So Busy

We have been so busy the last few weeks and weekends that I have not had any time to share our exciting adventures.  So I will try to be brief to get everyone caught up with our family.  LOL!

Over the memorial holiday we traveled to Chicago to see Jackson’s fragile X doctor, Dr. Elizabeth Berry-Kravis.  We left on Monday for the Tuesday appointment.  We only stayed one night and drove back, we are brave.  Jackson did really well; it took us around 6 ½ hours there and about the same back. I think trip took more of a toll on us.  The appointment went really well.  I entertained Jackson while Sara asked as many questions as one could ask.  Dr. Kravis is such an amazing woman; I am not sure how she fits all that information in her brain.  She was very impressed with Jackson’s progress.  Last year when we visited Jackson only had about 3 signs for communication, now he has communication oh plenty.  The room we were in had a computer that Jackson was obsessed with.  Dr. Kravis said that all her FX patients love the computer and felt he couldn’t break it.  He somehow changed the video to display sideways using nothing but keystrokes.  I might be a computer geek, but this computers system settings were locked down, so without knowing what in what sequence the keys he pushed I could not get the display back to normal before our appointment was over.   Dr. Kravis wants to try Jackson on a medicine during the day to help with hyper activity and focus.  She also was impressed with the amount of energy he had during the time we were in that room.  Sara is going to brave the medication next week while the two of them are both home for two weeks.

Watch out Bill Gates!

The following weekend we went to a “mommies like us” outing and we had an open house.  It was nice to meet other families like ours with two mommies.  It was hard for us to get to know the mommies as Jackson is a busy toddler.  I brought my camera to take pictures of the other families, but didn't a get a chance.  After lunch we dropped Jackson off for a nap at grandmas, and then Sara and I did a 24 hours blitz deep cleaning to our house making it all sparkly for the whopping two couples who came and took a look see.  The only feedback we got from the agent who was at our house, which by the way is not our actual agent, was one couple really liked it and was going to speak with their agent; the other couple was concerned about the roots for the tree in the front yard.  We have not heard from our actual agent since our open house, so my guess is she did not follow up with the agent of the couple that said they liked it.  So in the 3 months our house has been on the market we have only had 3 lookers.  Either way I am still very positive that someone will fall in love with our house and put an offer on it soon.

Every weekend Sara and I are going to as many open houses as we can.  We switched buyers’ agents recently and our new agent has been very helpful.  We have gone to a few houses outside of open houses and taken a 2^nd look at two houses we are really interested in.  Both houses our listed outside our budget, one of which has come down in price, just not down enough…  Any spare time we have at home we have been online looking at houses.  Pretty much that is where our spare time has gone too.

Sara started working at Howard Park Center a few weeks ago.  Jackson is also attending school there over the summer.  She loves her job and Jackson is doing well at school.  Last week he had a few hair pulling incidents, we are really trying to find the best way to manage this.  We asked Dr. Kravis about it when were in Chicago and she said a behavior analyst would be able to advise us best.  This is the one behavior that can’t be ignored as it harms others.  We keep trying multiple avenues, I hope we find a working one soon.

This past weekend we walked for one of Sara’s high school classmate’s daughter at the “Seize the Day Walk”.  The event was in Kirkwood at the train station.  Jackson got to see a train go by, which was probably his favorite part of the day.  They had a lot of silent auction items available, a bubble bus, food, and beverages.   The walk started early, we were there just before 7 AM.  We finished the walk just after 8 AM and it was already very hot.  Jackson lasted till about 8:30 AM before he was ready to go.  

Watching the train

That is not Thomas Na-na!

We stopped at his favorite store on the way home, Target.  We got home in time for lunch and a nap, and we all took part in the nap.  It has become a weekend family tradition, if Jackson naps, we all nap.  After then nap, Jackson and I vacuumed that house.  We are using this as a reward for after naptime.  I was able to a snapshot of him helping. 

