???

That Lukey never ceases to amaze me! He kept spelling RSTLNE and my mom and I could not figure it out- then I realized that is the set of letters they give you on the Bonus round puzzle! He has spelled Bankrupt off of the show before, but never Bonus round letters!

I also added a picture of him spelling Shaking then doing the word- he spells is then either shakes his head like he is having a seizure or he moves his hands over the word really fast and reads Shaking............ very cute :)

I got his big lollipops in the mail today for his birthday party! I can't wait- it is going to be very cute to put those in the yard and in the house to decorate for the lollipop themed 4th birthday party we are having next weekend. I ordered them on ebay (of course!- love ebay!) after I realized that I could make them but it was actually more cost effective to buy them pre-made- even with shipping! They turned out so cute- I love them! They are about 6" around for the top part and they are about 2 feet tall each. I figured that I can also use them to decorate at Christmas time so I can use them again.

I am making a big "lollipop" cupcake cake for his birthday party instead of a cake. I am going to make about 20-30 cupcakes and decorate them with different colored icing and put them in a big lollipop shape on the table then put a big white "stick" made out of a paper towel roll to make it look like a giant lollipop! I am so creative sometimes- just wish it happened more often!

I missed Lukey so much!

He spent 4 days with his dad and I got him back today at 12:00 and I did not realize how much I missed him until he ran up to me and made me kiss him about 100X! He is such a sweetie :) I do kind of dread getting him after such a long mommy hiatus but it went well- he is usually a bit rebellious after we have been apart a few days but he was a very good boy.
We spent the afternoon at my boyfriend's parent's home and he was very good. He spelled lots of words and played with Sarah (Mark's daughter) most of the time we were there. Then he made Mark and I kiss and hug several times- it was too cute. Not that I minded- I never mind kissing on him :)
So glad to have gotten to spend time with Mark's family over the holidays- it has been a very special and happy holiday season for us all this year.

So great to meet others that "get it!"

I am so very excited about a new friendship that I have stumbles upon through the autism-pdd board I am on all the time. I know she looks at my blog and she has one too, and it is nice to know there are others out there that REALLY understand how disappointing, heartbreaking, and challenging it is to live with an autistic child. We of course both love our kiddos, but hate what autism means to their lives and their futures. Anyway I am so glad to be meeting other mom's who understand this daily struggle......... it is hard enough being a mom, but throw autism in the mix and it gets really interesting :)

I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend- I have spent the majority of my time this past few days shopping with gift cards I received from my mom for Christmas- Lukey is with his dad for a few days so watch out stores here I come! I am so off my diet and exercise routine- ugh- oh well I will get back on track Monday. Lucas has been too sick to bring with me to the day care in the gym- so I am hoping I can take him next week before I look like an elephant!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!

We had a very wonderful Christmas day (Christmas Eve was another story!) I think Christmas Eve was a mini-disaster because of an evil Glow Worm toy that Lucas discovered at Yaya's house and became extremely upset that he could not turn it off............ everything else was downhill from there. Poor baby cried off and on all day from 2-7 pm :( I think what also upset him was he was out of his element and we had no familiar toys, etc. there to pacify him; I should have brought familiar toys, movies, etc.- bad mommy! My thinking about it was that he is getting new toys so we don't need to bring any........ right? WRONG!!!

So sad; I felt so helpless and did not know what to do to make him happy- so I decided to post some pictures of the happy moments and chock the bad C. Eve to a "learning experience" and leave it as that. Note to mommy- bring familiar toys next time, or have everyone over to my house!

Anyway enough about all of that- Lucas spent Christmas Eve with me and my family and then half the day with me and then went on to dad's to spend Christmas day with him and my ex in laws. He reported he did well over there (I gave dad a heads up about C. Eve and he went to the other grandma's prepared!) Here are some pictures of my sister, her husband, my niece Emma and some pics of Lukey playing with his Play do press and his new Tinkertoys- the T. Toys were a hit because we could build things that spin :)

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas!!!

