Autism is NOT a Stigma

I was told over and over “why are you going to early intervention” or “he is only 2, he is just being a boy” or “he just doesn’t like people”  WELL…  I am glad I finally stopped listening to people around me and went with my gut feeling.  So R is in the grey area of Autism so I really have no clue about children who are more on the spectrum than he is.  He is very high functioning and to someone who isn’t with him 24 hours a day he will seem fine.  But as the caregiver 24/7 I am the one who sees all these things.  I wish I would have done EI before now.  He has 3 short months with them before he turns 3 and they drop him from the program.  So, our primary focus it to get him adjusted to being in social settings with more than 3 children with out freaking out or playing in a corner by himself.  He was evaluated and it is nice to have someone who will work with him 2 days a week.  We have been blessed to be fast tracked in the system and he has been enrolled in 2 of the groups one which is run by our service advocate.  With luck they can also help get him into a good pre-school setting.  Primarily for the socialization.

For our little guy being very low level autistic is not a stigma but just a small hurdle he much work to overcome.  His social anxiety can be worked with now will hopefully help him when he is older.  Welcome to our new adventure…

 

Movie Review Monday – Locke

Movie Rating ♥♥♥♥♥+ (5+/5) Movie Trailer Posted below

This is a good film. Love that it takes place in a car. Set fees are kept low by it being filmed in a car. His decisions are long and you can see his personal turmoil as he makes these decisions. The first reason I thought the decision was is shockingly not the real issue being debated.  In the end it is one thing that makes everything ok…  This movie was amazing that it held my interest throughout the movie since it is just a guy driving in a car while his whole life crumbles around him and he can’t do anything but keep telephone communication open.  There are aspects that make you wonder if he is sick, tired, suicidal or just loosing it.  AMAZINGLY written and preformed.

Any movie that can hold my attention while chasing a toddler and it only has one main scene repeating on what seems like an endless loop behind the actor.

Trailer posted by: Fresh Movie Trailers

Movie Review Monday – Neighbors

Movie Rating ♥♥♥♥♥+ (5+/5) Movie Trailer Posted below

The trailer really doesn’t do this movie justice.  I was laughing from the first scene.  I think as a new first time mom this movie was truly hilarious.  I am not sure people without children will completely grasp the full enjoyment of the parent aspect of the movie.  There are parts that hit home and parts that made me wonder “who does that?”.  Such as, going to a frat party (or any party) next door while your baby is sleeping unattended in the house.  I have a hard time running to the basement to switch out laundry.

Overall, I laughed my butt off from start to finish.  I loved this film.  Seth Rogen seems to play characters that have me in stitches laughing.  Anything that can make me laugh that much gets 5+ ♥’s in my book.

Weepy Wednesday – Allergies and Pollen

Greetings loyal readers, this past week has been full of er and dr visits for my 2 yr old.  We missed our Monday Movie thanks to Pesky Pollen.  It was the Spiderman 2 movie we were looking forward to.  boohoo….

We learned YES a two year old can have a fever with an allergy attack if it is severe enough.  His poor body was fighting it off like an infection.  Who would have guessed that.  I was giving him Benadryl and that wasn’t helping very much.  His little eyes were so bloodshot it looked as if we were staring into a little imps eyes.

I searched for weather apps that showed pollen counts and came across the Pollen.com app for the iPad (well, it was under iPhone apps).  So far it has been a great tool to use.  It is up to the minute and can extend out 4 days which allows for planning outings.

Pollen, pollen go away
Little Bobby wants to play

Food Friday – Paleo Diet week 2

I have been on the paleo diet for 2 weeks and have so much natural energy it still amazes me.  I feel like dinner planning is so much easier having a basic plan.  It is also easier to keep sweets and bad carbs out of our diet when there are so many delicious substitutes.  Last weekend a group of friends got together and we celebrated our children’s 2nd birthdays with a pot luck picnic.  Quite a few of us are now doing the paleo diet so it was interesting to see the things everyone brought.  My favorite were the mock chocolate chip cookies.  they melted in my mouth having the texture of a soft peanut butter cookie.  DELICIOUS!!  I found a similar recipe to try.

My attempt is well, very good for a first try. I added my own twist to it.  I used the recipe from Fast Paleo as my base.

 

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups Almond Flour
• 1/2 cup Coconut Oil
• 1/4 cup Honey
• 1/4 cup Pure Maple Syrup
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 teaspoon of Pure Almond Extract
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips
• 2 eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F).  Line a cookie sheet with a silicone mat, parchment paper or aluminum foil.  In a large bowl combine 3  1/4 cups of almond flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of baking soda.  In a medium bowl, mix together 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract, 1/2 cup of coconut oil, 1/4 cup pure maple syrup and 1/4 cup of honey.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients then add 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.  Spoon them onto the lined pan and put them in the oven.  Bake for about 8-10 minutes (the tops will start to get golden brown). If they go longer than that the bottoms burn because of the sugar in the honey.
Should make between 18-24 cookies depending on size.

