Seriously?

As most of you know, we live on the main road here in Phoenixville.  Our front door faces the road and a small yard and sidewalk follow.  (therefore, no place to park)  So, where would you park your car if you were coming to visit my house?

Would you park across the street and walk over?  Would you park a block away and walk down?  Well, we’ve had many people do exactly that!  We’ve had a couple pizza delivery guys come to the front door and Steve can’t help but ask them, “Where’s your car?” They literally say, “uh, yeah, I wasn’t sure where to park so I parked across the street”.  We would LOVE to say, “Well where do you think we park? Do we park down the street and walk our groceries up a block?”  But we don’t.  We just smile and nod and politely say, “Next time it might be easier for you to park in the street behind our house.”  Then they respond, “Oh yeah (laughing a little and embarassed)”.  And we’ve had others come recently, picking things up from Craigslist.  And they come to the front door saying that they parked down the street and walked up the sidewalk.  Once again, just smile and nod, smile and nod.

We really just CANNOT comprehend what these people are thinking.  Where do we ALL on this row of about 25 houses park?  Do we all park in the side streets and walk down the sidewalks?  LOL!!  It really cracks us up and sometimes it just shows how people just don’t think!

Well, tonight was the topper!  I’ve been calling around for estimates for our lawn. (not really a lawn, a mud pit that needs grass)  So I’ve had some companies coming during the day when I’m not here and then just calling with their estimates.  Tonight, one called and I kid you not – this is what he said, “Hi this is Brian from Grow Green.  I came out to your house today, but I didn’t know where to park.  You don’t have parking in the front do you?” “No”, I reply.  Brian, “Well, I just parked down the street and took a walk up.   Do you have parking in the back?”  Yes I reply.  Brian, “How do I get back there?”  Me, “Well, you can come to the road/alley behind our house. You turn right onto Mason and right onto Center.”  Brian, “Oh, Mason, that’s the road I parked on to walk up to your place.  I’ll be back tomorrow to take a look at your yard in the back.”  “Ok, sounds good”, I said.  It took ALL my strength to not say the following: Ok, first of all, if you were already here, why wouldn’t you just walk to the back to see my back yard?  Second, WHERE DO YOU THINK I PARK??  Seriously!  Just stop and think, just for a minute!  If there’s no parking in the front, maybe you could be a little adventurous and take a trip around the block.  I’d bet you find where I park and where you could park as well.  And FOR SURE, you’d be able to see my back yard.  LOL

Needless to say, I’ll let Brian come out and give his estimate.  But really, would I hire someone to figure out the chemistry of getting my grass to grow if he can’t even figure out how to get to my back yard?  Then call and tell me that he was here, but he’ll be back tomorrow now that he knows how to access the back of my house with his car?  I don’t think so.

Good luck to you Brian – life sure can be complex! 

Touche

Somehow, Casey started talking about belly’s and their sizes the other day.  So here’s a little dialogue…

 Casey: “Daddy, you are the biggest in this house”

Mommy: “heheh hahah ” (starting to giggle)

Daddy: “What do you mean?”

Casey: “Your belly, it’s the biggest”

Mommy: “Heheheh..HAhahaha..” (laughing a little)

Casey: “And Mommy, you’re the oldest!”

Daddy: “Heheheh..HAHAHAHA..” 

Mommy: <frown>

TOUCHE!!  =)

And I wonder why I have some grey hairs at 33…

Well, it has been a while since I’ve been here.  Life sure has been crazy this past month.  I’m even a year older!  UGH!

Speaking of crazy, I think this past weekend was the topper!   Friday started out with the news telling us of a big winter storm with 2-4 inces of snow and 1″ of ice.  So everyone closed and we all stayed home.  Some may say, YEAH!!  I say UGH!!  Three roudy kids with lost of energy stuck in a small house.  So Friday we did ok since Steve was home as well. 

