The past few weeks several have said to me in person how much they enjoy my blog. I just wanted to make sure I again say thank you. Thank you for taking the time to not only read my posts but always being willing to support my family through our journey. I have found blogging so therapeutic these past 2 years. I continue to hope that the blog not only helps spread awareness and acceptance of autism but I also hope it reaches other parents of children with autism so they know they are not alone in their journey.

So again I say, thank you!

Ok, so truth be told, I wanted Courtney to have therapeutic horse riding so I can spend time with my favorite animal. I’m taking lessons right along with them and loving every minute. Truly therapeutic for me!

Though there is another reason why I actually decided to join in on the lesson and today was the day it paid off! After a couple lessons, Ms. Christine let Courtney get on the horse with me. Folks, she rode the horse today!

Ms. Christine and her friends moved to a different ranch last week and this new home appears to be a better fit for Courtney. She seemed at ease from the get go. When given a brush, Courtney actually brushed the horse without any resistance!

I love how quickly Ms. Christine has gotten to know both girls and their needs. She has no problem handling Alyssa’s sassiness with patience and consistency while handling Courtney’s fears and sensory issues so gently and understanding. She is so encouraging with both of them throughout their session.

Alyssa showed resistance today. Though the stacks were against her. Her favorite pony, Bumble wasn’t there today so she had to work with the big horse Capone. She’s also going through a phase where she is exhibiting a HUGE phobia of bugs/flies and there were a few of those around today. So…I got to go on first and Courtney got to “help” walk Capone while I rode him. After sometime of her happily walking the horse, it was my time to just ride. It truly is just as therapeutic for me as it is for Courtney. I’m so relaxed during my session. During that time the only thing that is on my mind is that horse and how to get him to do what I want him to do. Not an ounce of stress!!!

Ms. Christine tried to convince Alyssa to get on Capone with me but she wouldn’t have it. Since she seemed to think I was ready to ride with Alyssa, I asked if we could try Courtney today even if it was putting her up with me and taking her right down. Courtney will whine if she has to do something she doesn’t like but if she is truly fearful of something, you can see her whole body tense up. She was just whining when put on the horse with me with some intermittent smiles so we decided to keep pushing. Her boots fell off when we put her on. When shoes come off so do socks. Courtney loves exploring textures through her feet so I immediately felt this could help and Ms Christine was ok with it. Whenever Courtney started to whine I had her rub her feet on Capone and it definitely helped calm her.

I was on cloud nine as I held and encouraged her through 2 laps around the arena. I was so incredibly proud! She did it! We did it! Thank you Ms. Christine and Capone for making it such a fantastic day!

Bumble, Alyssa hopes you are back soon!

This photo came up on my Facebook memories. It was from two years ago today. It was the day of Courtney’s evaluation at what’s now her preschool. Unexpectedly this picture hit me like a ton of bricks today. The emotions poured out. More so than that actual day. On that day I knew what the evaluation team was going to see and determine. I was prepared for it. In fact I needed that day because at this point there were still loved ones that I needed to convince that we were on an autism journey with Courtney. Loved ones including her dad.

As a family we have come such a long way since this day. We have learned to accept her limitations and celebrate her differences and strengths. We have learned that our Autism Journey is our normal. It may not be someone else’s normal but it’s ours and we love it. There are many days in the past two years where I was stressed, frustrated, and angry about different parts of this journey but all I needed was to see Courtney’s smile or hear her voice and those emotions disappeared. The emotion I feel the most is proud. I am so proud of our little family!

I had so much fun today just watching Alyssa as she enjoyed some Arts and Crafts time. She insisted on doing some cutting since she saw me cutting a project for school. I gave her some scissors and she of course initially fought off any attempt I made to show her the proper way to use them. She did eventually let me show her where her fingers go and she started snipping away. She snipped with so much focus. And with each snip, her concentration grew. I then watched her put the scissors down to color her little snipped papers so delicately using the perfect grasp. My special needs warped mind didn’t realize 2 year olds could hold a crayon correctly! Then it was so cool to see her figure out on her own how to hold the scissors correctly once she decided to start snipping again. I was just in awe of my beautiful little girl as she independently created her beautiful masterpiece of snippets of paper some of which had colorful circles on them.

This terrible two stage is hard! Since developmentally Courtney isn’t two, this phase is completely new to me as a parent. Alyssa can go from a sweet little princess to a holy terror with horns and then back to a sweet princess in seconds! And yes, I’m well aware that 3 can be even worse!!!

