My Little Indians

It's a western theme at the kids school this week. I tried to get some pictures of these two monkeys, but as usual one is goofing off or the other is looking the wrong way.

little indians

Cowboys!

This picture just cracks me up. Adam looks like a little ricky ricardo.





Book Review

As I mentioned in a previous post, Andrew's constultants are reading books to him when he's upset. The books talk about how you feel and how to calm down. Here are a couple:

By: Thich Nhat Hanh & Sister Thuc Nghlem

By: Kerry Lee McLean

Both are awesome books!

Happy Wednesday

Calm Corner

Andrew had a monster of a tantrum Saturday with his consultant. He was upset about not having a toy placed in the right spot, yeah we're working on flexibility.  The consultant had to leave the room and wait for him to calm down. When he did calm down they went to the "calm corner." This was set up in Andrew's room and it's a space for him to use the relaxation techniques that have been taught to him.  He has this huge stuffed caterpillar that the consultants use to wrap around him and he squeezes it while taking deep breathes. It really, really works and he calmed down in the matter of 10 minutes.

He got upset another time and by himself went into the corner and started his breathing. It's awesome that he's doing it on  his own, recognizing when he's angry, and using these techniques instead of being aggressive.  The consultants also read him these books that talk about calming down. I'll have to look at them tonight, but I know one of them is "the peaceful piggy."

Other than tantrums and tears over the weekend, Andrew went to grandmas and is now sporting a new haircut. We went swimming on Sunday and Andrew has just conquered his fear of jumping in the pool and just runs and jumps. Adam is still a little scared of the water. He chills on the steps, but he did get brave and go in the shallow end with dad.

Happy Monday

spitting, ugh.

Yesterday I picked up the kids from school and they both had good days so they got to pick a toy to go home. I should talk about these toys. First of all, their school is a converted house so there's a garage on the premises loaded with supplies and a corner of used, broken, annoying toys. Everyday we have to go in there to pick a toy; it's very annoying. Yesterday Andrew picked this helicopter that didn't have a propeller. He spent 5 minutes trying to look for it and I finally gave him a warning that we were leaving. He did well with the transition and got in the car; the propeller was never found. I told him in the garage that the toy was broken.

We got in the car and Andrew made a comment about the damn toy. I told him it was a broken toy and we can't find the piece to it. Well he didn't like what I said and spit in my face. One thing I HATE is spit. So disrespectful and not acceptable. I had to calm myself down because what I wanted to was take him out of the car seat .. and ... well I did good by calming down. I did tell him (in a stern voice) that we do not spit and he will be getting a time out when we get home. I continued by telling him that I was disappointed in him and that we do not spit. He told me he was angry and didn't like what I said about the helicopter. I guess the comment about it being a broken toy angered him.

I told him thank you for telling me how you're feeling but we do not spit. I asked him, "what do we do when we're angry" he said "walk away." The consultants are teaching him other ways to deal with his anger and walk away is one. Although, we were in the car, but at least he got the point.  We got home and he said he didn't want a time out that he calmed down. Another tool from the parent trainer. When tantrums happen, put them on extinction. Let him have his tantrum; he has to calm down on his own. He did calm down and I praised him for that but he still had to do his time out. He did it and in a calm manner. He almost broke down the door the other night when we put him in time out.

Happy Parenting

Adam's rough day at school

Everyday when I pick up Adam he runs to me and is ready to go. He always asks, "what are you cooking tonight?" Yesterday was odd because he didn't do his usual routine. He saw me and continued to play with his legos. I told him it was time to go. He said "one more piece." I started to prime him that he had one minute, then 30 seconds, 10 seconds. He's still playing with the legos after my prime, so I go to get him and tell him it's time to go. He throws down the legos, stomps his feet, and starts screaming. Where has my angel gone?

