Good Bye Old Camera

Nothing much going on in our lives this week.  Bob and I did manage to get out of the house last night without Bobby to finish our Christmas shopping for Bobby.  While we were at Sam's Club, I picked out my present, a new camera.  Lets face it, if you get a new camera, you need to have access to it before the holidays, since there are finally things to take pictures of!!  I downloaded the last pictures off of my old camera and thought that I would share...

Tye-Die Day at School

Yesterday morning before school

Interested in the purple cabbage while I was making cole slaw

When I got my new camera out of the box and set up, I realized that the battery had to be charged before I could use it.  So, I didn't get to play with my new camera until Bobby was already in bed...

Leave me alone Mommy, I am trying to go to sleep!!

He feel asleep in the middle of a photo shot...of all the nerve!! 

Playing on his iPad while Mommy is blogging

Poor Bob, Bobby and Zoi are in for a full day of being the subjects of my "photo journalism" (LOL).  Hope that they are enough energy to deal with my new toy all day!!

Neurologist, Gym time fun and McDonalds

Poor Bobby.  I picked him up from school and took him for a whirlwind afternoon.  First, a neurology appointment.  Not high on Bobby's "fun" list to say the least.  I packed a bag full of "Mommy tricks" to keep him happy while he waited....

Blocks to line up, a sucker and brand new playing cards to shufffle.  However, I did not bring the one thing that he was requesting, Elmo on the ipad.  Oh well.

We had an easy appointment (if you don't count the waiting time that Bobby despises) since Bobby is doing great, finally.  We don't have to go back for a year, unless he begins having problems.  So we left and were off to the next destination...

(Bobby and Grandma Carolyn)

The gym at Stepping Stones.  Gym fun was the last activity scheduled for this round of Tiny Tykes Triathalon.  Bobby did not want to play in the gym, he wanted to go to the swimming pool.  I took him and showed him the pool and that it was closed for winter, but he didn't care.  I brought him back into the gym multiple time and he continually ran out to the pool.   I was frustrated, he was frustrated, so we left.  Who knew that it was going to be a blessing in disguise!! 

We went to our final destination before we would get to go home.  McTeacher's Night at McDonalds.  Finally something that Bobby would enjoy, eating at his favorite place in the world.  The teachers and staff from Bobby's school were "working" at the Westover McDonalds from 4-7 and 20% of the money made during the time went to his school.  This fundraiser works much better for me than sellling junk that I don't want or need!!

When we got there I was disappointed, there were not many people there.  I was the only one in line while Bobby and Grandma Carolyn sat and waited for me to bring their food...

Awesome!!  Ms. Bethany, Bobby's pre-K teacher came over and visited while they waited.  Before they sat down, Mr. Whaley, Bobby's Kindergarten teacher wiped the table off.  I would love to know what Bobby was thinking about all of these people he knew being at McDonalds.

                           Ms. Becky, one of Bobby's aides last year, also came over for a visit.

Bobby sat on the window ledge and watched the cars in the drive thru while Grandma and I finished our meals.   When we left at about 5:20 the place had picked up alot and there was a big crowd waiting to order...

When we got in our car and pulled out of our space, there were a couple of cars waiting to take our space and the line inside was getting longer.  If Bobby would have stayed and played in the gym, we would have had to fight the crowds and make Bobby wait for a long time to get his food.  Although I was bummed that Bobby wouldn't stay and play in the gym when we left Stepping Stones, I was more than delighted when we left McDonalds before the crowds arrived.  Bobby also left with a gift or two or three or more for his favorite meal for free.  What a great way to end the school day.

Adventures of Flat Tom and Tiffani (a.k.a. Amie and Nick's Wedding Reception)

(Most people know the story of Flat Stanley, but just in case you don't...It is a children's story often used as a project in elementary school classrooms.  Children make a "flat" version of themselves that they mail off to a family member or friend who is instructed to chronicle Flat Stanley's adventures while they are in their care.  You take pictures and write about Flat Stanley's fun and mail back to the student.  The stories are shared with the class to learn about geography, history, families....)

Last night we headed off to celebrate the recent marriage of my beautiful cousin Amie and her lucky groom Nick.  They recently were married in Las Vegas and wanted to celebrate their marriage with all of their family and friends.  This was also the night that my new brother Chris and his family were going to meet the entire Mikulski family.  All of the Mikulski clan came in from across the country for the celebration.  I was sad that my brother Tom and his girlfriend Tiffani were not going to be there for the family fun, since it is a little difficult to come home for the weekend all the way from Hawaii.