I’ve been busy with cleaning things out and selling like crazy! (emilycroce.shutterfly.com) Which is great, but exhausting.  So I had one couple come on Friday evening and take a look at some things.  Saturday, I had 3 more sets of people come.  Steve had an early gig, so he had left by 9am.  I was constantly trying to pick up after the kids and keep things straight.   I also had to clean up the things people were coming to buy and try to keep the kids from fighting while the people were there.   VERY exhausting!  So by the time Saturday evening came and Steve got home, I announced that we HAD to get out of the house!  So we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese.  The kids had tons of fun!  We all got to bed late, but it was worth getting out.

Sunday, Steve had a bridal show.  He’s required to do these once in a while for work.  So I decided to take the kids to church myself.  So after some rushing, we got in the car and off to church.  The kids Sunday school rooms are on the 2nd floor and to get there, we have to go up two large sets of steps.  Now that the kids are older, they do pretty well on the steps.  But, they asked me to take the elevator, so I agreed.   Up the elevator we went and we were all just about out with Chase bringing up the rear, when I hear the elevator alarm!!  Chase had pushed the alarm button on the elevator and I turned as fast as I could to turn it off.  Of course the main sunday school office window is right in front of the elevators.  So a huge group is now staring and I hear one women say, “I hope the fire trucks don’t come”.  So I just ignored all the stares and continued down the hall.  Then, as I’m trying to search for the boys name tags in the hallway, they decide that they really don’t like each other at that moment and start shoving each other and punching each other!  Julian goes flying down on the ground and starts screaming.  Once again, 15 sets of eyes on me as they are walking by.  So I put Chase firmly down against the wall in “time out” and continue my search for their names.  Found them and we’re off! 

So after church I decide that I really don’t want to go back home to the small house/three roudy kids ratio.  So I thought the mall would be a good idea.  Lunch in the food court and then go run around in the indoor playground area.  I also called my friend, Mindy from work to meet us there. (her daughter is in the boys class at school)   So lunch started off ok.  Towards the end I hear Julian say, “Oh no Mommy!”.  I look and there is his orange drink all over the floor.  BUT, he missed his clothes AND shoes – “It’s a winner!”  So I notify the personnel, and off we go.  The kids had lots of fun playing and running – which was great to burn more energy.  As I’m sitting and talking, I occasionally look to see where the kids are and what they are up to.  Everyone is doing pretty well.  Then I hear in a very loud, angry voice from some unknown mother, “You don’t push kids like that!!!”  I look up and there is Chase standing a couple feet away from a much smaller boy who is on the floor crying.  I jump up, grab him off of the play area and bring him to the bench.  I start scolding him and telling him he’s in time out.  I then carry him over to the other boy, who is now in his Dad’s arms and crying.  I tell Chase to say he’s sorry to the boy, and he did.  The Dad then tells me that he saw the entire thing play out and his son was the first to push.  So, I did feel a little better.  However, I still scolded Chase, because he is VERY strong for his age and can’t push anyone, especially kids half his size!  Although, I must admit, that I later thought about the fact that he’ll always be able to defend himself and probably Julian too!  Julian is very “mouthy” and often full of attitude.  I can just see him down the road yelling at some kids and stirring up trouble.  Then ending it with, “yeah, well, I’ll get my brother Chase to get you!”  heheh =)  NOT funny, but for now – a little.

 So we all got home and took some much needed naps.  Sunday night I rested well and dreamed of children going off to school and me off to work. =)

67 children will be diagnosed today…

• Autism – A complex neurological disorder that affects 1 in 150 children
• More children will be diagnosed with Autism this year than AIDS, Diabetes, and Cancer combined.

Click here :  www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214

The band, Five for Fighting, is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks each time this video is viewed. The funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link above to watch the video and pass it along.

 

As I look at this video I can’t help but think of what Chase could have been like.  At his 15 month check up as a baby, I still remember being by myself and the doctor asking me what words he was saying.  I said, “Well, he used to say Dadda and Thank You very clearly, but he doesn’t anymore.”  To this day, I still remember the look on the doctors face.  It wasn’t the “oh, that’s normal” look.  It was the “hmm… not so normal” look.  He continued to ask other questions like, “does he point to things” – “no”, “does he interact with his brother and sister” – “no”.  The next few minutes really ran together and I really didn’t believe what he was suggesting.  Right away he said that we need to have Chase evaluated with Early Intervention services of Chester County.  Then, the words that ring in my head even today, “When we hear of a child loosing words and not really communicating in other ways, we consider the possibility of Autism.”  My thoughts, “no, not Chase, this really can’t be”.  So I went into the mode of we’ll do whatever he needs to get through this.  What a long road we ended up having that I never dreamed of at that time.  I came home and told Steve what the doctor said.  He immediately got really upset and then I guess that’s when it really sunk in for me.  We both cried.  Thinking of how much more challenging the world will be for Chase if he really is Autistic.

 

He was evaluted be a team of psycologists, teachers, occupational therapist, speech therapist, behavior therapist and physical therapist.  I remember them sitting in our living and trying to see what Chase could do.  They then told us how delayed he really was.  11 month old level for this, 9 month old level for that, etc, etc.  Then they all looked at each other and said that they suggest he get’s evaluated by the CATCH team (Childhood Autism Team Check).  A team made up of more professionals and doctors from CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) that test children for Autism.  Of course, if we wanted to.  Right away we said of course!  We wanted Chase to get all the help possible now, so that hopefully as he got older he’d be “better” than today.  At that time, there was a waiting list of a year to get an evaluation by CHOP.  But by going through the CATCH team, it wouldn’t take nearly as long.  I can’t imagine how more Chase would have drifted into Autism had he not gotten his diagnosis right away.

 

All of his services started within a month and he slowly started making improvements.  He started out just sitting and playing by himself 100% of the time.  He wouldn’t join in to play with Julian or Casey when they were playing “games” together.  He wouldn’t come to us and ask for anything.  He loved to stare out the window and watch the cars for 20-25 minute intervals at a time, which is VERY abnormal for a 15-16 month old.  I still remember the first “big” improvement he made.  He had found a plasitc Easter egg in the toy box and had been trying very hard to open the egg.  He had a delay with fine motor skills, so this was especially hard for him.  He came over to me and handed me the egg and just gazed into my eyes.  He still didn’t have words, but I FINALLY knew what he wanted! He was “asking” me to help him open the egg. (I feel the tears in my eyes now)  At that moment, something inside me knew that he wasn’t going to fade into the depths of Autism.

 

He continued to progress.  He’d start to look at Julian and Casey and be interested in what they were doing.  He’d “ask” more and more for things.  At 18 months, we knew that the boys needed to get into a pre-school program.  Especially for Chase, who needed a structured environment where he played with various different activities and was kept focused and alert.  Steve decided to take a position at Silver Sound as the general manager.  God sure knew why we needed that job.  The boys started daycare and it was a rocky road for a while.  Chase would bite other kids 6-7 times every week.  Most times for no reason.  He was also a lot bigger and he’d walk right on top of kids, push them over, etc.  There were many days that I’d walk into daycare waiting for them to tell me that they can’t handle him there anymore.  Thank goodness we had teachers that understood and were compassionate.

 

By the time he reached 2 years old, he had come SO far!  He talked more and more every day and interacted with kids much better too.  The more he could talk, the more his “behaviors” diminished.  At 2 years old, the county had a TOT program for 2 year olds with an Autism diagnosis.  The class had a ST, PT, OT and specialized teacher.  This class helped him SO much right away!  By 2 1/2, I could tell the teacher wasn’t really thinking that he needed the class anymore.  They only allowed 4 children in the class at a time.  So, there were obviously other children waiting to get in.  About 3-4 months before he turned 3, they graduated him from the class.  There really wasn’t anything more that they could challenge him with in the class.  Which was a good thing!