Lukey from the hood on Christmas Eve

I have been trying to get Lukey to wear a baseball cap since he was about 9 months old and he always rips them off- well tonight all he wanted to do was wear his new red cap, but only if it was backwards or sideways like a thug!

He insisted on wearing it like this all day today- so all the pictures reflect this! Ugh!!! Kiddos............. gotta love them!

We went to WaYa's house this afternoon and opened gifts with Waya, Mimi, Sissy, Aunt JJ and Uncle Jess, and cousin Emma- it did not go very smoothly :( Lucas cried almost the entire time we were there and I was unsure if he was out of his routine too much, tired, did not feel well- I dunno- but he was horribly cranky. He cried so many times I lost count then after we opened gifts he was fine again- his moods went up and down today like a yoyo!

Mr. Mark came over after we returned home and gave Lukey a sweet gift- he got his first baseball mit and baseball. Lucas was not real sure what to do with it so we tried to show him how, but neither of our hands would fit in it to show him! It was very funny watching him try to throw the ball around the living room and making us cover our heads for safety! We will need some practice- it should be fun.

Anyway I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas! I will post more pics in a couple of days to let yall know how he does Christmas day- hopefully better than today!

Is it time to go back to school yet !?!?!?!?!?

I know, bad mommy! He has only been out of school for 3 days and I am ready for him to return- horrible I know- but he does so much better in a routine than at home bugging me all day! We are going to try and go do something fun today but he has been sick and it has been cold so we have been stuck in the house a lot lately- no fun :( He is feeling better but man this sinus infection has been bad this time around.
Yesterday he "helped"- I use this term very loosely- wrap presents. If I had not had my hands so full I would have taken pics- but between the cat jumping on the paper, Lucas throwing the tissue, playing with the gifts, and stepping on the paper I was bombarded! Oh and not to mention that he had me in a death grip throat lock most of the day- his way of saying I love you- lovely huh?

New words he spelled: Barney Says, Scout Sale ???, friend, appy Birthday (could not find another H- made him very upset, fleeting ???, and kool kids- I asked if that is how you spell Cool and he corrected it with a C- this kid is amazing!

I am amazed at how much he is improving daily on his listening skills and following simple directions - we still have a long way to go but it is a marked improvement! We dumped out a whole set of blocks (about 100 pieces) and he took turns with me in putting them back in the bucket and saying what color and shape each block was- about 6 months ago he could not take turns or find blocks on demand like "Find a yellow square and give it to mommy" so we are slowly making great progress!

Give thanks this holiday season............

I took Lucas to McDonald's this morning and a homeless man was in a booth a few feet away from us............. he looked so lonely, hungry, dirty, alone, sad, and no hope in his eyes. I offered him some of Lucas' pancakes but he politely turned them down. He talked to me about how much pain he was in and how the Lord created all things good and bad. Yes he was a bit "off" but I felt for him........everyone like that has a story- either mental illness, no family help, poor social skills, drugs, alcohol- something always leads them to homelessness- and I think wow that could be me or someone I know. That man is someone's son, brother, father.................

I just felt the need to do something productive after meeting this man, so I set up a Salvation Army Kettle Drive online. If you would like to give or set up your own on line drive go to the link: http://give.salvationarmyusa.org/site/TR/RedKettleCampaigns/RedKettle?px=1502941&pg=personal&fr_id=1200

Please consider a tax deductible donation either on my kettle site or to the local Salvation Army- we have so much to be grateful for! If you don't want to donate today I will leave the link on my blog main screen so that you can donate at another time. Thank you so much- count your blessings everyday!

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On the Lukey home front big news- he peed standing up tonight on the big potty! Literally on the potty- he peed all over it, and himself and me- it is a learning experience! He is still not going potty much during the day- oh well we will start working on it again either over Christmas break or after he goes back to school.
He is still feeling puny- snotty nose and cough, but thankfully no puking today! He was able to watch me eat again too :) No more eating in seclusion I guess!

Pukey Lukey strikes again........6 X today actually!

