"Arlo Needs Glasses" Book

“Arlo Needs Glasses”

By: Barney Saltzberg

This book is about a dog who could not play catch anymore because he needed glasses.  He has to see an eye doctor and decide which glasses he likes best. This cute book is very interactive as it has pop ups, pull tabs, Velcro, and cardboard glasses for the reader or child to try on as well. (Liam loves when I put on the funky frames and sometimes lets me put them over his actual glasses as well.) 

It’s a great book for teaching kids about getting glasses and visiting the eye doctor. I think it will come in handy later on when he begins to ask us questions about why he has to wear his glasses. Either way it’s a fun book for parents to read to their kids and interact with together.  I think on top of having fun it’s important for kids to hear that:

“The message is clear…Glasses Rock!”

A Mini Artist- Edible Finger Paints

Now I’ve been an artist, particularly a painter, since an early age in life....I would dare to say that I eat, sleep, and breathe in oils and acrylics but I’m no Picaso. (Thank God!) But I like to say I more than dabble in art.  I paid for a semester or two of college by selling pieces out of my grandparents framing shop and have  an occasional art show here and there.  So I’ve always wanted to start my kiddos out pretty early with a set of water colors and a brush.  Only, I’d never seen a mess quite like paint head to toe on a toddler, hair toes, eyes and all.  So when I came across this recipe for washable EDIBLE finger paints for kids, I was pumped.  Safe to make messes and to “accidentally” eat, because lets face it, for a one year old it’s still everything to the mouth most days.
So after researching the recipe (I didn’t like that it had corn starch in it) and a few others, I came up with a blended one of about three that I liked best.  There’s no nasty corn starch, no food colors or dyes, just four simple ingredients that most everyone has in their kitchen cupboard already.
1. 2 cup of flour
2. 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3. A dash of salt
4. Kool Aid powder packs or substitute with Pedilite, Gatorade, or Crystal Lite packets.

Mix the flour with the sugar and dash of salt  in a bowl and then slowly add warm water as you stir. The mixture will begin first to resemble a dough like consistency before turning into more of a thick soup. Once it gets to a runny soup consistency stop adding water. (It’s a lot like a paste.)

Next I divided the paste up into my smaller containers to make several different colors. (I washed and reused fruit cup containers but any bowl or cup will do.)  Then add your choice powder mix for color, stirring until you have the color you desire.  I used Pedilite packets because it is “kid safe” already and their colors are as follows:
To get:
Purple --use grape
Pinkish red -- use strawberry or fruit punch
Green -- use apple
For Orange or Yellow use Gatorade packets or Lemon flavored Crystal Lite
For Blue you can either use food coloring or mix Grape and Strawberry flavor packets.

Then Enjoy! Here are some of the pictures of Liam exploring his artistic side for the first time.

 

 

  

The Trenches--Naptime Crossroads

Naptime.  It’s the only “me” time I get these days and it’s also the only time I ever really get anything done anymore.  When Liam was little (aka before he learned to walk about) I could easily clean the house, cook, or get some writing in during his awake hours…these days I’m lucky if I can just go to the bathroom alone.  I don’t mind the constant shadow each days, most days I love the fact that he wants to be wherever his mama is, but cleaning with my little shadow is another story! You’ve heard the phrase “Cleaning the house with small children is like trying to brush your teeth while chewing up an Oreo”? Well it’s true…whatever room I go to and begin to tidy up, my shadow is right behind me to drag the toys and such back out again.  When I cook he is right at my feet wanting to be held so he can see above the counter.  Sitting him in his highchair to watch across the kitchen is not an option as he cannot see far enough and demands to be closer due to his vision. (Believe me we have tried!) Now don’t get me wrong, I love love love my little shadow, I’d rather be playing with him than cooking or cleaning any day! So I’m content to only do these things which must eventually be done during his naptime each day. 
I shove things off until the weekends when I’m home alone with Liam and I know he will nap a good hour in the morning and 2 to 2 ½ hours in the afternoon—plenty of time to write, clean, organize my house or help plan a sister’s wedding you’d think right?

So now what happens when my little shadow does not nap?

I’m not sure when exactly it started or who started it for that matter, but we’ve developed a bad habit.  The past two weekends when it is time for our nap, I proceed as usual:

-get blanket

-turn off lights

-get small toy or book

-sit down on the couch with Liam next to me NOT being held

Liam will sit there next to me fiddling with his toy or book until he’s droopy and leaning over into my lap, passed out.  Then I carry him to his crib and turn on his music. We’ve done this each naptime and every night with dada for months now and Liam has always done great, sleeping through the entire night and all. 

