Gluten free Thanksgiving

I am so excited about Thanksgiving! Mostly because Gavin is excited about Thanksgiving. Gavin is never excited by food or eating. He is more of a drinker....orange juice is his weakness. But, since it is a holiday, he has been talking non-stop about eating turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pumpkin pie and all the other fixins. If you know Gavin, you know what a big deal that is (Karina, I know you understand). He is not usually open to new foods (those foods may not seem exotic to you, but for Gavin they truly are). Not only is he gluten free, but he is also EXTREMELY picky. This is our 2nd Thanksgiving since he went gluten free. Last year he didn't eat much. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been, so he didn't have much to choose from. This year I am making gluten free stuffing and I bought gluten free dinner rolls. My Mom even bought a special gluten free pie crust to make him some pumpkin pie. I am so excited to see him eat something other than peanut butter and jelly and apple slices! It might just be a Thanksgiving miracle! He is also excited about Christmas dinner....he has been reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and can't wait to "carve the roast beast". Maybe I can disguise some spinach as a roast beast and really expand his palate!

A few of my favorite things....

Our kids drove us CRAZY this weekend! My first instinct was to vent to you all and wow you with how difficult my life can be. BUT, in an effort to have an attitude of gratitude during the Thanksgiving season I have decided instead to share with you some of my favorite things about each of my kids.....
Ella:
-The way she sticks her thumb in her mouth, snuggles her blanket to her face and looks up at me adoringly as I lay her in her crib (check out my "Ella Bella" entry from June for a visual).
-How she lights up when she is around animals. I take her to a pet store almost every week just to watch her face as she looks at the puppies in the windows.
-How she loves to look at herself in the mirror. She gets a big cheesy grin when she catches a glimpse of herself (I would too if I was that cute!).
-Her tender feelings. She is so sensitive to a harsh voice or look. She has such a sweet girly temperment.
Abe:
-The adorable monkey/baby talk voice that he uses when he talks to Ella. He is always so sweet and gentle with her.
-His love of food. He reminds me of the rat in "Ratatouille". He loves to experiment with different tastes and textures.
-His enthusiasm. He loves life so much that he can make the most mundane task seem amazing. When we drive in the car he gives a running dialogue of all the great things he can see out the windows.
-His social skills. Abe really has a way with people. I have yet to meet someone who can resist his charms.
Gavin:
-His mind. Gavin is so smart that it sometimes scares us. He will definitely be surpassing Matt and I in intelligence very soon.
-His imagination. He can turn a box into a spaceship or a newspaper into a pirate's map. He is never bored!
-The questions he asks. I know my brain will always be challenged by him. Just this weekend he asked Matt and I to explain the differences between colons, semi-colons and ellipses....and he is in Kindergarten!
-His innocence. One of the benefits of Gavin's disability is that he is blissfully unaware of social stigmas. He is just happy with who he is and he is teaching the rest of us to be too.

So, there it is. I feel better already!

Primary Program

Today was the annual Primary Program at church. Gavin has been really excited about it because he inherited his Dad's love of public speaking (he definitely did not get that from me!). He only had one line, but with Gavin you never know what that will mean. Last year his "one line" turned into a mini sacrament meeting talk. Our morning started out badly. For some reason Sundays are horribly chaotic for us. Ella was screaming, skippy was doing his nervous pee thing, Abe was really emotional and Gavin was obsessing over a new activity book and refused to get dressed. When we finally made it to church it was fun to see that Grandma and Grandpa Worlton and Uncle Dan and Aunt Marci had all come to see us. Gavin did a great job saying his line. He did it just like we practiced and sat still through the entire program. Abe had a lot of fun watching the big kids and is excited to be a part of the primary next year. I can't believe how grown up our kids are getting. Life seems to go at warp speed lately.

Tricks and Treats

Halloween this year was a scary ole time . . . in more ways than one. Gavin spent the night before following Abram's example (see Karen's "never cease to be amazed..." entry below), so he missed school and the class parade. Luckily Karen made the boy's skeleton costumes and used comfy jogging suits, so he was able to spend his sick day in his costume. This is Gavin:





We went to Gramma Worlton's house for treats and she made the day especially memorable. Then, after a lot of rest. we headed out to hit a few houses for trick-or-treating. Ella was a bee, Karen was a butterfly and I was a bug catcher (follow the theme?). We gots lots of candy, and despite having to adjust our plans, we had a great Halloween!




It was pretty cold, but as you can see Ella was as snug as a bug!

Ray of Light

Ella exhudes so much sunshine, it actually comes out of her mouth! Don't believe me? Exhibit A:

Never cease to be amazed....

Well, last night around 10pm Abe strolled into our room and told us his tummy hurt. We, of course, assumed this was another one of his attempts to stay up late (he has a rolodex of excuses that he cycles through each night and this is one of them). We told him to go back to bed, but within a couple of minutes he started vomiting all over our bed. Needless to say, he did get to stay up late.....all night in fact, because he threw up about every half hour ALL NIGHT! Matt slept down on the couch (he has a busy day at work today and got a pass) and I was on vomit patrol. The amazing thing is that today, Abe is running around the house like nothing ever happened. I, on the other hand, have to be heavily caffeinated to get from one room to the next. I will never cease to be amazed at the energy level of my children....even after vomiting for 12 hours straight they run around looking and feeling fabulous!

