Minivan

We've joined the club.

And if you saw my teeny old '92 Toyota (that didn't even have airbags) you'd know--it was time.

The boys went NUTS! "This is my minivan!? This is our minivan!?" accompanied with introducing parking lot strangers to our new car now.

Happy anniversary to us!

Compare Em--One, Two, Three

I'm already (I mean "finally") at 24 weeks. This week is the one week I can remember taking a picture with previous pregnancies, so I didn't want to miss the chance to do another one to compare.

'09

'11

'14 (despite what the date says)

These pregnancies have been about as different as the pictures show. For example, at this point my first baby was still not too much higher than my navel in my abdomen. But this little one has been tickling my ribs for a few weeks already.

Maybe I'm shrinking!?

And just for fun, I pulled out old ultrasound pictures from the previous two to hang next to the new baby's pictures on the fridge.

Gabriel

Nathan

Baby

I think the most exciting thing is this guy definitely knows when one of his brothers is touching my belly--he'll try hard to get their attention!

It's just exciting to know that the real bulk of the comparing is yet to come!

Rite of Passage

I guess my kids are more deprived than I realized. Garrison walked the boys down the bike isle at the store just to browse a few weeks ago. 

My kids have never ridden a bike! 

Like... not even a plastic tricycle. 

After a few consecutive weeks of constantly being worn out from non-stop little boy trouble making, we voted bikes would be an excellent idea. 

Bring on the training wheels! 

I love when they help each other. Nathan loves to give Gabe a push. 

After their first day of riding he slept like rocks. 

Now that's my kinda fun. 

Mom

Through a four year old 's eyes. 

Surprisingly accurate... For the most part. 

Sugar

I have a huge mouth full of sweet teeth! 

I forgot what it's like to feel like I'm no longer in control with these cravings.

Then I realized I've put on a whole six pounds. I'm not really used to the rapid weight gain. I was still in the red with weight gain until not too long ago. I decided I need to TRY and eat healthier. 

Then all I wanted (I mean needed) for lunch was an orange julius and a half dozen oreos. 

Oops. 

ASD Life

There was a nice period there were I almost forgot that our lives include dealing with autism. We were distracted and he was doing well. 

Then off track happened. Uhh. I really, really dislike year-round school. 

One day I noticed there was just lots of noise in our house. I listened and realized there was extra moaning sounds and squeals. Lots and lots of extra mindless reciting of Winnie the Pooh lines. *Wince* 

The next few days I let him wear his silky sports shirts. That helped him keep his hands busy and his mouth so too (he still sucks his thumb as he feels soft things). I encouraged him to use his tag blanket as needed for non-auditory sensory stimulation. 

He go through phases where we are okay with occasional treats. Times like these, though, we watch the sugar and food dye REALLY close. None, zip, zero. 

There was one night he was up wide awake til 11 with no reason to be. My first thought was, "Oh no!" Lots of autism mommas don't know what a good night's sleep is even like. They often don't sleep well. But I've been letting short naps slide during the day and it's helped! We've not had any problems. 

There's plenty of days I still pray that these one-step-back moments can be worked on quickly before they stay. 

Then, once in a while, he'll overcome an obstacle I wouldn't have dreamed he would otherwise. This one took LOTS of work up to take on:

He also went in to the dentists a little while ago, sat in the chair, told the doc ALL about his tooth he chipped again, and was amazingly cooperative! He even got his tooth fixed (again) just on laughing gas with no sedation without any problem. I was shocked! It was a big day for him! 

He also picked up a new activity at the store. He'll watch as someone walks passed our cart, and if it's a female (don't ask why) who looks like they could use some amusement that day, he calls, "YOOHOO!" at them and puts on a giant flirty grin. 

So we're getting through our days of crazy, uncontrollable energy and stimming. We celebrate our victories and try not to make a huge deal of our setbacks. He's a HUGE sweetheart, and he seldom lets us forget it! 

Seeing the Good

Potty training. 

I've literally waited for months and months for a time when both Nathan and I finally felt well enough to tackle the project. He's started off really well! Day two and he caught on what to do. The rest of our experience will be learning how to stop what you're doing to go instead of practicing every 10 minutes never leaving the room. 

It's really a matter of training myself to be diligent in training him...

Let's not lie. I forgot how draining it is. 

He's been excited to try cloth dipes as an alternative to pull-ups. I'm all for that. Easy peasy. 

I wanted to start sooner than later so that we have several months of solid potty trained life before chancing a regression later. 

My only regret is I'll get a taste of the diaper-less life for the first time in 4 1/2 years and miss it already when we return in the fall. Oh well.