kirstencan

One-Way

**Update:  In odd timing, Thomas' clinic supervisor just called saying that they are going to switch grad students for him.  They don't think it was the best match, and will now be putting him with a second-year student.  I agree with that - except (and I voiced this concern - very kindly!) that we are paying for these sessions and I don't want to waste more of them while he starts over. $$!  I think we'll be able to work something out.   So, happy news, I guess!

I've been spending a lot of time here lately.

Watching Thomas through a one-way mirror. 

Listening to him on headphones while he works with his speech teacher.

Have you ever spent time looking at your child through a one-way mirror?  It's very strange. 

There's no separation anxiety (on either end) for us, but it's been a little frustrating to watch someone who is inexperienced and doesn't know my kid try to work with him - when she doesn't know my kid.

At least not yet.

We were on the waiting list for... a year?  for this speech program at a local university.  They have grad students working with patients, supervised by their teachers (and parents (*ahem)).  It's twice a week, and reportedly the best speech around.

The poor student they matched Thomas with is so sweet and nice, but doesn't have  ... preschooler skills, if you know what I mean.  I was seriously wondering if we'd continue after the first couple of sessions.  Paying for someone else to be learning from the experience is frustrating.  Yesterday, she was open to a couple of suggestions that I made to her before the session started, and she did better with Thomas.  Plus, watching the session I could see that she and her supervisor really listened to some of the things I'd told them to help them know Thomas better. 

It's cramping my style in a major way.  I can deal with that, if it's worth it.  Twice a week, we pack sandwiches for the ride home and we leave at about 3:45 to drive downtown.  We get home about 2 1/2 hours later.  It's a lot of driving (in traffic) for my carsick-prone kids and it takes up two afternoons a week.  Thankfully the clinic is right next to Aaron's work and we got a late afternoon appointment, so he meets us there and watches Monkey and Princess in the waiting room while I sit in the observation room watching Thomas.

I sit with the supervisor and we chat a little, and when I see something that might help Thomas I tell her about it.  Yesterday she said, "Do you have a background in this or something?"  No, I don't, I just try to keep up with things that might help me understand/help Thomas.  "Yes, I can tell," she said. 

I was thinking about that.  Is it rare for parents to be knowledgeable about their child's strengths/weaknesses?  When I went to that potty-training seminar at a local school for children with autism (very helpful, btw) I was so surprised at the questions parents were asking.  I just kept thinking "They should know that - why don't they know that?"

I don't even think that the things I was talking about in speech showed much knowledge of autism/learning/speech so much as knowledge of Thomas.  Of course I know him really well - that's my job, I'm his mom. 

Oh, also during yesterday's session, Thomas was playing and decided to turn off the light.  He discovered the one-way mirror because with the light off he could see us.  The session ended a little early so my smart boy could come see us and investigate the headphones and windows.  Hopefully this won't be a distraction next time...

Sock Boxes

**First things first - if everyone on the US west coast could take a DEEP breath and blow eastward really hard... I'd very much appreciate it.  Living in a valley, we usually have an inversion about once a year in the winter.  It is awful, but generally only lasts a few days.  This one has lasted WEEKS!  The air is completely smoggy and disgusting.  Listed as 'unhealthy'.  You're not supposed to exercise so as not to breathe extra air.  Seriously gross.

We are bumming, and need a storm to blow away the smog.  There's a 40% chance for something to happen on Wednesday.  Please, blow hard!

And now, on a completely unrelated topic:

We are a shoes-off-in-the-house family.  Partly in an attempt to keep the house cleaner, and partly because I think we all prefer no shoes - and the boys WILL not keep socks on either.  We keep our shoes in little cubbies by the garage door.   I've been thinking it would be smart to keep the boys' socks by the shoes instead of upstairs in their rooms.  Sometimes I put them in shoes with no socks, just because I'm trying hard to get everyone out the door, and if I leave them to go upstairs and grab socks, they'll scatter again and it will take longer.  It makes more sense to keep the socks where they're used, right?

So I found these boxes at Target.  They are actually for CD storage, but I love them (and they were on clearance!).  I added the letters to the front, and Thomas promptly tore them off, so I'll have to fix them.  They have lids that are hinged in the back, so the lids swing up, but stay on (don't get lost).

Inside are ...

Lumpy and Piglet?  Where are Thomas' socks?

Okay, at the bottom are a few pairs.... and a bouncy ball....

Gotta go find the rest of them.

Elephant

I have been tagged by Soo for the 5 Things Meme.  I've decided that having just told you 6 Weird Things, I would tell you some things about Monkey, instead.  Who is probably neglected on my blog anyway.  Poor Third.

Have I told you that Monkey has an imaginary elephant? I find this hilarious and adorable.  It also blows me away a little - we have had other imaginary people here (Princess has an imaginary twin named Susan), but he's not even two!  For the past couple of weeks Monkey has been talking nearly non-stop about Elephant.

