Try This Tuesday: A Safe Place to Bounce

All of our boys are sensory-seekers when it comes to movement. They love to be in motion — running, jumping, climbing, bouncing, crashing, hanging upside down, flapping and spinning. Trying to find outlets for all that energy is challenging! In the interest of safety and furniture preservation, finding a safe place for the boys to bounce has been especially important.Bouncing on...

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Mondays in Motion: Stand-up comedy, baby style

Here's another blast from the past :). Cuddlebug (sitting) was being silly and Bearhug thought it was hilarious. I love listening to them laugh :). As you can see, I tried to film them inconspicuously so as not to interrupt their fun. At the end, Cuddlebug decided to take a break to chew on his ball, while Bearhug was calling for an encore. They were about 9 mos old in this...

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Chess club update (again)

Well, it looks like we are done with chess club, at least for this year. I posted a while back about how Bearhug has decided he no longer wants to go.  Cuddlebug wanted to continue, but he is having a hard time.  He's catching on pretty well in terms of how to play the game, but apparently he is having meltdowns whenever he loses :(.  Last week, he had to leave early because of it.  I think maybe they just weren't quite ready.  We'll keep working with them on their...

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Stinky stuff

I walked into the boys' room the other morning to make sure they were up and getting ready for school, and as soon as I did I was hit with a yucky smell - cat poop. Uh-oh, that means the cat got stuck in their room overnight. Sure enough, I see him sleeping near their bed. He got up and walked out and soon as he saw the door was open. He headed straight for his litter box, so at least I was in time to stop yet another pile from ending up on our carpet.I reminded the boys to make sure they don't...

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Sketchpad Discoveries: The faith of a child

I mentioned the other day that the boys use their sketchpads to help them cope with overstimulation. I recently went through their sketchpads out of curiosity to see what they had drawn and found some really interesting things so I thought I'd share some of what I found.These are some of the more inspiring drawings and letters that I found:Drawing of Jesus by CuddlebugCuddlebug's...

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Sketchpad Discoveries: Bearhug's drawings

I mentioned the other day that the boys use their sketchpads to help them cope with overstimulation. I recently went through their sketchpads out of curiosity to see what they had drawn and found some really interesting things so I thought I'd share some of what I found.Here are some more of Bearhug's drawings:Scene from Spongebob episode "Hooky"PlanktonScoreboardTrain in the mountainsA...

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Sketchpad Discoveries: Cuddlebug's drawings

I mentioned the other day that the boys use their sketchpads to help them cope with overstimulation. I recently went through their sketchpads out of curiosity to see what they had drawn and found some really interesting things so I thought I'd share some of what I found.Here are some more of Cuddlebug's drawings:Cat saying "Meow" and "Uh don't look at the cat face" (lol)More catsHow...

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Sketchpad Discoveries: Little Bitty's drawings

I mentioned the other day that the boys use their sketchpads to help them cope with overstimulation. I recently went through their sketchpads out of curiosity to see what they had drawn and found some really interesting things so I thought I'd share some of what I found.In addition to the drawings below, Bitty also had one where he had written his own name, he had the first and...

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Sketchpad Discoveries: My husband's son...

...drew this one. Warning - this post is rated PG-7 (can't say PG-13 since a 7-yr-old drew it, but since my blog is typically rated G, I figured fair warning was in order).I couldn't help laughing when I found it. This is Bearhug's work, I can tell by the handwriting. He even spelled it right. (sighing and rolling my eyes).Hopefully you don't find it offensive, I thought it was...

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SOOC Saturday: Sneaky cat?

This was taken about a year ago (same day as these). I love this because Orion thinks he's so sneaky but the birds always see him coming. :)To his credit, he went after a dog about 5 times his size yesterday - and the dog took off running scared, lol. Seems a bit backward :).For more SOOC Saturday, visit Slurping Life.If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or R...

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Finding Courage through Sharing: The Future

This month's topic is coping and hope for the future.None of us really knows what the future will hold. Ten years ago, if you had told me what my future had in store I would have said you were crazy. :) To be honest, when it comes to my kids, I try not to think too far into the future because the uncertainty is stressful!Even the simple things that so many parents take for granted...

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Thank You Thursday #2

This week I want to offer a heartfelt thank you to our family. I'm not going to start naming specifics because I will inevitably leave something out but all of ya'll ROCK!!Visit Special Considerations for more Thank You Thursday.If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS....

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To paint or to color?

Cuddlebug wanted to paint which is great but it's almost dinner time, so I asked him, "how about coloring instead?"He got upset, apparently that was not an acceptable option. "I AIN'T gonna color!! I have to PAINT!" (he likes to say "ain't" when he's being particularly defiant, as if that accentuates his point).So I responded, "Well if you're going to paint, make sure you don't make a mess.""But painting always makes a mess!" he protested."Then make sure you clean it up." Seems reasonable to...

