This Sucks...

Well, first of all this does suck. Why does it always snow on a weekend??? And why is it snowing so darn much, don't they know this is Maryland?? Secondly, Quinn is sick...again!!! He woke up all snotty and has been sleeping on and off and just being low energy all day long. He didn't get into any trouble at all today, he is obviously not feeling well. The only excitement/energy he showed all day was when the counting DVD starting counting shoes, I guess he thought they looked yummy, LOL! Oh well, he doesn't seem to have a fever and while his appetite isn't huge he is eating a decent amount.

Speaking of watching TV, Cooper apparently thinks the new pickle commercial where the pickle snaps so loud it scares the cat is hilarious! I love it when he laughs appropriately, it is so normal :) On that note, I forced Matt to watch a chick flick with me tonight but I only did it because it was about Autism. Yup, I found another autistic love story. It is new on DVD and called "Adam", it was a good movie. The guy actually had Aspergers but close enough.

Today the boys didn't have school, that meant Quinn had the day off but Cooper didn't! First of all Loyola speech started again today. I told Cooper in front of Quinn that we were going to Loyola and apparently that really upset Quinn. I feel bad, I know Quinn has always loved going to Loyola but he just doesn't have time now that he is in school all day. Quinn stayed behind with Grandma Berta, which Cooper didn't like at all, he wanted her to come with us. Oh well, as soon as we got to Loyola he was all smiles! When his new therapist came out to get him he grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the room to get started. He did lots of great talking and the supervisor was really shocked by how much he has progressed in just the last month! Yay!!! I was really excited because the therapist handed him a babydoll and told him to give it a hug, Cooper actually hugged the doll tight and said "hug"! That is officially pretend play!! Plus maybe it means he will be ready for a baby sister soon??? After that we came home and he had ABA therapy. His new therapist is really great with him and he doing fabulous :)

Quinn has been doing okay. I think he has been having some stomach issues but otherwise he has been really happy and pretty well behaved. He was really good today about staying out of the way while Cooper's therapist was here. He had a fantastic time at horseback riding the other day. He was sooo excited to be back on the horse! What a sweet boy :)

Grandpa Quinn

One of the things we have been working on with Cooper is identifying family members. We have picture flashcards of all the immediate family members that he has memorized. We are super lucky that there are soooo many Grandma and Grandpas in our lives, but so Cooper wouldn't get confused only two people originally got those titles, everyone else he learned their first names. Well since he has mastered that we are working on teaching him to say Grandma Jan, Grandma Donna, Grandpa Don etc. He is doing pretty well with it, but he got a little confused and started calling Quinn, Grandpa Quinn! It was pretty funny and very cute :)

Fingers Crossed!

We have gone two nights without vomit, but are still keeping our fingers crossed!!!

In other news, Cooper said "I love you" the other day! Unfortunately he was talking to his blanky!!! :( I took him upstairs to change his diaper and he ran over to his bed, grabbed his blanky, and exclaimed quite clearly "I love you!!!". Oh well, at least it is a start, maybe someday he will say it to his Mommy too.

Tonight we went to my parents house to see my Uncle Guy who is visiting from California. Cooper loved Guy because he was up for lots of rough-housing and wrestling. Quinn was also very excited to be at Grandma and Grandpop's house. The boys were both very good and we had a nice night. Before we left we were changing Quinn's diaper and Cooper was suddenly very interested in Quinn's backside. It was really funny, he was tilting his head down to get a better look and then he even lifted Quinn's leg so he could see better. What a total goofball!!! I guess he never realized Quinn was the same as him when it came to behinds, LOL!

More Vomit

So apparently Cooper is going to throw up in the middle of the night from now on :( Last night I didn't even let him watch his shows, we watched my shows!! Then I tried to put him back to sleep without his favorite blanky(it was covered in vomit) and he screamed and cried. He didn't stop until an hour later when I finally brought a still damp but clean blanky back to him. Then he instantly started making his happy sounds and running around his room playing. He continued to play until almost 4 o'clock in the morning! Really, Cooper? Really? Then he slept until 2:30 this afternoon when I finally woke him up for therapy. Oy!

