TWOsday News

Happy Twosday to you!

Since it is in fact time to share some Warden news...lets get goin'!

For my first bit of news:

The kids have been getting along exceptionally well lately! Elise's vocab is growing each day. And she is literally learning something new each and everyday. Her favorite sentences currently are "Hmmm...What do you think about that?" and "Don't worry Momma" while patting my shoulder. She is definitly one sweet lil girl. She has a heart to help and make others feel better. Gannon has been very effectionate as well this past week. Always wanting extra hugs and kisses from me and Elise. Oh how he LOVES his baby sister!

My second bit of news is:


To say Elise loves to play "ball" is an understatment. She loves basketball, football, soccer, kickball, baseball, and golf balls. As long as it is some type of ball...you will have a very happy two year old on your hands! I have no idea what the norm is but I am tellin' ya she is good! She loves loves loves to play kickball with Gannon. She asked to play with Gannon at least three times a day. I am sure as they get older, she will not want to hang out with her brother all the time like she does now. So I am soaking up all of this precious time together as a family!

Until next time, have a blessed week and Happy Twosday to you!

Sweet Moments Monday

I hope your Monday is going as good as mine!

This Lord's day

I have always loved Sunday's. I think it goes back to when I was little. Sunday has always meant familytime for me. This day is not any different. Today we are extra thankful for family. It seems life is spinning out of control, and yet the one sure thing...is family. Cale and I are extremely blessed that God has given us two terrific children. To be their guardians. To be the in times of good and times of bad. We are blessed that God is allowing us to care for our children. Today, I personally know too many families who can not share that statement. God has chosen their child to come Home. To be with Him. I know and I am excited that life on earth is only temporary. However, I pray that before my time is up, our child know and love our Lord and Savior. I pray for the Lost and I am remembering that life is short and to not take even one moment for granted. I thank God that he has entrusted me with Gannon and Elise. They are my life.

So on this beautiful Lord's day. Here is a glimpse of what we did today:






I think this might be a sign, our kids see me and Cale text too much! haha! I can't find my picture of Elise, but she has a fetish with cell phones since she was 15 months old! Gannon I bet spend over 30 min just playing with his phone Sunday.

Nothing better the playing with some old favorite friends toys to pass the time.

We tried out a 100% real pony for Elise. She of course didn't care, but I LOVED it! Girls hair is SO much fun. I can say this, because Elise finally has hair! Bless her heart at 1 yrs and 18 months, she had just peach fuzz and few long hairs.

We also spent time doing therapy. Gannon is getting quicker and quicker. I know he still struggles with several goals from the Waiver. He has a pretty hard time sorting non identical items. We have these flash card type things, that are in groups of 5. They are all the "same" thing or catagory but look different. Such as crayons and Cat. Each card varies from a sketch type picture, classic in home picture like I took the picture myself, cartoon picture, clip art, etc. They are all the same but look different. Gannon has a very hard time with this. We are talking maybe he will get 5 out of 50 correct by himself on the first try. If Gannon gets one wrong, I don't say anything. I just simply put it back in my pile and we redo them until he gets them correct. Now, we mix it up all the time on him. The problem with Gannon is he can learn a pattern or routine that the therapist or para or me is doing on these. So you literally always have to change things up. Its easier for Gannon to memorize a pattern vs what he is actually suppose to be ablet to identify. He knows what a cat is. And he knows what crayons are. But when they look different over and over....his little brain is shoved into overdrive.

I will write more later on! Elise is doing fantastic on the Wavier goals! I don't really know what is age appropriate for her, we just have her to everything Gannon does and go from there. I am pretty sure Elise will be going to school early. She LOVES to work! She also plays pretty well for a 2 year old girl with her peers. So I imagine having her in preschool next year will be a good thing!

Happy Sunday to Everyone!

Not so well

Elise is 2 yrs old. And she is developmentally "perfect" I am told. However, she seems to be behind in the potty department. Elise has zero desire to go on a normal potty seat or chair. We tried over the summer just before her 2nd birthday....obviously was unsucessful. So we have revisited this over the past week.

Potty training Elise Nov 2009:

So as you can tell by these photos.....it didn't go well! She dislikes the potty very much. In fact if you proceed to ask her....Elise do you need to go potty? She will infact scream NO potty chair!

So until next time.....we will be using diapers.

What's not broken...don't fix.

As promised...here is a collage of two of Gannon's favorite toys!

We bought Gannon the Fisher Price Laugh n Learn collection when we first found out about it. I just new with all the songs and lights that were all over the toys he would LOVE them! As you guessed it, I was spot on! Over the years, as they have came out with new toys and added to the collection, we have managed to get every single piece. Gannon's top 3 toys are: the house, chair(we never turned ours in for the recall), and phone. Still today.....4 years later....Gannon plays with them each and every day. So, it sure makes gift buying for this kid pretty easy!

We have bought different toys since then, but none seem to last even a third of the time. Gannon doesn't like new toys really at all. Some of the toys we have bought him in the past, we just collecting dust for a year or more before he would accept them and play with them. Some have never been really played with at all. So needless to say, we don't really ask other people to buy toys for Gannon. He is kinda picky overall! But if you grow to love him, you can figure him out :)

Mayer-Johnson's Boardmaker Plus V6-Giveaway

Thanks to Tammy from Autism Learning Felt has put up a giveaway to one of her readers! I am VERY excited about this.

Mayer Johnson has a varity of products for children with communication delays. As all of you know my son Gannon is 4 almost 5 years old. He has a diagnosis of Autism. He is also completely NON verbal. He does not have even one word in his vocabulary. That doesn't stop us from trying to communicate with him however.

Gannon was introduced to PECS or picture exchange back in 2007. It was hit and miss in the beginning. As he got older, we really moved to signing. As Gannon would learn new signs, he seemed to forget the old signs. After he knew the signs for "more" " all done" "eat", and "drink", they ALL became jumbled. He would sign eat for anything. We worked and worked with Gannon but when it was time for him to request something out of frustration...it was a melt down, signing anything and everything he could....but not really communicating. So after much discussion with my very good friend, we started to really push PECS.

Gannon was then enrolled in a structured autism room thru our local school system. They saw a young handsome boy who wanted to communicate but was very confused. So they helped us implement PECS 100%. We have never looked back. I would LOVE a chance to win this Boardmaker Plus because it would be used daily. This retails for $399! I am sure most of you know, with only one income coming in, along with today's economy, and raising a special needs child...you will take any help you can get! So if you would like to know more why I am SO excited about this please please visit Tammy's blog! You won't regret it! Just hop on over here!

Autism Moms Thursday

Thanks to Tammy at Autism Learning Felt I can join in her Meme especially for parents like myself. A mother to Autism. This week are talking about "anything". Just sharing a piece of our life...with Autism.

Please oh please ignore the dust all over the banaster....but....this is how Gannon has been able to "self stem" or self soothe when he needs to just let steam off. Gannon loves to roll his helicopter around the house. Every possible angle, he has done. We tried to limit the amount he does this but really whats the point. He is not hurting himself and he is not being disstructive or disruptive. So we have chosen to let him stem...if he needs to.

However there are plenty of times when I do not allow him to do this. And he can play just fine. He actually has fallen in LOVE with two of his favorite toys....again! Now these toys are from his 1st birthday! Yes, presents are easy for Gannon. Once you find that special one....you keep it and make sure it is a quality product! That we have. Gannon's LOVE for his Fisher Price toys run deep! I will share some more pictures later today of his special toys! Happy Thursday friends!

So if you would like to check out other Mom's who are very special, please skoot on over here. Tammy would LOVE to have new faces to her blog!