Enter the last two weeks.

Each time we lay him down in his crib he startles and wakes no matter how quiet and soft we are, tip toeing around and gently laying him down before we back out of the room.
Begin round one of 30 minutes of screaming, coughing, gagging, etc.

So we go in, pick him up and calm him down either rocking him in his room or sitting him back on the couch with us again.  Some nights we force him to lay back down and cry some more or pat his back until he is asleep or droopy, then we slowly or quickly back out of the room again and wait.

Begin round two of the kicking, screaming fits for another 45 minutes to an hour.

You’d think eventually he’d fall asleep but NOOO! I’ve waited a full hour to an hour and a half yet still he screams.  Full on gagging and choking and all.

The minute you pick him up or sit with him again on the sofa he falls back asleep almost instantly, so we know it’s not because he isn’t tired—he’s exhausted!

I don’t know who’s been holding him during naps or if it’s just a phase for “this age” but it’s down right annoying.  I’d love to sit around each day holding him for 3 hours of napping but then what would that accomplish? Not to mention I’d never get a thing done ever again! My house would look like a tornado passed through it, dishes piled to the ceiling we’d have to eat out every night! I don’t function well in messes and I certainly don’t function on frazzled nerves mixed with lack of sleep—which is definitely where I am after having to listen to him scream and cry for three hours a day!

What age does this fit end?

I envy these moms with three or four kids who have tidy homes and a three course meal on the table every night. How do you do it ladies? Is there a secret training technique that I missed along the way? A secret to multitasking with toddlers?

54 minutes and counting now…..55………56……57…..

I’ll take any answers or suggestions you can share right about now….

Simple All Natural Teething Gadget

Just stuff fruit in and you’re good to go! Better than Tylenol or round the clock Oraljel, this teething gadget uses fresh fruit straight from your fridge to soothe sore baby gums and even keep them hydrated! Healthy and safe, and did I mention mess free, all the child has to do is hold the ring and suck or chew on the mesh fabric section. Most of the juice in the fruit will be sucked out within the first few minutes but the longer the child chews, the more the fruit chunks will break down and seep through the netting for them to also consume.  Liam enjoys lots of fruit this way all the way down to the seeds.  The clean up for mommy afterwards is simple and quick so you know I love it even more! It has quickly become our favorite cold teething trick this summer! (Liam does not even mind that one of his is pink!)

Erasable Love Notes

When Brian and I attended the NOAH Conference for Liam’s Albinism, we sat in on a session called “Team Parenting”. It was geared towards making sure both parents of a special needs child did not feel neglected by their spouse or like they were taking on the majority of the “work load” in the household. Part of the conversation was on making sure that your spouse and you kept in contact daily—in phone conversations, text messages, leaving small notes, etc. Several of the parents gave some examples of things they do daily just to let the other person know that they care like leaving love notes for them throughout the home/work, doing mid-week lunch dates, morning coffee together, or evening walks around the block. (For me, I had heard all of this once before in our pre-marital counseling that we did through our church years ago but Brian said for him, reinforcing it by hearing it again was a good reminder.)

 One of the dads mentioned that his wife stole an idea off of Pinterest and that he and she both use it to leave each other little messages each week. I too had seen this done on Pinterest, I’d even “repined” it 6 months before, but—since my hubby is NOT on Pinterest—Brian had never heard of this. (Laugh all you want but he thought it was cute.) So crafty me, when I got home one evening and had some free time, I put our own together and placed it on our nightstand for him to see. He laughed initially but I bet he uses it eventually. (Fingers crossed at least!)

*If it does not work for our little love notes at least it will work in my kitchen for a to-do list and a weekly menu!

Bonus: It costs under $10 to make (depending on size frame)!!

Picture frame

Choice scrapbook paper

Dry erase markers

Multiple prints and multiple uses: To-Do lists, Menus, Love Notes....

Inside Parenting a Child with Special Needs: "Welcome to Holland"

Recently I received a copy of this poem written by Emily Perl Kingsley that I though I just had to share. I don’t talk about Liam’s condition of Albinism very much here as we write mostly on his own blog for our family and friends and those in our Albinism family to keep up with there, but I thought that this poem hit me more as a parent and as a parent of a special needs child and that even other parents with normal healthy kids ought to read this. It gives you a great picture of what life is like for parents raising disabled kids and answers the number one question that I always get from people when they hear about Liam’s Albinism…. “What is it like raising a visually impaired child?”  So for those who wondered……

 

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved. Borrowed from:

http://www.our-kids.org/Archives/Holland.html

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.