For the last half of his ABA therapy today his old therapist came over to go over stuff with the new therapist. Cooper was really excited to see Megan and ran right up to her and gave her a hug. But then he got really uncomfortable and was hiding behind me, it was so funny! I guess he didn't know how to act with both of them there. It was like a guy who suddenly finds himself in the same room with his two girlfriends, LOL! Poor Cooper, but he did get over it eventually and relaxed a bit.

Water Main Break

Apparently there was a major water main break right near Quinn's school today. He may have tommorow off. Damn you Baltimore and your crappy water pipes, if it weren't for you Cooper would have a different birthday!! I still get a little freaked out everytime I hear the words "water, main, and break" together...ahhh memories...

So we have a diaper rash epidemic here right now. Cooper has a horrible rash and apparently it was soooo bad that he just couldn't handle school today. I had to go pick him up because he wouldn't stop crying. Of course he was just fine the rest of the day. He did well at ABA therapy and was his normal cute sweet self. This afternoon we were down in the office and the phone rang. He turned and looked right at the phone and said clear as day "Who is it?". Now where did he get that from???? I don't ever say that, maybe they say it while they are pretending at school or something? It was pretty darn cute :) Oh, Quinn has a little rash too and his school also called, but just to ask if it was okay to put cream on it. Oy!

Quinn is still not eating very well, actually the only thing he eats well is his baby cereal. Tonight at dinner he knocked the fork out of Grandma Berta's hand while she was trying to feed him a hotdog. Then he wasn't paying attention and knocked the cereal spoon out of her hand also. Except this time instead of throwing it onto the floor he picked the spoon up carefully and very politely handed it back to her! It was so funny! This kid knows exactly what he is doing! LOL!

A Good Weekend

We had a good weekend here. Cooper got better and Quinn did not get sick! The only one who threw up was Portia (which Cooper found absolutely hillarious)! While Quinn hasn't been sick I am a little concerned about him. His apppetite has gone completely out the window! He is eating, but is no longer intrested in snacking (which used to be what his life revolved around) and acts like hot dogs are totally gross (they used to be his favorite food!). I will give him some time, maybe this will pass.

Cooper had a very good and verbal weekend! He is suddenly repeating everything! This is very new and I hope it develops into him saying more things on his own. It is just so nice to hear his voice so often, I may be biased but I think Cooper has the most beautiful little voice in the whole world :)

Tommorow is MLK day so no school or work for Daddy! Cooper still has therapy and we are planning on taking Quinn to get a blood test (so long overdue!), and check out some new glasses. We are definately going to get him a pair of backup glasses, hopefully the indestructable kind!

Obviously Cooper did not go to school today. We will see about tommorow but I don't want to jinx it like I did last night. He had a pretty good day at home today. We watched a lot of TV and played some. We painted in a paint with water coloring book. Cooper was a little heavy handed and also refused to switch to a new page when his was already thouroughly soaked. He handled it pretty well when his brush went right through the paper though. He is such a good boy!

Quinn went to school but once again they said he had a horrible runny nose and coughed all day. I have no clue why he is sooo sick at school yet perfectly healthy at home, it is so wierd! Could he be allergic to something at school all of the sudden? I just don't get it. They also said he needs to have his glasses adjusted because they are really crooked. I guess we will try and take him to Lenscrafters and see if they can do it this weekend. Tommorow his class is going on a field trip to the library and then lunch at McDonalds. Next week they are going to the Dental Museum, what the heck is that anyway?? Quinn sure has an interesting life!! :)

Nope, Definately Sick!

Nevermind my last post. Cooper woke up vomiting shortly after I wrote it :(

Vomit!

Cooper shocked us all today by throwing up all over the place as soon as we got home from horseback riding. He almost never throws up!! I think it shocked him more than anyone, poor baby. I don't know what it was, maybe too much trotting? I hope it isn't a virus, but he didn't do it again and he went back to his usual happy energetic self pretty quickly. And thankfully my mom was here so she cleaned up the vomit (love you mom!). If he doesn't do it again before it is time for school tommorow I am just going to send him, I am soooo sick of having kids home sick from school!