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Guest post by Bitty

I was home early today, so I decided to catch up on reading blogs (because I haven't been online in a couple of days, I'm in withdrawal, ahh!). Little Bitty sat on my lap and decided he wanted to explore the keyboard so I decided to let him write another guest post. To see his last entry, click here :).ol9-p09-==mnb etyutooooppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppwwe66655555eqwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewetr r1As you can...

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SEW & WW: Golfing with Daddy

These were taken a year ago, dh was practicing his swing in the yard (with plastic practice balls, nothing that would damage the house!) and the boys wanted to give it a try too.Bearhug & DadaCuddlebug & DadaLittle Bitty with his trainsLittle Bitty with his trainsLittle Bitty gives golf a tryFor more Special Exposure Wednesday, click here. For more Wordless Wednesday, click...

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Silly Monkey Stories: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoe

A couple of nights ago, Bearhug and Cuddlebug decided to play rock, paper, scissors (or "rock, papers, scissors, shoe" as they often call it, not sure where that came from) to decide what they wanted for dinner. I had to separate them because they CHEAT. Every time they got to the end, instead of choosing an option, both of their hands kept morphing as they watched each other to...

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Try this Tuesday: Coping with overstimulation

A significant challenge for our sons is coping with overstimulation. To some extent, we can avoid places that cause overstimulation but that's not always an option. Church, for example, is especially difficult -- there are large groups of people, loud organ music and singing, bright fluorescent lights, a myriad of perfumes and colognes, microphones, and in the midst of all that,...

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Mondays in Motion #1: Twin toddlers

Welcome to Mondays in Motion! Here's a fun video clip I made a while back where I just pulled out the camcorder while the boys were playing :). There are a couple of parts where it looks like they're dancing (and maybe they are!) but I actually added the music when I was editing.This is Cuddlebug (wearing grey) and Bearhug (wearing blue) at about age 16 mos.What memorable moments...

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Superstar!

Little Bitty earned a Superstar of the week award at school for working hard at drawing, following directions, and potty skills. Yay Bitty!If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or R...

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Magic Marker Monday: Road Trip

Little Bitty is starting to develop his creative skills - school has definitely helped with that! Friday he brought home this painting:I love it, especially all the colors and how he has all his stickers of cars and road signs all lined up! That's what makes me think it should be called "Road Trip." :) I'm not sure what they used to make the cool textures, but those kind of remind...

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"Go check your schedule!"

Have I mentioned that we have awesome teachers? At his IEP meeting last week, I asked if I could take a look at the picture schedule they were using since I was also hoping to get some ideas to use at home, and she said Bitty was doing really well with it in class. Sure enough, when we went to look, he excitedly said, "go day-ga deh-goh!" (go check your schedule).She actually offered...

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SOOC Saturday - Cow Crossing

This sign makes me laugh, so I took a picture of it. There are cows in that field there, although I've never seen one actually go AWOL over the fence and wander across the street. My guess is it may have happened at some point which is probably why the sign is there.The reason it makes me laugh is it reminds me of a time when I was driving in the middle of nowhere, Texas, and what...

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Chess Club Update

After the phone call when the boys had a rough day in chess club, we talked to them about whether they wanted to continue going or not. Cuddlebug wanted to keep going and promised to improve his behavior. Bearhug decided it wasn't really for him so he is no longer going.The following week, Cuddlebug came home angry. It took a lot of Q&A to get enough details to piece together what happened and why he was upset (most of it at least), and I won't write out the whole conversation, but it turns...

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To make you smile

Just some funny cat pictures on a lazy weekend post :). Enjoy!Find more silly cat pictures at icanhascheezburger.c...

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My family portrait

I stumbled onto this today, thought it was cute. Especially how the options allowed me to have Cuddlebug wearing his bandana and baseball cap :). You can make one too, at pyzam.com.If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or R...

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Mystery of the day

Last week, something happened to Little Bitty's shoes. They are the kind that light up when you walk, but something has messed up with the lights in one of the shoes, they are going non-stop. We tried banging on the shoe, even dropping it down the stairs, hoping to get the lights out of the "on" setting so the batteries didn't wear out. Nothing worked, so now we are curiously waiting to see just how long these lights will go. It started last Wednesday, so it's already been 8 days and counting......

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Thank you Thursday #1

Thanks to Jenny for starting this :). I don't even know where to start... but since school recently started I think it's a good time to thank our sons' teachers! They are all awesome, they do a great job with our boys and are able to strike that delicate balance between accomodating their needs and challenging them to stretch themselves. I have no idea how they keep up with all...

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