Daddy’s Birthday Week

We celebrated Daddy’s birthday week last week! Happiest of birthdays to THE most wonderful husband in the world. We love, love, love you tons! Here are some highlights:

Nico’s last day of spring break was last Monday, so Roberto took the day off and spent the day withNico at Fun Spot Orlando. Nico did SUPER GREAT overall. He winced on the rides because it was loud (thanks again, school fire drill 😒), but other than thay he had tons of fun. He got to see and pet a snake and a baby gator. He even did really well sitting and staying put to eat his lunch there (personal pizza…which he devoured, lol).                     

• On Tuesday Nico went back to school and had a good first day. We had a dinner playdate that evening and Nico did great as well. That was also the first time Nico was in underwear out of the house and he didn’t have any accidents!! 👏🏻 He still doesn’t tell me when he needs to go. I need to buy more underwear for him so we can just have him in underwear all the time and not worry if we have enough whenever he has accidents. 
• It was Roberto’s birthday on Wednesday so we went to a petting farm in the morning. Nico didn’t do as well. He was more interested in the fire truck and the playground than the animals. I think we only got to pet the turtles and looked at some rabbits. We got the annual pass so hopefully the next few times we visit he’ll be better at petting the animals.                 
• We also had an early birthday dinner for Roberto that Wednesday with his family. Nico did not do well at all. I think he had a meltdown for about an hour? Oy vey. He’s also starting to say/ask for “pow pow” and even spanking himself. Yes, we discipline him. No, it’s not abuse. Yes, it works for our family. Yes, it’s biblical. I’m not sure what to do when he does this pow-pow thing…do we ignore him?? We really don’t know. Anyways, he finally calmed down when I laid down with him alone in our bed with the iPad. 
• On Saturday I was home with the kids for most of the morning and afternoon while hubby helped some family move. Thankfully, both kids were very good. In the evening I went to a bridal shower so I was able to have some “me” time. 😊
• On Sunday we celebrated our Lord’s resurrection. Nico and Julian did quite well in Sunday school. Nico’s teacher said that there was a point when Nico started becoming irrational (asking for something, then not wanting it, then asking for it again, etc.), but they were able to thwart that. Phew. I’m so glad they are able to handle his quirks well. We then went to my parents’ for Easyer lunch and an egg hunt. Nico loved the egg hunt. Probably because he had a Minion egg basket. 😂     

Hoping for a great week this week! Thanks for reading!!

Be blessed, 

Liz 

“Volcano!”

Hi everyone! This house of mine just cannot get over illnesses lately! I’m sick again (for the 3rd time since the beginning of the year), and now my kids are getting sick as well. Thankfully, hubby has been spared! Anyways, here are a few updates for Nico:

• Ever since a fire drill at school, Nico has been quite sensitive to sound. Even when people clap, he covers his ears. He never used to do that. Hopefully this passes eventually. 
• For the past month or two, he has had a handful of “off” days at school. There was a day when he was non-compliant with the teacher during centers time, was very angry and kept shouting “No!” There was a day when he didn’t want to eat anything. There have been days when he didn’t nap, but was just quiet during naptime. However, I believe it was because his class had a couple of new students, so obviously that transition could have affected him. 
• Nico was the ring bearer at my brother’s wedding. This is the second time he’s been a ring bearer. The first time he did quite well. This time, not so much. He missed his nap that afternoon so he ws mister tantrum-cranky-pants at the wedding. Thankfully, my hubby was one of the groomsmen so Roberto walked down the aisle while carrying Nico. 😂 Nico fell asleep during the ceremony. 😂
• Nico saying sorry still amazes me. The fact that he is now aware of his mistakes/wrongdoings seems to be a huge milestone, for me at least. 
• He has quite an imaginative little brain. For example, he puts playdoh on either side of his Lightning McQueen bath toy and calls it a “rocket ship” and makes it blast off. 
• He knows how to write his name!!!! 😳😳😳😱😱😱 He surprised me when he began writing it on the chalk floor area at Crayola Experience. 
• He is getting better at saying “hi” and “bye” to people, specifically to family members. He used to get upset when we asked him to say “bye” to my family. Now he’ll even pucker his lips to give them kisses. Lol. Not all the time, though. He still has his off days. 
• We’re still kinda potty training him. There are days when I’m super gung-ho about it, having Nico wear his underwear almost all day and having him go potty every 45 min or so, and there are days when I don’t even bother. I really should get serious about it, but it reeeally discourages me that Nico knows he needs to go potty (especially #2) but doesn’t tell me or says “No” when I ask him if he needs to go, but 5 min later I can smell him. I feel like he is being really lazy. Am I right to think that he is being lazy, or is this just an autism thing? I don’t know…
• Nico has been doing great with his bedtime routine and sleeping in his room the whole night. I believe it’s been a few months now since the last time he cried as we were saying good night and closing the door. We haven’t been locking his doors anymore for a couple of weeks and he only comes out when he’s woken up in the morning and/or he hears us up and in the kitchen already. This Wednesday March 23rd marks 1 full year since we started sleep training him. He has definitely come a long way since then. 
• We had spring break this past week, but unfortunately both my hubby and I still had work so we really weren’t able to make any special trip. We were supposed to go camping this weekend, but we’re all sick and it’s raining this weekend. However, Nico came with me to work and did really well. The only times he was being naughty was when his little brother was napping and Nico wanted to go on the bed and jump. Lol. Other than that, he never complained about going to work with me (he used to in the past). 
• He’s pretty good at taking turns. He even says’ “my turn” or “baby’s turn.” When someone takes a toy that he wants he says, “it’s my (insert toy name)!” 😂
• We had a dinner/playdate at home this past week and Nico did incredibly well socializing with our guests and their son. Their son is a year older and also has autism. Nico was really engaging in play with the son, having good eye contact, playing right beside him, not throwing a fit when the other little boy played with his toys, and constantly saying and waving “hi!” to our guests. 
• We’re starting to observe Nico participating in small and short social conversations. We would talk about his school, about his toys, about the shows he is watching. I started doing this last year even though he wasn’t as verbal, but I wanted to lay the groundwork. I would ask him about a toy that he isnplaying with, what color it was, etc., and then I would answer for him. Eventually, he started answering for himself, so I began to add more questions and statements and voila! A mini conversation. 👏🏻 Nico is also very good now at answering to “yes/no” questions. 
• I swear, this kid can join the show “Kids Say The Darnest Things.” 😂 The other day I had a blemish on my skin and Nico saw it, looked at it funny, and then said, “A volcano!” LOL!!! And then last night, we showed him a video of his baby cousin crying and Nico said, “Sad. Drink your milk.”  LOL!! This kid cracks me up. 
• Nico is becoming a very good big brother. He leads Julian by the hand when they play together, and he even tells Julian, “No, baby, sit down” when Julian is standing on the couch. 😍

It’s my hubby’s birthday next week so he took a couple of days off. One of those days he decided to have a father-son date with Nico. He’s planning to have a pancake breakfast somewhere then go to Fun Spot with Nico. I think Nico will have such a grand time. I think we might squeeze in a zoo trip and a petting farm trip, too. We shall see and I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, enjoy the pics below!

Thanks again for reading!

Be blessed,

Liz