OMG!!!!!!! What a day! I decided that Lukey's cough was way too bad to go to school so I kept him home- first day of school he has ever missed in the year that he has been going to Lumberton's PPCD program. So we spent the day trying to stay busy- WaYa (otherwise known as my mom) came to keep him for a couple of hours so I could go to the chiropractor and on a few errands and he played with her- no puking on her you understand- just mommy :)

Well when he was little he threw up multiple times a day when he had any kind of head cold- well he has not done this in quite a while, but he threw up 6 X today- I spent the day watching him like a hawk for "the look" that he gives before he pukes- trust me, you learn that face fast! Two times he got sick watching me eat (once was cereal, once was a Starburst candy!) and the other 4 times was just from coughing too hard. Poor little man- I hope he feels better tomorrow.

Because of all this gagging he has been doing lately watching me eat, I have become a "closet eater"............ you know how fat women hide candy bars and eat them? Well I have to eat ANYTHING that is different from what he is eating in hiding so that he won't puke! I will be SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad when this little phase ends........... this too shall pass right?!?!?!

Here are some new words he spelled today: Tried to spell Abercrombie- got mad when he ran out of the letter E............then messed it up before I could snap it. He spelled fretting (but with only one T). We went outside and he wrote Mommy, Lucas, cookie, milk, and Santa with only a verbal prompt- I am so proud of my little man!

Poor little Lukey...............

I took Lukey back to the dr. today- he has another sinus infection :( He is coughing all the time- that wet croupy sounding cough like he has been smoking 4 packs a day for 4 years! Runny nose, probably a sore throat- the works. No fever yet but I am sure it is coming.......went to the new CVS in town and they were very nice and fast in getting the antibiotic filled...... may go there from now on instead of Walmart or Walgreens I think- way faster and much more customer friendly. This is very important when you have a sick 3 year old with you :)
Well Lukey's mama is a real dummy- or dingy anyway- I got the dates mixed up and missed his Christmas party at school today- I was so disappointed- I hope Lukey was not as disappointed as I was! I felt terrible- I have never missed anything at school they have done and I came home and took a nap through the entire thing! I thought it was tomorrow- Rebecca and Yaya were going to come and everything- can't believe I did that!!!!!!!! Oh well- I told him how sorry I was that I missed the party- breaks my heart to think that he couldn't say "Where is my mommy?"- but I bet he was thinking it :(
Anyway enough pouting........ I guess we will just hang around in our jammies this weekend and see if Lukey gets to feeling better- I hope he does so he can see Mark's daughter Sarah over the weekend- I know she misses him and I know he misses her- he spells her name all the time.

New words he said today: Sang Superbabies (from Dora the Explorer), and said Ho Ho Ho!

New spelled words: Pictures

Sick.................. and sick of this crazy weather!

Well Lukey and I both have a cough and most likely we both have a sore throat. (I know I do...... I am just assuming he does too). He went on to school this morning and didn't fuss too much- he just insisted on bringing his new days of the week cards that Katie gave him (he also wanted to bring them to the tub last night and to bed; mama's gotta draw the line somewhere!) I let him take them to school so he would go willingly :) Oh the things you do as a parent that you SWORE you would never do before you have those little darlin's...................

Well only two more days of school then Christmas break !?!?!? Good/bad- you decide. I am actually looking forward to it more than I thought I would- it is only a couple of weeks and he will be spending extra time with his dad so that is a plus. We are planning some fun stuff over the holidays so it will be a nice change of pace from school and therapy everyday.

The seven days of Christmas.......???

Well my child is currently obsessed with the days of the week. He usually earns candy at therapy for completing tasks, but last week all he wanted were the days of the week that were velcroed on the wall :) He worked hard and fast for those words, so when we got home I made him some days of the week cards so he could talk about Monday - Sunday all he wanted to at home! Boy does he love those cards............ he puts them in order (not correct order but some kind of order) and he rubs them all over the house.... on the tables, walls, mirrors, and now the Christmas tree.

