On our way to the park, we saw a whole mess of turkey vultures hanging out on a water tower. I mean there had to be about 30 of them there. More than I have ever seen in one place. Anyone know why they would be hanging out on a water tower? Does it produce heat of some kind? It's right next to a pretty busy road. Maybe they're waiting for some idiot to run a red light? LOL
We also must have started a vulture eating by the side of the back road we traveled on. The thing flew right over the van and in front of my van window for about 15 seconds. Too Cool!!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
The Horse Trail
Yesterday I had to get out of the house. I had been sick for a few days, the weather was beautiful and I knew rain was coming. So we decided to go to a place that we visit mainly in the summer. It has creeks that are running off a major river and as I discovered the last time we were there, some trails. In the summer time the boys have a blast getting completely wet, throwing rocks and all the typical things boys like to do around water. Yesterday, I emphasized was NOT a get wet day! LOL
The trail we went on was designated for horses and because of the recent rain there were nice muddy tracks to follow. (and lots of horsey poo to avoid which means Tigger would yell "Poop" about every 50 feet) Pooh knew what they were from right away. So we went on a hunt to find the horse. We never found it of course, but they did have fun finding all sorts of long sticks to hit against the trees. They pretended they were the hunters from Peter and the Wolf and were hunting wolves. We walked along some fallen pine trees as you would in the circus. I how the woods got a bit more dense and thus darker at some point and said "this reminds me of the hundred acre wood". They both looked. Pooh smiled and Tigger pretended to be scared. More stick banging and shooting ensued. (Oh we also discussed the look of the fresh poop compared to the old ones.---Some nature teacher i am. LOL)
After the trail, we drank some of the hot tea i brought along in the thermos. I also showed Tigger how we bury some potty products. :O Pooh loves putting leaves in the water and watching them flow down the creek. Tigger loves to throw the biggest rock he can lift and watch the big splashes.
Afterward, we came home and they drew into their nature journals the pine tree twigs i brought home. One had recently fallen and still had some green needles on it. The other was one that had a couple of little cones attached. I was impressed that Pooh actually did them with the appropriate colors, as many times he just likes to use pencil or the black color pencils with no variation in colors. He had the needles green and the branch brown.
I'm determined to do this more often.
The trail we went on was designated for horses and because of the recent rain there were nice muddy tracks to follow. (and lots of horsey poo to avoid which means Tigger would yell "Poop" about every 50 feet) Pooh knew what they were from right away. So we went on a hunt to find the horse. We never found it of course, but they did have fun finding all sorts of long sticks to hit against the trees. They pretended they were the hunters from Peter and the Wolf and were hunting wolves. We walked along some fallen pine trees as you would in the circus. I how the woods got a bit more dense and thus darker at some point and said "this reminds me of the hundred acre wood". They both looked. Pooh smiled and Tigger pretended to be scared. More stick banging and shooting ensued. (Oh we also discussed the look of the fresh poop compared to the old ones.---Some nature teacher i am. LOL)
After the trail, we drank some of the hot tea i brought along in the thermos. I also showed Tigger how we bury some potty products. :O Pooh loves putting leaves in the water and watching them flow down the creek. Tigger loves to throw the biggest rock he can lift and watch the big splashes.
Afterward, we came home and they drew into their nature journals the pine tree twigs i brought home. One had recently fallen and still had some green needles on it. The other was one that had a couple of little cones attached. I was impressed that Pooh actually did them with the appropriate colors, as many times he just likes to use pencil or the black color pencils with no variation in colors. He had the needles green and the branch brown.
I'm determined to do this more often.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Rescuers
We all know the Disney version. Two little mice go to rescue a little girl kidnapped by Medusa (or whatever her name is LOL) who's currently residing in a swamp somewhere. Other country-bumpkin animals help along the way as well as the albatross who takes them to and from their locations.
Well, the only way it resembles the real story is the fact that there are two little mice named Bernard and Bianca. The REAL story is very interesting what with a black castle, a Norwegian sea mouse, a fat cat and the rescue of a writer.
I am now in horror at what they might do to one of my favorites, The Tale of Despereaux, when it becomes a movie.
Please read the real version of the Rescuers by Margery Sharp. It's worth it.
Well, the only way it resembles the real story is the fact that there are two little mice named Bernard and Bianca. The REAL story is very interesting what with a black castle, a Norwegian sea mouse, a fat cat and the rescue of a writer.
I am now in horror at what they might do to one of my favorites, The Tale of Despereaux, when it becomes a movie.
Please read the real version of the Rescuers by Margery Sharp. It's worth it.
The Power of Dairy
A little history first. December 2006 I had just had it with my allergies so I decided to try an elimination diet similar to the one explained here. It took me about two months to complete it but in the end I discovered the foods causing my main allergy problems. Dairy is of course, my biggest culprit. I'm also a little sensitive to corn (something my naturopath says is common in people with candida issues) and bananas. Through avoiding dairy I have eliminated the majority of my allergy issues.
Soooo, I was noticing some things with Tigger. Not only the sensory and potty training issues, but how he was getting little almost invisible bumps on his skin, redness around the mouth and cheeks and diaper rash. I decided to take him off dairy. He didn't have any more diaper rash, his face cleared up, he stopped chewing everything and he potty trained. Coincidence? Maybe, but my guess is that the dairy allergy was throwing his whole system off, including the sensory part. You don't have to react in an anaphalactic (spelling ?) way to have an allergy.
