Girls Only~ OLD THREAD, new one linked in first post

[cheshiregirl]

I'm the bad Wendy monkey.

You're the good Wendy monkey.

Not quite sure what might have happened with the PM, but I don't have either Wendy's facts. Perhaps another variation on cheshiregirl got a PM instead of me? And, Wendell--send them to me no matter what! Even if you are not there physically (which I know you will be, you will be there in spirit).

I am also missing Patty and a few FODs (friends of divas) if they would like to participate. With the fact that I am leaving for a retreat in 2 days I know that I won't end up working on compiling everything until at least Sunday, so as long as I have info by then, it's all good.

 

[wendypooh22]

Not quite sure what might have happened with the PM, but I don't have either Wendy's facts. Perhaps another variation on cheshiregirl got a PM instead of me? And, Wendell--send them to me no matter what! Even if you are not there physically (which I know you will be, you will be there in spirit).

I am also missing Patty and a few FODs (friends of divas) if they would like to participate. With the fact that I am leaving for a retreat in 2 days I know that I won't end up working on compiling everything until at least Sunday, so as long as I have info by then, it's all good.

Oh my.. There is another cheshiregirl and they got my PM Holy Moly! They are probably reading them going WTH is this

I will PM you right now...

 

[disney-super-mom]

Cristabel - I did catch that you are starting Weight Watchers, good for you. I have been on it since 1/3/10 and so far I am down 15.2 pounds. Let me know where you are doing your meetings, and if you are also doing e-tools. I am on the message boards there with my same screen name. We can help motivate each other more.

That is SO AWESOME! Congrats!!!

In the vein of being responsible and worrying about what could happen with budget cuts and potential layoffs, I have been fighting it, but Dave and I talked tonight and I'm coming 'cause I can't imagine missing the chance to hang with all of you. Dave is applying for a job that is open on my campus which would be more money, more stability and quite frankly more personally fulfilling to him, so keep your fingers crossed. If he gets it, we might have to postpone/reschedule our WDW trip, but that would be a small price to pay.

Also, I'm a little nervous about making the drive (So-Cal traffic initimidates me) but with Beth as my cheerleader and co-pilot, I will be a brave Diva.

YAY, I'm so happy you're coming!!!

I really hope your hubby gets the job.

My dh has his 3 month review tomorrow...it is the end of his probationary period so we will find out if he gets to keep his job and get a pay raise...things look good but I will be a happier camper once the review is behind us!@

My fingers are crossed for a great review!

OK, I have to share. Nathan did some imaginative play tonight! He put his 'babies' (stuffed animals that cry and you give a bottle to) in the highchair, and fed them bottles. He then wheeled them around in his shopping cart, and talked to them the whole time. We have been trying for months to get Nathan to 'play', and one of the early skills is pretend feeding and eating. He's catching on! I almost cried watching him! Autism has taught me how to appreciate the little things my children do.

Heather, that is so wonderful! I remember that moment with Ryan, when he first started to do imaginative play with his toys. I think he was about four years old when he really started. I also remember how excited I was when he substituted toys/objects for something other than what they were meant to be used for. For example, he wanted to put a hat on one of his action figures, but when he couldn't find a hat, he used a little plastic cup instead.....so the plastic cup became the hat. That was a big deal because autism often makes a person think in very concrete terms.....a cup is a cup, period. But if the person can visualize the cup as a hat or something else, that is HUGE!

What's really funny is being excited when your child begins to tell lies....because lying takes lots of imagination and the ability to quickly think outside of the box. Everyone was so confused why I was tickled when Ryan started telling lies, but that was a huge milestone for him. They probably thought I was crazy! YAY, my kid is a lier - WHOOO HOOOO!

But I am just thrilled for you! What a GREAT MOMENT!

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

What's really funny is being excited when your child begins to tell lies....because lying takes lots of imagination and the ability to quickly think outside of the box. Everyone was so confused why I was tickled when Ryan started telling lies, but that was a huge milestone for him. They probably thought I was crazy! YAY, my kid is a lier - WHOOO HOOOO!

But I am just thrilled for you! What a GREAT MOMENT!

I can totally see that! When Nathan becomes a liar, I'll have to celebrate!

