A New Football Fan

Last night, the Colts lost. Usually, in this situation, I would have been a bit down. But last night, I was laughing so hard, I had tears in my eyes!

Rewind:

Last week, Kyle was announcing for a couple of days that the Chargers were playing against the Broncos. Funny thing is, he doesn't even watch football; he just likes to look ahead on the TV schedule to see what's on, and this caught his eye. All day before the game, he was declaring that the Broncos were going to win. Matt, being Mr. Opposite, announced that it was the Chargers who were going to win. Again, he wasn't a football watcher either, but like Kyle, he said he was going to watch the game--a night game. Watching this game would require that they stay up beyond their usually 9:00.

Like expected, around 9:00, Kyle said, "Well, good-night." Matt, though, made it clear that he would be watching the game. Kyle wasn't too pleased with his decision, but he went to bed anyway.

The game was pretty much a blow-out with the Chargers winning, and Matt watched the whole game. It wasn't over until around 11:30. He was very happy, and when he went to bed, he made sure he woke up Kyle to tell him the "good news."

Part Two:

Last night, it was the Chargers against the Colts. Staying true to form, Matt was rooting for the Chargers all week, even though we live in Colts land. Yesterday, every other sentence was about how the Chargers were going to beat the Colts. Midway through the day, he brought down this small wooden box from his bedroom ("he" made it at school), and in this box was his 20 dollar bill from Christmas. He went around to family members and asked them how much they wanted to bet!! Now, this sort of thing isn't something that we've promoted--I don't know where that came from, but it was kind of humorous. We played along. I threw in some quarters, I gave Kyle a one to throw in, and John added his money. Chelsey, on principle, didn't participate. Good girl, Chelsey.

Game time:

He was so excited for most of the game. Granted, he didn't understand much of it, because I don't think he's ever watch an entire game on TV--he did go to a high school game once. But I made sure I made it clear when I was disappointed with events--such as when a call was against the Colts, that way, he knew that he could be excited! He of course understood obvious things like a good run, a good pass, being tackled, field goals, and touch-downs.

In overtime, the Colts lost (or should I say, they gave the game to the Chargers). What a heart breaker. But there was Matt, arms raised in the air, shouting his words of victory, and just as quickly, scooping up his box and heading upstairs. Poor Kyle, Matt just had to fill him in. He went on, and on, and on (it was quite humorous; John and I were cracking up), until we finally went in to tell him to get to sleep.

He's already picked a team for today's game--go Eagles!

And boy, I sure hope those Chargers win it all!

Happy New Year!

It's New Year's Eve, and here we are at home, which is where we always are for this occasion. Well, everyone is here except Chelsey; she's staying at a friend's house tonight.

John and Matt are playing golf on the PS2, and Evan is loving it. Kyle is watching TV--we're getting ready for Shrek 2 in a little bit. He of course has that on DVD, but it's a little more special when it's on TV (**quick edit--yes, we're watching Shrek--along with 3 or 4 other shows!). Right now, he's chatting about his trains and Scooby Doo characters. I love the way he combines characters from different shows to create his own episode of a unique show. And the voices are usually right on--his version of Daphne's voice is quite humorous.

I'm, obviously, on the computer, but I plan to head to the kitchen soon to clean up the mess we created. Chelsey and I created a quick dessert for her evening, and then I attempted to make tonight's dinner a little different for our "celebration," so we had a variety of items, which means a variety of a mess.

It's hard to believe there are only 4 more days left of vacation. Actually, that's how many days before I "have" to go back to school, but in reality, I have sooo much to do before then (grade an enormous amount of papers (procrastination) and prepare for next week). Next year, I'll definitely remember to not do something the final week before vacation that will leave me with a lot to grade.