Amazingly enough, when the party got into full swing, Flat Tom and Tiffani showed up to join in the fun!!!

My brothers with their Tiffany(i)'s:  Chris, Flat Tom and Tiffani, and Tiffany

Dad, Flat Tom and Tiffani, and Me

Aunt Susie with Flat Tom and Tiffani

The beautiful bride, Amie with Flat Tom and Tiffani

Flat Tom and Tiffani line dancing with Tiffany.  They really know how to party!!

Towards the end of the evening, Flat Tom and Tiffani noticed a suitcase and thought, "this must be our way back home!!"  I grabbed them out in time.  "No, this is for Amie and Nick's cards, not for you!"

You might be wondering, "did Bobby go to the party?" Well, yes he did.  We came in and when we went to say hi to Grandma Violet, Grandpa Tom and the rest of the family, Bobby noticed the stage and pulled me over and he was NOT leaving!!  All of the DJ equipment was also on the stage, so I wisked him over towards Grandma Carolyn and he got to leave and go to one of his favorite places in the world...Grandma's house (which was the plan all along). 

Grandma Violet wanted a picture with all of her children...

Cathy Rogers, Violet Mikulski, Sue Morgan, Tom Mikulski, Dave Higinbotham, and Steve Mikulski

The bride and groom shoving a little cake in each others faces!!

To top off the evening, Elvis showed up to sing to Nick and Amie for their first dance.

Congratulations Amie and Nick.  May you have a lifetime surrounded by love, happiness and fun, just like last night!!

Fighting To Be The Boss

Yesterday at dinner, Bobby didn't want to eat his grilled cheese sandwich that was on his plate.  Sometimes he eats grilled cheese with no problem, sometimes he won't touch it.  I was determined to show him who was boss.  "No chips, no crackers, no snacks!!  Eat your sandwich, you are not getting anything else."  He didn't get upset.  A couple of times he tried to get me to get him some cheese doodles.  "NO, eat your sandwich!!!"  Zoi finally got tired of seeing it sitting on the table and jumped up and ate the cold, rubbery sandwich.

Bobby wasn't fussy all evening, but did want to go to bed around 8. I made him stay up until 9 since he has been waking around 5:30 instead of his normal 6:30-7:30 because of the time change.  At 9:00, he ran up the stairs and got into bed and was fast asleep by 9:02.  Great!!

Well, at 2 am, Bobby woke up.  He stayed in bed, but he was awake.  At 2:30, he announced "hungee."  Awesome, he is showing me who's the boss!!!  If he can't have what he wants for dinner, no sleep for Mommy!!  He stayed awake the rest of the night.  I showed him, he went to school today.  He also went to Occupational Therapy and at 5:30 Kathleen is coming over for ABA.  Hope he doesn't take it out on her and show her who's boss!!  Good thing that there is no school tomorrow.  I have a feeling that we will be ready for bed the second Kathleen walks out the door.

Ice Rink Fun

This week's Tiny Tykes Event was playing at the Morgantown Ice Rink.  Bobby has been there a few times before and prefers to run around the bleacher area and stay off of the ice.  This time I took him out for a couple of minutes and then let him have a break.

Walking on the ice.

Time for a break.

He started using the walker to help and I figured out a way to make him go further out on the ice.  I would push the walker out into the middle of the rink (it slides very well) and tell him to "go get it for Mommy" and he would.  This made the times out on the ice much longer.

We tried to get him to let us pull him around in a sled, but no luck.  I even sat in one with him while Daddy pulled us around, but he wasn't having any part of the sled.  Unlike some of our friends Sonny and Joey, they LOVED it!!

Joey

Sonny

All in all, I think the ice rink was a success.  Bobby went out onto the ice with only a verbal prompt.  Each time gets a little easier.  Who knows, maybe one day he will actually skate!!

Making Rice Pudding

A few days ago my friend Misty did a blog entry about Caramel Rice Pudding.  I thought, Bob loves rice pudding and he loves caramel, so surely he will love them together.  It took me a couple of days before I made it because I had to go to the store and get a few things. 

One of the positives of doing a blog about Bobby is that it forces me to include him in many more things than I did previously so that I have something to blog about.  I got the ingredients ready, called Bobby to the kitchen and had him help me get the rice pudding together...

He seems to enjoy helping, so I have had him help much more often.

O Bobby!!  You think that I would be prepared that he is going to stick his fingers into everything!

Trying to get out the very last drop.

Here, let Mommy help.