"Effant wun 'way, I think!" (Elephant ran away, I think!).

"Get Him!" (he wants us to open the door to let him in). 

"Swiper Fox swipe him!" (You have to be a Dora fan to understand that one).   

These have been the last things out of his mouth before he falls asleep, and the first things we hear in the morning.  He tells everyone about his elephant and they usually have no clue what he's talking about.

He likes to hold his little Lumpy heffalump toy, but that's not his elephant.

My favorite was one night after dinner, when Monkey kept asking for treats and we were telling him no.  He said "Effant hungy."  So I said, "Elephant's hungry?  What does Elephant want to eat?"

Monkey looked thoughtful for a moment, then replied "Cookie."

That's a smart kid.

We gave him the cookie.

At Target the other day, we were browsing some clearance items, and found a pile of stuffed elephants.  I think they were originally Hanukkah gift card holders.  They were marked down to $0.37!  Of course we had to have one.  Aaron's reply when I told him we found an ultra-cheap stuffed elephant: Gee, I sure hope he doesn't run away or get swiped by Swiper!

The other day, Monkey found a pen and was drawing on his foot.  Well, he said he was writing, and kept saying 'E, e, e, e."  Then I looked at his foot:

That's an E, right?  Too darn close, anyway!

Other things we hear a lot from Monkey:

"No do dat 'mo." (Don't do that anymore. - usually addressed to me if I'm changing him, or mocking him (if he's whining) or addressed to Thomas if he's bugging him or Princess if she's hugging him too hard).

"Take it 'way!" ([He] took it away! - addressed to me, about Thomas).

"Skooz Me!" (when he burps).

Such a polite child.

Meemo's Hawaiian Adventure

My brother and SIL were lucky enough to get to go to Hawaii for Christmas.  They let Meemo tag along.  Meemo had never been to Hawaii before.

He had a really good time.  He spent a lot of time at the beach, went snorkeling, sightseeing, and hiking.  He's really glad he didn't get dropped from the various bridges and other high places he was set on.

Meemo has been to every continent except for South America (I had that one arranged, but it fell through) and Antarctica.

Me?  I've been to.... one.

Onesies

I swiped these onesies from my SIL's shower.  Thought I'd dress them up a bit:

Inspired by this photo - if I'm ever in charge of a baby shower that will be the activity for sure.
I think that freezer paper stencilling was the first Blog-Inspired-Project that I ever did. Yes, actually, it was!

There is still something so satisfying about it.  Maybe just that it's quick?
I am so lazy.

(I just posted directions on how to stencil, if you're interested check it out).

Freezer Paper

So, some of you haven't actually done freezer paper stencilling yet (!), and a couple asked how to do it.  I've emailed directions to people a few times.  I'm going to copy/paste directions from my sent folder and hope you guys try it now - so easy and fun!

there are some tutorials online for freezer paper
stenciling - but it's really not that hard. 

just put a piece of freezer paper (fp from now on) on top 
of an image on paper (drawn or printed from the computer).
I tape the fp on to make sure it doesn't slip, 
cut out the image (from both papers - i don't like 
exacto knives, so i use manicure scissors, which work great), 

you can throw away the original drawing or printout now, 
and iron the fp onto the fabric (no steam).  

next,put a piece of fp or cardboard or something  in between 
the layers of the shirt to makes sure the paint doesn't 
seep through. 

then just paint over the stencil - you can use fabric
paint (i've heard of lots of people using speedball ink). 
 i've used acrylic for all
of mine, because that's what i have.  it works fine,
just try not to make a thick layer. 

peel off the fp (you can do that right away - which i
do because i am so impatient).  i've re-used stencils
once now - if there are lots of little 'inner' pieces
it wouldn't work but it works for big/main pieces.

i would suggest starting with dark paint on a light shirt -
the other way around takes more coats of paint
(stiffer) and stometimes looks funny (like my audrey
shirt - but i still love it).  if you take a look on
flickr there is a fp stencil group.  lots of good
ones!

beware, it's addictive!

Some of my stencils i've gotten from here.

Happy Stenciling!

I also just re-organized my flickr page.  
Here's my stencil set.

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Mom's Bag

Thanks to everyone for the Happy Birthday wishes to my mom.  She got a kick out of it - if you didn't catch her comment you can check it out here.

(And for the record, all of my kids were about 9 lbs - with very large heads.  I think what goes around comes around, eh?)

I made this for my mom's birthday:

Just a little tote.  I feel a little bit like a small child handing her a pinch-pot clay bowl, because there are some obvious mistakes in this, and though I know my mom will like anything I make - because she's my mom and that's her job - I wanted the bag to be good.  But let's just say that the stripe in the middle wasn't actually supposed to be there.  It's job is cover-up.