We've been playing the Stars Wars Battleship game quite a bit--the boys like it. There are 4 different missions. The first 3 are similar to basic Battleship, except one doesn't sink ships; they're neutralized and destroyed! We've been playing the 1st mission which is identical to the Battleship we all know. I'm not sure we'll ever make it to the 4th level--advanced. There are extra buttons and blue pieces that go along with that level. The first time we played, it was John and Matt against Kyle and me. Since then, Kyle and Matt have been battling each other, and I serve as a neutral coach. My job is to help them enter the coordinates after they set up their fleets and ensure that they are entering the correct coordinates throughout the game--Matt seems to have trouble seeing some of them; they are hard to see (don't know why they have to make them transparent), but it makes me wonder if his prescription for his glasses needs to be changed a bit. I'm thinking of putting stickers with the coordinates on top of the plastic. I also will occasionally point out things like how there is no way a ship can be hiding in a spot that is surrounded by 4 white pegs! Overall, they do fairly well with it; they'll be ready to play independently very soon. It's a lengthy game for us--I watched the clock today--it took a little more than an hour, and they do quite well with it, but it's a long time for the coach!

Forget the kitchen; Shrek is on!

Christmas pictures

The Christmas card picture

Evan's favorite gift

Evan adores giraffes, but like other stuffed animals, he wouldn't touch this one. He did, though, give it many kisses.

Kyle has been wanting Electronic Battleship for a few years. This is Star Wars Electronic Battleship! We haven't played yet; the directions are rather lengthy.

Matt and Kyle checking out Kyle's new digital watch. Digital watches for the boys are sort of a Christmas tradition.



Matt likes to post signs on his door. This DO NOT ENTER sign flashes.



Evan seems to like the barn so far, although he doesn't care for it when we turn the sound on...we'll give him some time before we try that again.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chelsey, Kyle, and I went to Lafayette today so that Chelsey could exchange something. Kyle's mission was to try and find a PlayStation 2 game that he has been wanting for quite a while. I didn't get it for him for Christmas, because I couldn't find it. So today we first checked at Meijer, then Target, then K-Mart, then Best Buy, then Game Stop in the mall, and finally, a Game Stop next to Wal-Mart; except for the last stop, all these places required getting back in the van. Both of the Game Stops were packed, but at the second one, someone actually asked us if we needed help. I told him that we were looking for Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga for PS2. He kindly went and checked on the computer and came back and told us it didn't look like it had been made for PS2!!! After all that searching! Needless to say, Kyle, who had been demonstrating extreme patience, was disappointed. We went to Wal-Mart and bought Shark Tale. Amazingly, he didn't have that movie yet, and it was relatively inexpensive.

Evan Watching Blake's Video

Evan and I watched the video that Kristie posted of Blake (go to her site and check it out--very cute). After watching it, oh, I don't know, 25 times, I decided to video Evan watching it; he appreciated the entertainment! His favorite part is when Blake says "train."

Thanks for the free entertainment, Blake!

The Christmas Picture

Nothing like waiting to the last minute! Every year, I take a picture of the kids for our Christmas cards. Before digital cameras, I would buy a role of film and use the entire role trying to get one good shot. In the past, it was kind of tricky getting both Kyle and Matt smiling and looking at the camera at the SAME TIME. Chelsley has always been really good at just holding her smile throughout the entire photo session.

Matt has gotten much better, but Kyle, he still needs to work on it. He tries so hard, he really does, but that's part of the problem--he tries too hard. Tell him to smile, and he'll usually give some cheesy smile and his eyes will be closed tightly. Tell him to open his eyes and as he's straining to open them, his mouth also opens. He concentrates too much on what his face is supposed to be doing. It works best if we just try to make him laugh.

Because of Chelsey being away at college, getting a picture this year hasn't been very easy. When she is home, she sleeps in fairly late, and by the time she's up and "ready," it's just about time for Evan's nap.

So I decided that it had to be done today. Due to the fact that it was 2 degrees out today with a windchill of around -20, the picture had to be taken inside. Not a big fan of indoor pictures.