 My little helper

Sara and I had a date night for the evening.  We went to Elephant Bar in West County.  I have an onion allergy so it was difficult for me to find a menu item, we didn’t realize that before booking the reservations.  We ordered the lettuce wraps for an appetizer, but it had red, white, and green onion throughout.  Our waiter was nowhere to be found after the plate was dropped off, so I told Sara to go ahead and enjoy them while I enjoyed my yummy adult beverage.  After dinner, we drove by a house we had on our list to go see, but the backyard was nothing but a huge slope, no level ground at all.  We drove around a little bit more in the area and then stopped at Blockbuster.  Since the evening was falling a little short we grabbed a comedy, Tower Heist.  The movie was hilarious, just what we both needed.

Sunday we both spent time with our dads.  My siblings, sister-in-law, and I took my dad to 66 Roadhouse for brunch.  Because we booked the reservations late, we had an early bunch, but it did not disappoint.  There was plenty of great food.  My sister-in-law is related to the owners, but I didn’t know that before deciding on that location, small world. That did not get us any sort of discounts though.  Sara and Jackson got home shortly after I did.  Jackson was really tired, so we all took a nap before lunch.  We slept 2 ½ hours, wow I guess we all needed that.  Sara vacuumed after lunch while I packed up swimming gear.  I took Jackson over to my parents for a swim so Sara could do some cleaning.  She suggested it before you go thinking I am a bad guy.  Jackson and I had a blast at the pool.  We bought him water wings with a chest belt and within a few minutes he was swimming on his own.  He needs some work on kicking those feet, but by the time we getting to ready to get out of the pool he was starting to get it.  My dad grilled some shrimp and steak.  I ate some before we headed home and it was so yummy, Jackson didn’t really want any part of it and I was still full from our late lunch.  Sara cooked some baked spaghetti and he was ready to eat as soon as we got home. 

Mr. Independent!

Kicking his legs

This coming week we have a lot going on.  Sara is going to a support group on Tuesday night.  We might try to see a few houses.  We also are switching agents, so we have new contracts to sign.  Friday night I have softball with my ladies. Saturday is the 6^th Annual Fragile, Not Broken Walk for Knowledge.  If you haven’t already, it is not too late to register to walk with Team Jackson.   Our team is going to be wearing Cardinals gear.  Go CARDS!  It is a fun family event with games, pony rides, and raffles.  Come visit our team page for more details and read our story: TEAM JACKSON 

Communication oh plenty...

Jackson is so close to making words.  We have even had some babble lately.  The other night we had taco’s for dinner, the boy ate two. After dinner he was babbling up a storm, I guess he needs some seasoned beef to wake up his vocal cords. 

Here are some of his sounds with the words he means:

Ø  Doo-doo-bah = Jackson, that is how he says his full name (accompanied by tapping his hand on his chest)
Ø  Dack = Jack, when you ask him what is his name he sometimes says the above or shortens it.  He also taps on his chest.
Ø  Duck = Duck
Ø  Dat = Hat (accompanied by the sign for hat)
Ø  Ba = Ball (accompanied by the sign for ball) or Balloon
Ø  Bu = Blue (accompanied by the sign for red, we are working on the right sign)
Ø  Pa-pa = Purple
Ø  Pah = Please (accompanied by the sign for please)
Ø  Ra = Red (accompanied by the sign for red). Sometimes he can say red clear as day
Ø  Raba = Red ball
Ø  Bubbas = Bubbles (accompanied by the sign for bubbles)
Ø  Bababas = Banana (he also taps out the syllables)
Ø  Bob = Bob the neighbors name. 
Ø  Ty Ty = Short for Tyler our 12 year old Chihuahua
Ø  Moo = Short for Mookie our 13 year old Border Collie mix
Ø  Doug = Dog (accompanied by the sign for dog)
Ø  Dah  (Sound made at a high pitch level) = Drink (accompanied by the sign for drink) also used for that and yes.
Ø  Dada = Nana (accompanied by the sign we made up for Nana, which is the sign for hat)
Ø  BaBa = Mama (accompanied by the sign for Mom)
Ø  I-pa = iPad
Ø  Oh-pa = Open (accompanied by the sign for open)
Ø  Ah-pa = Grandpa (Sara’s dad, sometimes accompanied by the sign for grandpa)
Ø  Weebles = Weebles, his toy Weebles tree house.  He has said this a few times for me.
Ø  Ah-da = All Done! (accompanied by the sign for all done) He has clearly said all done a few times.
Ø  Eh or Keh = Means just about anything, but uses mostly to get our attention, sometimes accompanied with the sign for what he wants, mostly accompanied by him sticking his fingers down his throat.