My mom is an amazing seamstress.  She's been sewing forever.  She made her own wedding dress.  She's made all of Princess' Christmas dresses - actually, she's made most of her dresses, period.  And most of Violet's.

Close enough will have to do (and I can't think of a better gift that says 'Kirsten' than one that also says 'Close Enough').   Sad but true.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

January 23rd is my mom's birthday.

Here's a couple of my favorite photos of her. 

This first one is when she is about 8.  She's the one on the left - see that long blond hair?  That was taken right before her dad took her to the barber shop and had it all chopped off!

The next ones are of Mom and me. 

The Easter one is when I was barely one.  I'm huge, huh?  Check out my thigh!  My mom is a  petite 5'2'', and her first child (*ahem* me) came into the world weighing 9 lb 12 oz (4.4 kilos?).

Yeah, I owe her big time! :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!  (Give her a shout out today - she reads my blog and chances are, she reads yours, too!)

Welcome, Emily

Thanks for the nice comments about the booklet yesterday - it was fun to share.

Emily arrived safe and sound.  So far, she and Violet are getting along well.  Princess wrote this letter to her to introduce her to her new home (I've tried to keep the mispellings and punctuation the same):

Dear emily:  my name is [Princess].  Welcome to your new home.  I am hosting a party for you.  It will be tomorrow afternoon.  So I ecspect you on your best bhaviour tomorow.  now I must tell you about the people .  my mothers name is kirsten.  my fathers name is Aaron.  my two brothers names are [Thomas] and [Monkey]  my sisters name is Violet.  You will sleep in her bed.  now about the party. We shall have juice and cookies and skittles and marsmellows.  You shall have punch and pie and fudge and potato chips.
did you get to read in bed in england?  if you don't, you do here.  sincerily, Violet, [Princess] . [Thomas] and [Monkey] and dad and Mom.

She invited a friend (and her doll) over for tea.  She had a very elaborate idea - including a (long) list of things she wanted to eat, do, and play.  I made her simplify the idea quite a bit, but I did agree to making cloth napkins, which I forgot about until yesterday afternoon.  Another reason why having a stash (and some of it thrifted) is just so nice.  So I spent 10 minutes cutting and hemming little napkins.  I don't have a serger, so I just did a tight zig-zag around the edges.

There are 2 girl-sized and 4 doll-sized ones.  Then I folded them for her (her idea! It's a very easy way - it's in an American Girl book):

The doll ones were a little harder to fold!

Princess had to wear a dress with a pinafore (very Alice in Wonderland), and we hung a sheet on the bunk bed to hide Thomas' messy, boy bed.

She painted a sign to hang up.  With glitter paints.

They ate cookies and candy, played dolls and board games.  No brothers were allowed (much to the boys' dismay, but that's okay sometimes).

The girls (and dolls) had a very nice time.  I kind of wish we would have thought of the cloth napkin idea for her tea party birthday last year!  Quick and easy, but oh-so-fancy!

Things I Wish I'd Known

So, Shower gift part 2: 

I wrote a little booklet of some of the tips and tricks that we've learned with our kids.  I titled it 'Things I Wish I'd Known Before June 2000' (June 2000 is when Princess was born).  I spent a lot of time putting this together.  It surprised me (kind of) that I found this much to put in the booklet.  I spent a lot more time on this than I did on the bibs and burpcloth, actually. 

I used cardstock for the cover and used my bookbinding book to bind it properly (or... close enough :).  I just used embroidery floss and a needle.

Anyway, I was thinking that other people might enjoy this, too.  I know that most of you are already moms, but maybe some of you are newer parents.  Or you might want it for a gift.  The last page is mostly empty, so you could add your own tips to it. 

I'm not trying to proclaim myself a parenting expert at all, but I consider myself a fairly well-informed parent and I think that many of these tips would be useful to new parents.  You know how it is, you finally find something that works and you think "If only we'd known that before!"  (hence the title).  Plus there is a little section on cloth-diapering, if you're interested.  So I went through and changed the kids' names and changed the cover page.

A few of the section  headings are:  Sleeping, bathing, diapers, travel.  And you just might learn a couple of funny things about my kids, too.  I copied and glued  dosage charts from Tylenol and Motrin to the back cover.  I got mine from a doctor, but you can also find them online (google search).  I think this will be my standard baby gift from now on.  Maybe with a bib...

Here it is to download if you would like to pass this on.   I suggest printing the cover on cardstock.  There are two versions.  The first is if you would like to read it online.  The second will look completely out of order - because it is in booklet-ready form.  Print it double-sided, then put the pages together and bind (you can just staple it - or sew down the spine). 

Enjoy!  And if you use this I would love your feedback.  (Click on the links below to download).

Cover

Mommytips booklet

Mommytips booklet - Booklet Ready