Sunday, January 1, 2012
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Baby Grins and Giggles
Because we can all use more baby cuteness in our lives, here's your daily dose, courtesy of Miss Bug:
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Dynamo turns 2!
Our little Dynamo turned two last Friday! Hard to believe this little chunker is the same baby that spent time in the NICU.
Dynamo is such a fun guy. He is sweet and cuddly, giving hugs and kisses one minute, and then the next is up and going, a human tornado! All boy, he loves getting messy, rocks and dirt, anything with wheels and dinosaurs. His current loves are bubbles (especially in baths) and "blup, blups" which we finally figured out are fishies!
To celebrate, I put together a Thomas the Train party for him. Just the Mister and me, my mom (aka Nana) and the kids. It was very simple and low-key.
As much as I'd like to, we can't really do parties with a lot of people and noise. It drives Superman up the wall with his sensory issues and autism. Ironically, the last big party we did was for Superman's second birthday - a wild, over-the-top Spongebob undersea bash. Superman spent the whole party in the kitchen with my mom crying into her shoulder and rocking back and forth. Two weeks later, we got his diagnosis.
Despite the lack of guests and pomp, the birthday boy had a wonderful time!
There were paper party hats:
A homemade birthday banner, balloons and Thomas the train tablecloth:
Lots of food, family and goofy grins:
Presents wrapped in beautiful, expensive paper ;)
And a birthday cake, which was a little wonky-looking, but greatly enjoyed by two candy loving little boys whose mama rarely lets them have a lot of sugar:
We finished up a super birthday with a bubble bath so Dynamo could play with his new Thomas the train bath toys and then snuggled up on the couch in our jammies to watch his new Thomas DVD. All in all, a very nice birthday indeed!
Dynamo is such a fun guy. He is sweet and cuddly, giving hugs and kisses one minute, and then the next is up and going, a human tornado! All boy, he loves getting messy, rocks and dirt, anything with wheels and dinosaurs. His current loves are bubbles (especially in baths) and "blup, blups" which we finally figured out are fishies!
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| Yummy cookies! |
To celebrate, I put together a Thomas the Train party for him. Just the Mister and me, my mom (aka Nana) and the kids. It was very simple and low-key.
As much as I'd like to, we can't really do parties with a lot of people and noise. It drives Superman up the wall with his sensory issues and autism. Ironically, the last big party we did was for Superman's second birthday - a wild, over-the-top Spongebob undersea bash. Superman spent the whole party in the kitchen with my mom crying into her shoulder and rocking back and forth. Two weeks later, we got his diagnosis.
Despite the lack of guests and pomp, the birthday boy had a wonderful time!
There were paper party hats:
 |
| The Mister, rocking the paper hat look. |
A homemade birthday banner, balloons and Thomas the train tablecloth:
 | |
| The birthday boy, Miss Bug and Superman |
Lots of food, family and goofy grins:
 |
| Nana and Dynamo |
Presents wrapped in beautiful, expensive paper ;)
 |
| His lovely presents, still in the sack from the store. |
And a birthday cake, which was a little wonky-looking, but greatly enjoyed by two candy loving little boys whose mama rarely lets them have a lot of sugar:
 |
| Dynamo and Superman attacking the cake |
We finished up a super birthday with a bubble bath so Dynamo could play with his new Thomas the train bath toys and then snuggled up on the couch in our jammies to watch his new Thomas DVD. All in all, a very nice birthday indeed!
Monday, June 6, 2011
The Heat is On!
Not a lot going on in our neck of the woods - just laying low indoors to beat the heat! Our apartment complex opened the pool last weekend and try as we might, we've only been once, despite the repeated pleas of Superman - "Wa-her, mommy?" We were all set to go last evening, bodies slathered in sunscreen, swim diapers in place, everyone wearing matching sandals (a minor miracle, I know)!
Then, a crash, and a boom, and the sky grew dark and the rain started falling. Sigh. We were able to persuade the boys that splashing in the tub in their swim trunks was an acceptable alternative and happily Superman handled the sudden change of plans well. We'll try again this evening, fingers crossed!
I have a post I'm getting together about Dynamo's 2nd birthday last Friday. It was nothing fancy - just the Mister and me, the kids and my mom (aka Nana). Dynamo is obsessed with Thomas the train and anything wheeled right now, so I threw together a quick little shindig, complete with a homemade banner (during the construction of which I discovered I am NOT an artist) and poorly constructed train cake.
In the meantime, please enjoy this lovely picture of Superman's first time in a pool, when he was 7 months old.
I also wanted to say, "Hi" and "Welcome!" *giggles insanely and waves madly falling off the couch in glee* Imagine my surprise and elation when I logged in this morning and saw I had two followers - WOW - it truly made my day!
Then, a crash, and a boom, and the sky grew dark and the rain started falling. Sigh. We were able to persuade the boys that splashing in the tub in their swim trunks was an acceptable alternative and happily Superman handled the sudden change of plans well. We'll try again this evening, fingers crossed!
