Austism Awareness

Ever since I've had my son, I've heard a lot more about autism. It's something that a lot of parents fear, but seems to be a lot more prevalent, or at least discussed a lot more in recent years. When I was growing up I didn't know anyone who was autistic. I'm not sure why. But, as my son is growing up autism has already touched his life.
One of Matthew's friends at his previous daycare was autistic. As I got to see this little girl on a daily basis and later met her mom, it actually put a face and a personality to something I had only ever read about. Her mom spoke not only of the challenges she faced but of her extreme love for her child.
Recently, my blogging friend, AndreAnna, wrote a post about her friend's child who has autism. It was beautifully written. So, today I'll spare you hearing about our toilet training joys and instead share a link with you.
Happy Friday.
http://www.diaryofadiaperingmadwoman.com/2007/09/1-in-150.html

Halloween

Guess what we realized today?
Halloween is coming up. As in, it's right around the corner. And I am not yet prepared!
This would not be a big deal for many people, but because Halloween is pretty much the only time I get out my sewing machine I need to plan ahead. And, I'm not the best sewer which means that I may end up re-stitching the costume a few times.
So I decided to ask Matt what he wants to be for Halloween.
The answer is he wants to be either Lightning McQueen or our New VAN!

Right.
Helpful.
I decided to look up Lightning McQueen costumes online. Guess what? They suck. And they are expensive to buy. I refuse to buy a crappy costume for $40 when I can get a cool light up Spiderman costume at Costco for $30.
And you see, this is why I will make it. The problem is, in the past Matt has been easy going. He was Eeyore one year and that costume was a relatively easy pattern.
But a vehicle?
I am clueless.
So, now we have to implement a plan of attack.
I'm thinking of trying to change his mind. For some reason he's really into pirates. So, I'm thinking that maybe I will try to convince him to go the pirate route and see if I could make that.
Or, maybe I'll search the internet and come up with something even neater.
All I know is that I LOVE halloween. I'm trying to come up with something for me!!! And, of course I'm taking the day off.
LOVE Halloween!!!!

Toilet Training in a Day?

Okay
Not quite.
But, this toilet training endeavour has gone better than I could ever have expected. I should back up and explain that Matt is 3 and a half, and about a year ago we decided to try potty training. And then 6 months ago we decided to try it. And we've had a potty for at least 2 years.
It's not like we're toilet training gurus.
But, this time it seems to really be working.
We started toilet training last Monday. We agreed with the daycare that we would all be on board and all support it. And then we got Matthew on board. I'm not sure how. I guess he was just ready to be a "big boy". His friends are in underwear so he wanted to try it out.
Truthfully, I think his body has been ready for a good year. He wakes up dry pretty much every day. And, he has been telling us for ages when he is peeing or pooping. He also just kept telling us that he "loves peeing in a diaper".
And, when your child is as stubborn as Matt it's hard to fight with that.
But, his stubborness is now working for us because he has decided that he is not going to have accidents.
For the last 3 days he has been accident free. He's telling us when he needs to go to the bathroom and willingly goes when we remind him. It's bizarre.
We decided to try bribery using licorice and stickers. He wants none of it. Really he just doesn't care. This morning I brought him licorice for peeing on the toilet and he said "I don't need it, Mommy. I'm a big boy now."
Tonight he convinced us he needs to wear underwear to bed.
Neither of us was really keen on the idea, but it seemed a little weird to say no to our child asking us to wear underwear.
I'm seeing an end to diapers. I really am!!!!!

A LOOOONG weekend

This weekend has been a little weird.
I took a couple of extra days off to clean and relax and I did neither. One day (Thursday) I spent running around and the next I hung out with Matthew. I was kind of planning to take Friday to myself, but when Matt realized that I was staying home he asked to hang out with me. And, so I said sure. He decided he wanted to chill and watch Treehouse, and even though I don't like to let him do that all day, I gave him.
And then yesterday (Saturday) we had big plans of going for a GO Train ride. The thing is, I was sick. It was weird. I got up, had breakfast, and then started to feel really crappy. So, I got Mike out of bed to hang out with Matt while I had a bath. I NEVER get the flu - seriously, I get plagued with colds and allergies, but I'm rarely sick. But, I was. I got out of the bath and decided to go back to bed. I slept till almost 2. I haven't done that in years. It was pretty random. It kind of freaked Mike out to the point that he went and got me chicken noodle soup from the grocery store. And then we all basically hung out, watching tv and just doing very little.
And, before long Mike admitted that he had a headache. And then Matt said he had a tummy ache.
By about 8, Matt had a huge fever and was just crying because he felt crappy.
Nothing could really calm him down - we even pulled out the magic cure-all in our house ... a Bottle of Chocolate Milk. He just looked at it and cried some more. This was not like Matt. We finally solved the problem by letting him sleep in our bed with the kitten. Both of the cats seemed to know he wasn't well because they were by his side all night. When we eventually moved him into his bed the cats followed.
But today everyone seems a little better. None of us feel like doing much. Mike's been offering van rides, but we can't seem to get it together enough to get dressed and go anywhere. It's very unlike us.
The funny thing is, this little break has done us all a world of good. We've hung out all together and relaxed. We've watched about 10 million episodes of Bob the Builder. And we've alternated between tvo kids and treehouse non-stop (based on the annoying level of the show).
But tonight we will all get dressed and go out to my parents' place for my dad's birthday. In my completely healthy state I bought salmon and marinated it with all sorts of herbs and lime, but I have to admit that I'm not exactly sure if I will eat it! So, it may be birthday cake for us and nothing else. But, I'm sure the evening will be fun and Matt will enjoy playing with his cousins.
It's funny how life is never how you plan it!