Jackson’s sign language has improved so much, but he still has some trouble.  He does obsess over some items which he is completely accurate on like cracker, cookie, drink, swing, and vacuum.  He will follow those with the sign for more or please. Jackson can sign a few colors; red and orange are right on the money, but he knows blue, green, purple, and yellow.  Jackson is really excited to do his colors with you and he will point out colors on objects without prompting.  I can ask him what is Nana’s favorite color and he will gladly sign orange with a huge smile on this face.  He will tell you his favorite color is blue and he points to something green for Mama’s favorite color.  

Jackson also loves to sing with his sign language.  His favorite two songs are “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “The Wheels on the Bus”.  Sometimes Jackson gets frustrated when we can’t figure out what he is saying or signing, but he has gotten much better at guiding us to what he wants.  Then there is the pantry which he will stand at, point too, sign and say open, guide you to, and bang his head on…now he is going for the knob.  He knows we know what he wants, but there are still rules and we aren’t going to let him eat the day way.  Seriously it is amazing this kid hasn’t turned into a cheez-it.   Jackson is close to figuring out how to open doors…  Man…are we are in for a real treat when he does, or is it he will be in for a real treat?!? You choose.. HA! 

Sweet joy, I love my boy..

We put our house up on the market the first week of April.  We love our house, but the school district is not suited for Jackson’s needs.  Otherwise we would live there forever as it is located in the middle of both our parents.  Last week we lowered our price because we haven’t had one showing.  An hour after lowering the price we got our first bite and someone came to look at our beautiful home.  We had less than 24 hours to make our house perfect and sparkley, as everyone knows that hardest part of homeownership with a toddler is keeping it spick and span.  I rushed home from work on Thursday and started right away.   Jackson is at grandma’s house until Sara is off work, so I didn’t have much solo time.  I tried to get as many of the jobs that only I can do completed when Sara and Jackson got home.  Sara had already cleaned the kitchen earlier that day and thought it was best for us to go out to dinner.   I was craving BBQ so we headed to Bandanas.

  

Jackson was so good at dinner.  He loves going out in public and we usually don’t have any issues when food is involved, that is as long as we warn our waiting service about his awesome ability to clear the table.  Since our mind was racing on what we needed to get completed at the house, we totally forgot to warn our waitress.  When she brought our drinks to the table Sara was trying to get the words out, but it was too late.  As the waitress went to set Jackson’s milk down he hit it right out of her hand.  It was totally like one of those slow motion scenes in the movies where the lead character is saying, “Nnnnnnnoooooooooo”.  Somehow Sara caught the cup in midflight. 

The waitress said, “Nice catch” as we all laughed. 

Sara was then able to say, “Sorry, I meant to warn you about his anxiety and he likes to grab and swipe things”.

The waitress responded, “No problem, let me grab a warsh rag”.  I was impressed with her reaction to everything as thought it was no big deal.  Oh and it we were at Bandanas so southern slang is expected.

When our food arrived our waitress made sure to keep her distance and did not deliver any of the food over Jackson’s head.  Jackson ate off our plates like a champ, so we had no left overs for once.  He loves BBQ pork, french fries, and fried okra.  Yup, he is my son.

   

Sara stayed up late to do some cleaning and organizing for the next day.  Jackson had ABA therapy, which allotted her extra time. Jackson also had a speech evaluation and Sara said it went really well.  The speech therapist says Jackson has lots of words him, so that is very exciting news.

