SITE HAS MOVED!

Please proceed to www.informalmatriachs.com to continue enjoying Everything informal and martriarchy.  Except there’s a twist.  THERE’S TWO OF US!!

come come come come come.

Time With Ikey

Because of Silas’ therapy and Silas’ preschool, I have A LOT of alone time with my little Ikey.  A LOT.

Lots of times we go out for coffee, or shopping, or something.  Yesterday’s bike ride rocked but there’s so much rain rain rain through the winter.

It’s interesting having all this time with Ikey.  Sometimes I don’t know what to do with myself.  Isaac has finally given up being upset about Silas being able to do all these cool things.  He says bye nicely to him and comes with me.  We’re getting used to it.

A lot of times we go to a nearby Chapters and I sit there and drink coffee and read autism books and he plays with the Thomas train set and sips on his tiny cup of hot chocolate.  Nothing really is cuter than Ikey with his own mini starbucks cup.  He’s REALLY into his Thomas train lately.  The big one there just excites him to no end.

Ugh, Ikey wants out of his bed with no play time…that means he’s going to be grouchy all night.

I can’t think with kid screaming happening…here’s some photos I’ve taken on our “dates”.  The quality sucks cuz i took em with my cell.

Isaac out on a date with me

delicious hot chocolate on another date.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

tromping in the puddle today while waiting for Silas to be done preschool

look I'm wet!! I seriously need to buy that boy some gum boots...or a gum suit.

GAH!

Okay I really have like….zero time to talk.  So much to do, so little time.

Silas was sitting for his three minutes cuz he hit me.  To entertain Ikey I was rocking him and singing him the sesame street song.  When Silas’ time was up he wanted me to do that with him, so I got Ikey to bed and then sat on Silas’ bed and sang to him and rocked him and rocked him and rocked him.  He was falling asleep at the end.  I think we did that for about 30 minutes before I finally told him I had to go.  It was so sweet.

It reminded me of when he was little and I’d have him all wrapped up with his blanket, his sucky taking up half his face and his big brown eyes looking up at me.  We did a LOT of rocking and a LOT of singing those days.  So warm and cozy.

So I’ve fixed up my bike so I can ride it and it’s so much fun!!  Bike riding is WAY more fun that running or walking.  I get to go FAST.  I wanted to get a seat for Ikey so he can ride with me.  I noticed my neighbour had one and I asked her if we could borrow it to see if Ikey would like it and she just gave it to me!!!  We took our first ride today to Leanne’s house and Isaac was soooooo in to it.  He let out a happy giggle as we rode off and he was calm and relaxed the whole time.  Brilliant.  A perfect thing for him and I to do together.

OKAY, my timer is going off.  I gave myself 15 minutes to be on here before I need to go do stuff!!  I babysit tonight and my house is still a mess and i need a shower!!

Love you all!!!!!

Leah

Party Day!

Today at preschool Silas had what’s called a party day!  It’s so much fun.  All the kids sing us parents their songs they’ve learned.  We hear about what the kids are doing and what they’re about to do.  It’s pretty cool.  We then sing happy birthday to the kids who have had bdays that month and then the parents leave.

I had tears in my eyes seeing Silas standing up there.  He had to stand on a red line so he looked back to his aid and said “look I’m standing on the red I”.  I love that kid.  He stood there so nicely and sang so nicely.  made me teary.  He’s so precious.

I forgot my camera though…bummer

I just went upstairs and didn’t get within three feet of Silas and he said “mommy are you eating Kashi, milk and banana?”  I said what?  Then he changed the kashi to All Bran Buds and I couldn’t believe it!!!  I’m eating All Bran Buds, YOGURT and banana…but pretty frickin close enough.  Wowsa.

How is my kid SO good at SO many things?  Alesha and I were talking today and she said “you notice how Silas can imitate a sound of something perfectly?”  I was like “ok I’m NOT crazy?”  cuz he DOES.  I just never wanted to say anything because I felt like I talk about his gifts so much that I couldn’t POSSIBLY point out another…but she did first so I’m allowed.  His ability to imitate is really weird, especially when he’s imitating beats with his mouth.  My little beat boxer.

Anyway, enough bragging about my perfect smeller, harmony singing, lyric memorizing, amazing spelling, reading, counting to 1000, imitating three year old.    I’m sure I missed something in there…oh ya…his smile is like sunshine

BLAH

Sorry folks, I’ve been SO caught up in this shirts for Silas thing that I’ve not done a bit of blogging.  I’ve added SO MANY new shirts and things that you must go check it out.

links:  USA Canada UK

You can order from any place in the world…FYI.

Anyway, there’s lots of new stuff up for grabs there.  There’s a new shirt that says “I love someone with autism” on the back.  I like that saying too.