I have a post I'm getting together about Dynamo's 2nd birthday last Friday. It was nothing fancy - just the Mister and me, the kids and my mom (aka Nana). Dynamo is obsessed with Thomas the train and anything wheeled right now, so I threw together a quick little shindig, complete with a homemade banner (during the construction of which I discovered I am NOT an artist) and poorly constructed train cake.
In the meantime, please enjoy this lovely picture of Superman's first time in a pool, when he was 7 months old.
 | |
| So tiny - be still my heart! |
I also wanted to say, "Hi" and "Welcome!" *giggles insanely and waves madly falling off the couch in glee* Imagine my surprise and elation when I logged in this morning and saw I had two followers - WOW - it truly made my day!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Rainbow goodness!
Our oldest son, Superman, just finished up his first year of pre-school. The school he attends is unique in our community in that it is the only pre-school that integrates typically-developing children and those with special needs.
For a child like Superman, who is autistic, a group setting such as a classroom can be sheer torture if not handled in a certain way by someone who has experience working with children who share his unique medical concerns. Luckily, all the teachers at his school are incredibly well-trained and have years of experience in special-needs education and childcare.
Last Tuesday Superman's class had a small End-of-the-Year Party to celebrate all the hard work and progress that the kids have made during the past year. I love baking and coming up with fun ways to decorate cupcakes and cakes, and since it was my turn to be a "party mom" we decided to bake cupcakes as our contribution.
I had made these rainbow cupcakes using a tutorial found here for Superman's class when we celebrated his third birthday back in January. His teacher, Ms. K, told me how much the kids had enjoyed them, so I decided it was a good place to start!
Inspired by a cake I had seen on the same site as the cupcake tutorial, I spent some time brainstorming and came up with an idea I thought would be pretty neat. The Mister even said how cute it was and if you know us, you know that is effusive praise indeed!
Before we had kids, The Mister was really not into things like this and it always took a certain amount of pushing on my part to get him excited about parties, cakes and the like. Now that Superman, Dynamo and Miss Bug have arrived and are getting older, though, he is really starting to get actively involved and excited about planning holidays and birthdays.
But back to the cupcakes! I used vanilla icing (dyed blue) for the water and sprinkled the tops with blue sanding sugar. Two colorful goldfish crackers and a teddy graham cookie inside a gummi lifesaver "inner tube" later and this is what we had:
These took no time to put together - honestly, the most time-consuming aspect was layering the different colored batters in the cupcake liners! The kids LOVED them and the adults did too. It was a great way to end an exciting year!
I wish I had gotten some pictures of the kids eating the cupcakes, icing-covered cheeks, blue tongues and all but the batteries in my camera died right after I took the pictures of the cupcakes the night before the party. Oh well - maybe next time!
 |
| Superman: a self-portrait, or Why Mommy shouldn't leave the camera sitting on the couch unattended while she takes a potty break! |
For a child like Superman, who is autistic, a group setting such as a classroom can be sheer torture if not handled in a certain way by someone who has experience working with children who share his unique medical concerns. Luckily, all the teachers at his school are incredibly well-trained and have years of experience in special-needs education and childcare.
Last Tuesday Superman's class had a small End-of-the-Year Party to celebrate all the hard work and progress that the kids have made during the past year. I love baking and coming up with fun ways to decorate cupcakes and cakes, and since it was my turn to be a "party mom" we decided to bake cupcakes as our contribution.
 |
| We cut into an extra cupcake before icing and decorating the rest to make sure the rainbow effect worked. Of course, we had to taste test as well! |
I had made these rainbow cupcakes using a tutorial found here for Superman's class when we celebrated his third birthday back in January. His teacher, Ms. K, told me how much the kids had enjoyed them, so I decided it was a good place to start!
Inspired by a cake I had seen on the same site as the cupcake tutorial, I spent some time brainstorming and came up with an idea I thought would be pretty neat. The Mister even said how cute it was and if you know us, you know that is effusive praise indeed!
Before we had kids, The Mister was really not into things like this and it always took a certain amount of pushing on my part to get him excited about parties, cakes and the like. Now that Superman, Dynamo and Miss Bug have arrived and are getting older, though, he is really starting to get actively involved and excited about planning holidays and birthdays.
 |
| The Mister getting the stroller ready during a trip to the aquarium last year. |
But back to the cupcakes! I used vanilla icing (dyed blue) for the water and sprinkled the tops with blue sanding sugar. Two colorful goldfish crackers and a teddy graham cookie inside a gummi lifesaver "inner tube" later and this is what we had:
 |
| The finished product! |
These took no time to put together - honestly, the most time-consuming aspect was layering the different colored batters in the cupcake liners! The kids LOVED them and the adults did too. It was a great way to end an exciting year!
I wish I had gotten some pictures of the kids eating the cupcakes, icing-covered cheeks, blue tongues and all but the batteries in my camera died right after I took the pictures of the cupcakes the night before the party. Oh well - maybe next time!
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