The house showing on Friday was right at the time I would typically get home from work, so we hung out at Sara’s parents before my early softball game.  Sara brought Jackson to the game.  My team was thrilled to see him even though he was on the move the entire time.  He enjoyed running in the outfield, he even jumped on 3^rd base.  I was surprised he lasted as long as he did there with no playground.  Our game only lasted about 30 minutes though sad to say.  We got short gamed.   This year the team decided we needed to join a more competitive league and we definitely found one.  We are currently 1 and 3; every game has been close within a few runs with the exception of this last one.  Julz, one of my teammates, joked, “Why is it we got old we so decided to play more competitive, shouldn’t it be the other way around… I mean really, wasn’t our team name a few years ago A.A.R.P.?”

Jackson made friends with all the ladies.  Jackson played a game of boo with my friend, Michelle a.k.a Double D (which stands for daisy dukes), for at least 15 minutes.  She was in love with his contagious laugh.  Sara and Jackson left shortly after our game so I could spend some time with my team and have some beers.  I love my lady time, I have played with these gals for just over 10 years.  My team name is “Here for Beer” which is suiting. Carol had me laughing so hard that the next morning I could barely sit up as though I did a million stomach crunches the night before.  Every season we pick up where we left off the year before, except our bats are rusty the first few games.

Saturday Sara, Jackson, and I went to reunion BBQ with my college softball team.  Sara and I were both really worried about Jackson not engaging with the other kids, or worse pulling their hair.  When we first arrived I warned all the parents that Jackson might pull their kids hair.  To my surprise all the moms were accepting.  Arnie even responded, “They are kids... Mine will probably pull back”.  The good news is we didn’t have to pry Jackson off any of the pretty little girls with long blonde hair, there were 4 of them.  Jackson had an absolute blast.  He was mostly focused on the playground and his new game of taking his shoes off at the top of the slide and letting them go down first. Only 4 of my teammates showed up with their families, a few had to cancel at the last minute.  Teri came to down from Kansas City and I was glad because we graduated together and haven’t seen her since.  We had plenty of food to go around and plenty of good conversation.  It is funny that after over 10 years everyone is exactly the same way I remember them. 

Teri, Karen (V-Dog), Andie, Me, Jami (Arnie)

Sara and I divided and conquered taking turns chasing Jackson around.  He is one busy child.  I was worried about him getting overheated.  After everyone ate and bellies were settled, Arnie and her husband filled up a bucket/tote/plastic-ma-bob-thing (I don’t know what the heck you call it plus it was pink, I don’t own anything pink) full of water. Then they let all the kids pick out a water blaster and all of them participated in getting soaked.  Jackson was so excited, he needed assistance with his blaster and he was making his fragile x sound, “Eennnneeeewwwww”.  I was worried the other kids would stare at him or ask why he was making that noise, but they didn’t even flinch.  Everyone near the water bucket was fair game, so I got soaked myself.  All of the kids were having so much fun, I can still hear them all laughing.  Jackson didn’t squirt any of the other kids, he just liked getting squirted.  After the water game Jackson was getting fussy, so we left early to avoid any major melt downs.   Just before leaving the girls decided that we were going to try to get together more often. We even discussed taking a road trip to Kansas City for old time sake and to visit with Teri.

Arnie and I are getting soaked as we help the kids.

Mmmmm....CORN

Sunday was another great day.  Sara’s brother is in town from L.A. so her family planned a dinner.  Jackson ate corn from the cob and even did well holding it by himself.  We got real excited for him; he loves that positive attention although it doesn’t last long before he is throwing the cob across the table.  We also got to watch SNL with Mick Jagger.  It is always great to catch up with Sara’s brother, especially hearing how his shows are going.  How many Elvis Clowns do you know?  The shows are entertaining to say the least.

So even though we had an extremely busy weekend it was amazing and Jackson did so well through all of it.  I am so over joyed even though our showing didn’t make us an offer.