 

In June of 2007, his doctor at CHOP decided that he no longer fit under the PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified), which is on the Autism spectrum.  Was he considered not Autistic at all?  Well, that’s really left to be determined.  When he turned 3, his services went from Early Intervention to the Intermediate Unit of Chester County.  They of course, did all their tests and the educational psycologist came to our house and spoke to me of their findings.  They found him to be on the border of Autism.  They asked me what I thought.  I decided to keep him on the spectrum educationally, as I still had some concerns.  They thought it was a good idea.  He’s also evaluated by a psycologist through his behavior agency, T.W. Ponessa.  We recently had an evaluation done and he still has him as “high functioning Autistic”, but mentioned that he may soon move to a diagnosis of something like Asperger’s Disorder.  He attends a specialized pre-school at the IU in the mornings and receives all his therapies there.  He can stay there until Kindergarten.  He sees his CHOP doctor every 6 months and is evaluated by his psycologist every 3 months.  His behavior therapist sees him once a month and his case manager every 2-3 months.  I feel that we are doing all that is possibly out there for him – and it shows in his continued improvements!  And what really helps, is the fact that he was diagnosed as Autistic at an early age and he qualified for Medical Assistance, just with his diagnosis alone.  So, everything is covered and we don’t even pay copays!  So some ask, do you really think all of this was necessary?  What if one day they decide he’s 100% not on the spectrum, were some of the things they put you through over-kill?  Absolutely not!!  The #1 thing to do when a doctor even suggests the possbility of Autism, is to start getting services as soon as you possibly can.  The earlier a child get’s help, the sooner you can start pulling them out of the claws of Autism.  We wouldn’t change a thing!

 

So today…  Chase would appear to most as a “normal” three year old, ADORABLE little boy, with maybe a little clumsiness and somewhat hyperactive.  But as you look closer, you may notice that he doesn’t spend much time looking you in the eye.  You may see him walk on his tip toes and jump in place a lot.  You also may see him open and close his hands quickly (this provides sensory input).  BUT, you’ll also hear sentences and laughter.  And he’ll ask you to read him a book, count in Spanish, repeat some Spanish words, say his ABCs, point out all 26 letters, count to 20, give really big hugs, seek out his simblings to play, invent some games to play with others, talk about all his friends that he played with that day and tell you “I love you!”

 

I can’t imagine a world where my little boy didn’t speak or didn’t give me hugs.  I thank God  that he helped Chase so much during these past 2 years.

Just a couple groceries

We had quite the busy weekend.  Casey was off of school Thursday, Friday and then today.  So Friday, Casey and I went to Philly to visit Michelle and Adrienne.  Two of my friends from college.  Michelle has two little boys, so Casey had lots of fun playing with them.  Then Friday night, we took the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks.  They LOVED it!  When they walked in, they said (loudly), “That’s a BIG TV!”  Saturday evening Steve had some meetings and then Sunday was church.  Steve also had a wedding on Sunday night.

So on Sunday, I knew I needed some groceries for the week.  I only had 12-14 items on my list.  So I thought, this shouldn’t be too bad going with the 3 kids by myself – WRONG!  I’m hoping by writing this post, it will be a concrete reminder for me to NEVER TAKE ALL THREE TO THE GROCERY STORE!

For starters, the high on Sunday was 19 degrees and windy.  So getting all into and out of, the store was pretty cold.  They wanted the “car cart”.  Which can be handy for 3 kids.  But, that implies that they STAY in the car cart – which of course didn’t happen.  But, at least this time they didn’t go running into produce and start throwing “balls” (apples) to each other.  I had to buy a couple apples that shopping trip.

So they started the shopping trip out ok.  I told them all that they would get a special treat if they were good, and I specified good (no running, screaming, fighting, throwing things and stay with Mommy).  Well, we got to the ice-cream isle and they wanted to get ice-cream to go with Daddy’s cake. (his birthday is today)  So I let them pick it out while I went to get the frozen pancakes.  I come back to the cart, and yes – three different kinds of frozen treats.  So with tears, we put some back.  Then we continue and I have to say “No” to lots of things they are attempting to put in the cart (mainly the boys).  No candy, no chips, no fruit snacks, no koolaide, no chocolate, no cake mix and, “OH MY CHASE, put that glass jar of applesauce down – CAREFULLY!”  And Casey, “For the 100th time, stop laying in the car cart with your head and feet hanging out, you’re going to get bumped in the head.”

