Child safety seats!

So I read a lot of autism daddy! And he brought up a concern today about child safety seats/ booster seats!

So here it goes! I contacted service N.B. today. About rules and regulations in our province about booster seats. My son being 5 1/2 almost 95lbs and standing in at 4'2" tall is still in a booster seat! My questions for them even brought up questions for the lady I was talking to. She being a mother as well. Stated her child is 6yrs old and weighing about 87lbs

Booster seat regulations in this province states




New Brunswick
Children must ride in a car seat until they are a minimum of 5 years old or more than 40 pounds (18 kg).
Children must ride in a booster seat until they are a minimum of 4 feet, 9 inches (145 cm) tall, or a minimum of 36 kg (79 pounds), or a minimum of 9 years old.
(Motor Vehicle Act – Seat Belt Section, Regulation 83-163)

If your child exceeds even one they must be moved to a different safety seat or taken out of a seat all together!

I being a worry wart about such small things, felt about 2" tall when I got off of the phone with service New Brunswick. Littleman has now been taken out of his booster seat for good. His weight exceeded the recommended weight restrictions and now the seat is unsafe for him! I thought all these months that he was safe in his booster when in actuality he was very unsafe.

When I was on the phone with service nb she explained that If for any reason we ended in a car accident and littleman got hurt and was sent to the hospital. If they found out he was in a booster seat. We could be charged with negligence for him getting hurt. And also insurance companies will not pay for any harm due to him being buckled up in an unsafe manner!

A true eye opener! Please visit www.safekidscanada.ca

New Year's Eve 2012 and the beginning of 2013!

So I decided to have a BFF from work come to our house with her bf for some New Year's Eve festivities. While busy as we all are finally managed to have a night off all together since last January when we attended a Jeff Dunham show.

Hubby and I spent the last week or so doing a full blown house clean. Getting rid of stuff that we didn't need anymore and donating a lot clothing and anything else that was still acceptable to be endured by another family

Littleman was his usual self hyper as can be and a ball full of energy and was trying his damnedest to steer as much attention his way! Mommy and daddy had plenty of things to get done.

Our company had arrived and littleman was very excepting of our company that he never had met before. Huge hugs and kisses for everyone! Video games and food until it was time for daddy to set off the fire works in our back yard. We are very fortunate to have a lake in our back yard. So celebrations are usually held there (I.e. fire works, bomb fires, etc). Littleman didn't enjoy the fire works very much due to being so close to them but in the end he was sure glad to make his way back inside!

Littleman tryed his hardest to stay awake until midnight but lasted almost until 11:30. Daddy took the honors of laying down with him for a bit so mommy could keep the company entertained.

Mid night fast approached us and the adults were enjoying each others company and a few drinks. We rang in the new year with some photos and movie oh we didn't forget to kiss! Happy New Years everyone! Looking forward to 2013 with all the new learning experiences headed our way!

Christmas 2012

Well it's christmas time again. So this year I decided to decorate our christmas tree in one of littlemans favorite movies. Disney cars! You guessed it a lot of work in my part. Hand crafted ornaments made out of clay. This was fun for littleman, he loves doing crafts now and painting so mommy put him to work helping. I will add pictures soon!

Another activity I had him do is help decorate cookies. Since this time of year I do an abundance of baking. Littleman loves to help pour ingredients in the bowls and help mix them together

Christmas Day was fast approaching and even I was getting excited as well as our monkey man! We knew this year he would be very excited as he understands a lot more this year then he did last year. We did our annual visit with Santa and yes he did sit on his knee this year unlike prior years. Santa was no where in sight when we first arrived to his work shop. But soon appeared with his bells jingling. Little man bolted towards Santa almost knocking him down gave him the biggest hug screaming his name. Santa was more than thrilled. Took him by the hand and lead him into his work shop. Mommy trying to keep composure, holding back my tears with great joy! We had his picture taken that day to mark this new step in his life. So proud! Will add the pic at a later time!

Christmas Eve was now here and of coarse mommy had to work so the celebration activities were limited to just our house. Eating goodies and dancing around in our livingroom to some christmas music, colouring Santa pictures, and you guessed it an early christmas present!

Christmas morning I arrived home promptly at 7:25am expecting to see a very excited little boy. But instead one sleepy littleman! Excitedly I wake him up and lead him to our tree where what to his eyes  an abundunce of presents waiting to be unwrapped! Toys that were opened were the best. Everything was oh my god look at that! And clothes well how shall we say we're his least favorite, throwing them aside and moving on. Lol!

Christmas day we spent playing with toys and trying to keep his excitement level down. But good news not one melt down or crying fit to be seen! Mommy had a nap finally after being awake for 30 some odd hours and we sat down to a turkey dinner prepared by my mother in law who was gracious enough to make since she knew I would not be in the mood nor physically able to manage. Then evening was quiet as we enjoyed each others company, littleman still going strong as I left for work at 10pm. Was a fantastic day. Oh guess you were wondering if littleman had turkey with us at the table? Nope! But he did enjoy his plate of fries!

From my crazy life with autism christmas to your families. Merry christmas!!

