Purple Day 6

Teacher tells me the only meltdown he had was when he was told that he didn't get an award for perfect attendance for Aug (he missed 1 day). Other than that ... perfect behavior, earning a purple day.

We followed through with our belated promise of Chuck E Cheese. Cole needs to know that there are rewards worth working toward. Now I just need to figure if I want the goal to work from Wed ~Wed or adjust it back to a Mon ~ Fri goal.

(The boys got special id cards at CEC. It was a random pick

as to who gets what but it sure came out pretty accurate)

Mr Tanner had a minor incident in his PE yesterday, causing Yellow behavior. Today he pulled a Green day. Oh... I should add that Tanner is now in 2nd grade and they don't do Purple. Green is the highest. We are always happy that he gets green and it is becoming the norm for him these days.

Purple Day 5

When Cole was getting ready for his day this morning, I asked him if he was going to have a good day. His response, " I'm going to be a good boy today!" His body crunched together and his fist drawn tight against his chest....eyes squeezed shut.. " I'm so eh-cited to keep having good days and then we will go to Chuck E Cheese!"
I've been telling him the plans to go to Chuck E Cheese for about two weeks now. His goal was to get through all of last week w/ good days. He did it! And we (Dane and I) sadly dropped the ball as other things got in the way. But Cole never asked and here we are rolling into a new week. Cole still has that goal and this momma needs to get a chart for Cole to know when the goal of his will come to fruition. I'm ready to go to Chuck E. Cheese ... Umm tomorrow... The boy needs to know that his goals are within reach ;-)
Well he did it, another Purple Day and we are so very proud. His request was to go swimming. I somehow talked him out of it as we are having unseasonal cold weather. He then requested the B & Noble.. I somehow got away w/ not making it to that location as well. Instead, Cole got to run to a couple of stores w/ me. He never complained and seemed content to get a strawberry frap and a brownie from Starbucks.

Friday was a Green Day. Cole wanted to go swimming but I had a Bunko event to go to with the church and Dane wasn't due home until I had to run out to Bunko. We just told Cole that his reward is going on a family picnic on Saturday. He insisted that we need picnic baskets, one for him and one for Tanner.

Saturday we did go to a picnic. Dane had his High School Reunion family picnic. It was very good and fun too.

Sunday was a day of laziness.... This Momma is ready for a day of R & R.

PD4, GD, and a DP

P4=Purple Day 4 on Wednesday
Special Rewards = McDonalds Happy Meal and Playland with a Sundae with Mommy and Tanner, then going to Barnes and Noble with Daddy and Tanner.

GD=Green Day today.. Not as spectacular as a purple day and indeed a good day!
Rewards=an evening out with Mommy that included Barnes and Noble that included scoring on two books, then shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond, Pier 1 Imports, Cost Plus World Market. The kiddo was such a good little shopper too. Not a single incident or struggle. :o)

DP= Developmental Pediatric
We had our consultation with Cole's DP. She feels that Cole is boarder line ADHD. She encourages that I continue with my punish/reward system and continue with St. John's Wort as Cole's negative behaviors have been minimal. We asked if he could outgrow this as he matures and she said it could happen. I truly believe he can outgrow this as he has outgrown so many other RED flag behaviors.

Pics will be coming soon... check back to the other posts too as I will be matching photos to the last week or so posts that are missing photos.

Purple Day 3

That's 3 days in a row! And he got "Kid Of The Day "! We celebrated with swimming .. Oh! And, yes today is a great day to have a purple day with the reward of swimming as it was 103* temp today. We went out for ice cream after and Cole made the following statement:

"I am a good boy now. I'm not going to be a bad boy anymore."

I pray that this will be true. :)

Tanner has a sweet thing to say about our sweet little Sami. Sami likes to hide under our couch and it's also her usual nap location. She will only come out when she hears me call for her. Tonight when we got home from swim and ice cream, Tanner rested on the couch. Sami heard me near the couch and sauntered into my direction w/ a tiny squeak of a cry. To this Tanner said, " Mommy, Sami comes you just for you, she has such a sweet tiny cry. She is so tired and week with a week cry. But that is ok, she doesn't need to be strong, she is just a baby, babies don't need to be strong."

Purple Day 2

I can get used to this. We got another message from Cole's teacher that he had a great day.

He requested to go swimming and ice cream. That we did!