Evan did a good job...John just kept saying the latest expressions that Evan thinks are hilarious--"You did great!" "You did fantastic!" and "You did wonderful!" Even with that, he still was a bit squirmy.

After about 30 takes, I think we got something, but I'm not thrilled with it. The boys were willing to keep trying, but Chelsey thought that the ones we had were "fine" and decided that she was no longer going to participate. Hmm.

I then uploaded the pictures to Wally World for one hour development. Just as I was getting ready to head out the door to pick them up, I get a call from them saying that their machine wasn't working, and it would probably be sometime tomorrow afternoon before the pictures would be developed! I told them to cancel the order (I might try to squeeze in another session tomorrow)! Our cards will not be reaching their destinations by Christmas. Oh well. It's nice to make it last a little longer!

Big Boy Toy

Hanging with Ky

When I got home today, Kyle came up to me with a question that he and John had rehearsed; it was asked in a very formal manner, but basically, he wanted to know if I would go to the basketball game with him. The thought of heading out in this freezing weather wasn't very appealing, but I do like going to games. It cracks me up that he now enjoys doing things like that. When he was younger, that was pure torture for him...and us.

After Chelsey graduated, I thought that my game days were pretty much over. It's not that I went to a lot--she didn't play high school sports--except soccer her sophomore year. She did, though, play in the pep band, was on the dance team her senior year, and sang the National Anthem a couple of times. In elem. and middle school, she played v-ball. She decided not to play in high school...ouch.

I'm very competitive---it hurts to lose. I played b-ball in Jr high through my sophomore year and v-ball all four years in high school. In v-ball...we were good. We lost the state championship our JR year, but won our SR year. The year that we lost, oh, the pain on the bus ride home. We listened to the song "Yesterday" by the Beatles on the long trip home as we shed our tears...how pathetic.

Back to the game--it was great! We led the entire game--that is until the final buzzer. With 2 seconds left, the score tied, the other team brought in the ball from under our basket, a kid threw the ball from around the foul line all the way down to the other end of the court, and it was one of those golden moments. It's just too bad it wasn't for us. I think I saw the mother of the kid who made the shot...some woman had her hand over her mouth, another woman was hugging her...I was happy for her.

Kyle looked tired and was yawning during the 4Th quarter. It was, after all, after 8:30! He was fairly quiet during the game, just kind of taking it in. At one point, when the score was low, he was relating the score numbers to different levels on his Star Wars PlayStation game. There's a girls game tomorrow night, but I'm not sure if he'll be up to going 2 nights in a row.

Oh no, not the Play-Doh!

Last week, my mom told me that Evan was gagging when the therapist took out the Play-Doh. I wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not, because it's been several months since I've given him any (and wasn't interested at the time).

Tonight, his other therapist was here, and all was merry until she opened the Play-Doh container. He immediately started to gag. She tried to get him to touch it, but quickly put it away when she learned that he wasn't going to stop gagging.

Funny kid. He reminded me of a boy who had Cerebral Palsy who I worked with last year in the Lifeskills class. He reacted that way to Play-Doh and shaving cream.

He ALSO reminded me of Kyle, although I don't think Play-Doh was ever an issue for him. For Kyle, the first gag item was broccoli. I was very insistent that the boys ate a variety of foods, which they do, but broccoli is one thing that I quickly gave up on with Kyle. When he was around 3, I put his lunch in front of him (which included broccoli), and within seconds, he vomited all over his plate. When he was in elementary school, they had to careful on the days that they were serving it. That one has gotten better, although he still doesn't eat it, but one food item that has stuck is pickles. Kind of ironic, because Matt loves pickles. He'll eat them on anything. Ex.: He mixes them into cottage cheese.

When Kyle is at the grocery store with me, we inevitably have to pass by the aisle with the pickles, and they start at the end of the aisle. Gagging, eyes watering, face turning red is what one will usually see. We try to make it by there quickly, but once he starts, he's never quite the same during that trip--on edge. He doesn't go to the store too often with me, but it helps if we don't go down that aisle and pass it on the opposite end.