On my last blog I said they said “I’m not autism I’m Silas”….not true.  Most say “I’m not autism I’m handsome”

There’s also some baby shirts up now, buttons, mugs, magnets…you name it.  I make almost as much $$ off a mug as I do a shirt so they’re a good idea to buy too!

I’ve tried to make them look as trendy as possible so you know when you wear a Shirt for Silas you’ll be hip hip hip.  Hip with a cause.

Now go buy something before I cry in my afternoon coffee

Love you all.

DUM DA DA DUMMMMM!!!

One sunny afternoon I was sitting on my mom’s back lawn with Jill.  I was telling her how I’m just making the word “autism” common for Silas…so it’s not taboo…it’s just always been there for him.  Suddenly Silas spoke up and said “I’m not autism I’m handsome”.  Ohhhh we laughed and laughed.  Perfect Silas.

So Jennie, hearing Jill tell her what he had said, came up with the idea to put that quote on a t-shirt.  I’ve been wanting to make shirts to sell to raise funds for Silas.  I just didn’t have any ideas yet.  But the idea has been born and put in to the works.  There is now a store open where you can purchase a shirt.  All proceeds go to fund Silas’ therapy.

Our first goal is to get enough money to take him to a Dr Amen clinic in WA where they will do a brain scan and tell us exactly how his brain is working.  From there they can recommend all different types of treatments, food, supplements, medicines and therapies that we KNOW will work because of the results of the scan.  This is about $3000 US I believe so start buying shirts!!  There’s only a few basic ones on there right now but I have more graphics in the works.  All shirts will have the saying “I’m not autism I’m Silas” on them.    So if you don’t like anything now, be sure to check back and see what we have in the shop!!  And of course I’ll keep reminding you too

Behold:

SHIRTS FOR SILAS <——click there to get to the store.

Stinker

Ikey Bikey Boo is a walking 27 pound ball of attitude these days.  Throwing things, hitting, biting his brother’s arm so hard that he still has teeth marks days later, throwing more things, smiling when I tell him no.  So I guess that means he’s two right?

He’s the most curious boy in the world I think.  I love that about him and at the same time it makes me wanna scream and pull my hair out and throw him in his bed without supper.  K not the last part.  He just can’t help it

he

has

to

touch

EVERYTHING.

Which really, it’s an enduring quality.  But it’s also a pain in the neck.

I keep telling myself “he’s not being naughty he’s being two” which has become my new mantra.

Ugh it’s hard to focus and write now.  Silas smacked my face really hard and my nose hurts.  He’s so violent lately.  Now he’s screaming at me from his room.  Ugh.

He’s such a delicious cupcake thought, really.  He’s just a go-getter.  I STILL maintain if left in the wild he’d turn into some feral child who talks to wolves and eats raw flesh and live till he’s 100.  I also maintain that he SHOULD have been born in the caveman years.  He’s just…well…he’s a caveman.  Mark can testify.

Lately after he hits I’ll tell him he hurt me and right away he says “are you ok mommy?”  “kiss it better” and he’ll kiss me.  It’s so cute and tender it’s impossible to not forgive him straight away.  Stinker.

Isaac showing off the jewelery I made him out of playdough. He asked me to!!

stinkery smile

Driving Miss Daisy

I got this in my in box a while ago:

I’m so sorry about missing my last post. I wrote half of in and then I was sure I finished it, but for some reason I guess I didn’t. So here’s what I wrote if you still want it. Still sorry! Love you!!

“Wow. My final week already. Its kinda sad. Sad like…end of summer camp sad. Sad like…end of DQ blizzard sad. Sad like…losing your T.V. remote kind of sad. Just Sad.
Hmm. What LeLu and Cootie story shall I leave you with? What story shall I leave like the song stuck in your head or the taste left in your mouth? What more shall I say then…
I shall title this Blog…Driving Miss Daisy. (Side note. All stories are beyond the 7 year period and I’m pretty sure they have all been told. Even one of them by accident. I’m still sorry about tattling to Other Mom and Dad. My Bad)

The year LeLu and I turned 16 was a special year. We earned out freedom via the graduated licensing program. I had the pleasure of earning my freedom a month and a half earlier than LeLu. Neither of us had earned that freedom the first time we drove Other Moms car. I was not often swayed to antics that would really get us in trouble, but on this occasion I threw in my hat. We were at a youth event and LeLu’s older brother drove us there. (Side note B. He once drank apple juice I gagged on and spit back into a glass. ew) Big Bro made the mistake of giving the keys to LeLu and Cootie who “Just needed to look for something in the car”. You see, both LeLu and Cootie had their “L’s” or learners licenses. Cootie knew how to drive standard, but LeLu didn’t. I can’t remember who instigated it, but LeLu needed to learn stick shift and Cootie was a willing teacher. Once in the parking lot Cootie explained the theory behind the third pedal in Other Mom’s little white car.
With LeLu behind the wheel we backed up and then proceeded to drive around the church parking lot (we didn’t want to get in THAT much trouble.) I decided LeLu needed to learn to stop so I explained that you had to put the clutch in or we would stall. So at that moment LeLu slammed both the clutch and brake. Cootie then slammed her head into the dash board because she neglected to wear her seatbelt for the little parking lot jaunt. After the laughter subsided, LeLu and cootie reparked Other Mom’s car in hopes that we hadn’t been missed too much and Cootie has never EVER driven without a seatbelt again.”

Hey Court, do you remember when you made me go 4by4-ing in that car?  Then you made me go through the deep puddle?  Then the car stalled and it wouldn’t start again so your dad had to pick us up.  Why didn’t we get in trouble for that!?

Our Autism Story Part II

Part one is here

Silas took to solids just fine.  He’d eat a variety of foods.  They always had to be pureed though, always.  When other kids his age were eating more solid things Silas was still eating very simple baby foods.  Of course he knew his way around a cheerio and mushy things.  He couldn’t chew an apple up until he was about two and a half.  He also never spit food back out, once you got it in his mouth he would have to swallow it.  He’d stuff his mouth REALLY full of food and he would never be able to chew something fully.  He’d chew it partially and then swallow it…it looked like it really hurt.  Even if it was just a little bit of food.

Feeding was a weird thing with Silas though.  I used to give people proper instructions to feed him, I forget what they were now, or Silas would have a fit.  My mom would look at me like I’m nuts and just go feed him how she would feed any child, it often ended in a fit.  I remember Jill attempting to feed him one Christmas.  He was over a year old and still on pureed food.  I was calling to her from across the room telling her she was doing it wrong and that’s why he just wasn’t eating it.  He was screaming and crying.  We were walking on eggshells for him without even knowing it.  I was insulted when people thought I was weird for telling them exactly how he needs to eat.  Wasn’t every baby like this?  I had no clue.

Silas crawled right on time, if not early.  He was a super duper power crawler boy.  People would say how fast he would crawl.  He would look straight down at the floor and watch it go by.  Even past the time he was walking he’d still drop to his knees on a new floor, put his nose down close to it and watch it go by as he crawled REALLY fast.  He would crawl right in to things because all he’d watch is the floor go by.  “Quirky” I thought.

Silas wouldn’t notice things like other kids would.  I began walking in the mornings with my friend Ashleigh.  Her daughter, only 3 days older than Silas, would point at the birds and look up when an airplane flew by.  Silas seemed oblivious, completely unaware.  He had never taken note of a bird or an airplane.  I decided then and there that some kids were interested in certain things and some kids interested in others.  Silas could sing like no tomorrow, singing full songs that no baby should be able to sing.  He was interested in Singing, not talking and airplanes and birdies.

At about 10 months Silas began to bash his head on the floor when he was mad.  It was an awful sight to see.  It broke my heart to see my son so mad that he would hurt himself.  Person after person told me it was a normal thing to do so I just let him, hoping that he would hurt himself enough to not want to do it again.

At times I would be with my sis in law Leanne.  Silas would do something odd and we’d look at him and just wonder what on Earth was going on with him.  The word Autism came up many many many times.  But then we’d say “but he snuggles”  “but he makes eye contact”.  Then we’d leave it at that.

Leanne even once said “I bet if Silas was an abused child he would have autism”.  I found that to be an interesting statement.  I know for sure his autism would be a million times more apparent.

Jill and I were talking on the phone yesterday, about this stage of Silas’ life.  About how it was so stinking obvious but we just didn’t put the puzzle together yet.  We both concluded, though, that Silas is far more high functioning than he was when he was a baby.  “Less autistic”.  He was SO within himself as a baby that he wouldn’t let me play with him.  I tried and he would just cry.  From the day he was born, Silas has slowly been emerging from within himself.  How lucky am I for that?

Sometimes I wonder if it was that delivery.  There is a test we can do to find out.  It will break my heart if that’s what caused this.  But the fact that he’s slowly emerging, perhaps his brain is slowly healing itself from damage done due to lack of oxygen, the trauma and the force of the forceps.  We’ll find out soon.

Stay tuned for part III.

Preschool

Nothing like your child starting preschool to make you feel kinda old…and stressed.  I’m pretty sure that I’m the youngest mom.  The rest of them seem like women in their 30’s.  I still feel old.  Especially when they handed me a scholastic book club thingy.  So cute.

Silas’ aid is great.  They made up these little things on a key ring.  Stuff like “circle time” or whatever.  I said that we write things out instead of using visuals so it’s just written out.  She shows them to him and doesn’t say anything and he responds really well to it cuz he just reads it and the reading it gets him excited.  Smart lady.

Anyway, The first day of school I tried to capture some photos, he wouldn’t stand still…this is what I got.

on his way

alllll done