I have a SoyaPower machine which makes our soy and rice or almond milk. We have discovered cheeses from the health food store. Soy and rice ice cream doesn't taste as bad when it's the only thing you can eat.
Tigger is handling it all really well. He even told a friend he was visiting that he wanted a snack, but no cow's milk. ;D The only thing we haven't been able to find is a substitute for goldfish crackers. Some type of cracker that tastes cheesy would be really appreciated around here. If any of you reading this have a name brand for me, I could order it thru our local Whole Foods. I would greatly appreciate it. (and Tigger would LOVE it!)
So, any of you with potty issues and/or sensory issues going on with your kids, give non-dairy eating a try. It just might surprise you.
Soooo, I was noticing some things with Tigger. Not only the sensory and potty training issues, but how he was getting little almost invisible bumps on his skin, redness around the mouth and cheeks and diaper rash. I decided to take him off dairy. He didn't have any more diaper rash, his face cleared up, he stopped chewing everything and he potty trained. Coincidence? Maybe, but my guess is that the dairy allergy was throwing his whole system off, including the sensory part. You don't have to react in an anaphalactic (spelling ?) way to have an allergy.
I have a SoyaPower machine which makes our soy and rice or almond milk. We have discovered cheeses from the health food store. Soy and rice ice cream doesn't taste as bad when it's the only thing you can eat.
Tigger is handling it all really well. He even told a friend he was visiting that he wanted a snack, but no cow's milk. ;D The only thing we haven't been able to find is a substitute for goldfish crackers. Some type of cracker that tastes cheesy would be really appreciated around here. If any of you reading this have a name brand for me, I could order it thru our local Whole Foods. I would greatly appreciate it. (and Tigger would LOVE it!)
So, any of you with potty issues and/or sensory issues going on with your kids, give non-dairy eating a try. It just might surprise you.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Potty Success
Due to the nature of the subject, expect some 'potty' words. :D
I'm constantly amazed at how things work out. Pooh potty trained in one week (numbers 1 & 2) the month he turned six. I did expect that, due to his autism. I was familiar with the late training aspect.
However (and that's a big however) I never expected it to take almost 5 years for Tigger my 'nt' child. He finally potty trained this month in a matter of 3 days. He'll be 5 in February. So i'm left to conclude that it isn't autism for my boys but sensory issues. I know that it wasn't connected this past spring when i tried training Tigger. I would ask him to try to pee and he would squeeze himself to try to get something out. This is a smart kid, but the potty sensations just eluded him. Sometime he would tell me he had a poopy diaper when it was just pee and vice versa. So what's a mom to do? I just had to let it go. After all, if the promise of a pirate party didn't inspire any motivation, what would? LOL
For any of you moms who may be despairing over potty training, here's an interesting article on the sensory issues involved in the whole process. (the only one i found i might add) I may or may not have previously mentioned that I did start noticing some signs of sensory disintegration in Tigger. He started with the chewing--clothes, toys, etc. I already knew he was bouncy. So i had to go with the fact that he needed more nutrition wise and more activity wise before his system would calm down enough for him to key in with his body's needs. Fortunately, it's worked, he's successful and very proud of himself and we will soon be having a great pirate party (as soon as it's warm enough).
Argh!!
I'm constantly amazed at how things work out. Pooh potty trained in one week (numbers 1 & 2) the month he turned six. I did expect that, due to his autism. I was familiar with the late training aspect.
However (and that's a big however) I never expected it to take almost 5 years for Tigger my 'nt' child. He finally potty trained this month in a matter of 3 days. He'll be 5 in February. So i'm left to conclude that it isn't autism for my boys but sensory issues. I know that it wasn't connected this past spring when i tried training Tigger. I would ask him to try to pee and he would squeeze himself to try to get something out. This is a smart kid, but the potty sensations just eluded him. Sometime he would tell me he had a poopy diaper when it was just pee and vice versa. So what's a mom to do? I just had to let it go. After all, if the promise of a pirate party didn't inspire any motivation, what would? LOL
For any of you moms who may be despairing over potty training, here's an interesting article on the sensory issues involved in the whole process. (the only one i found i might add) I may or may not have previously mentioned that I did start noticing some signs of sensory disintegration in Tigger. He started with the chewing--clothes, toys, etc. I already knew he was bouncy. So i had to go with the fact that he needed more nutrition wise and more activity wise before his system would calm down enough for him to key in with his body's needs. Fortunately, it's worked, he's successful and very proud of himself and we will soon be having a great pirate party (as soon as it's warm enough).
Argh!!
Monday, January 21, 2008
More on being a Paleontologist
(Yes, I'm just jumping back in with no explanations. Hopefully, I'll be updated more frequently but I'm not making any promises. :D)
We were outside burning the brush (since the burn ban was temporarily lifted) and I saw Tigger just digging away in the dirt. He has a real kid's shovel so he can definitely do some damage. As I walk by he says he's looking for dinosaur bones. Too Cute! I told him to let me know when he found some. At that, he looks completely exasperated at me being so dense and says, "I'm just pretending the worms are dinosaur bones but they're really not."
Oh, ok, well thanks for letting me know. LOL
We were outside burning the brush (since the burn ban was temporarily lifted) and I saw Tigger just digging away in the dirt. He has a real kid's shovel so he can definitely do some damage. As I walk by he says he's looking for dinosaur bones. Too Cute! I told him to let me know when he found some. At that, he looks completely exasperated at me being so dense and says, "I'm just pretending the worms are dinosaur bones but they're really not."
Oh, ok, well thanks for letting me know. LOL
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