When we get fast food, I often don't bother ordering his burgers without the pickle, I guess partly because I think it's better if he learns to "deal with it," (on gentle terms). So, when I take his burger out of bag, he knows to turn around while I take the pickle off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Evan's therapist left this evening, he did his usually floppy arm wave good-bye. BUT, he also said, "bye." That was a first. When he was much younger, at least a year ago, he would sometimes say something like "buh."

Before his therapist arrived tonight, he was looking at the title of his snowman book and said, "Waszat?" while pointing to the letter 'm.' He them made the 'm' sound!

Might As Well Jump!

Jumping, that's what Evan is doing right now in his crib. It's what he almost always does before going to sleep. It can last up to 45 minutes! A while back, I posted about the sleeping habits of the older two. There was a KEY sentence in that post---"I'll talk about Kyle and Matt's...Evan's is a little different."

A little different...first, he took 10-20 minute naps when he was an infant. But, at a few months old, he was sleeping through the night. Ah yes, right on schedule. Then, when he was 6 months old, we went to Florida for a week. The first 2 nights, he slept through the night. After that, life hasn't been the same.

I've tried the technique of letting him cry...it worked for the other three, but it's doesn't have a very big impact on Evan. Part of the problem may be that because I'm working, I feel a little guilty and give in a little easier. And then sometimes I think that he's just getting back at me for working, because over the summer when I was home for about a month, his sleeping habits improved.

It does seem, though, to help a little after I let him cry it out. Usually the next night is a little better. Actually, the past couple of weeks haven't been too bad. I think he slept through the past 2 nights. A couple of months ago, he was getting up 2 or 3 times during the night...usually right after I fell back asleep.

The funny thing is that recently (with the exception of the last 2 nights), he's been waking up around 3 and happily jumping in his crib! A part of me says I should go in and tell him to stop, but the other part says, ' Well, at least he's happy.' I don't know what's going to happen when we put him in a bed.

But, you know, I really think we might be on a roll now with those 2 nights in a row...hmmm...I'm off to bed...

Wordle

Click on the picture

www.wordle.net

B-ball and New Words

The boys are growing up! Tonight, they went to a Pacers game with their Best Buddies! I've never even been to a Pacer game.

One of the buddies called earlier in the week and said that the B. B. program had been given 4 tickets to the game, and I'm not sure how it was decided who would get the tickets, but somehow, they ended up with Kyle and Matt and their buddies.

I was a little apprehensive at first; the thought of them in a car with a teenager driver, all the way to Indy (45 minutes), yikes. One of the buddies just called and said that they were leaving now...the Pacers won.

I gave the boys each a disposable camera. They have almost no experience with cameras, so the outcomes should be interesting. Matt was very excited about the camera; he started taking pictures right away--like when the girls pulled in.

It's just so incredible. Ten years ago (or even less), I never would have imagined that they would be doing something like this. Two kids who did not do well in crowded places with us...now EXCITED about going to a NBA game with peers. Wow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Evan has been on a role with vocabulary recently. Although he has been saying words since around 11 months, nothing ever "stuck," and it was completely unpredictable when we would get to hear a word. But now, he's saying things and then repeating them kind of "on command!" Examples that I can think of right now: affe (giraffe), owl (how random is that one), pig, Gigi (our dog), ball, ish (fish), leaf, keys, bus, dog, wazsat (what's that), bee, and (eep) sleep. The "sleep" is funny. He saves it for Grandma's and Grandpa's house. When I drop him off, he immediately says to my dad, "eep," and then laughs. They make a big game out of it. Along with those words, he's also making much more effort with sounds in general. Whenever he sees a swimming pool or any other large body of water on tv, he says with enthusiasm something that sounds like "bath," kind of like "wath," but really, he's saying "splash!" His signing of "all done" and "more" have been very consistent, also.