The one thing I’ve noticed is some of her tantrums are happening when she’s just trying to navigate her way around this world of big people who are constantly telling her what to do, and how to do it. Big people who want her to be independent but when she actually tries to be independent we get in the way. A world with so many rules to follow but still too young to truly understand what these roles are and why she needs to follow them. A world with so many cool things constantly tempting her but having to learn that she can’t always have instant gratification. That’s a lot to handle as a little two year old! Unfortunately, like a lot of parents, I am consumed by so many things through out the day so when Alyssa throws a fit or gives me attitude, I tend to forget to respond calmly and end up fighting a fire with fire which is a recipe for disaster (aka toddler meltdown)!

So today during this arts and crafts moment, I just sat back and watched. Yes, she was making a mess and yes, there were times she wasn’t holding the scissors right. There were even a few times I thought we were going to lose a finger. But what was also happening was this beautiful little girl proudly completing a project all on her own and the best thing I could do for her was just let it happen.

Oh Courtney, I need some insight. I need you for one moment to let me know how you feel about decisions I have made and continue to make. I need to know if I’m fighting hard enough for you. I need to know if I’m pushing you too hard or can you handle more. I sure there are times you are trying to answer these questions in your own ways but mommy need more of your insight.

But first, let me tell you how very proud I am of you. You are finishing up your 2nd year of preschool and your second year of a full schedule of therapies and you more than exceeded all my expectations of the year. You not only showed us that you can handle a longer school day but you can handle a larger class. You showed us you can handle you long school day on top of many hours of therapy. You not only showed us that you can handle a whole different communication system but you also started letting us hear your voice more! And my sweet girl, it’s such a beautiful voice! You truly are a little rockstar!

So my little rockstar, now that this year is over, can you let me know if you are truly ok with your placement? Is it meeting your needs? I know I’m the mom and the special education teacher that is suppose to know but I don’t and I feel so helpless. See, here’s the deal, because I’m that crazy mom, I’m still worried it’s not the right placement. And because I’m that crazy mom, I feel I need to keep fighting.

Now let’s talk your very busy therapy schedule. You amaze me on how well you handle it. Can you handle more? Can our family handle more? Will you resent me for making you “work” as many hours at the age of 4 that a grown adult does? Oh Courtney, if you could only share how you feel.

So promise me this…I know you can’t do it verbally but promise me you will let me know if I’m fighting too hard or not fighting enough. Tell me if your days are too long. Tell me the best way you can… your voice, your talker, your behaviors. How ever you need to communicate it, you do it. Please know that every decision I make is out of love. You are my rockstar and nothing will ever change that!

Love,

Mommy

Time for a post all about my baby who is not such a baby anymore. Sweet baby Alyssa who entered this world in such a scary unforgettable way has turned into this little spunky, princess loving, spit fire of a girl. This strong personality is just what she needs to help her navigate through life. Her sister requires a lot of attention from us so I really think Alyssa’s strong personality is her way to make sure she is “heard” in our little family.

I spent a good portion of Alyssa’s first two years watching her like a hawk making sure she was meeting all the developmental stages. I wasn’t going to miss any signs and even as she was meeting all the stages, I still worried. What if suddenly she regressed? Very possible because they did for Courtney. I’ve stopped worrying about her development. In fact, I now think I’m raising a genius! When you have spent so many years teaching 3-5 year olds with significant delays and then raising your first child with the same significant delays, you become a little warped on what typical development is suppose to look like. Did you know two year olds can talk in 4-5 word sentences, answer yes/no questions, tell you what hurts, tell you their likes and dislikes, call you “mommy” and already catch on that her big sister needs her help with things? In my eyes, that’s a genius! She amazes me every day!

Now I worry about other things with her. Am I giving her enough attention? Does she ever feel like her life revolves around her big sister? Does she already feel like she has to be mommy’s helper when it comes to her big sister? Loved ones are probably reading this laughing because they know I give Alyssa plenty of attention. Alyssa demands it! I’m sure there are times where I bow down to her demands quicker than I should but I also look at how her wants and needs quickly become second place some times. She is brought to therapy after therapy with her sister, she has had to play in other parts of the house while her sister has therapy in the main play area, she gets left on the swing while I have to run after Courtney to stop her from escaping. Sometimes she handles it well but sometimes she handles it like any child going through the terrible twos would handle it.