Quinn went back to school today with a doctors note (that said "Quinn can return to daycare" :P), and an email to his teacher that Mommy did not want to be called unless he had a fever :) Sorry, but he is just missing too much school and he needs to toughen up. They said he had an alright day but was a little fussy and hit one of the other boys. They also said they cleaned his nose really well and then put vaseline on his nose, apparently he didn't like that.....really? I am shocked....that is why his nose looks like it does in the first place, duh!

Both the boys did pretty well at horseback riding even though we had to ride inside because of the cold. Cooper independently requested the brush and to trot, he really did do an awful lot of trotting today I wonder if that just unsettled his stomach. He also showed off his new skill for his therapist "What does the horse say?" "neigh" I made that small because it is Cooper saying it and he always whispers :)

I took Quinn to the doctor today even though I thought it was silly. The doctor saw him and said he was fine. No ear infections, no sinus infection, chest all good etc. She gave me a note that said he can go back to school. If he is fussy at school they can just deal with it, he can't just stay home forever because he isn't 100%. I was very proud of how good he was at the doctors. He even stood on the scale for a second, he weighs 43 pounds!!! They left us in the room and he took one look at the little doctors stool with the wheels on it and went right for it. Apparently it reminded him of the scooters they use at school because he layed down on it and pushed off with his feet and went rolling all over that tiny little room! It was pretty cute and he was having a great time, I wish I had a video camera with me.

Cooper had a good day at school, his teacher wrote that he is using more words without having to be bribed! He had ABA this evening and tommorow his new therapist is supposed to start. We will see what happens with that, it will be nice for him not to have to work so late we have been going until 6:30 every night lately!

Crappy Monday!

Well, I already knew my Monday was going to be crappy because the first thing on my schedule was an IV infusion. What I didn't expect was to get home (totally exhausted and ready to pass out from my medicine) and have a message waiting from Quinn's school nurse. Apparently even though he was acting completely normal and mostly healthy at home, once I sent him to school he became "uncomfortable", " inconsolable", and began exuding "thick yellow mucus". So I raced over to pick him up before I really did pass out, and he was fine. He has been fine since I put him in the car and brought him home, not even a little snotty. WTF?? I am seriously confused, he is missing way too much school. So tommorow the plan is to take him to the doctor and get the ok to send him back to school, then they will just have to deal with him.

Cooper had a good day at school and then thoroughly enjoyed playing with Grandma Berta while Mommy slept off her medicine. Grandma made the rookie mistake of cleaning up his toys in front of him though. He made sure to completely clear the bookcase off before he went to bed. It just doesn't pay to clean up around here!! Cooper had ABA this afternoon. He did a good job. They were going through flashcards and got to Q, it was a Quarter and he didn't know that word, so he looked at the Q and said "Quinn". What a smarty pants!

Thankfully school was delayed two hours today, because no I did not set my alarm. So I had the day at home with both my boys which was somehow easier than being here with just Quinn. Quinn is feeling a little better I think, he is just still a bit snotty. He was better behaved today, actually sat and watched TV for a while, and actually listened to me when I told him no. He still sat on the table multiple times, but he obviously does that for attention since he gets all excited and has a big smile on his face when he sees me coming over to get him down :)

Cooper had ABA today, just for a little while though, his therapist said she was really tired so went home early (I think she had a date). I don't blame her really, she just started student teaching full time and then she comes straight here and works with Cooper for two hours! I would be tired too. She was a bit dressed up with a nice scarf on since she just came from work. She was playing with Cooper and took her scarf off and put it on him. He loved that (I bet he thought it was a blanky), and was super excited she did it. Then she took it back, put it back on, and said "Megan wear scarf", Cooper's instant and unprompted response was to reach back out for it and say "Cooper wear scarf"!!!! Isn't that awesome?? :) Somebody get this kid a scarf! :)

School better be closed tommorow, there is already a good amount of snow out there! I wonder if I should even bother setting my alarm to check, I already know Quinn isn't going and if there is even a delay Cooper won't have school.