Gavin's progress report

This year Gavin is in both a "regular Kindergarten" class and what they call "Social Skills Kindergarten". He enjoys his regular kindergarten, but he REALLY likes his social skills kindergarten. He is learning a lot of great concepts in that class, like sharing, making conversation with others, problem solving, etc. He also comes home using a lot of interesting buzz words that always make us laugh. For example:
-One day Ella was in her crib crying after her nap. I went upstairs to find Gavin standing at her door saying to her "Ella, you really need to use your calming strategies!"

-Last week Gavin was in a BAD mood. I told him that if he could calm down he could go outside to ride his bike. A few seconds later he yells at me, "I'M IN A BETTER MOOD! I WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE RIGHT NOW!" I said, "Gavin screaming at me is a sign that you are still feeling angry." and he responded, "Mom, Mrs. Kovar says when someone is angry their eyebrows point down. I am lifting my eyebrows up right now so I am obviously not angry anymore!"

-A couple of Saturdays ago Gavin and Abe were fighting over what tv show to watch. Gavin says to Matt, "Dad, we have a problem. First we need to identify the problem. Next we need to brainstorm solutions. Then, we will make a choice. That's how we do a good job!" Sure enough, Gavin decided Abe could pick first and after Abe's show was over, Gavin could pick. He did a good job!

We had our first parent teacher conference yesterday and Gavin is doing great. He has accomplished all of the kindergarten academic goals for the year, so they are going to start pulling him out for a smaller reading group. They said he behaves well without any extra adult assistance. He is getting better at building relationships with the other kids, although he still needs to be pushed into it sometimes. He loves his friends from social skills because they all have similar quirks and mannerisms. We had a playgroup with some of his social skills friends last week and they all had a blast playing and laughing at jokes that nobody else understood. Most of the kids are even "gluten free" just like Gavin! It is great that he finally has a good group of friends. We are so proud of him!

The Bear Necessities

In honor of the release of 'The Jungle Book" DVD, we had a special Friday evening movie night with the boys complete with pizza, pajamas and lots of popcorn. They got to stay up way past their bedtime and pig out, we got to enjoy watching one of Karen's all-time favorite Disney flicks. I loved the groovy jazz music . . . scitelldy scat-dat-da-de-bop!

Mom knows best....

On Monday Gavin's teacher pulled me aside after school to tell me this story...
Gavin got a sticker for doing a good job on something and it had a picture of the Earth on it. Gavin decided he wanted to write a story about his sticker so he asked his teacher to help him spell the word Earth. She told him to sound out the word in his head and try to figure out which letters to use. His reply?
"Well, if you don't know I'll just go call my Mom!"

Pumpkin Patch

Every year we have a family tradition of going to Bengston's Pumpkin Patch in Homer Glen. There are pig races, a petting zoo, a haunted barn, popcorn and lots of pumpkins. The boys had a really great time and said their favorite thing was the hayride. Ella on the other hand just wasn't too happy (I guess pumpkins are hard to appreciate at that age!) Regardless, it was great fun and we got some excellent family pictures!

Pics Are For Kids

Hangin' With My Bros

"Who cares about TV, I'm just happy to be up here with the big kids!" -Ella

Block Party!

Yesterday we had our annual Windham Hill block party, and this year it was held right in our front yard!



The party committee rented a moon jump for the kids complete with a huge Batman, and Gavin and Abe got full access hours before the rest of the neighborhood came because it was on our lawn. (Needless to say, they were completely exhausted by the end of the day!) We all sat around and visited with the neighbors, meeting new people and chatting with our friends. There was a pinata, games for the little ones, and plenty of food. Everyone brought drinks, snacks and homemade goodies. Despite a few questionable mystery items ( . . . is it supposed to be sweet? Salty? Yikes!), everything was tasty. Karen contributed a West family favorite: little smokies in BBQ sauce on toothpicks with cheese and pickles. (They were the hottest item at the food table!)

The fire department brought a fire truck for the kiddies to check out, and Gavin and Abe loved it. They got free fire hats and learned a few lessons from the firefighters. It was all very cool and a fun afternoon! It's always fun to spend time with our great neighbors.

Gavin's little accident

This last week has been an exciting one for us! On Monday, as I was walking in the door from dropping Gavin off at school for the day, my phone rang and it was the school nurse. She said "Gavin got hurt and you need to come pick him up". I panicked a little, but figured it couldn't be anything too serious since he had only been there five minutes. I walked in the doors of the school and immediately heard his screaming. He was UPSET and his mouth was severely swollen. The school nurse told me he wasn't watching where he was going as he went into the classroom for the day and he fell face first into the corner of his desk. I got him home quickly and looked to see that his 2 front teeth had gone completely through his lip and were fairly loose in his mouth. I called the dentist and brought him right in to have his teeth checked. The dentist said his mouth should heal on its own and we would just have to wait and see what happened with the teeth. He was in a lot of pain that first day and spent most of it laying on the couch and complaining. Our biggest concern was that he was refusing to eat or drink for the first 3 days. I had to sit with him and force him to sip nutrition shakes from a straw as he screamed and cried in pain. Finally last night he gave in and ate some refried beans and ice cream for dinner. Today he has been more willing to eat and he is much happier because of it. He actually bit into a chocolate chip cookie this afternoon! We are still waiting to see if his teeth fall out or turn black, but if they do it will be a temporary problem because his adult teeth should be coming in a year and a half to two years.
On top of all Gavin's problems, Abe has been having asthma attacks all week and Ella is still battling her diarrhea and severe diaper rash. I can't compain about being bored! Everyone seems to be on the mend today, so I feel optimistic that we will have a great weekend! I hope you all do too!

Karen

Ella's Blown Away

Some great photos of Ella.