Most all of his play is still throwing things, and putting things in a box and taking them out of a box. I've been working hard on 'real' play with the train table, and play kitchen, and his babies. He only gets 2 hours of ABA a week, but she works really hard with him. I know it's helping. Also, the 2 schools that he's in are incredible. I'm blessed by what we have. I wish we had more though.

I love all the chatter that goes along with the play also. That's new. I never knew I could love so much, and I'm so blessed to have these children.

 

[kelmac284]

Lost fans unite!! I just watched some previews and can I just say I am SOOOO excited! I can't WAIT till the show! EEK!!!!!

 

[sahbushka]

Hi ladies.

Heather, I am so pleased for you. What a big step for your son!

Hope everyone is having a good day...I am feeling better even though I seem to have caught a cold...I know that doesn't make sense, but yesterday I was just feeling off and today I feel back on...

Have a good one!

SarahMay

 

[wendypooh22]

Lost fans unite!! I just watched some previews and can I just say I am SOOOO excited! I can't WAIT till the show! EEK!!!!!

I am with you.. I cannot wait!! I told hubby and the kids that mom is locking herself away and to please "leave me alone"... I do have the DVR set just in case, but it looks like it's going to be a good one

 

[anut4disney]

Hey ladies. Well I have survived this snow but we are supposed to get another snow storm this weekend. We were closed yesterday so hurray for a three day weekend.

Here is another thing that I have had to learn since Raymond passed away. I never drove when the weather was bad or ever shoveled snow, but I am now. He loved being outside so as soon as the snow would lighten up he would be out there shoveling and taking the suburban and packing down the snow. DD's bf came and did that for me so that I could leave this morning and he did fuss at me because he was going to shovel the snow. This old lady beat him to it and this old lady can tell today.

I am so looking forward to our trip and hopefully it will be nice while we are there, though I will just be happy to be there. I got my H1N1 shot last week (free at work) so I am ready for being in close contact in an enclosed plane for a long period of time. Beth told me to also get some Airborne to take.

Anyway I hope that everyone is doing fine and I will be on more, I promise.

 

[sahbushka]

Hey ladies. Well I have survived this snow but we are supposed to get another snow storm this weekend. We were closed yesterday so hurray for a three day weekend.

Here is another thing that I have had to learn since Raymond passed away. I never drove when the weather was bad or ever shoveled snow, but I am now. He loved being outside so as soon as the snow would lighten up he would be out there shoveling and taking the suburban and packing down the snow. DD's bf came and did that for me so that I could leave this morning and he did fuss at me because he was going to shovel the snow. This old lady beat him to it and this old lady can tell today.

I am so looking forward to our trip and hopefully it will be nice while we are there, though I will just be happy to be there. I got my H1N1 shot last week (free at work) so I am ready for being in close contact in an enclosed plane for a long period of time. Beth told me to also get some Airborne to take.

Anyway I hope that everyone is doing fine and I will be on more, I promise.

Hi Shirley...I was litterally just thinking to myself that I hadn't seen you on here in a while! I am glad to hear that you are ok! I am really looking forward to seeing you in 23 days! Woo Hoo!

Talk soon,
SarahMay

 

[anut4disney]

Hi Shirley...I was litterally just thinking to myself that I hadn't seen you on here in a while! I am glad to hear that you are ok! I am really looking forward to seeing you in 23 days! Woo Hoo!

Talk soon,
SarahMay

I can't believe it will be here in 23 days. I am nervous and excited at the same time.

 

[disney-super-mom]

I can totally see that! When Nathan becomes a liar, I'll have to celebrate!

Most all of his play is still throwing things, and putting things in a box and taking them out of a box. I've been working hard on 'real' play with the train table, and play kitchen, and his babies. He only gets 2 hours of ABA a week, but she works really hard with him. I know it's helping. Also, the 2 schools that he's in are incredible. I'm blessed by what we have. I wish we had more though.

I love all the chatter that goes along with the play also. That's new. I never knew I could love so much, and I'm so blessed to have these children.

I think Nathan is doing great at age three! I'm very optimistic!