First day of kindergarten till christmas break

 I'm happy to report that littleman is doing well in school and he loves going which makes it easier to digest. With great thought I decided that it was in his best interest to start school and not return to Stepping stones for another 4-5 month cycle. I am happy to say it was the best decision I could have made. He had his first report card in November and he did very well taking into consideration all of littlemans needs. Time has quickly gone by. Some days are a challenge with home work and others no so much. But littleman rises out of bed each morning racing around excited that he gets to go to school.  Weekends are pretty much the same, keeping him busy as possible that he doesn't realize that he isn't going to school that day. I have also gotten word that littleman will be getting speech, ot and Physo starting in January at school!

Littlemans christmas concert went off without a bang. He did so well and did pretty good singing along with his class mates. He even danced around in his spot. Which everyone thought how cute is was. His EA stayed on stage with him just in case. It was a long day for him and he was exceptionally tired when he got home that day!! Mommy and daddy were very proud parents!! Looking forward to what 2013 will bring in this crazy house hold!

Picking our battles

I as a mom with a son with Autism have determined that everything has to be delt with it's own sensitivity to make for a better outcome. On the other hand hubby feels that sometimes that it's the little things in life that matter the most. Not that I don't agree with him to the fullest but somethings are just not worth the fight!

Our son may decide that he may not want to go to bed at a certain time at night. We'll hubby may decide that this is worth fighting for on this particular day. Littleman he's not having any part of it. Not that he isn't a good sleeper but he feels like if he isn't tired he's not going to bed. This ultimately will end up in some big hollering match between the two of them. At some point in time during the hollering match mommy will have to step in and put an end to the situation. Littleman comprehends more than he can speak so telling him that bed time is in five more minutes usually wins a battle even before it starts.

Don't get me wrong I have my battle's as much as hubby does! Getting in the car in the morning can be quite the chore. Littleman in his mind has decided that this morning will be the morning that he's not going to therapy. I too have fallen for littlemans plan and end up in a yelling match with him and he's still winning the battle. After many attempts of barganing with him, littleman drops to the ground and stays there in protest. Mommy decides that picking him up off the ground and putting him in the car isn't working either. For a five year old little boy he uses his weight to his advantage. standing at over 4 foot tall and an approx weight of about 90lbs is not the way to get your early morning exercise especially when you just get off of work. Mommy ultimately gives up! Definitely not worth the fight you may ask? Well to my surprise Littleman gives up the same time I do cleans the dirt off his pants and climbs into the car and buckles him self in. Guess he just wasn't ready to leave!!

Many times a day these battles arise and looking for the answer before the situation gets out of hand is the key to our house hold. Not all of them end up in battles but alot of compromising is key!

Stepping Stones Fundy Regional Inc

We love these guys they have been the best thing that has happen to us since littleman was diagnosed with Autism. www.steppingstonesfundy.com Please check out their website!

After the Diagneses littleman started theropy. A 3 hour session per day from 9am-12pm five days aweek. Littleman was nervous and scared to be away from mommy for any period of time. Littleman was easily convensed that it was going to be ok and mommy would return.The first few days were the hardest cause not only was littleman upset with the idea of being away from me,but I too infact would leave stepping stones crying because he was so upset that mommy had to leave. I don't want you all to start thinking that I am a winey baby, but this was a very big step in our lives.

Littleman has excelled in all of his theropy. His speech has inproved very rapidly, they also teach everyday values and some of the other theropy he recives while he is there is:

Indi­vid­ual 1:1 intervention;

Polly Wogs Social Skills group

Pre­tend Play groups;

Sports Hour;

Play Park:

Music ther­apy;

Pud­dle Jumpers Social Skill group;

Occu­pa­tional ther­apy

Speech Lan­guage Pathol­ogy

Behav­iourist con­sul­ta­tion as needed

In home behav­ior man­age­ment

Currently to date Littleman has Graduated from Stepping Stones and is doing very well. I highly recommend these people to the fullest and glad that we had the best support system team that a mom could have from stepping stones. Thank you so much ladies you dont know how much you have helped us on our journey of life!

The day of the Diagnoses

I will remember this day like it was the day littleman was born December1,2010. We promptly enter the hospital and meet the team of specialists on the peds floor. Where there is littlemans paediatrician, a speech therapist,neurologist,and physcaligst awaiting our arrival. If meeting these people don't scare the shit out of you I don't know what will. They turn to us and say lets get started. We enter this room and its set up as a little play room where each specialist take their turn playing with littleman. As my nerves are getting the best of me I turn to my hubby and give him the biggest sigh a woman could ever make. Littleman seemed to be doing quite well with all that was happening.

About 45 mins later they decided that littleman needed a break (as did we) the doctors determined they had enough information to make a decision.We took littleman for a quick bathroom break and a quick snack and returned back to the meeting room. The complete time we took to do this was about 15 mins. The doctors entered the room and his peditrician started to explain things, well me thinking at this point in time just tell me,and get it over with. We knew that littleman had challenges! Then she come out with it. YES your son indeed has Autism! AS we had expected before that he may have Autism, nothing ever really prepares you for the true diagnoses! I started balling as my husband grabbed my hand and said everything is going to be all ok. What a guy sat their like a rock, while I on the other hand was breaking down in front of these people who I never met before.

They gave us information for Early Childhood Intervention, and stated that someone be in touch with us within the week. Littleman the light of my life knew mommy was upset about something and reached out and gave me the biggest kisses and hug a mommy could ever ask for. The doctors were gone by this point in time. I cleaned my self up and we left the hospital the same way we went in. The happy parents of a happy  healthy little boy!