I haven't mentioned much about Tanner the last few weeks. Tanner is doing great! Tested well in his Reading level. The teacher enjoys having him in her class. He loves when Cole has good days because then he gets the rewards too and never complains when Cole has bad days because many times the whole family ends up a bit punished as well. We are very proud of how far Tanner has come since his K year. Tanner had his 8 yr appt. He is in the 50% for both height and weight. Dr just recommends that we give him vitamins because he isn't much of an eater.

Rewind a little

the boys with the church group kiddos

So cool to see pictures of them at a function without us~

Friday Night~ Dane and I got a date night via our church supplying care for the children and allowing the parents a night out. I was so thankful that Cole had a good day at school because going to church and seeing his church friends is a rewarding experience. He loves his friends, especially Caleb. We dropped the kids off then headed out to the best burgers in town then caught the movie, THE SWITCH. Great burgers, Good movie, and Quality time with my Best Friend.. my Hubby.

The movie had a little boy in it and the little boy reminded us so much of our Cole. He looked like him and had his quirky personality too.

Saturday~ Nothing special

Sunday~ Tanner swam most of the day at our neighbors pool and we ran a few errands.

Purple Day

Cole had the best behavior since he started K. Green cards are good behavior and Purple cards are best behavior. He was super excited to tell me when I picked him up. He has plans when he has good days and wants to do all of them that afternoon. Go to Barnes and Noble... Go to the GYM to swim, go to Ice Cream. Unfortunately we are not able to do all those rewards at once and we are working on letting him choose which he will be doing.

I'm Sooo E-Cited!

Yep that is what Cole had to say today.. "I was a good boy today in two (holding up the peace sign w/ his sweet fingers) classes, can we go to the library (aka. Barnes and Noble) I'm soooo E-Cited!" AND SO IS MOMMY

Flip Flopping

We have been having good days in K but not in After school program or vise versa.
I'm really ready for a full day of good behavior. And I know Cole is too.

Back to the room for C

I pick up Cole in a haste, I always do. I have fears that he will do well in his K but then not do well in his after school class. So I'm always in a rush to as I say, "Save Him from Himself." I look forward to celebrating a good day at school. I want to go swimming, or eat ice cream, go to the library, go to the dollar store. I have every hope in my soul to celebrate with him a good day at school. So today I rushed out of work.. hoping and praying that the K teacher would have a nice note for me. I rush to his school in hopes to limit the time in his after school class... for fear that he may sabotage his good day by doing something wrong in there. Today I made it pretty quick; however, it didn't matter because he didn't do well in K. I arrived eager to read his note from his teacher. The note was mixed with good moments and bad moments... unfortunately, the bad's out weighed the goods and the teacher strongly felt his day was a Red day. My boy was sent to his room for the rest of the evening.
Side Note~ His teacher has worked as a Sped Teacher for 25 yrs. She made a statement to me. "I don't believe that his behavior is Autistic at all, I also don't believe that he shows Traumatic Brain Injury... He seems more Oppositional Disorder" HMMM .. We will have to see what the Dev Pediatric feels.. we are still waiting for the results. But my husband and I disagree. He is so complaint when we discipline him in our home. He is so willing to help where help is needed. I just don't know.. but we will see. And we will get a second opinion, I'm sure.

Last Night

Bye Bye privileges Ahhhh-gain

Cole hurt his friends again in his K... But no trip to the Principal and no calls from the teacher for us to pick him up. Sounds like she maybe saw it as more typical 4yr old behavior. But we are going with our normal punishment system. Thank goodness tomorrow is Sat.
side note: Great day in afterschool program.

The pets have Cole's love

I got a good message from his K teacher and his afterschool teacher.

The kiddo gets the rewards... TV...Pets...Toys... Pool... then Ice Cream.

UGH... WHAT TO DO?

The boy had a good day in K but a rough time in the after school program. So what is on his menu? Nothing special going one (ie.. no pool.. no library...no $1 store), no pets and no TV. But because he was a good boy at K we are not punishing him to his room and we are allowing him to play with his toys.

Happy Dance!

Cole had a good day. The teacher reports that he was cooperative

and followed directions well! The family is celebrating by going out to Fentons!

Back home now

We went to Fenton's to celebrate Cole's good day and to celebrate Dane's Birthday.

On the way home a lot of conversation went on about stars.

Cole had a lot to say about stars and we were most impressed!

