We Beat the Lollipops

Drew just came up to me and said, "I love you and Dad more than candy, licorice, lollipops and cake with icing."  That really means a lot coming from him. :)

Florida Vacation

At the beginning of March we planned an impromptu Florida vacation.  Mitch came home with the idea and a little over a week later we were packed into the van heading south for a week.  I figure if your husband comes home suggesting a beach vacation you quickly make it happen before he changes his mind.  It was such an unexpected but definitely needed break and lined up really well with Drew's school schedule so he only missed a day and a half of class.

We planned to leave on Friday and poor Cade got sick and was throwing up Wednesday and Thursday.  We woke up Friday unsure whether we would be heading out that morning but when we got up we realized Cade was in the playroom and back to his old self.  Armed with a sickness kit in case things went bad we hit the road.  We drove 13 hours the first day and the boys did so good.  The second day we still had six hours and they were ready to be done.  There was way too much excitement to be at the beach house to sit in the car for that long.  On the way we stopped at fun places like Metropolis, IL to see all the Superman items.  Not sure who liked it more; Mitch or the little boys.      

Once at the beach we lazily spent the first few hours of our mornings waiting for it to warm up outside.  It was in the 60s every day but the mornings were pretty chilly on the beach.  There were pretty high winds most days too so that didn't make it any warmer.  Once it finally got warm enough, we all headed out to play in the sand.  Drew and Cade loved digging holes and throwing sand into the water.  Mace on the other hand didn't really enjoy much about the beach.  He played for about ten minutes and then would get up a wander off.  He would either head back up to the house or sometimes someone else's house or down the beach crying most of the way.  I would just chase him around trying to get him to have a good time.  Then we would head in for lunch and a nap. While Mace napped the older two would head back to the beach to play more.  On the days I stayed up at the house with Mace I got to sit on the deck basking in the sun reading a couple magazines and a book.  It was exactly why I wanted to take the trip.  Watching the boys having a blast on the beach, sitting relaxing in the sun, reading a book.  Does it get better?  Well, another 10 degrees warmer would have made it better but I'm not going to complain one bit.  

View from our deck

One of the days we headed out to visit a nearby zoo.  The boys had a good time checking out all of the animals and riding the train through the 30 acre area where they let the animals roam free. It was more like a natural habitat and was really cool to see.  The weather was perfect for us that day to be able to spend the day walking around.

Cade at the zoo

One morning Mitch and the boys headed out to a local doughnut shop that Mitch had found on the internet.  They came home with a box full of yummy.  Note from the picture below that Mitch came home with 11 doughnuts for five people.  Apparently everything was looking good to him that morning.

Doughnut run

Boys enjoying the doughnuts

This is what Mace thought of the beach

Drew & Cade playing in the water

After a week on the beach it was sadly time to pack up to head home.  On the morning we planned to leave, Mace woke us up two minutes before our alarms were about to go off.  He was sick again which is not the ideal situation for being in a car for two days.  After throwing up twice before we left and once in the van we made the decision to make the whole trip home in one day.  We never erven got out of the car for meals and briefly stretched legs at gas stations.  By 9:00 that night poor Cade was crying that his butt hurt and we all felt his pain.  We powered through and made it home in 18 hours.  It ended up being a really good decision because the next morning Drew joined in the sickness.  I guess with three little boys you just never know what to expect.  At least the sickness came at the end of the trip and we were still able to have a great family vacation.  Can't wait to do it again soon.

Cade's Big Changes

When you look at Cade's life over the last couple weeks it has changed dramatically.  So much so that I really can't even believe it.  Last Monday I took him to the doctor for his three year check.  In talking to the doctor we discussed the lack of potty training that was happening in our house.  I informed her that I didn't think Cade would ever want to potty on the toilet.  He has said that he's scared of sitting on the toilet and that he wants to wear diapers forever.  Nothing we tried was even slightly successful in getting him to do anything on the toilet.  The doctor told me a story about her daughter who was also scared of the potty.  Her daughter's really wanted a pair of ballet slippers so every time she was on the potty for a little bit she could play with the slippers for 10 minutes.  I realized that for Cade we had been thinking too small scale with candy and other things as an incentive.  That morning he had mentioned to me that we needed to go to the movie store to buy a Larryboy toy.  Apparently he thinks there's a store somewhere that has all the toys from movies that he watches.  So, on the way home from the doctor I decided to give the doctor's theory a try.  We stopped at Lemstone to see what they had and we found a Larryboy helicopter with action figures.  That afternoon we started letting him play with it for 10 minutes every time he sat on the potty.  You know what?  He sat right on there no longer scared and crying like we had experienced the last six months.  

Throughout the week he started asking me to go sit on the potty so he'd be able to play with his new toy.  Then on Saturday Mitch and I decided we were going to see if we could get him to sit there for an extended period of time after lunch to see what would happen.  We told him there would be an extra special surprise if he was successful in going potty.  The three of us camped out in the bathroom for probably half an hour talking and looking at pictures on Mitch's phone trying to distract him long enough.  Then it happened.  He pottied!! As soon as Mace woke up from his nap we packed everyone into the car and headed out for celebratory ice cream at Orange Leaf.  By Sunday he was going so well we decided to let him wear big boy underwear.  So far we have been to my parents house, out for dinner, and to my sisters house all in underwear with no accidents during those outings.  He cries now if we put him in a diaper.  

Just all of a sudden he has completely made a change.  Once he understood what was happening he picked right up on it and is doing great.  He has had accidents a couple times during quiet time and immediately comes crying because he doesn't like that his pants are wet - an encouraging sign.  I hope he keeps on track and I can start working on Mace so I have no more diapers in this house.  That would be so awesome.

Later last Monday after Cade's doctor's appointment he had speech.  The therapist shocked me by telling me she wanted to test Cade again because she wants to discharge him.  I know that he still has lots of issues with his speech abilities but he has come such a long way over the last year.  He has been catching on so fast to her articulation lessons and she thinks he's ready to be done.  I think part of it is that he doesn't like going any more and she's having a hard time getting him to do anything lately.  So this Monday she finished her testing and recommended discharge.  He still actually qualifies for therapy with his test results but was only one point away.  We decided a break would be good for him and we'll continue to work with him at home.  If we feel that he's falling behind again we can always get him tested again and back in for more therapy.  Right now he's just really excited to not have to go there every week.