I think the thing that has amazed me the most about Alyssa is watching how she is with Courtney. Yes, they already get on each other’s nerves. There are times where you can tell Alyssa has had enough of Courtney and times where you can tell Courtney has had enough of Alyssa. Alyssa goes through this period every day where she can’t handle Courtney’s noises. Poor Courtney makes the slightest noice and Alyssa will scream, “stop CC!” Oh my gosh does this drive me CRAZY!!!! But then she makes up for it when we are trying to leave the house and Alyssa will try to grab Courtney by the hand and bring her to me. She will bring Courtney her talker if she needs it, she will try to get Courtney to play with her and every night she tries to give Courtney a hug good night. I was so excited to have two little girls and watching them grow and bond has already been the most beautiful thing ever.

I struggle watching her turn in to a little girl. She’s no longer my little baby. She will forever by my princess though.

I find a sleeping toddler so beautiful to watch. They look so carefree and innocent. You can’t help but watch and wonder what is going through their little head as they sleep. Since I have to put Courtney to sleep in my bed, I have these few minutes after she falls asleep to when I move her to her bed where I just lie next to her and watch her. A lot of nights I look at her and whisper, “we did it, we survived another day”. As I’m sure many parents feel, sometimes you just hope you get through the day without anyone getting hurt. Sounds bad but it’s the truth, right?

For me, I sometimes say to myself, “let’s just get through the day without me losing one of them or one of them getting hurt”. Today I got a text that scared me to death. Courtney has figured out how to open the front door and now that the weather is nice, she seems to think she can decide when she can go outside to run around. Today, our nanny had the front door open like we always do when we are expecting a therapist to arrive. Courtney likes to escape to upstairs and she will do it in a split second. So today she did her usual disappearing act and as our was about to go look for her upstairs, she suddenly saw Courtney running in our back yard. We have a hard time keeping Courtney in our own yard when we are outside playing so of course I briefly let myself think about all the things that could have happened. Nothing happened though, everyone is safe and I don’t blame anyone. But I promise you, I have now researched every possible way to make sure this doesn’t happen again!

what you see in this picture is baby food in a pouch, animal crackers, slim jim and sand. These are the items that Courtney has eaten today. 5 pouches, a few animal crackers, a slim Jim and a hand full of sand. Yep, a handful of sand!!!!! If it were up to her, this is all she would eat. So my 4 1/2 yr old eats baby food and sand!

Her language is taking off but sometimes what happens in development is when one area hits a spurt, another area regresses. So as Courtney’s language has taken off, feeding has regressed. She receives feeding therapy once a week and for the past month she has had a meltdown when the therapist just walks her down the hallway towards the kitchen at the clinic let alone actually work on trying new foods.

Working on feeding with problem eaters is such a delicate process. It’s so much more than if they are hungry enough they will eat. Honestly? Courtney wouldn’t. It is so important to make sure there is no anxiety around food so for now, I’ll be happy that at least the baby food in a pouch is healthy! It could be worse! The sand though?!?! Really Courtney, sand?!?!

*Please excuse the poor videoing, her therapist was trying to take a video and teach at the same time.*

Words can’t even explain the emotions I’m feeling as she continues to talk more and more. She is still labeling but she is doing it upon request. Her talker is still what she uses to meets her wants and needs but that’s ok. I absolutely love her voice!

For a while now, I’ve been researching therapeutic horseback riding for Courtney. I was looking a place that not only worked with Courtney but a place where Alyssa could also take riding lessons. Growing up, I loved playing sports and doing different activities with my younger sister and wanted to find something for them to enjoy together.

I was so excited when I found Ms. Christine and Hands, Hooves and Hope Ranch. It was exactly what I was looking for. A kind and patient lady with beautiful horses ready to work with not only both girls, but me too!

There is no pressure at therapy. Alyssa got on the pony the first session. Now 4 sessions in, she looks like a pro. She asks all week long, “go see my Bumble (the pony’s name)?” Courtney is still very uncertain about the horses and has yet to get on but each session she’s becoming more comfortable around them. One of the sessions we even heard her say Bumble!

It was during today’s session when Joe and I watched Alyssa sit so proudly on the horse and Courtney contently walking and petting the horse that I felt how therapeutic this is going to be every week. The 4 of us are doing something as a family. After a stressful and busy week, I was relaxed and couldn’t be happier!