Time for Something Lighter!

This is the first Saturday we have had free in a long time so we wanted to do something different.  We couldn't decide for awhile and then it took us until after 1:00 to even leave the house!  Part of that had to do with Wyatt's massive freak out.  We had cut him off of freeze dried fruit for one week to see if his hyperactivty went down.  Since we started BB he has been so calm and mellow with barely any stimming.  But in the last few weeks we have seen more hyperactivity and some stimming.  This could be caused by SO many things including the brain changing, but since he had just started (and become obsessed) with freeze dried pears, mangos and apples, we decided to take them away and see if anything changed.  We noticed some drop in those things but not a huge amount so we decided to reintroduce just yesterday.  Already he has become obsessed again.  He walks around the house saying "Mangos.  Mangos.  Mangos"  all day. He climbs on the counters and goes through the cabinets looking for them.  This is a red flag to me...  Anyways, today he wanted some and I told him he had to eat his meat first.  I had the bowl right there to show him and he would take a bite and then want a mango.  For some reason he started flipping out - one of his worst ever.  Poor Paige was holding the bowl and Wyatt went crazy.  He was screaming and throwing himself on the floor and trying to bit Paige, etc.  I can't describe it very well, but it was really scary.  I feel like if that fruit can make him act like that if he doesn't get it, then there has to be something going on.  I loved him to have healthy snack to eat, but I fear I am going to have to take it away for good.  It might just be too much sugar and feeding the yeast problem?  Who knows, but I just have a feeling it is not helping us.

We finally got on the road and headed to the Children's Museum!  We have been to one of these before by Grandma and Grandpa's house and I knew the kids would love it.  These places are so fun and so cute, but IMPOSSIBLE to keep track of your kids.  I don't care if they are neurotypical or not - it is very hard.  There are so many things and the kids are running from one thing to the next.  It is more of a workout for the parents than it is the kids.  Plus, throw into that my PTSD and it makes for a bit of a stressful experience.  If I lose sight of a kid for 1 second I start to panic...  Luckily I have trusty Paige with me who is fast and always on her toes.  She helps me keep track of the little monsters so that they are all safe and no one gets lost.  Overall, the kids were all better than they have been before at these places, but there is still room for improvement. 

We met a fellow BB mom there and it was so much fun!  She had her three darling little boys and was doing plenty of chasing herself.  Next time we get together we are going to pick somewhere that we can actually talk, get to know each other better and share anything we can to help one another.  Can't wait! 

When we couldn't take the craziness anymore, we headed across the street to a fun park.  Of course this park consisted of the same chasing after kids, but now we added the heat :)  After awhile we said goodbye to our new friends and headed to the water fountain at the park.  That lasted for about 10 seconds.  There were kids everywhere and it was right by the road.  Wyatt took off once and that was it for me.  I couldn't physically hold onto him the whole time and he wasn't even really getting in the water anyways.  Everyone was tired and hungry so we headed back on our long walk to the car.  Too bad we didn't even know where that was....  We walked for a good 10 minutes with Hazel screaming the entire time because she wanted to stay and play in the fountain.  We eventually found the parking garage, got in the car, changed the kids out of their wet clothes and got them some food.  They all ate really quickly and barely moved on the way home.  In fact, Hazel was out within 20 minutes. 

I have posted a bunch of photos below and will caption each.  Also, tomorrow is going to be random photo/video day again.  I have so many photos and videos with great stories that I need to tell.  It is just fun to throw them all in one big post in a crazy unorganized fashion.  :)

Well, I am off to bed so we can wake up early and go to church.  We haven't all been together in a long time so it will be fun!  I am excited to see how good the kids do.  If they don't do well when I am there, we will know that they are just acting crazy when mom is around.  If so, I am sending Paige alone with them from now on since they were little angels for her! 

Goodnight!

Hazel ran right in and wanted to get on the tractor.  She is so tiny on that thing but needed no help to get up there.  She is miss independent. 

Why does everywhere have to have trains?  It doesn't matter where we go: The sensory gym, the kids museum, the doctor's office - they all have a train set.  I know that is just fun for most kids, but for me it is a nightmare.  He is so obsessed that he only wants to play with the trains.  There is a whole world of things to do and he barely notices them.  Then if other little kids are trying to play too, he takes their trains, etc and it is just hard.  Thanks heavens after about the first 20 minutes or so we got him onto other things - but it wasn't easy. 

They had a whole big play center full of Moon Sand.  It was great because they we just leave the mess there!

They had a whole painting wall - it was so cute.  They gave the kids smocks to wear and their own brush and palette.  I thought Haze looked so cute!  She is growing up way fast lately...

She sure knows how to smile and pose for a picture :)  I love it because Wyatt won't even look at the camera and Brody usually (although he has gotten much better) will look forward, but then his eyes will look to the side.  Also, he has a hard time smiling.  It sounds funny, but it is true.  If he is just happy or laughing then he smiles great.   But if you tell him to smile, it is as if he doesn't know what you are talking about.  He does this fake "smile" that looks more like he is in pain.  Some of you other mothers probably know what I am talking about....

They had a stage area with costumes and a mirror to dress up and put on a show.  Hazel was a princess.  They also had tap shoes in all sizes so kids to tap around and make noise.  It was great!

We finally got Wyatt to the grocery store and house.  He loved playing with the fake food, although he is still so repetitive.  He does the same things over and over.  It's okay though, all in time...  He would collect all the foods he wanted to play with and line them up.  I think he learned it from a movie?

Hazel doing her grocery shopping.  She LOVED this and loved pushing her cart around.  We need to work with her on sharing though.. If other kids tried to help her put her groceries on the shelves, etc. she didn't really like it.  She kept saying to me "don't let anyone touch my stuff mom".  That is normal for a three year old right?

Wyatt lined up these plates and food over and over again, but it was really cute.  He would find the bread and say "sandwich", then pizza, banana and apple.  It was great seeing him spontaneously use so much language. 

Brody with his Moon Sand creation.

Brody kept using these pipes as lightsabers... Which was fine except when there was a one year old nearby....  Not sure what this creation was but he looks happy so that is great!

Brody at the painting wall. As I was downloading some of these photos from Paige's phone I saw this one and said to Brody "I didn't know you went to the painting wall".  He replied "ya - I snuck away and painted without you knowing..'  Silly Bro.

Brody and his new friend painting together.  They were so cute together!

Hazel Driving the delivery truck and Brody riding Shotgun.  Why doesn't that surprise me?

Two of the monsters a the fountain.  Paige must have snapped this in the 1 minute we were there :)  I couldn't get one of Wyatt because he was way too fast and I would have lost him.  If it would have been gated all the way around, it would have been heaven...