I march him over to the corner of the classroom, bend down to his level and tell him to stop crying that it was time to go. He keeps up the tears and sniffles. I tell him again, "stop the crying and wipe your tears." he does both and we begin to leave. The teacher stops me and says, "Adam didn't have his listening ears on today. He was throwing toys, and hitting." Awesome. I told the teachers he's been aggressive lately and has been punching people in the arm. He does get time-outs for those things at home. The teacher also told me he hit some kid in the eye last Friday and broke a blood vessel in his friends eye! holy moly.

We leave the school and normally the kids get to pick a toy to take home, if they were good. Adam was heading for the garage, and I told him "hey Adam....come here" he knew exactly what I was referring too. He had a bad day = no toy. He cried and cried. We all got in the car to leave and he was crying. Part of me felt bad for my little baby, but there has to be consequences.

Adam went to straight to bed that night (Usually the kids watch a cartoon before bed) but not Adam.

In the morning we asked him what happens if he is not a good listener or hits his friends. He said, "go straight to bed."

These kids are so smart. They know the rules. We just have to enforce the rules and be consistent.

Sharing my knowledge.

I was reading a fellow bloggers post about her child's intense tantrums and it got me thinking about my own experience with tantrums.

At Andrew's 3 year physical we got the dreaded, "I think you should have him tested. He's not where he should be for his age." No parent wants to hear those words. Our kids our perfect. What could be wrong.  Well even his teachers at his school told us that Andrew was not where he should be socially, cognitively, and with his behavior.

I always kinda knew in the pit of my stomach that something was up, but as a parent you don't want to accept it. But I did. We got Andrew tested and he was diagnosed Autistic Spectrum. He has some characteristics of Autism, but is high functioning; he can speak, walk, talk, etc. But some things need a lot of work like his language, his social skills, and his behaviors.

Andrew always had a hard time with transitions and being flexible. Looking back, his vocabulary when he was 2 and 3 was very limited. His social skills were zero and his behavior was awful.

Fast forward two years. We have started behavioral therapy this year through the Regional Center.  This program is an intense 30 hour week deal where consultants come to our house and work with Andrew one on one. They are using a program called DTT which repeats different drills over and over until Andrew masters them. He's learning how to transition, and be more flexible and he's learning how to be social with his peers.  Also, they are teaching him relaxation techniques for when he's angry and let me tell you this kids gets angry. There have been many times chairs have gone flying, toys are thrown, and it's just chaos. So he's learning other ways to express his anger than being aggressive.

It's been 5 months since we've started DTT and he has improved SO much it's amazing!! It's like having a totally different kid.

We also get parenting training once a week. I swear, everyone should have a parent trainer -- it's a godsend. I've learned that I'm too reactive when putting the kids in time outs. Before when they would misbehave I would stomp over, tell them not to do whatever it is they're doing and put them in time out. Andrew would literally laugh at me. So now I'm non-reactive. All the rules are laid out before hand and if they break a rule, I calmly walk over and tell them in a calm voice "time out."  I prime Andrew for every little thing!! Always tell him "Andrew 5 minutes then we're leaving" or "5 more minutes to play" I even prime Adam too. Andrew has a tough time with transitions so this helps a lot.

We have also started sticker charts and reward charts to help with improving behaviors as well. This is an awesome tool that helps improve the behavior and also helps the kids gain self confidence. I'm always getting new tips and advice from the parent trainer. I will post them as they come in.  I like to share the knowledge that I gain from having two kids.

Parenting is hard, but rewarding in the end. With the right tools, we can all survive parenthood.

Happy Wednesday

Andrew's Special Day with Dad

Raul took Andrew on a little trip this Saturday. He surprised him with tickets to Long Beach on Jetblue. Andrew has flown before, but when he was little so he doesn't remember of course. Andrew was super excited he got this special treat from dad. They flew to Long Beach for a few hours, had lunch, took a couple of boat rides, and then flew home. Jetblue went all out with their $4 ticket promotion. They had balloons, cake, media and goodie bags. 

Raul and Andrew even got their picture on dailynews.com http://dailynews.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=36813577&event=1287014&CategoryID=26369

Happy Monday