"If you get too close to a star you will melt", "you will burn and die" , "There is lava on stars", "When you are close to a star it is big but when you are far from it they are small"

Dedicating this video to my baby boy

Praying that my baby boy comes around.

I cry each difficult day... wondering if his hard times are from his traumatic start of life....

So you had a bad day

I got a call at 2:30pm. Cole was in the office. He hurt a classmate because she was under his table and he felt that she should not had been there. He hurt his teachers who were upset with him for kicking at the little girl. He is grounded this evening and I'm praying for a better day tomorrow.

waking up to 11 boys

Well we didn't wake up to 11 of them, only 2 were awake and 6:30am and at my bedside... Tanner and Hudson. They came into our room requesting food or TV.. I'm not sure which as i was still in sleepy town even though my eyes were open. I just told them to get downstairs and to play quietly with the toys, that Dane and I will be down soon. Cole woke up and so did another child. It was when we heard Cole's voice that Dane and I looked at each other and decided that we should get down there. This was now 7am. Within 30min we had the whole rest of the house awake. The boys played very well while I made breakfast (french toast). Dane and I cleaned up their chairs from the camp fire, rolled up the sleeping bags while the boys ate their breakfast. The boys finished their breakfast and again played with all the new Birthday toys. The parents started showing up around 9am. Dane and I looked at each other and gave each other a fist pump for a successful party. The rest of our Sunday was spent with Dane and I in veggie state and Tanner and Cole playing nicely with the newly acquired toys.

Six Hrs w/ 11 boys

Tanner had his first slumber birthday party. What do you do with 11 boys for 6 hrs? They are always excited to come into a playroom w/ unfamiliar toys. That was nice because they kept them content for a little while. Next we broke out the wooden crocs for the boys to paint. Soon enough the dinner arrived... Pizza. After pizza we sang Happy Birthday to Tanner and ate cake. While we were on our sugar rush we added more sugar with s'mores around a camp fire. The boys got a little schooling on how to build a fire from Tanner's older cousins Derrick and Brett. Once the bellys were full from all the sweets, we let them run off a lot of their energy by giving each child flashlights and glow sticks. Then came time to settle down and the opening of the gifts happened. I learned this fun game while opening gifts. The birthday kiddo sits in the middle with all of his friends sitting in a circle around him w/ the gifts that they brought. The kids are given a sack "hot potato" and music is played while the sack is passed to each kid. The kid that is left w/ the sack in his hands when the music stops is the kid that gets to give his gift to the birthday kiddo. When we finished that game, it was time for PJs and brushing teeth. The boys tried to go out to the tent but they were still full of rambunctious play, so they were all pulled in to watch some Scooby Do. 11pm rolled around and we had 3 kids already asleep. Cole was the first to go.. he was super excited to sleep in the tent and slept out in it alone for at least an hour. Then came midnight and I put the rest of the kids to sleep in the tent by being a watch dog and making commands... "No more talking..... leave that alone.... turn that flashlight off... lay your head down...."
French Toast in the morning for these 11 sweet little darlings.

Cole's first week

Cole went two more days to school since last post. He did a great job on his second day and a so-so job on his third. I'm just happy that he was doing much better than his first day.
We met our Developmental Pediatrician yesterday. Dane and I spoke with her for about 40min then she had a visit with Cole for about 40min. We like her so far. Our follow up apt is yet to be set but we hope to get the results in about two weeks.

Tanner has a birthday party today. We are pretty excited as it will be Tanner's first slumber party. :o)

Anxiety

Yesterday Cole attended his first day of school. I got a call from his teacher expressing concern for Cole being in her class. His first day of school happened to be the same day as Back to School night, so I was able to talk with her regarding Cole after all of the other parents left. i gave her a lot of history on Cole. She mentioned that he doesn't respond to his name (a common thing that we have always struggled with),but he knows is name and we don't know why he does that. He also lied himself on the floor. She did say that he likes story time. She wanted to know how to give him consequences in her class. I did a lot of tossing and turning last night. I had Cole on my mind through the whole night, feeling anxiety over this whole situation and wondering what to do about this. We had an appointment set for Mon with his developmental pediatric, but she canceled and now we are set to see her on Friday. I'm having anxiety over what she will have to say.

On a good note... Tanner's teacher said that he was doing great. Nothing to worry about.
He is a bright boy and she knows to keep him busy and out of boredom.

Wild West

Silly Boys at Stockton Ports ball game