National Christmas Tree Meltdown

Yesterday I took the boys to the National Christmas Tree. I thought this would be a DREAM for Ben - all the model trains. What a disappointment. After dragging the boys, kicking and screaming, through metro turnstiles and pushing them 8 blocks in a stroller through the brutal wind we arrived at our desitnation. Only to have happy faces turn to frowns. After 1 minute of admiring the trains Ben started to wail... the 'noises' from the trains were too much. He pleaded with me to leave... begging... while AJ begged to stay and cried as I pulled him away. Who was right to cry? Unfortunately with an Autistic child there is a new perspective with everything and I chose to end our adventure when we hit level 10 meltdown. It was very sad to see someone who loves trains so much so overwhelmed. This normally this would have been such a thrill for Ben. Alas, sensory overload got the best of him.

All was not lost as Ben enjoyed the metro ride and a soft pretzel on the way home.

This experience was a good reminder on what we have been fighting the past few years with Ben. It still frustrates me when people meet Ben or even people who know Ben very well scoff at his diagnosis of AS/Autism - he is high functioning, yes, but we still struggle daily. You'd have to live through it to understand. The past few weeks have been really hard for us. The lack of sleep and excitement of Christmas, coupled with routine and schedule changes has thrown Ben off kilter. For every good day we have terrible ones. I'm looking forward to brighter days when things get back to normal around here!

Christmas 2011

Fa-la-la-lala! Christmas Eve... peaceful looking, yes (minus my lone hanging stocking - all I wanted for Christmas was SLEEP... though I'm not sure that wish has been granted yet with all the sickness we've had around here!)

And the madness begins.... Christmas Eve was spent with the Phillips family. Nana spoiled the boys with too many toys and clothes which AJ modeled for us throughout the evening.

Even Thomas was excited to open his very first present!

Christmas morning the boys were excited to open their gifts. Threats of coal didn't deter behaviors earlier in the week but charting how many gifts would be withheld on Christmas morning that Santa delivered (Ben:1, AJ:2) did seem to improve behavior 2 hours before bedtime.

I was lucky enough to score the 'hot gift' for Ben this year (the Leapfrog... thanks Christy!) but got the lesser 'Explorer' for AJ. We're trying to move their attention away from trains. Ben ripped through everything until he found his 'grown-up' train (not at all appropriate for children under 10) but it was what he asked Santa for so he couldn't let the little guy down.

The Sinclair side joined us for dinner on Christmas and there was more than enough food to go around. We're still eating leftover. Barf.

We've been very blessed to have family with us this year and tons of new toys to hopefully keep us busy.

Happy Friday!

Santa comes to Leesburg again!

Last night we had a special visitor. No, it wasn't CPS coming to haul me away. None other than SANTA! The boys were very excited for his arrival.

Even Thomas was in good spirits.

AJ was very tentative when Santa arrived but opened up a little when he told him he had a present for him. Each boy received a train Christmas tree ornament, just like last year!

They were lucky that this santa had now knowledge of THIS prior event earlier in the week.

Looking forward to Christmas and what goodies Santa is bringing us!

December, in a nutshell

Well, I can't believe Christmas is almost here. I really hope to get at least something posted from the holidays before the New Year but that may be pushing it. So, here are a few things that we've been working on this month!

I mentioned giving an update on the boys allergy testing - we had patch testing done for each of them... had to wear a patch with food samples for 48 hours straight (photographs for the next 72 hours following!) to see if there was any major issues.

Looks like Thomas is allergic to soy, oats (explains a lot since we'd been thickening with oatmeal the past few months!), eggs, sweet potatoes and wheat. Ben, pork and green beans (not that he eats that anyways) and AJ looks like white potatoes (his favorite treat? french fries!) Allergy testing is very subjective (so they say) and there are a lot of false positives. But its a good measuring stick to start and exclude from their diets to see if their reflux and behaviors improve. Thomas is already a happier camper the last few weeks with his new diet and switch to Elecare formula. We're working on PT and OT to have Thomas to build his muscle tone and learn to eat solid foods. H makes a huge mess when eating (not good for people like Seth and I who are OCD with dirt) but I guess it's part of raising a baby... and he's so darn cute so how can we resist?!

One benefit of having to drive to Springfield to see the allergist is that Clifton and Fairfax Station aren't too far out of the way. I was lucky enough to catch a freight train passing through downtown Clifton right as we approached and then we stopped by the Fairfax Train Museum (which was closed) but the boys were still happy to peek in the windows and look at the caboose from the outside.

AJ had his class holiday party today and then both boys had Sing & Celebrate. AJ loves preschool (especially when he's joining Ben) and we are working on Ben to love his classmates as much as he loves playing at home with his trains. His teachers and service providers have been excellent and we know he is making lots of progress.

Ben & AJ make wonderful playmates, though we are usually finding them up to no good. At least they collaborate instead of fight so I won't complain too much. For now ;-)