He also seems more content recently. Chelsey was home today, and she decided to make a cake (a very, um, sad looking cake---you know it, Chel). He didn't cry when she had the beaters on! That's highly unusual. Also, when I went shopping today, I asked him if he wanted to go with me (he always does), but today, he just watched me leave, and DIDN'T COMPLAIN!

What a day! My boys seem like they are making huge gains all in one day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****UPDATE****

Kyle and Matt are home, and they had a good time! The buddies did, though, comment that they seemed to be getting a bit tired near the end. They really like their nine o'clock bedtime!

The buddies also told me that some woman was rude to Kyle! Both Kyle and Matt took a lot of pictures---they used up all 27 on their roles. I guess after Kyle was finished taking pictures, he was playing with the rewind thing. The girls both said that they didn't even notice that he was doing it. A woman who was sitting two rows in front of them came back and rudely told him to stop (according to the girls). The buddy tried to explain that "he didn't mean anything by it" (interpreted--he didn't mean to be rude, unlike the woman).

Ugh. Some people.

I Was Wrong!

In the previous post, I predetermined that trick-or-treating with Evan would not be successful....I was wrong.

First of all, I think part of the success of the evening was due to the fact that I didn't have high expectations; I wasn't even sure that I was going to put a costume on him.

It all began in the late afternoon. For whatever reason, it hadn't even crossed my mind that we still "needed" to carve our pumpkins; I think Matt mentioned it. So, we brought them in and cut into them. Kyle willingly participated---it's never been a favorite activity of his; Matt has ALWAYS been into it. The picture pretty much explains their pumpkin gutting techniques.

True to form, Kyle chose for his pumpkin to have a happy face.

We turned on our porch light, lit the pumpkins, and waited with lots of candy. Unfortunately, our street doesn't attract a big crowd; okay, it doesn't attract any type of crowd. Our only visitors of the evening were relatives. When spiderman showed up, Evan immediately touched his costume; I think he liked the fabric. I then started thinking, 'Oh man, why didn't I get him all dressed up? Why didn't we go downtown? He would have loved seeing all the costumes!' Within seconds, he was crying big tears because of the hooded mask--that made me feel a little less guilty!

After that, I decided to go ahead and put the clown outfit leftover from when Matt was little. It something I had made---odd choice of material, but Matt was my 'little porkchop,' because he was porkier than the other two! Evan accepted the outfit with ease. I then decided that I might as well give it a try! With pumpkin basket in hand, we walked up to my parents house. Because it wasn't 7 in the morning, Evan balked a bit. But, we made it in the door and got a cookie---he liked that. After a few minutes there, we headed out the door. There was one house (not including ours) that had a porch light on. Should I? Hey, why not! We headed over to the house, and 5 feet from the door, he started pulling away. Luckily, the people could see us, and the man brought the candy basket out to us. Evan, to my surprise, acted like an old pro! Due to the fact that we have little to no business on this street, the man encouraged Evan to keep on taking more---which he happily did! Yay!

I was then a bit disappointed that more lights weren't on, but probably, it was for the best. I went home feeling so happy!

After we walked through the door, Evan plopped down in the entrance, and proceeded to take out each piece of candy. He then put each piece back in the bucket. This went on for a while. I tried to get him to take a bite of the chocolate, but he didn't want anything to do with it. He did, though, eat a few of the Smarties.

Chelsey then taught him a fun game called, "Shake, shake, shake!" How to play? One takes a package of candy, such as Skittles or Dots, and shakes package while saying "shake, shake, shake!" He was quite amused.

Soon after, he went into the living room, and I took off his costume. John then taught him another Halloween game called "Toss the candy in the basket." Rules of game: Evan removes a piece of candy from basket, brings it to daddy, and daddy tries to throw it in the basket. Although a made basket is acceptable, it is much more entertaining when daddy misses and says, "Missed!"

(clothes wet from lemonade)