When Ryan was three, he would line up cars in a perfect long row over and over again. When he wasn't looking, Justin or I would move one car a smidge out of place or switch two cars in the lineup to see if he would notice.....he always noticed! He would also open and close doors over and over again, like he was trying to see exactly how the door knob mechanism worked. And the only other thing he did a lot back then was watch videos. Hours and hours of videos. And he didn't memorize movies word for word like most kids. Instead, he would memorize the movies movement for movement. So, while watching "The Grinch" (the one with Jim Carrey), Ryan would make every little movement that the Grinch made during the entire movie. And I mean every......little.....movement. He would also play with these musical Care Bears all the time. But at three, Ryan didn't do much imaginative play. As I said, that really didn't start until right after he turned four. Of course, now, at age 10, he runs around pretend playing all the time. One minute he's an army commander planning a sneak attach on the enemy (his little brother) and the next minute he's a sheriff handcuffing and taking the bad guy (his little brother) to jail.

I think it's great that Nathan is receiving therapy so early on. That's so important. Ryan wasn't assessed until he was 4.5 years old, so we missed precious time to get him the help he needed. We kept telling his pediatrician that we were concerned about Ryan's development, but he just kept dismissing our concerns as "Oh, he's just a late bloomer. He'll be fine." I wish we hadn't listened to him and just followed our gut instinct. I always wonder if Ryan would be further along now if we had. We'll never know, but I can't help but feel extremely guilty about it.

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

I think Nathan is doing great at age three! I'm very optimistic!

I think it's great that Nathan is receiving therapy so early on. That's so important. Ryan wasn't assessed until he was 4.5 years old, so we missed precious time to get him the help he needed. We kept telling his pediatrician that we were concerned about Ryan's development, but he just kept dismissing our concerns as "Oh, he's just a late bloomer. He'll be fine." I wish we hadn't listened to him and just followed our gut instinct. I always wonder if Ryan would be further along now if we had. We'll never know, but I can't help but feel extremely guilty about it.

Thanks for the encouragement. I think Nathan's doing great also, and feel like he's almost a poster child for early intervention. He's been in therapy since 24 months, and the last year we've seen so much come and go. Now that he's 3, we only get school (interview next week for hab though which will give us more ABA).

I don't think you can look back and wonder what if. It sounds to me like Ryan is doing amazingly well, and you never know if he would've responded like Nathan did. As they say, every child is different. We do what we can, and when we know better, we do better. You are an awesome mom and advocate for Ryan. He has so much opportunity because of the roads you've paved for him. Don't ever feel guilty, you are a super mom! I only hope that Nathan will be where Ryan is when he's ten.

Part of the 'problem' with early intervention, is that now he almost flies below the radar. He still has many delays, but he looks 'good enough' that many feel he won't qualify for further therapy. I'm scared to death that he'll backslide without all the input, especially this summer when he has nothing to do. I need to come up with money from somewhere to keep him engaged.

Anyway, Ryan is an amazing person, and you are the amazing mom who's helping him.

 

[disney-inspired]

HELLO!
HERE'S A POLL ON BEHALF OF THE MEET & GREET COMMITTEE.

PLEASE PARTICIPATE!

 

[disney-super-mom]

Thanks for the encouragement. I think Nathan's doing great also, and feel like he's almost a poster child for early intervention. He's been in therapy since 24 months, and the last year we've seen so much come and go. Now that he's 3, we only get school (interview next week for hab though which will give us more ABA).

I don't think you can look back and wonder what if. It sounds to me like Ryan is doing amazingly well, and you never know if he would've responded like Nathan did. As they say, every child is different. We do what we can, and when we know better, we do better. You are an awesome mom and advocate for Ryan. He has so much opportunity because of the roads you've paved for him. Don't ever feel guilty, you are a super mom! I only hope that Nathan will be where Ryan is when he's ten.

Part of the 'problem' with early intervention, is that now he almost flies below the radar. He still has many delays, but he looks 'good enough' that many feel he won't qualify for further therapy. I'm scared to death that he'll backslide without all the input, especially this summer when he has nothing to do. I need to come up with money from somewhere to keep him engaged.

Anyway, Ryan is an amazing person, and you are the amazing mom who's helping him.

Thanks so much Heather. That really means a lot to hear you say that!