I know why they use food stylists for photos and tv/film.  Regularly prepared food does not photograph well and I will spare you the photos of the finished product.  It will make you not want to try the recipe.  Turned out well, Bob has eaten it a couple of times today.  If you are interested in the recipe, check out Misty's blog (I am too lazy to type it over!!)...

http://thechaffins.blogspot.com/2011/11/food-friday.html

When I went to Wal-Mart to get the ingredients for the pudding, I walked by the toy dept and they were having a Holiday Toy Dept. launch with free cupcakes and the toy catalogue.  I grabbed a catalogue and passed on the cupcake.  I got home, unpacked the bags and sat down to look at the book.  I was on the first page and Bobby walked by.  (You have to know that Bobby has never looked through a toy catalogue or pointed out anything in a book that he would like to have.  He doesn't pick toys off of the shelf either.  He also does not point to things, it is a skill that he is just now learning). 

Bobby stopped, came over to the table and sat down and pulled the book over to him.  I got up and started getting things ready for the pudding.  He came over to me, sat the book on the countertop, grabbed my finger and pointed it to something on the page.  He looked at me, and I was looking back at him in disbelief, and he kept pointing my finger to the picture of the toy.  I was laughing and said "go show Daddy."  He took the book over to the couch, laid it down and took Bob's finger and pointed to the item.  We were both just shocked.  He was pointing to a K'nex roller coaster.  The same roller coaster that he got last year from Santa. 

Bobby and the roller coaster last Christmas.



Bobby watched that thing go all Christmas Day, but it didn't last much past that day.  We finally had to take it apart.  We have most of the parts, but not all, and since it took Bob 6 hours to put together, it has been in the top of our closet ever since.  We would have the worst Santa in the world if Bobby didn't get this treasure again this year.  Bob is even excited that we will have two cars to run on the track.  Guess that he isn't afraid of 6 hours of building for Bobby's Christmas Day. 

I have a feeling that this is going to be our best Christmas ever.  Bobby already seems to be more "in tune" to Christmas than ever before!!

Trip Down Memory Lane

I've got nothing new.  This week has been full of the same...school, home, sleep, school, home, sleep.  Bobby has some congestion and a cough, but nothing major.  Just enough to make sleeping difficult.  I did go and pick him up from school early today.  He had a substitute teacher and he was just not happy spending the day with someone new.  He spent the day with her yesterday with no problem, but two days in a row was just not on Bobby's agenda.  I had two choices, leave him at school and let him cry it out or go get him, bring him home and do some productive work at home.  So he is at home.

I had to get out the laptop and do a couple of things and I started looking through some old pictures of Bobby and I thought that I would share some of my favorites:

This picture was taken in October 2005 (late in the month, but I don't remember the exact day, just that it was a few days before Halloween).  It started snowing that morning and didn't stop all day.  Since there were leaves on the trees, many snapped and fell into power lines.  Our power went off and Bobby kept taking me to the light switches trying to get me to turn them on and the same with the tv.  We live on the top of a hill and have a water pump in our basement that pumps the water up the hill and stores 40 gallons in a tank then pumps more when we use the water.  This pump works on electricity, so no water either.  I got out the old phone that doesn't require electricity and called the electric company and they said it would be about 9 days until the power was restored.  What!!!  9 days!!  No power, no water, then the phone went out too.  We packed up and moved to Grandma's for a week (Grandma was in her glory.  Bobby in her house for a full week!!!).

View from my front porch during the snow.  The mums on the porch managed to miss the snow.  Lost part of the tree in front and completely lost the one behind.

I was trying different outfits on Bobby to see which one I wanted to have his 18 month pictures taken in.  You can tell by his hand how he feels about this process!

Laying in his purple hippo ball pit.

I built him a castle and plopped him in the middle. Wish I could still pick him up like I could then.

Have no idea where we were going, but doesn't he look cute!!

Playing dress-up in scrubs.

Sitting in the rocking chair that Uncle Tom made for us.  Uncle Tom cut up trees that had fallen down, put them through a saw mill (that he made) to make the lumber, kept the lumber for years in his basement to properly dry out, transported the lumber from VA to NC when they moved before he made the rocking chair.  He also made Bobby's crib and changing table.  The heaviest, most sturdy furniture that you will ever see.

Bobby in his crib handmade by Uncle Tom.

Bobby used to sweat so much during sleep that he woke up with major "bed head."

Poor baby dolls.  He loved to climb in the doll bed.

Sitting in the MegaBlock bin and watching his favorite "Mommy and Me" video.

Bobby's first motorcycle helmet.  He loved the 4 wheeler from an early age.

Bobby jumped in the tub before I could get his clothes off.

Thanks for indulging my trip down memory lane.  Where did my little baby baby go?