Then I’m at an end of the isle and about to finish my trip.  I’m a little excited because nothing TOO terrible has happened AND we made it through produce without incident.  Then I hear the screeching cry of Chase.  He’s screaming through his tears, “Julian hit me, Julian hit me!”  I gave him a hug and got him settled down.  We reach the checkout and are in line.  I look down at Chase a little closer and realize that he has blood all throughout his mouth and dripping!  I quickly got down and started examining his mouth.  I asked him what happened and he said, “Julian hit me with a pen.”  (quick summary, Julian pulled a pen out of my purse and in a scuffle with Chase, “hit” him with a pen, pearcing his mouth).  So as I’m trying to wipe his mouth, I feel many “eyes” on me.  Probably from hearing me say,” Oh my, you’re bleeding!”  A nice women offered a wet nap, which helped.  So I got a hold of Julian, with angry face in tow, and placed him firmly in the car cart and told him, “Don’t you dare move out of this seat – time out!”

By this time I’m feeling overheated, tired and just want to LEAVE!  But of course, I get the Sssslllloooowwweeesssttt bagger in the entire world!  So I spend the next 10 minutes saying no to all the candy Chase is pulling out of the isle.  Then telling him that, “No, you can’t go in the car cart with Julian.”  And many times saying, “Casey, yes we are leaving soon, and I know you’re hungry.”  So a short walk through the Tundra and getting the bags as fast as I possibly can into the car – WE ARE DONE!

 Results:

Kids = NO special treats

Mom = NO more grocery shopping with three

Our little star

As many of you know, Casey started her school “career” at Renaissance Academy Charter School.  In Kindergarten she’s doing outstanding and we love the curriculum.  Not only does it focus on the basic reading, writing, math, science, etc.  But the overall focus at Renaissance is to “build” the student as a whole.  To teach them respect, justice, hope and courage are some of their core values.  In my opinion, you can leave school and be an A+ student.  But if you don’t have the confidence in yourself, don’t know yourself and don’t understand how the “world works”, your potential is less. 

Not only are we impressed with their core values, but they really push kids to be independent.  But not in a bad way.  They teach them, even in kindergarten, to be responsible for their own actions and things.  They also teach them how to solve problems on their own and how to express their feelings (sad, happy, angry) in a productive manner.  All these things really make a well rounded student, child and future grown-up.

They’ve really dived into the Reading program in her class and Casey is reading so well!  She’s also doing very well with Math and can add and subtract.  She’s definitely an intelligent little girl.

I REALLY love the school’s Code of Conduct (I’ve highlighted my favorite part):

I AM HERE TO LEARN - Therefore I will:

• Respect myself, others, and the environment. 
• Cooperate with all school personnel. 
• Do nothing to keep the teacher from teaching, or keep anyone, including myself, from learning.

Casey has her parent teacher conference this afternoon, so I was looking over her report card.  Her teacher had the following to say about her and I got a tear of admiration in my eye:

“Casey is a kind, gracious, and wonderful student, who has a beautiful smile that lights up her face.  She plays well with all the other children and has many friends.  She enjoys running and playing tag during outside recess.  Casey exemplifies the core values of justice, hope and courage.  She is kind and friendly to everyone and treats all fairly.  She offers hope and friendship to all, but especially to those students who are having a difficult day.  She has been a positive role model this entire year!  Keep up the great behavior Casey!”

SO proud!

So we had the big trip on Saturday and Chase did well.  Stayed dry in the car and pee’d at Gramme’s and Steve’s cousins.  But, also had two #2 accidents on Saturday and Sunday.  I was getting a little frustrated with Chase, wondering if we jumped the gun with potty training.  He just didn’t seem to get the #2.  Then, even though he had no pee accidents, he’d only go if we were in the bathroom with him and made him concentrate on going.

