HALLOWEEN

Halloween has come and gone and I'm already behind in posting about it.

Here' s quick look at what we did on Halloween. My pictures were pretty limited.

We carved pumpkins and Alyssa really didn't want anything to do with pumpkin guts ( I don't blame her- I can't stand it either)

We did six pumpkins but for some reason I only have these three

Here are some of our carvings

Alyssa's pumpkin

Alien pumpkin

Sean's transformer pumpkin

Then it was time for trick or treats and well....

the Grabber wasn't into it.

Doesn't he look so unimpressed. He hated that costume and wanted it off so this is the only picture of Nathan in his Halloween costume. There was no interest in carrying a bucket around either, simply throwing and tossing it around.

Alyssa on the other hand had no issues with trick or treats...

Just look at this little kitty

The " I got CANDY dance"

Hope you all had a nice Halloween...

and now it's time to start thinking about Christmas

baby steps...

Well we are slowly moving forward... I mean slowly... slower than a snail on a slow day but it's still some progress so I'll have to remain focused on that. Tonight, Nathan sat in his big boy chair without the computer or books or toys...and he didn't fuss. Our family sat down for dinner. We usually offer Nathan the same foods we eat but up until tonight he has always pushed the plates away (it's like he knows) tonight was different..

Tonight, he seemed interested in the rice in his bowl. He touched it with his hands. I offered him a spoon to play with but he wanted to touch. I have to say I was shocked because the rice was sticky and with Nathan's sensory issues he usually freaks out or flat out refuses to touch.

However tonight that was not the case...

Look at that.. He's right in there with both hands... After about 5 minutes he started getting agitated and whiny. He wanted his hands cleaned. He absolutely loves when I use the face cloth on his hands, he gets the cutest smile when we wash his hands.

I still can't believe he touched and played with the rice

and then put his mouth all over the bowl...

Hopefully one day these baby steps will lead

our Little Grabber to eat...

Spooky Ghost house

Alyssa and I made a spooky house out of gingerbread tonight in preparation for our little Halloween party in a weeks time.

We had lots of fun making it and it is now our center piece on the dinning room table.

Alyssa did all the decorations!

I think she did a fantastic job! Don't you?

Tomorrow we will start carving all the pumpkins for our garden display...

Picture almost perfect...

For the past three years, we've wanted to get family photos done. The last photos we had done were back when Alyssa was 10 months old... so a little out of date to say the least. We haven't managed to get much cooperation from the Grabber for any photos... there's simply too much to do and too much to look at (except the camera, which he rarely looks at).

So here are the picture almost perfect... but close enough Fall 2009 Family shots...

Wordless Wednesday

Mesmerized

Look what my grandma and grandpa got me!

Thanks so much- Merci, merci...

There's a little button, and Mommy showed me how to turn it on. Now I'm really fascinated with it because I can do it by myself- I push the button down and all the colourful lights turn on. Everyone knows how much I like gadgets with lights...

It's like this thing was made for me. Yes, it's very interesting.

Looks at this.... It even works when I'm lying down.

Nathan's big boy chair

Earlier this week I met with Nathan's OT and Speech therapist to discuss what we should be doing to create a positive feeding experience. There's just so much involved around eating. Eating requires a lot of coordination and the use of all your senses. I never actually stopped to think about all the steps one has to take to get to swallowing. Nathan's therapist referred me to a great site called popsicle. This site raises awareness that feeding issues are a medically compromising problem that affects many families daily.

This said, it will be a long, long, long time before Nathan eats....I think I'm just starting to come to terms with that. The therapist have told me it could be four years or more... (sigh) Bottom line is that eating is a learned behavior and he must learn all over again. So here we are...

We have a new big boy chair, so that Nathan can be with us at the table during mealtimes (Bye bye high chair). The simple move from a high chair to this new feeding chair has been challenging for Nathan. He doesn't like it all that much. He cries and I must be within sight for him to be sort of okay with it and he still doesn't want to be in it. So we have moved to a reward program. If he sits in his feeding chair at the table, he can then play with the laptop (one of his favorite things to do) The laptop works the best but we do try with other toys and books. I usually give him a bolus feed while he sits in his chair so that he can associate a positive feeling of fullness when he sits in his chair. The goal is to have him sitting at the table with us, hearing us talk about food, smelling food and touching and experimenting and eventually trying to eat as we do by showing him how we eat.

Playing his favorite website game

with some help from his older sister

I love his new chair. It's a great way for him to be at the table with us participating in mealtime. Alyssa loves it too! She's always asking to sit in it! Doesn't Nathan look so grown up sitting there?