I know what you mean about being scared if he doesn't qualify for further therapy. Ryan didn't qualify for the district's summer program this year because he's made such great progress. But now I'm afraid he'll regress over the summer without it. I guess we'll find out. I'm going to try to keep him on track over the summer with some fun reading, writing, and math activities that I developed for some of my graduate classes. Interestingly, I always keep Ryan in mind when I write them so I can reach a multitude of learning styles and abilities in the same classroom while teaching a lesson.

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

Thanks so much Heather. That really means a lot to hear you say that!

I know what you mean about being scared if he doesn't qualifying for further therapy. Ryan didn't qualify for the district's summer program this year because he's made such great progress. But now I'm afraid he'll regress over the summer without it. I guess we'll find out. I'm going to try to keep him on track over the summer with some fun reading, writing, and math activities that I developed for some of my graduate classes. Interestingly, I always keep Ryan in mind when I write them so I can reach a multitude of learning styles and abilities in the same classroom while teaching a lesson.

I'm taking a disability advocate class right now for the state of Arizona. You should look into the one for your state. http://www.pipcalifornia.org/ In Dec, we had an educational consultant come and talk to us about modifications of lesson plans. The information given to me still blows my mind. I can try and get a copy of her material for you if you would like. She says that 'anything' can be modified for the disabled, even calculus. It all goes back to root skills. She was so inspiring and a wealth of knowledge. One of her big things was that a child should only spend 10% of the day on difficult fine motor tasks (handwriting, cutting, etc). If the school insists on making it an issue, she said to literally ask them what they would do if your child had no hands. They would have to modify it then. Anyway, her big point about that was to teach the brain and not the hands.

On that note, Nathan has a strength with letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. He knows them all, even down to octagons and hexagons, etc. He is starting to pretend to read, and so I started doing phonics with him yesterday. I figure I might as well boost his strengths while helping his delays.

 

[wendylady36]

Yay for LOST tonight! I have my reminder taped to my TV so I don't forget.

I'm getting my H1N1 shot tomorrow...I still can't stand reading or typing anything to do with freakin' stupid H1N1. Grr, there's nothing I really hate, but I surely do hate that stupid illness.

 

[mommaU4]

I really wish I knew what the weather is going to be like on our trip. I cannot even begin to think about planning or packing until I do.
I have some lime green and red shirts to wear, but they are a bit warm. That's fine if it's in the 50's. Not fine if it's in the 70's.

I did find some cute solid tees on the Avenue site though:
http://www.avenue.com/Plus-Size-Solid-Tees-and-Tops.aspx?DeptId=19942&Page=1&12PerPage=true

Some were pretty decently priced. I'll have to keep them mind I guess just in case it's hot while we are there.

 

[mommaU4]

HELLO!
HERE'S A POLL ON BEHALF OF THE MEET & GREET COMMITTEE.

PLEASE PARTICIPATE!

Is this something you need me to update the title with? Just let me know.
Also, I didn't realize y'all needed a count for the exchange. I thought it was whomever brought one, received one....





(Cristabel, when doing a poll to get an exact count for something, I'm not sure if you know this, but you can make the poll public that way you can see who voted and make sure they are actually those going on the trip, like I did with the t-shirts poll, and not just random people who like to vote for things. LOL I learned that the hard way once when doing the WDW trip so just thought I'd pass that info along. )

 

[disney-inspired]

Is this something you need me to update the title with? Just let me know.
Also, I didn't realize y'all needed a count for the exchange. I thought it was whomever brought one, received one....





(Cristabel, when doing a poll to get an exact count for something, I'm not sure if you know this, but you can make the poll public that way you can see who voted and make sure they are actually those going on the trip, like I did with the t-shirts poll, and not just random people who like to vote for things. LOL I learned that the hard way once when doing the WDW trip so just thought I'd pass that info along. )

Yes, please do! We need a count so we can see how many bags to bring because those participating in the exchange will be using their pillowcases.

I did not know that and I can't change it now

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

OK, so are we doing the exchange before we eat? I'm just trying to plan. Last year, the tote exchange took a while. I might need provisions to get me through the watching of the pillowcase one!

Now I'm hungry....