A weekend full of excitement!

This past weekend was a fun filled adventure. Friday it started with the boys both being goofy. I had to get Dylan to focus so we could finish homework in time to get to school... when I realized Ryan had an occupational therapy appointment at the same time Dylan had to be at school! I ran to wake up daddy (who is on graveyard shift and had only been asleep a few hours) so he could take Dylan to school while I ran to Ryan's OT appointment. We made it, thankfully and had a great visit. I had to take yogurt and some chopped fruit so we could work on fork/spoon skills since he still prefers to eat with his hands. Ryan did great and made me look like I was over reacting, but it worked out. Seems that he will eat better with a fork with a little more oversight and encouragement. I pretty much love our OT. She is so amazing and  she is a perfect fit for us. She does so well with Ryan (and me for that matter). I am so grateful for her! Oh and while we were there Ryan made friends with the next appointment whose name just so happened to be Ryan too! I joked with the mom that if her Ryan was anything like mine then there was just something in the name. (Which seems to be the case because so far the few other Ryan's I've met the mom's say they're a handful. Makes me feel a little better at times). So after the OT appointment we flew to Ontario (from Fontana) to go to a speech therapy appointment. I ended up going to the wrong building (which was in Ontario but off a different freeway). I had to find the 60 get off on a different exit and find the new facility I had never been to. We made it, a little frazzled but the therapist was awesome enough to still see us with 45 minutes left in our allotted time. I would have met with her for 5 minutes after the hassle it took to get there. At least I know where it is for next time. 

The new speech pathologist we're assigned to was really nice though. She is much more interactive than the last and she was much more talkative, which makes me feel more comfortable. She says Ryan is doing very well in his progress and that there's no reason we shouldn't be expecting more than one word answers and responses from him. She says that for kids with sensory issues once they start getting a healthy sensory diet tend to learn fairly quickly. She also gave some interesting insight to what it feels like to have sensory integration disorder. She said imagine being at your worst, grouchy, tired, hungry. Then imagine feeling that way at Disneyland on a busy day... but imagine living there with no way to naturally relieve yourself from the overwhelming feeling of all the input your brain is receiving because you don't know how to interpret it. She basically said this may seem like an extreme example but she was relating a kid like Ryan to the notion that they are, on top of a living apparently on edge day to day, supposed to learn to communicate and understand. Kids with SPD are in survival mode basically. Just doing what they can to get by with the least amount of overwhelming input... which is hard to control with things like the weather, noises, schedule changes, etc. can set them off! Thus the frequency of meltdowns. It was enlightening to say the least and she had a great suggestion. Allowing Ryan to wear an MP3 player with headphones so that when he's overwhelmed he can just listen to calming music and block out whatever is setting him off. I haven't tried it so I will have to see if that works. 

After the appointment I got lost getting home (got back onto the 60 instead of the 10 and then missed the 15 junction to get to the 10...). It was so annoying. I flew to get Dylan from school (which means I was at doctor appointment from 10 to 2). I got home and just wanted to take a nap but I had to get ready to go to work (teaching a group exercise class). The kids came with me and daddy headed off to work. After the group x class we headed up the mountain to Big Bear for my mom's birthday. We got there late since it was after class and after meeting my sister so she could ride up with us. We managed to head to the main street but it was mostly closed. The fresh air was nice though. I got one picture of the kids before my phone died. Story of my life.. 

The kids fell asleep at like some time before tenI think. I fell asleep after only to wake up at 12am to a sweltering hotel room. Mom managed to turn her heater in the adjacent room and it was cooking me! Kids were sweaty too! I turned the air on and jumped into bed with my sister since both boys had fallen asleep with me and were smashing me in the little full sized bed. Of course when I went to bed with Ash I found she was awake and so chatted until 2... I think. It was fun but I was tired the next day. 

The following day we went to the Discovery center. It wasn't that exciting. Then we went on a little hike and then another longer hike. The boys were loving it. Ash caught all kinds of bugs for them in their bug catching jars. 

At some point during the longer hike the kids discovered the lizards on the trail. Auntie Ashie and the boys were determined to catch one. Ryan was the first of the 3 to catch one and on his own he caught it with his baby bear hands! It was amazing and gross. He moved like lightening to catch this thing! (I should mention here when we were catching bugs at the Discovery center one of the rangers made a comment that catching lizards was the ultimate challenge because they were so fast. Ryan showed her). 

Dylan caught the next one. It was gross and had the longest tail I had ever seen! Ryan of course no longer wanted his lizard because he wanted the one with the freak tail. So then there was a tantrum. I walked around with Ryan for a while and we looked for a second lizard together. We never caught another one and he was distracted enough to accept the one he had. So we continued on the hike. 

After the hike we headed to the lake for lunch and a birthday cake for my mom. While Jido (grandpa) headed to get food Ryan and Dylan played in the water. We checked on the lizards and Ryan's wasn't looking too good. Ashie convinced Dylan to let his free and I kinda convinced Ryan. He let it out of the jar only to pick it up and play with it. He was flying it like an airplane, showing it the water and was having a great time. I tried to explain that the lizard was getting sick and that we needed to let him go home. Ryan didn't understand OR he didn't care, one of the two. Maybe even both. So he held onto it and once we realized the lizard was actually dead we then turned our efforts to trying to convince him to keep it in the jar instead of holding it... because it's gross. He wasn't having it! He found a new friend and wasn't letting go. 

Finally, Jido arrived with the food. We headed to the picnic table and started dishing out lunch. Ryan started whimpering. Not full on crying but he was distressed. I look past Dylan to see Ryan with the lizard no longer in his hand but rather hanging from his nose!!! Apparently the poor lizard used his last breath to jump from Ryan's hand to  bite him and he got a hold of a nostril! I yanked the thing off (I'm sure over reacting), threw it into the dirt and checked the damage. He was bleeding a little but he was ok. I hugged him and shortly after he was up looking for that dang lizard again! He never picked it up again. Instead he threw dirt and rocks at it. The whole thing was pretty entertaining to say the least. 

After lunch, mom blew out her birthday candles. Sister proceeded to shove her face into the cake and, unlike the lizard event, we managed to get a few pictures with someone's phone. Good times. Apparently a cake fight of some sort is a family tradition now. The boys willingly shoved their faces into the cake thereafter. After cleaning up we packed up and headed home. The following day, which was Mother's Day, we hung at mom's house, had the great grandparents over and had a simple and fun dinner. No cake fights but plenty of laughs. It was a great Sunday. 

I did want to mention the awesome Mother's Day gift Ryan's teacher orchestrated. I loved it! It was Ryan's hand prints with pictures of him from school! In the top left corner you will see Ryan with his best buddie from school, "Dino". I'm totally framing this and saving it for a lifetime!!! Thank you Christianne!  Oh and to be fair, below is Dylan's gift for me from Mother's Day. I absolutely loved the poem! I got teary eyed reading it and even relaying what it said to my sister later! Beautiful! I am so happy the teachers do special things like this!! My hat's off to you both! 

Well, I guess that's all for now. Until next time. :)