Pedal Pull

The Riley County Fair was in town this weekend. Our neighbor is the reigning champion in South Dakota in the pedal pull, so she was ready to try it this year in Kansas. So we tagged along. We have never even seen a pedal pull before but we signed Tyson up. He was sitting on the bleachers saying "No, I don't want to!" They run it by age groups and the 4 year olds were up first. Our neighbor Raina is 4 so she went first. After Tyson saw her do it, he put his game face on! His group was next. He stood in line (luckily he was number 8 so he didn't have to wait long), got on the tractor and off he went. He did awesome! It seems crazy that not even a year ago he couldn't pedal a bike, now he is on a tractor with an audience pedaling a trailer of weight!

Last Day Of Preschool

I really can't believe it, but Tyson is officially done with preschool. Kindergarten here we come! We have already met his teacher and she is a cute, young, blond so he should transition well! It just seems crazy that he is old enough to go to school all day five days a week. And I am happy to report that my biggest fear is not going to come true. He will NOT be going to kindergarten in diapers!!!!! WOOHOO!!

Tyson on his last day of preschool!

Family Update

I feel like it has been forever since I posted anything and apologize in advance for this being so long. Things have just been crazy around here. We have been traveling back to Iowa a lot for many things like dance recitals, baseball games, baby showers, more baseball games, etc. We also had a fun filled weekend of visitors over the fourth. (I will post some pics soon) We also made a trip to Kansas City for our much dreaded appointment at KU Med for the boys. As many of you know Tyson was there 1 year ago and they diagnosed him PDD-NOS. For those who are wondering what the heck that stands for, don't feel alone because a year ago we didn't have a clue either. This stands for Pervasive Development Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified and falls under the autism spectrum. If you are wanting to read more on it please visit http://www.autismspeaks.org/. Basically he did not have enough characteristics to be classified as autism. This year we went back for his 1 year evaluation. They started by telling us that he has made humongous strides in everything. They were very impressed. They ended with telling us he is now considered to have autism instead of PDD-NOS. The doctors tried to make it clear that this was not a bad thing because all his "symptoms" are mild. Seems weird to be down graded yet it be good news, huh? Well, long story short because of his strides they can now determine whether the trait is because of autism or because of development delays. He now has more that are autism traits yet they are all mild. Weird, I know. Therapies and such don't change much for him and he will be starting kindergarten in August. Wish us luck!

Next is Charlie. I had a few concerns with him so I decided to make an appointment for him since we were already going to be there and the waiting list is insane. So after a LONG morning of evaluations the doctors informed us that he was being diagnosed PDD-NOS. He has quite a few delays so far so they have some concerns with him too. Because he is so young there are not a lot of things we can do for him yet. We will get as much help as we can early and hopefully that will make this journey just a little easier than with Tyson. I just thank my lucky stars everyday that they are both so happy and so much fun to be around. We have a long road ahead of us, but we must just take it one day at a time!

Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew is a book I have been reading that I have really enjoyed. I found it on http://www.amazon.com/. Family-your copies are in the mail!

Mommy's Little Helper

Or Not!

Dear Raina...

Tyson was playing with the neighbor girls, Cadence and Raina, the other day. He apparently hit Raina on the head. Joel finds him sitting at the table with a piece of paper and pencil. Keep in mind the child really only knows how to write a "T". He reads as he writes, "Dear Raina... I am sorry for hitting you on the head."

Sorry Raina!

Baseball, Baseball, and more Baseball

Tyson finally has a new favorite movie and it is not even animated! He now loves, and I mean loves, The Sandlot. He wants to watch this movie over and over and he now quotes it. His favorite quote, "you're killin me Smalls!" He now wants us to call him Smalls, Noah (after his cousin who he watched play 2 weekends ago), Blake (another cousin he wants to be like), or Jack who plays on Noah's team. He has even convinced the neighbor girls to do this. He actually swung the bat so many times this weekend that he got a blister on his finger. Good thing the Easter Bunny brought him some batting gloves or he would have had to quit. He wanted to play baseball ALL weekend. And as you know from previous blogs, if Tyson says something in a complete sentence we do it! (We really might need some counseling for this!) Don't get me wrong though we are lovin every minute of it! I apparently forgot to take one picture during the HOURS of batting this weekend. I will post some soon!

Tyson with the Junction City General!

I'm Sure You Are All Dying to Know!

I was just sitting here wasting time on the computer, minding my own business when what do I hear? Tyson opening the bathroom door, putting the toilet seat down, placing the kid seat on the toilet, and silence. I waited... "I Pooped! Mommy, I Pooped!" I went into the bathroom to verify that it was really poop and...He had done it! And he had done it ALL BY HIMSELF!!!!! He has had one accident in the last 2 weeks. This is really scary for me to say, but, I think Tyson is officially potty-trained!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!