I set the tree up over the weekend after Aunt J J kindly donated it to us (Thanks JJ!) and he was at his dad's so he did not see it until after school today. He thought it was interesting and he surprisingly did not touch it at all- just looked! I would not have bet money on that one!

He started looking at his own reflection in the ornaments and he started putting the days of the week on the tree........ gives a whole new meaning to the 12 days (or 7) of Christmas- maybe we need to re-write that song.

Word spelling update: I am going to start this as a weekly (or daily if needed) part of my blog as it is something that happens all the time! He spelled : Hamilton, Garrison, and Lionsgate over the weekend. I think he may have spelled some of these before but I can't keep track!

New talking update: I am adding this too: New things he said- I like food- then I like Poptarts! He ate a whole Poptart after stating this (then overstuffed and puked but hey at least he said what he wanted right???)

I hope everyone has a great evening!

Took a field trip to see Santa......

I tried to scan the picture to put on here but couldn't get it to work- but I took a picture and added it- Lucas is in Santa's lap and sucking on a lollipop and is holding a coupon book- he has a serious look on his face and he is looking at the camera girl like "How you doin'?" It was hilarious! They turned out so different than I had hoped- oh well they always do huh? I did get some pictures of him on the train with his school buddy Walker. He looks like an older version of Lukey to me- he is 7 years old.

He was a good boy at the mall-he rode the train twice and had a lot of fun with his classmates seeing Santa. The class all made t-shirts for Christmas and they each had done their hand prints on the shirts and said "We believe". They were all so cute- I think they all wore them in their Santa pictures.

He spelled Rudolph, Lionsgate and Cool Kids yesterday :) Never ceases to amaze me...............

LET IT SNOW!!!!!!! (Did Hell freezeover!?!?!?)

Holy cow it snowed last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Little Lukey got to see snow for the first time- at first he just looked and said whew- but I bundled him up and he ventured out. He loved it so much that I had to literally drag him back in to warm up! I think we are still going to school today just a little late. He loved the crunchy sound the snow made when he walked in it........... my cat jack loved it too- he was first one out the door and the last one to come in!

What a great way to kick off winter- am I really in SETX?????

Pushing limits............and spelling more new stuff

Boy, do we all know that toddlers push limits with their parents......... well mine is NO exception. He tried me from 7 am until bedtime (except for the 6 glorious hours he was at school!) We went to the car kicking and screaming this morning, and it was raining this afternoon so I let him play outside on the covered porch are only- he kept going down the first step and turning around to look at me and I would say NO! After about 10 attempts like this he started to tell himself no and then laughed............ little stinker.

I am attaching a photo of Lucas spelling Juliet today- he was frantically looking for the letter I but there was not one, so I made one out of a letter T and he was thrilled- he told me he wanted an I so that was exciting. The other picture is of a Lukenize word- see they don't all make sense! He hopped around and squealed about these words all afternoon- I had to make him stop long enough to take a bath and to go to bed.

Uh oh- Sorry.............and Suzuki

Oh I wish I had a dollar for everytime I have heard this sentence over the past week! He has been saying uh oh and dropping things or selecting the wrong item on purpose in therapy in order to say uh oh. He has been singing the I'm So Sorry song that they sing on the ever so annoying show Yo Gabba Gabba that comes on Nickelodeon. So he has combined the 2 to say Uh oh sorry :)

He has spelled some new words this week- SUZUKI, MEDIA, and SMILE. That kid never ceases to amaze me!

Makin' birthday plans already..........

Man is this a busy time of the year for mommy- Christmas is just a little more than 2 weeks away and then Lukey's 4th birthday is just 2 weeks after that! I start shopping for birthday and Christmas presents early in the fall to be sure that I have enough time to do everything.
I made Lucas' party invitations last night- they turned out cute. We are going to have a lollipop themed party this year since he is not really into a character like Elmo or Blue like years past. He is REALLY into lollipops though- he is pretty much obsessed with them!
He has spelled some new words this morning- dance and media- he spelled M E I A, and was crying because he couldn't find a letter- so I asked him if he wanted a D- and I found one and he was so excited- so I guess he was trying to spell media!
We are hanging out together this weekend- so I am taking him to the gym playarea for the first time today- we shall see how it goes.

