17 Months: The Escape Artist

This child is now 17 months old; which means he is on the brink of our least favorite age: the 2 year old. He has begun the 'throw your body down and make a big scene' fits which leave me fighting not to laugh because it is quite the funny sight. But usually he's just happy:

Jett has been growing and growing!

He's acquired a couple more words: airplane and stuck. He loves to pretend and is always trying to play with Cruise even though he tends to just come off as annoying. But he's persistent.

He likes to "dance", which means he spins in circles to music. It's pretty cute. He tries communicating as best he can with pointing, grunting and babbling. And he's amazing with his super laser vision that enables him to see the package of marshmallows behind the cupboard door. He waves and says 'bye bye', gives kisses on demand, and even sings along with songs. His favorite is the ball song and the stop & go song from our Kidwinks CD.

Jett also loves to play peek-a-boo after bath. I'll have him wrapped in his towel, and put him on the floor to dress him, when he grabs the towel and puts it over his eyes ready for me to ask: Where's Jett? Cruise also taught Jett how to blow bubbles in the bath, which I have a video of below.

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When Jett gets in trouble or gets caught doing something he's not supposed to do, he does this ostrich thing where he bends in half (standing up) and puts his head on the floor. It's hilarious and he always does it with a great big smile.

Jett, just like Cruise was at this age, is quite the Daddy's boy! He get so upset when Daddy leaves, even for a moment. It's quite heartbreaking.

Now more than ever he tries to do everything Cruise does. He has learned how to climb up the gang plank to the treehouse, which means I have to keep an extra close eye on him when we're outside. He loves the tire swing, sitting on the tricycle, and running! Man he runs! Which brings me to the title: The Escape Artist.

This kid can find just the slightest little opening and BAM! he's gone! He is not only fast, but is super good a dodging. It's amazing. If the gate is open to the street, he makes a run for it and thinks it's just so funny. Mommy doesn't.

Jett still is my little snuggler and we absolutely love that about him. He will just snuggle and melt into your lap. It sometimes is hard to get up and get going when he's sitting with you; you could sit and snuggle all day.

We love this little Jett-Man!

100% Potty Trained

I've got to catch up on the past two weeks. So to start off...

POTTY TRAINING!!!

Spring Break was just a couple weeks ago and since EVERYONE had off, WE couldn't go do anything fun due to large crowds. So I figured we'd give potty training another go-round. The week before, I had attended a potty training class at Kids On The Move for parents of children with autism. I had tried potty training twice before and was super frustrated at the thought that maybe Cruise wouldn't be potty trained for a long time. After the meeting, I went straight to Savers to stock up on sweat pants for the kiddo, and then to Target to get candy, a potty book, and more underwear. I was determined.

So day 1 of the potty training week began and all Cruise wanted was the candy. He would fight me for the candy, but I stuck to my guns and only gave it to him if he went potty in the toilet. He had plenty of accidents, but did better than I thought he would.

Day 2 came and he did a little better and no longer fought for the candy. But I could tell he was going just so he could get candy. I secretly didn't mind that though; just as long as he was doing his business in the potty. Still a few accidents, but he did much better.

Day 3 Cruise had maybe one accident, still requested the candy, but was doing awesome.

Day 4 came and Cruise woke up with a dry pull-up. The entire day he went straight to the potty without me having to remind him. Absolutely no accidents!

Since Day 4, Cruise has been a rock star and has had no accidents and continually wakes up dry. I must say, I was definitely not expecting him to be nighttime trained for awhile, but I guess he figured if he's gonna do it, he's gonna do it all the way. And I am happy to report that he is over the candy and doesn't need it after going potty.

So relieved to have that over with!

Yes, this is Cruise in mid-air.

"LOOK!"

Cruise and his snowman from last week.