So yesterday, he was off to school.  He had to ride the bus for almost an hour, go to his morning IU class and then to his pre-school class.  Well, he did awesome!  He went in the morning before the bus, stayed dry on his bus and all through is IU class.  He wouldn’t go there for them, but that’s ok.  So he got to pre-school and went twice there and no accidents!  He came home last night and we knew he had to go #2 since he hadn’t gone all day.  So we watched him like a hawk and sent him in numerous times.  Finally, right before bed, I sat with him and read him a story while he was on the potty.  He went #2 and very excitedly said, “I went poopy Mommy!  Now I get my cupcake!”.  That was his reward and he was very excited.  He gets such a big smile when he goes on the potty.  He’s so proud of himself and we are VERY proud of him!

A Successful Day

Nine pee’s, three little poops, and one big poop on the potty with only one accident – makes this a very successful Day in the Life of Potty Training Chase.  I think Chase got a hold of Casey’s juice (with miralax in it) and drank some yesterday.  He usually doesn’t go #2 this much.  At least it gave him practice with it.    He also woke up dry from a 2 hour nap. 

At the beginning of the day we made a list of people that he wanted to call after he had his successes on the potty.  Sponge Bob was one.  So in the middle of the day after some successes, I had Steve call and pretend he was Sponge Bob.  Steve is very good at voices and Chase was convinced it was Sponge Bob.  Casey was home by then (1/2 day today) and I had the speaker phone on.  She was convinced too!  It was hilarious.  Then Chase asked to speak to Patrick and Planktin (two other characters).  So Chase heard Sponge Bob say that he was proud of him for going on the potty.  GO Steve!  Chase also really likes, “Super Readers”.  It’s a show called “Super Why”, but he calls it Readers.  I was going to have him “call”, but the voice isn’t really unique.  Maybe another day.

Tomorrow we’re making a trip to Lancaster to see Gramme.  I’m a little nervous how it’s going to go in the car and then being distracted at other houses.  We’ll just have to remember to take him often and be sure to bring extra clothes.

Overall, a great day!  More than I expected.  We are very very proud of him!

Last in line for the potty

Well, I’ve decided that it’s time to give Chase a little push to “no more diapers”.  Casey potty trained easily and Julian was a breeze!  Chase is just about 3 1/2, stays dry for most naps and occasionally wakes up in the morning dry.  He’s also been sitting on the potty for quite sometime at daycare, a couple times each day.  He can also pull his own pants/pull-up, up and down.  So, I think it’s time to work on the “brain” part of potty training.

I’ve been talking to him about going on the potty and wearing big boy underwear.  His response had always been, “Underwear is for Julian.”  (meaning, not for him)  So I’ve finally convinced him that he’s a big boy too and it’s time to put poop and pee in the potty.  No more diapers.  He’s stopped saying underwear for Julian, so I hope he’s pumped up like I am.

My sister, Michelle, used a method that seemed to work well for her son, Caleb.  It’s a book from 1976 that potty trains in less than a day.  Sounds pretty ambitious, but the process is very intense.  It’s done in about 4 hours.  The child doesn’t play with toys, puzzles or watch TV during this time.  Every 15 minutes on the potty and the focus is for them to keep their pants dry.  Lots of fluids and snacks for rewards and to make them thirsty.  That’s the very very short version.  I’m just about done reading the book.  So, I’m planning on Friday to keep just Chase home from school and give this a try.

I bought some cool big boy underwear, plus great snacks, some Sponge Bob and Cars straw cups and spider man snack bowls.  I’m ready!  Now lets just hope he is.  

I’ll keep you posted.

Casey’s dream

Casey with wide eyes and lots of excitement, “Mommy, guess what I dreamed last night?” 

Mommy, “What’s that Case?” 

Casey with continued excitement and big smile, “I dreamed that cake, all different kinds, was falling from the sky going everywhere.  It was all wrapped in tape, not too much tape, but enough so it wouldn’t fall apart.  Then I would catch it and take the tape off and eat it.  Wouldn’t that be great Mommy?  We could eat cake all the time.  Yum!”