So proud of my little man..........

Today at ABA therapy he blew us all out of the water!!!! Katie, his therapist, was trying to get him to say "tummy". She points to his stomach and says what is this Lucas? Well he has told her tummy about a million times- and several times today before this- but he was holding out. Then........ he started spelling it out loud- T,...... T,......A,......M,.......M,........Y! He was trying to spell tummy out loud- that was a first! He amazes me every single day- I can't wait until that little brain-mouth connection really fires- we are all going to be amazed.

So for the record, he is 1.) Reading at about a Kinder./1st grade level,
2.) He is (and has been) spelling words like Cat, Dog, Washington DC, and Lucas for about oh 1.5 years, 3.) He is writing with a pencil, crayon, etc., words like Wonder, Lucas, Marcus, Jill, mommy, the letter W all the time!, etc., 4.) Now he is verbally spelling out words like tummy, and 5.) last but NOT least he is only 3 years old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well he will be 4 in about a month- but still he is only 3 years old (Or as he says it "I am three ears cold"). He is wonderful and precious beyond belief- we are so very proud of him.

He is so smart too- I think he is learning how to work the ladies- me and Katie and whoever female he comes across. He is slapping a lot lately when he is frustrated, and he is learning quickly that is not working out so well- so he has moved to the opposite end of the spectrum- kill them with kindness. He was all over Katie in therapy today and kept wanting to ride the horsey on her knee- he was all over that to avoid work I presume..... smart little cookie.

Brrrrr........baby it is cold outside (and inside!!)

Ugh............ my central A/C and heater have been giving me grief this past month and of course it has not been in the 30's since the last night my heater quit working- so of course it was down to 30 degrees last night and decided it needed to stop working again. I woke up this morning to find it was 55 degrees in my house!!!!!!! Thankfully I had put a heater in Lukey's room so he slept well and I had my electric blanket on so I was OK but man was it cold in the rest of the house! I placed another service order to have it serviced, but since it won't be until tomorrow I went and got a couple of more plug in heaters- they helped so much! I will be using those until the darn main unit gets fixed........ never dull around here.
Lukey did great at school again today and even tried at therapy this afternoon to sit on the potty (fully clothed of course!) When we pulled his pants down nothing happened, of course- that has become the norm lately- he is just still not really into potty usage other than to gain candy as a reward for sitting on it! Oh well we will try again later when he is a little more ready. Hard to believe he will be 4 years old in a month! I am already trying to think of a theme for his party- I may just do general happy b-day stuff- he is not really into a character this year. I guess I better start working on his invitations!

Back to schook without a hitch...........YEAH!!!!

Yeah- all mommy's rejoice- school is back in session!!! (For 3 short weeks anyway) Lucas got up just fine this morning and did no fussing (or cussing) about going to school............he also worked with his in home trainer today after school for almost an hour and did well with that too. I was a little worried about the first day back, but he did great- I think we were both ready for a change in scenery and back to the old routine.
I was shocked and awed when Lukey said the Shi# word yesterday- it was very shocking! The only thing this kid says all day long is more sucker and parmimickle (Popsicle) or go swing- so to hear Shi# and with emphasis and appropriate use- very surprising- Katie- what to do about this???? I warned the teachers at school but they said he did not say it today- whew- hope it was an isolated incident!
We had a rough round last night- he woke up screaming at 1230 and was kicking me and screaming for about an hour- no fun for either of us. I still do not know what he was upset about- but after I changed his diaper and bribed him with a Skittle at 130 am he finally went back to sleep- I am off to bed soon myself as I did not sleep well afterwards- I was too keyed up to go back to sleep. I always worry that the bribery will not stick and that he will wake back up screaming again. We are considering medications to help with sleeping as well as aggressiveness- I am dreading that entire journey- I will keep yall posted.