I asked the kids what we should buy daddy for Christmas, and here are the responses I got:
Ryan: "How about some good children." (Pretty clever answer and funny!)
Julia: "Medicine in case he gets sick." (In case you forgot, Phil spent Christmas and several days in January in the hospital last year because of kidney stones, so this is also a clever answer!)
Even with Andy, our Elf on the Shelf, visiting us daily, the kids are having a difficult time behaving themselves. They are in constant competition and get disappointed if they don't get to do something first, especially when it involves Jack. They actually fight with each other about who Jack should be sitting closer to. While it is sweet that they want to be near their brother, rather than get physical with each other if they stopped a minute to think about it, they can put Jack in the middle and both be happy. And that would make Jack super happy. There have also been some issues with Ryan at school. After two "Outstanding" days at school last week, this past week we received a note home from Ryan's teacher about his behavior at lunch. He is arguing with another boy about who gets to sit near a boy in their class. Seriously such petty stuff. Ryan gets upset when he doesn't get his way, and when he does, he tends to show off and hurt others' feelings. We had a long talk with him about this during the week after we received the note, and also over the weekend several times when he had mini meltdowns at the two birthday parties we went to.
In the midst of difficult behavior, we had some great moments too. Here are some pictures of the kids in front of the Barbie ornament tree in our family room. We spent an hour hanging out together, listening to music, dancing, and playing. And we did a lot of laughing. It was really nice to put everything else aside and spend some quality time together.
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| Three smiles! |
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| This is what I got when I asked them what face they would make if they got coal in their stocking. I posted this on Facebook and it was a big hit. Lots of people are saying we should use this as our Christmas card picture, but we've had ours printed a few weeks ago. |
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| Wrestling with daddy. |
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| Ryan posing with Mickey Mouse at a birthday party over the weekend. |
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| Ryan received an early Christmas present from my aunt in Virginia. It is a bank that registers the amount of money when coins are dropped in it. Ryan loved it and carried it around with him at the birthday party. Guests kept giving him coins to put in it. He came home with about $9 in change. |
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| Ryan still holding the coin jar! He walked around with it most of the night. |
There was a clown at the birthday party we went to on Saturday and he had volunteers go up and try to do the hula hoop. Ryan was eager to try, which surprised us. There were over 50 people there and he wasn't hesitant at all to get up and try. We were so proud of him and everyone clapped for him for trying. Here's the video of his attempt; you can tell he was having so much fun: Ryan Hula Hoop
Ryan did a good job at both parties sticking to his diet. He wasn't perfect, but he was having so much fun playing that it didn't seem to bother him. One of the things he cheated with was tasting eggplant parmigiana. When going through the buffet line he insisted that he liked it. It is not something he is supposed to have but Phil figured he would let him try it. He got back to the table and tried it. Needless to say it was the only thing left on his plate at the end of the night. But kudos for trying something new!
A friend of mine posted this article on Facebook and I found it interesting. It's called "7 Things You Don't Know About A Special Needs Parent". Here's the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-lin/special-needs-parenting_b_1314348.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
The kids, especially Julia, love to dance. And when they start, Jack wants to join in. Here's a video of them dancing to one of their favorite songs: Dancing to Gangnam Style
I forgot to mention this last week so I will share now. One morning when the bus pulled up Ryan said that the number was different. And indeed it was. The bus looked exactly the same but the number was one digit off. He got on the bus and said something to the bus driver and he replied that they had given him a new bus that morning. Each morning since then Ryan comments about how the bus number is different. I sometimes forget how observant Ryan is and what a good memory he has.
DC
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