Every year about this time, people start asking us what to get the boys. Our holidays are all jumbled together - Connor's birthday in November, Christmas and then the twins' birthday in January.
Connor is pretty easy. He likes everything. He's partial to Hot Wheels, Nerf guns and Legos at the moment, but he truly likes just about anything.
Sawyer and Xander are anything but easy. They don't play. Not in the traditional sense. Give them a screen, and they will play for hours. Give them some toys, and they will just look at you like you're crazy.
Over the years, we've found a few things to interest them. Wooden puzzles work, for a while. Hot Wheels cars on tracks work, for a while. Books work, for a while.
Are you seeing the pattern? They will play with a few things, here and there, but only for short periods of time. And after a while, they lose complete interest. It might come back in a week or a month, or it might not. You just never know.
We've discovered a few things that keep them coming back. Most of them are therapy items - things used to work with kids with autism in either occupational or other type therapies. This year, there were three such gifts.
The first was a body sock. You put it over your head and let its resistance work its magic. Sawyer enjoys this more than Xander, but all three boys will actually put it on and enjoy it for a while.
Next was the new stretchy swing. The one in Sawyer's room was cotton and had lost most of it's elasticity and bounce after a year of abuse. The new one is higher-quality nylon material, recommended by the OTs at the boys' therapy group. It's gotten a lot of use since Christmas night.
And last is the tunnel. Similar to the body sock, but with an opening and handles on each end. It stretches almost the entire length of the sun room (some twenty odd feet) and the boys climb through it. Sawyer actually likes to lay in the very center of it, and his brothers like to crawl over and under him from end to end.
Welcome to an autism house. We have lots of toys that no one really plays with (except maybe Connor, and usually only if a friend is over to visit). And we have a variety of stretchy, sensory toys that two little boys cannot live without.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Christmas Morning
Our "Christmas" morning was actually on Christmas Eve, as Daddy had to work at the fire station on the Christmas Day. But the boys were okay with that.
In fact, only two of them really seemed to care.
And really, when you get right down to it, one of them not nearly as much as the other.
There isn't a single photo of all three boys by the tree that morning. Sawyer kept wandering off. He didn't care about opening presents or looking in his stocking. He was angry when we tried to make him join us. Xander would open presents, but then he too would wander off to do something else.
Connor had the true Christmas experience. He tore into each present, barely taking time to process it, before tossing it aside and searching for the next one.
It's always a little bittersweet. One child enjoying the moment and doing things you remember doing as a child. The other two, quite simply, don't care. Presents or no presents. It doesn't really matter. To them, it's just another day.
In fact, only two of them really seemed to care.
And really, when you get right down to it, one of them not nearly as much as the other.
There isn't a single photo of all three boys by the tree that morning. Sawyer kept wandering off. He didn't care about opening presents or looking in his stocking. He was angry when we tried to make him join us. Xander would open presents, but then he too would wander off to do something else.
Connor had the true Christmas experience. He tore into each present, barely taking time to process it, before tossing it aside and searching for the next one.
It's always a little bittersweet. One child enjoying the moment and doing things you remember doing as a child. The other two, quite simply, don't care. Presents or no presents. It doesn't really matter. To them, it's just another day.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Happy Holidays
Happy Holidays. From two of the three brothers anyway.
Sawyer was having none of the holiday photos this year. And he was really not happy with Connor's impromptu decision to grab each of his brothers around the neck to wrangle the group shot. Mommy just went with it. Two out of three is not bad, especially considering it only took about 50 photos to get two of them smiling.
So happy holidays from two of the brothers. I'm pretty sure the third brother would tell the holidays where they could go. He was not much of a fan this year, for the card or anything else.
The card is slightly modified to make it blog-friendly, and they were mailed out last Monday, so hopefully everyone received their card before the actual holiday!
A Favorite
The boys back packs were incredibly heavy on the last day of school before winter break. Turns out they were carrying home lots of gifts from teachers and classmates.
This one is one of my favorite gifts. Ever.
Do you see Xander's letters? The entire alphabet, both upper and lower case letters, are inside. And so is his name and the date.
It's something completely and uniquely Xander. He routinely carries around a page of letters just like this one. We have stacks and stacks of them in our house. He even sleeps with them sometimes.
Now he has his letters on his own cup. I love it. Special thanks to Mrs. B, his resource teacher, for finding, making and sending such a great personalized gift.
This one is one of my favorite gifts. Ever.
Do you see Xander's letters? The entire alphabet, both upper and lower case letters, are inside. And so is his name and the date.
It's something completely and uniquely Xander. He routinely carries around a page of letters just like this one. We have stacks and stacks of them in our house. He even sleeps with them sometimes.
Now he has his letters on his own cup. I love it. Special thanks to Mrs. B, his resource teacher, for finding, making and sending such a great personalized gift.
Brotherly Love
Every once in a while, you see it. Two brothers. Playing. Laughing. Enjoying their childhood together.
Now don't get me wrong. It usually deteriorates pretty rapidly into tears and screaming and maybe even a little hitting or biting.
They are little boys, after all.
My favorite is that Xander has now started to yell "Connor!" in that tone of complete disapproval whenever his big brother is doing something mean or hateful (which is, of course, pretty often).
Connor HATES it. He always screams at Xander to "Stop saying my name!" It makes him a little crazy, because Xander just keeps saying it over and over until Connor really does leave him alone.
Ah, brotherly love ... or something like that.
Now don't get me wrong. It usually deteriorates pretty rapidly into tears and screaming and maybe even a little hitting or biting.
They are little boys, after all.
My favorite is that Xander has now started to yell "Connor!" in that tone of complete disapproval whenever his big brother is doing something mean or hateful (which is, of course, pretty often).
Connor HATES it. He always screams at Xander to "Stop saying my name!" It makes him a little crazy, because Xander just keeps saying it over and over until Connor really does leave him alone.
Ah, brotherly love ... or something like that.
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