‘Tis the Season

The much looked for, yet often dreaded, holiday season. Kicked off by Halloween which is usually a nightmare (haha) for Conor given all the noise, costumes and candy (he does not like sweets). Yet this year it appears there has been a shift in Conor’s universe and he did in fact have a fun Halloween.

Starting with school, Batman flew (does he fly? Drove in?) in to say Hi to Conor, and he enjoyed meeting the super-nice caped crusader. I thought all of his Halloween enjoyment would end there. I was mistaken when he came home and tried on his brother Jack’s shark costume. After that he put his own Knight costume on and went trick-or-treating. He went to 4 houses, which was great given his dislike of new activities and the whole anti-sweet issue. I was emailing someone while he was out (Jack and I trick-or-treated earlier with friends) and said that Conor had been out trick-or-treating for a couple hours. My friend was shocked he was out so long, and I said I was pretty sure he and his Dad found a house with beer and a spare Ipad, and they were holed up there. Sure enough, they came home around 9pm and Conor was happy as a “tornado in a trailer park”.

The next night, Conor put his costume back on and kept saying he wanted to go trick-or-treating. I believe what he meant to say was he wanted to go to the neighbors house and play on the Ipad.  At least he enjoyed Halloween!

Looks like a great start to the holiday season.

 

 

Rockstar in training

Conor uncharacteristicly wearing sunglasses. He is working on his first album cover photo. We all agree that he will probably make a better DJ than band member, but you never know! At least his photos will be ready for his debut whatever it may be..

Funny thing is the sunglasses are mine and they are prescription..

Courage is found in unlikely places

Sometimes it is found in a bottle of wine and other times it comes from a trip to Target. With Conor and Jack. While that sounds like a no-big-deal event, it often turns out to be a monumental task getting them to go through the aisles and aisles of Target. Jack drones on about getting something from the wonderful world of toys (or as I call it “the black hole”) and won’t quit until he peruses the aisles. Of course, I try to avoid that section at all costs, but I’m only human. Conor on the other hand runs to the electronics and the wall of flat screen tv’s that are on and playing different ads all at the same time. Unfortunately, the electronics department is near the toys, and neither of them will be confined in the shopping cart (gone are the days of strapping them in the stroller). Getting either of them out of their preferred places requires me to carry one out screaming (Conor) and bribing the other one (Jack) with something from our Treasure Box at home. Sometimes you just have to go to Target and bring both kids. And that takes courage. It also takes a bottle to relieve the stress of the outing.

Potty Talk

Not about potty training (done with that thankfully!), but about potty incident. Jack was in the bathroom when the potty overflowed. Yuck. However, he freaked out and started screaming bloody murder. Then Conor freaked out and started screaming. Then I freaked out because I had to clean it up (no screaming on my part). All in all, a bad start to the day.

Conor having fun at Speech Therapy

Conor and his buddy and therapist, Marcus, at speech therapy using the iLs system. The therapists at MLee SLP are the best! Looks like so much fun that I’d love to try it!

Jack, Conor’s younger brothers birthday party

As many parents and family members who have children with special needs, it can be quite an ordeal to do even the typical activities for your other children. My 4 year old was determined to have a party, the first we have had for either of our boys. I wisely brought a babysitter so I could concentrate on Jack and making sure he had a good time on his birthday, while our sitter, Sara could make sure Conor had fun. And if he wasn’t having fun, well she could take him somewhere else (good call). Conor lasted about an hour and a half then had to go for a car ride. Jack had a great day and I believe Conor had some fun and was not too stressed about the event.