Wacky Wednesday Post – The Joys of being a Stay Home Mom

When we decided I would be a stay at home mom (SAHM) little did I know how hard it would be.  Before our son came bursting into our lives I thought Stay at Home Moms had it made.  I thought their day was easy.  No job to have to rush to or bosses to deal with.  No long commute in backed up traffic to deal with.  No office drama.  They got the joy of playing with their child all day, how hard can that be?  Lots of time for “me” time.

OMG  I was so WRONG!!!!  Stay home mom’s have a job that NEVER ends.  Our boss is a tiny creäture who demands 24 hour attention with no breaks.  There are no “15 minute” breaks and no lunch breaks.  Our commute to and from various play dates includes lots of traffic back ups all for the love of our child.  No office drama …  Yea right…  Life with a 2 year old there are moments that are spent walking on eggshells that something could set off a wicked temper, oh the drama and over emotion.  Sure, playing with a child is fun but constant entertaining of a 2 year old is hard work because there are days that nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, is right.  It is hard work having fun and educational things lined up to do with many back up ideas for when the planned ones are discarded.

“But you have nap time, isn’t that enough alone time?” I have heard that a few times and the answer is “NO”.  Let me tell you what a SAHM has to squeeze into that brief nap.  We have to do laundry, dishes, pick up toys, cleaning the house, make meals and I am sure I am missing something.  For working at home stay at home mom’s we have to also use this time to create, develop, blog, network, advertise, make business calls and so much more.  I blog and have worked to build a company all squeezed into nap times.  I do multi-task pretty well now.  I have learned how to watch something entertaining while working.  Occasionally I nap with him but most days it is my brief time I can get things done.  It gets harder and harder the older he gets, the shorter the nap and the time of his nap.  Today he decided he was tired and needed to sleep at 9:30 am…  It will be a long day and hopefully a nice one as we will be out treasure hunting (geocaching).

Today is a day that started whiny and I am so happy to have had the time to blog, create product images and watch him sleep.  The nap this morning was my break from a cranky 2 yr old.

Movie Monday Review – Grand Budapest Hotel

Movie Rating ♥♥♥♥ (4/5) Movie Trailer Posted below

Exceptional cast. I love the narration giving the back story in the beginning. Scene sets are simple yet full of interesting characteristics. The dialogue is quirky and fun. I did a lot of “hmm” with a head scratch and oodles of giggles with a few belly laughs. I like a movie that keeps me on my toes psychologically. The prison break out scene was funny and touching. Overall it is a dry humor and it seemed that I was the only one laughing in the theater. It is a slow-moving movie in some parts.

Trailer from FoxSearchlight

Movie Monday – Ernest and Celestine

Movie Rating ♥♥♥♥♥ (5/5) Movie Trailer Posted below

We had a wonderful time in the screening room of the Cinema Salem.  This film was wonderful.  I loved the storybook drawing style animation.  It felt like I was watching a children’s book be read to me.  I enjoyed this film so much that I have pre-ordered it on iTunes.  The world of bears and the world of mice mimic each other so well.  They fear each other because that is what they are taught but in the end both world meet.  This movie is about reaching out to someone who isn’t the same as you and taking a risk of befriending them without passing judgement first.

 

Food Friday – Paleo Diet – Day 1

Today we started our new diet plan.  Thanks to a couple of friends who have started it and have had great success even in as little as 3 days.  They are my inspiration!!  And thanks to the NOM NOM PALEO iPad app for the iPad for the mouth-watering recipes, best $5.99 I have spent on a cooking app yet.  The Nom Nom Paleo website is a wonderful resource tool as well.

Breakfast was a scrambled egg with bacon, garlic, and herb seasoning.

Lunch we had diced chicken and kale

Dinner was a delicious Salad with various greens, tomatoes, red peppers, onions, bacon and kale.  YUM YUM YUM…

It was a pretty easy day but I have been warned the carb cravings will kick in soon and to ignore them the best that I can.  Good thing is I keep thinking of the health benefits of having a low GI diet.  I have hopes that this diet will help my body not need the thyroid medication anymore.  I know it won’t happen over night but I sure am looking forward to a few weeks from now when I go back to the Dr for a check up.  In addition to the new diet we (my 2yr old & I) are working out at the YMCA 5 days a week.

Monday Movie Review – Rio 2

Movie Rating ♥♥♥♥♥ (5/5) Movie Trailer Posted below (I feel like it has been a long time since I saw a movie that was bad.)

This is a very cute movie.  We really enjoyed it.  Rio 2 had my little guy stopped in his tracks quite a few times.  He also danced to the party scenes.  I loved how it brings in topics like family and discrimination without being overly obvious. I have not seen the first Rio so I can not compare them.  I wonder if that would taint how wonderful I think this film was. The movie is as cute as the trailer.

Trailer: