Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Farewell Pablito
Monday, May 30, 2011
Fathers & Sons Camp Out 2011
By Dave Ybarra:
We headed out after my phlebotomy test at about 7pm Friday evening. We stopped at the gas station to get chocolate milk (because Cruise loves chocolate milk) and then at Little Caesars in Springville to get pizza for dinner. On the way up, Cruise watched Wall-E and almost fell asleep in the car, until I told him we were going to the mountains. He got excited and started to say, "I want mountain please!" That kept him awake.
We got up there and the first thing he did was bolt straight for the playground. He got a balloon at Little Caesars, which ended up popping pretty quick on the swing set (but he didn't care...he thought it was funny). After 10 minutes of playing, he wanted to go to the river. So we went down there and at first he wanted to take off his clothes and go swimming (mind you, it was freezing outside and the river was overflowing). I had to hold him back so he just threw rocks in. When he couldn't find anymore rocks, I would pull rocks out of the river and hand them to him so he could throw them back in...all while I am holding the strap on his pants so he wouldn't jump right in.
He then saw the smoke from a nearby fire so he crossed the bridge and ran over to somebody else's fire. He kept pointing and saying out loud, "FIRE! FIRE!" I told him, "Yep, you like fire." And asked him if he'd like to come see our fire. He said, "I want fire please." So we crossed the bridge again and went up to our campfire.
There were a lot of boys playing around the fire, poking sticks into it, so he did that too. After awhile he got bored of that and so I convinced him to go down to the car to help me unload the tent and air mattress. We set up the tent and the sleeping bags, and then the program started for the evening.
They were watching a movie and playing, "Aaronic Priesthood jeopardy" and Cruise kept making shadow puppets into the projector. I ate some cobbler and fed some to Cruise. After awhile he got bored of the movie and ran down back to the fire. The fire had burnt out so we got it going again. Once the program ended, the boys came down to poke the fire and roast marshmallows and hot dogs. Cruise kept saying, "I want hot dog please," and the little boys kept telling people, "I think he wants a hot dog." One of the fathers gave him a marshmallow to roast; so he ate that and then asked for chocolate milk. So I took him down to the car and got him his chocolate milk and a piece of pizza.
We went back to the fire where he ate his pizza and drank his milk. Then some of the older boys decided they wanted to play 'Steal the Flag'. They all took off running to the open field and Cruise, of course, ran after them. By this time it had started raining but no one cared. Cruise chased the boys around as they played. At one point, some boys were hiding in the shadows near the flag, so he ran out and jumped on them, thinking it was part of the game.
Eventually the game ended so we went back to the fire. Cruise wandered around and looked at people's tents and who was in them. After that, he said, "Time go home!" and started walking towards the car. I redirected him towards our tent and got him into his pajamas and put him in his sleeping bag. I gave him a flashlight so he could explore inside his sleeping bag and seemed pretty occupied, so I zipped up the tent and ran back to the car to grab the DVD player.
I got back to the tent and he was already almost asleep. I put on "Up!" and before the first music sequence was over, he was asleep. I turned off the DVD player and tried to go to sleep but it was raining pretty hard so I didn't fall asleep very fast. We were both very warm because we had double sleeping bags, so much so that I had to unzip mine because I was getting too hot. We were very comfortable though, on a big air mattress.
Cruise woke up at about 6am and said, "Shoes please!" So we put on his shoes and headed out of the tent over towards the fire. It was completely burnt out and no one was awake but the Bishop and his counselors. They were making breakfast. We talked to them for a little while and then got the fire going.
Little by little people started waking up and coming to the fire. At one point an older boy (the Head Honcho from 'Steal the Flag' the night before) came walking up, and Cruise ran over to him, grabbed his hand, and walked him to the fire. When he walked up, one of the leaders asked the older boy if he had a new friend; he responded, "Yep, I guess so!" Cruise held his hand near the fire for about 5 minutes or so.
After a little while, Cruise got bored and decided he was going to go for a hike. The mountain was very steep, so we didn't get very far. It got so steep that Cruise was too scared to go down by himself, so he climbed on my back and I slid down on my feet.
By then breakfast was ready; Cruise ate a regular pancake, bacon and orange juice; I had a blueberry pancake, eggs, bacon, hot cocoa, and o.j. After breakfast, he ran to the car and got into the backseat. He just sat there, so I drove the car next to our tent. I took the tent down while he just in the car. He asked for chocolate milk, which I got him, and then I got into the car with him. At that point he said, "I want Mommy please," and I said, "Are you all done with the mountains?" And he said, "All done. I want Mommy please." So we drove home as he watched "Up!"
When we got home, Cruise ran to see Mommy and then I herded him to the bathroom so he could get in the shower since he smelled like smoke. After we were both clean, I passed out on the bad while Cruise and Jett, who missed me a lot, snuggled with me.
We headed out after my phlebotomy test at about 7pm Friday evening. We stopped at the gas station to get chocolate milk (because Cruise loves chocolate milk) and then at Little Caesars in Springville to get pizza for dinner. On the way up, Cruise watched Wall-E and almost fell asleep in the car, until I told him we were going to the mountains. He got excited and started to say, "I want mountain please!" That kept him awake.
We got up there and the first thing he did was bolt straight for the playground. He got a balloon at Little Caesars, which ended up popping pretty quick on the swing set (but he didn't care...he thought it was funny). After 10 minutes of playing, he wanted to go to the river. So we went down there and at first he wanted to take off his clothes and go swimming (mind you, it was freezing outside and the river was overflowing). I had to hold him back so he just threw rocks in. When he couldn't find anymore rocks, I would pull rocks out of the river and hand them to him so he could throw them back in...all while I am holding the strap on his pants so he wouldn't jump right in.
He then saw the smoke from a nearby fire so he crossed the bridge and ran over to somebody else's fire. He kept pointing and saying out loud, "FIRE! FIRE!" I told him, "Yep, you like fire." And asked him if he'd like to come see our fire. He said, "I want fire please." So we crossed the bridge again and went up to our campfire.
There were a lot of boys playing around the fire, poking sticks into it, so he did that too. After awhile he got bored of that and so I convinced him to go down to the car to help me unload the tent and air mattress. We set up the tent and the sleeping bags, and then the program started for the evening.
They were watching a movie and playing, "Aaronic Priesthood jeopardy" and Cruise kept making shadow puppets into the projector. I ate some cobbler and fed some to Cruise. After awhile he got bored of the movie and ran down back to the fire. The fire had burnt out so we got it going again. Once the program ended, the boys came down to poke the fire and roast marshmallows and hot dogs. Cruise kept saying, "I want hot dog please," and the little boys kept telling people, "I think he wants a hot dog." One of the fathers gave him a marshmallow to roast; so he ate that and then asked for chocolate milk. So I took him down to the car and got him his chocolate milk and a piece of pizza.
We went back to the fire where he ate his pizza and drank his milk. Then some of the older boys decided they wanted to play 'Steal the Flag'. They all took off running to the open field and Cruise, of course, ran after them. By this time it had started raining but no one cared. Cruise chased the boys around as they played. At one point, some boys were hiding in the shadows near the flag, so he ran out and jumped on them, thinking it was part of the game.
Eventually the game ended so we went back to the fire. Cruise wandered around and looked at people's tents and who was in them. After that, he said, "Time go home!" and started walking towards the car. I redirected him towards our tent and got him into his pajamas and put him in his sleeping bag. I gave him a flashlight so he could explore inside his sleeping bag and seemed pretty occupied, so I zipped up the tent and ran back to the car to grab the DVD player.
I got back to the tent and he was already almost asleep. I put on "Up!" and before the first music sequence was over, he was asleep. I turned off the DVD player and tried to go to sleep but it was raining pretty hard so I didn't fall asleep very fast. We were both very warm because we had double sleeping bags, so much so that I had to unzip mine because I was getting too hot. We were very comfortable though, on a big air mattress.
Cruise woke up at about 6am and said, "Shoes please!" So we put on his shoes and headed out of the tent over towards the fire. It was completely burnt out and no one was awake but the Bishop and his counselors. They were making breakfast. We talked to them for a little while and then got the fire going.
Little by little people started waking up and coming to the fire. At one point an older boy (the Head Honcho from 'Steal the Flag' the night before) came walking up, and Cruise ran over to him, grabbed his hand, and walked him to the fire. When he walked up, one of the leaders asked the older boy if he had a new friend; he responded, "Yep, I guess so!" Cruise held his hand near the fire for about 5 minutes or so.
When we got home, Cruise ran to see Mommy and then I herded him to the bathroom so he could get in the shower since he smelled like smoke. After we were both clean, I passed out on the bad while Cruise and Jett, who missed me a lot, snuggled with me.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Family Pictures
So my friend Lyndsey Fagerlund is this amazing photographer who has been in local magazines, t.v., etc. She's been wanting to get the word out that she works well with children with special needs. Cruise and her son go to Bridges together and Bridges wanted to get some great pictures of their kids (so obviously they asked Lyndsey). So we set up a shoot for Cruise, and while she was at it, she took a few of the rest of us which was so nice of her. I must say, family pictures for us is probably one of the most stressful events in a given year, but this shoot was very laid back an enjoyable (even if we did get kicked out of the orchard). Here are some of my favorites:
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18 Months...Let the Tantrums Begin!
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Jett turned 18 months on the 18th...it went so fast I wasn't paying attention! Anyway, he got his check up this past week and found to be in the 50th percentile for weight and 92nd percentile for height. So the kid is tall and skinny. Definitely not from the Greer gene.
I also took him to see Cruise's Occupational Therapist, Angela, to get a Sensory Profile done. A definite difference was found in vestibular, oral, olfactory, and auditory senses. Which means he needs more vestibular and oral sense input (like Cruise) and is sensitive to smell and sound. However, the good thing is that none of his sensory needs/sensitivities are intervening with normal development. So he is right on track as far as speech, social, and physical development, etc.
We decided to get a Sensory Profile done because he was gagging and throwing up a lot due to common unpleasant smells like other people's bad breath, smells of recently used bathrooms, etc. Angela gave us some great ideas to help him with this issue, since we hadn't had this type of sensitivity to deal with before.
Now for the super fun part:
At 18 months, Jett...
-likes to eat chalk
-gets into everything he knows he's not supposed to
-follows Cruise around and has to do everything he does
-snuggles when he is sad or tired
-uses his sweetness and snuggliness to keep Daddy from going to work
-throws the occasional tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants
-screams just to hear himself scream
-growls and acts like a bear, specifically when he wants to get tickled
-is down to 1 nap a day
-sleeps from 8pm-8am straight
-likes to climb and loves swinging on the tire swing
-giggles when he gets to spin on the tire swing
-is very social and loves to play with other kids
-likes to just sit in the car, even when it's not moving
-is very good at communicating what he wants
-loves Buzz Lightyear
-can say the following words:
*ball
*Buzz
*bath
*shoe
*cheese
*Mom
*Dad
*juice
*more
*done
*airplane
*no
*dog
*bottle
*book
*signs "please" by rubbing his tummy
*bye
*bubbles
-his receptive language is AMAZING
-he points a lot and tugs at our clothing to tell us to get up and follow him
-he is at a stage where he has very painful separation anxiety
-he can be shy around people he doesn't know
-he loves being outside
-he likes to be thrown up high in the air (a game we call "Blast Off")
-he uses getting into the dog food/water to get my attention after he's tried numerous times
-he gives big wet kisses
-he is CRAZY about Daddy
18 Months is one of those ages where you love seeing more and more of their personality shine through, but at the same time, it's one of those ages where you just can't wait to get to the next stage that doesn't involve them screaming and rolling on the floor over the most mundane things. However, it is so fun watching him grow and reach new milestones that took longer for Cruise to reach. It's weird having an 18 month old know what you said, look at you when you said it, and react to it. It's a whole new experience for us and we are enjoying it.
But MAN that kid is mischievous!
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Saturday, May 28, 2011
2011 Walk Now for Autism Speaks: Team Cruise
Hey everyone! I was so excited to hear that Autism Speaks is holding a walk here in Utah! I am a team captain for the walk (Team Cruise) and am looking for anyone who would like to either donate, walk, or both with our team! I have links to all the information in the left column of the blog. But just for convenience, click here if you want to donate, here if you'd like information on the walk, and here if you'd like to join Team Cruise!
A big shout out to Bronson Dameron for being the first to donate! You rule!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Celebrating Our 5 Year Anniversary
Okay, I FINALLY have a moment to recap our anniversary celebration getaway.
Dave and I left the boys overnight with my parents while we went to our Honeymoon spot (Sundance Resort) just 20 minutes away. Preparation was extensive as I had to write a social story and lay out that day's schedule in pictures for Cruise. The social story helped, but he still struggled when he woke in the middle of the night and we weren't there. Jett was smooth sailing (but he still missed us).
We were so happy that we got our room again! They had told us at booking that cabin 2B was no long available, but when we went to check in, they told us that is what we got! Soooo happy!
Anyway, our package included dinner in the Foundry Grill as well as brunch in the morning. So for dinner, Dave got ribs and halibut ceviche and I got the filet mignon and chicken curry soup. Delish! We didn't have any available space for dessert, so we did the only reasonable thing there was to do: get it to go. Dave got a very rich chocolate cake with mint ice cream and I got the apple pie with caramel ice cream.
Brunch was amazing and I am slightly embarrassed to say that half of the plates I got were desserts. Don't judge me. I was on vacation!
Technically we weren't even gone 24 hours and I do admit I was ready for another day, but after breakfast and a walk around the resort, it was time to go. The boys were really excited to see us, and Cruise did okay while we were gone, but he went on a hunger strike until I got back. Silly boy.
Thank you Dave for a wonderful 5 years and a wonderful getaway to celebrate. I love you!
Dave and I left the boys overnight with my parents while we went to our Honeymoon spot (Sundance Resort) just 20 minutes away. Preparation was extensive as I had to write a social story and lay out that day's schedule in pictures for Cruise. The social story helped, but he still struggled when he woke in the middle of the night and we weren't there. Jett was smooth sailing (but he still missed us).
We were so happy that we got our room again! They had told us at booking that cabin 2B was no long available, but when we went to check in, they told us that is what we got! Soooo happy!
Anyway, our package included dinner in the Foundry Grill as well as brunch in the morning. So for dinner, Dave got ribs and halibut ceviche and I got the filet mignon and chicken curry soup. Delish! We didn't have any available space for dessert, so we did the only reasonable thing there was to do: get it to go. Dave got a very rich chocolate cake with mint ice cream and I got the apple pie with caramel ice cream.
Technically we weren't even gone 24 hours and I do admit I was ready for another day, but after breakfast and a walk around the resort, it was time to go. The boys were really excited to see us, and Cruise did okay while we were gone, but he went on a hunger strike until I got back. Silly boy.
Thank you Dave for a wonderful 5 years and a wonderful getaway to celebrate. I love you!
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