Just for the record: My house is untidy, cluttered and more often than not pretty messy. I have a 6yr old who tears around the house, usually with a hockey stick in hand and indoor puck flying around with him. A 14 month old who follows me everywhere leaving a little untidy mess in her wake. As I put the dishes away, she empties my tupperware drawer etc...
And a 5yr old with a need for upending toy bins full of blocks, cars or plastic animals.
I'm not sure what the comment was about that "anonymous" left on my Jan 28th entry...but my house ain't clean!! I don't have a glass house (thank god!) and I didn't throw a stone if you read my blog correctly.
We do have a company that comes in every other week to CLEAN. But for the most part...pretty untidy here.
And to "anonymous" who left the Girl Smirl comment...well I'm not sure what that means. But I do know I sure am glad I got a girl!!!

Anyways. I just wanted to make a note about some of the things that I really want to do in the coming months:

1) Re-commit to RDI. Since Eva we've been slack about it and we need to start fresh.

2) Re-visit the diet. He's been getting some food that he shouldn't. At first we didn't think it made much of a difference - but long term it's affecting him negatively. We have an appointment with a Naturopath next Tuesday to discuss the diet and an appt with a different Naturopath to discuss homeopathy. This guy confuses me but Sean really likes him. He's a bit quirky, but man he knows his shit. Especially when it comes to kids like Cuyler and their underlying issues.

3) Re-visit supplements. He used to be so easy get get supplements into. I know his diet lacks in alot of things and I need to start getting things like calcium into him.

4) Osteopathy. This isn't for awhile yet as he needs to be comfortable with people touching his head and neck. I think that this could help him because we do believe his issues stem from his birth trauma and cranio-sacral therapy would treat those very areas affected.

5) Find a program for him. I'm thinking Beavers/Scouts or karate. He took a skating class over the winter and he enjoyed that. And learned to skate!! I'd like to get him into a spring session. But we're going to look into karate schools and beavers as well.

6) Take him swimming weekly. I've tried lessons numerous times and they just don't work. My best hope for him to learn how to swim is for me to take him myself and let him learn at his pace.

I know there's more but I'll start with that for now. I should be able to get through this list in the next few weeks/months. And if I do then I know he'll be in a much better place that he is now.

Hellooooo!?!?! I'm SO beautiful!!!


That's how we make'em! We're 3 for 3 in the beautiful-kid department if I may say so myself!

Cam was in a hockey tournament in Flint, Michigan last weekend. Six - yes 6 - games in 3 days. These children are six years old.
But it was worth it - they WON the championship!!
I was so proud of them. All of them, but especially Cam because he plays net.
He's lying on the ice on the left holding the trophy. (Sean coaches, he's in the back row, on the right kneeling down)


I stayed home with Eva and Cuyler. With Sean on the bench coaching and Eva running one way and Cuyler running another, the arena just isn't fun for me nor is it a place I wanted to spend 10+ hrs in in one weekend. And with Cuyler on the diet, restaurants can be tricky. So home we stayed.
And while they were gone, Eva decided that this is her new favourite place to be:

She's full of beans and is going to keep us on our toes. She doesn't sit still. Climbs everything and has the strength of her brothers! She can hold a hockey stick properly and stick handles balls around the basement.
She was even scooting around on a trike this evening (with Daddys help!)

Cuyler and I went swimming today. It was a success and I hope to take him more often to get him used to the water before pool season is upon us.
We then went to the childrens bookstore in town. Then to the specialty food shop for his pasta. It was such a great day that he and I shared. Much needed too.
Lately I had been in a slump. So much so that I just about called my therapist. But then he had 2 great days (after about 2 shitty months) and suddenly I felt better. I've been back at the gym which feels awesome as well. My muscles are in shock and my fat has limited time left on my arse. Eva stopped nursing last week, so there goes my excuse for all of those extra calories.

Anywys. We survived March Break and I can't wait to get back onto our regular schedule. Although after 7 days of this conversation taking place first thing in the morning:

Cuyler: "No school today."
Me: "Nope. Not today."

Cuyler is NOT going to like. Not one bit. I'm going to set up a chart tomorrow (I should have implemented one yesterday or today) so he will be prepared for Monday.
Actually...I'll make it now and start it tomorrow when he wakes up.

Nice...11:29pm on a Friday and I'm making a back-to-school chart.

Just in time!
Cuyler has been having alot of difficulty lately. With alot of things.
Like at school - waiting his turn. Sitting in circle. Leaving for home.
He's been having alot of temper tantrums...
So much so that I have just been so fed up I wish I could give him away some days...it's just so mentally and physically exhausting.
But today...he did something just in time. Just when I needed him to.
We've been doing Handle with him since December. (If you have a child on the spectrum - please look into this. It's fascinating! And read the book The Fabric of Autism...I'm not one to sit and read books about autism, but this one just really REALLY helps me understand Cuyler so much more!)
Anyways...Handle...yes. We were at the screeners office and as we sat chatting about things that have been going on with Cuyler, he sat at her desk and proceeded to draw this:

It's the Wiggles.
I was floored.
I knew he could draw faces. Happy. Sad. Angry. Sleepy...
But he drew The Wiggles!! With bodies! And arms! And legs!
It was just such a huge step for him to take, especially because he has alot of fine motor delays and is not usually interested in colouring or art...

Sooo...the difficulties...the tantrums...it's almost as though he's reverted back to age 2-3. Our most difficult year with him.
In a nutshell, I believe it's the computer. Since starting Handle he seems more...aware, I guess.
The week we started Handle he literally picked up the laptop, turned it on, navigated his way to "Google", typed in Thomas and that was it...he was hooked!
On Thomas websites, looking at pages of Thomas books, dvd's, toys...
Then he type in Wiggles...and he found his way to youtube and was able to watch Wiggles songs. I was amazed and initially thought it was a great thing! He could spell and was beginning to read familiar words! He was independently using the computer. We had no idea he even knew how to spell half these words (Thomas, Wiggles, books, songs, dvd...)
However literally became OBSESSED. Nothing like the internet for instant gratification. What a disaster it turned into!
We had to set a timer to get him off the damn thing. He ended up becoming dependant on the timer.

Me: "Cuyler. Time to get dressed!"
Cuy: "When it beeps!"

Me: "Cuy. Time to brush your teeth."
Cuy: "When it beeps!"

So we've gone cold turkey. It's gone. Sean or I cannot go on the computer until the kids are in bed, otherwise his sole focus is getting on the laptop.

I'm hoping we can regroup and get him back to where he was before his obsession. He was on a great path and this just really set him back.
I'm hopeful that with the Handle and RDI we'll be back on track very soon!

One thing that hasn't changed through all if this is the fact the he's mad about his sister. I'm amazed at the relationship between these 2!! I do believe that she is one of the most important pieces to HIS puzzle.