Cruise never said this word...until a little over a week ago. He's never shared anything he's excited about just to share it.
HUGE BREAKTHROUGH!
About a week ago, Cruise wandered in the house from outside holding a Doritos chip. He walked right up to Dave and said, "Look! Chip!" Dave was more confounded by the chip itself at the time, not realizing just how amazing this new development was. He was worried some sick guy outside was handing out chips to our son. So Dave walked outside and found the two little Hispanic neighbor girls from next door, feeding Cruise chips through the fence. Dave was relieved, told Cruise to thank them, and went back into the house to tell me what had just happened. When I pointed out how huge it was that Cruise was engaging in shared enjoyment, Dave realized that Cruise never had just shown us something because he was excited about it. I went outside and asked the girls if they'd like to come over and play: they excitedly accepted my invitation.

Cruise was SO EXCITED to have some little friends over. It was perfect because Cruise speaks little English, one of the girls also speaks little English, and the other girl only speaks Spanish! A match made in heaven.

They played outside for what seemed to be an hour. Every 15 minutes or so, however, I got a little knock on my screen door by the little girl who only speaks Spanish: "El nino salio y fue a mi casa!" (The boy left and went to my house!) I'd look next door to find that the older girl had Cruise by the hand and was leading him back to our house. I'm not gonna lie, I honestly considered hiring them to be my Wrangle and Report team. One would wrangle the boy, the other would come and tell me. I wanted them to stay forever!

I'd check on them periodically only to find them playing with each other so nicely. They'd be interacting with Cruise and giggling and teasing. It was a sight for sore eyes.

When it was time for them to go back home, Cruise cried. I smiled. He had friends and had made a huge developmental step: engaging in shared enjoyment.

Mama Knows Best

Last Friday, we took the kids to the Provo Beach Resort in the Riverwoods. We tried the bowling and other things; Cruise liked the bowling, but all Jett wanted to do was run down the lanes (Dave had to save him more than once before he slipped).

They have a huge play area for kids that is separated by a glass wall and door so you can peer in. We tried to get Cruise to go in, knowing he would love it, but he tried to run and started to cry. Knowing that this play area was just up his alley, I picked Cruise up, opened the door, walked in, and proceeded to remove his shoes so he could play, all the while he was crying, protesting and trying to leave. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the parents sitting there were flabbergasted at the fact that I would FORCE my child to enter this room of pure propriocetive and vestibular joy. But as I quietly said to myself, "THIS IS NOT YOUR CHILD!" I put him into the play area, and within a minute or two, Cruise looked around and his eyes lit up.

Needless to say,  he cried all the way home.

Projects

It's garden season again! With the sale of our boat, Dave decided he is now a full-fledged gardener. So much, in fact, that it has become more of his thing, and he LOVES it, which makes me love it. He may get most of the garden, but I get a little patch for my herbs with a quaint little white picket fence to keep the animals out.

This year, Dave decided to lay things out in a sort of square foot type of garden. He went and picked up some free pallets, broke them down, and made himself some walkways that set up the boundaries for each section of the garden.

This year we are growing:
-tomatoes
-cucumbers
-eggplant
-corn
-green onions
-garlic
-pumpkin
-banana sqush
-zuchini
-carrots
-jalapenos
-strawberries
-cilantro
-basil
-rosemary

I think there are more...but I can't remember.

Anyway, here are a few shots of the garden as of this past week:

My recent project isn't nearly as monumental and amazing, but I was getting tired of never remembering my coupons and not being able to organize them effectively:

Light it Up Blue!

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. People and companies have been encouraged to light it up blue to spread awareness of autism. The Empire State Building changed its lights to blue for the evenings of April 1st and 2nd to spread awareness. Our family is wearing blue and thousands are doing the same. So everyone, don't forget to wear your blue today!

Speaking of autism, Cruise finally received his official diagnosis: Autistic Disorder. I got the paper in hand this past week. It's strange because most parents start out with the diagnosis and then go from there, but we've kind of gone backwards. Many parents will get their child tested without any idea about what autism entails, and so when they get that diagnosis, it's almost like a knife to the chest. It can be incredibly difficult to accept. I feel blessed that in our case, things were eased into the realization and acceptance that Cruise was in fact, autistic.

In October, there will be a Walk for Autism in Sandy, UT with Autism Speaks that I'll be participating in. If any of you would like to join me or would like to donate to Autism Speaks, just click here.

And don't forget to LIGHT IT UP BLUE!