Poor Quinny, he is so bored not going to school! I hope he is better enough on Saturday to go out with his grandparents and I hope there isn't too much snow to go out. We both could use a night out after a week like this! And poor Cooper, his lips (well actually the area around his lips) are so chapped that he started bleeding a little today. I have been struggling with him the last few days to let me put Chapstick on him but today he just sat there like the little angel he is and let me. He also didn't need to be held when I cut his nails, he is such a good boy!

The note his teacher sent home from school said Cooper was trying to play with some of the other kids in his class today! I have noticed him trying with Quinn more often too lately. Yay Cooper! Today his ABA therapist came over and she was going through action flash cards with him. They were a little tough so he wasn't getting any of them on the first try. But then she got to the picture where the people were hugging and Cooper said "Hug!" I thought is was so sweet that he instantly recognized that one, he does get lots of hugs around here :)

Still Sick

Quinn is still sick, in fact I think he is getting worse! He is very very snotty and is still coughing. Poor baby, he did eat a very good dinner tonight but his appetite hasn't been the same the last few days. I don't think he will be going back to school this week, which sucks because he needs it and I need it! His new favorite thing to do is take the pile of crackers I put on the table for him in his hands and walk into the living room with it. He used to sit nicely at the table to snack, but today he kept carrying the snacks into the living room dropping pieces along the way and stepping on them as he went. Oy! Even I felt the need to sweep that up! I put him in his highchair with a snack while I went out to the bus to get Cooper. When we got back in he had reached over and grabbed the lights off the tree and was chewing on them! Sigh...at least it made me get my butt in gear and we finally took the tree down tonight.

Cooper is such a good boy. He made a necklace at school and he came home wearing it, it was so cute. It was bath night so he got to eat his favorite meal, Chef Boyardee ABC123's minus the meatballs. It is only allowed on bath nights because he will only eat it with his hands one letter/number at a time and it is minus the meatballs because he won't eat them, but Quinn loves them! He must have been getting full because he decided to feed one to Portia, it was so cute how he held it out for her and then he laughed when she ate it out of his hand. I am a little surprised she didn't bite him, good thing it wasn't a meatball!

We didn't go to horseback riding today because Quinn is sick and it was freezing. I hope we are all healthy next week and it would be nice if it was a little warmer too!

Bad Blogger

Sorry! I have been a very bad blogger and I know it. I will try to do better, it is one of my New Years resolutions :)

The holidays this year went soooo much better than last year. Quinn was like a whole new boy this year. Last year he cried a lot at family gatherings or just went and hid in a corner. This year he was happy to be there surrounded by his family, it was a wonderful and welcome change. Buying gifts for him is very challenging, but many of the things he recieved he really likes and plays with (even if they are for much younger children). He loves the leapfrog letter spinner and the See and Say he got, of course he loves the slinkys and jumpropes he got too. He loves the Christmas tree (yes it is still up) and one of the only ways to get him to sit still is to turn on the lights. I knew Quinn was doing better since he started at his new school, but all the craziness of the holidays just made it clearer to me that he is in such a better place now.

Now, when I think about how far Cooper has come in the last year I just can't believe it! They told me that by this time he would be labling things with actual verbalized words, but I honestly did not believe it. They were right! He will lable pretty much anything and can repeat anything you ask him to. I even got him to say "Merry Chirstmas" a few times! He enjoyed the holidays a lot this year and is now a champion unwrapper. His favorites are his laptop, the Cariboo game, and his Stomp 123! He has even come to terms with the fact that we just can't find the "1" on that game. He seems to be starting to try and say some sentences. Grandma Jan supposedly heard him say "Time to go bye-bye" and "I like Mcdonalds" :) Today I am pretty sure he said "Quinn is here!" as he pointed to his brothers room (Quinn isn't usually here but he was home sick). He also said "Poopy Diaper" to Matt last night when Matt told him he need to get changed. He is also a lot calmer and handles stuff better now. He used to freak out and cry if he spilled his drink, now he says the cutest "Oops" and that is it. He is also sharing with his brother, which is amazing.

I know there is tons more to update and I hope there will be more new stuff everyday. I am going to try harder to post it on the blog, I swear!