Mommy's Little Helper...

Ainslee, very VERY briefly, helped me cut cookie dough this morning. Corey was craving lemon cookies last week so I made a batch this morning. She helped with about five (hand-over-hand) and then she resorted to tell me what shapes to cut out as she ran around the kitchen like a crazy person. It was fun though to have her around and, even though it was only 5 cookies that she "helped" with, at least it was more than none! It was because she was afraid of touching the dough/flour.

Okay, okay so I got slack. It was a busy week and last and, quite honestly, Ainslee had an icky week at school with trying to bite and such. After I got her to bed at night, all I wanted to do was shower and go to bed so I did.

I'm not sure what was up with Ainslee's biting but I have narrowed it down to two things: 1) either something (or someone) was different at school or 2) (and I think the most plausible) she was tired. Silly girl refuses to nap in the afternoons at Gigi's house so, essentially, she's not getting as much sleep as she usually does. On the flip side, she's been refusing naps for a long time so that could be a negative cause; she was having biting problems last week. Corey was off on Thursday so he picked her up, she napped when they got home, and she had a good day Friday. With that said, maybe she was tired but maybe the biting was due to just coincidence (and maybe something to do with the weather, and the crazy cold temps that floated in to SC last week).

Otherwise Ainslee is doing great: imitating more, saying more, and just blossoming! :) Love that girl.

And so the long weekend is over and tomorrow begins another whirlwind week. At least I have my girl to come home to. Oh how I love her.

Ainslee had a good weekend; lots of playing and silliness. On the flip side and not so great, a couple of attempts at biting on Friday and today when she was mad. She learns quickly though and we learned this weekend that putting her toys in a brief time out is more effective than trying to put HER in time out....especially when it's her Bubble Guppies.

Such a great girl I have!

I didn't get a chance (or have the energy) to update this week which I'm sure I've missed a lot, but it was an insane week of tantrumming and getting beat up by a student. It was ridiculous. By the time I got home each night and Ainslee to bed, I was wiped out and went to bed. 

On brighter notes, Ainslee full of imagination tonight:

1) She was playing with legos in the living room and a couple went under the couch so I had to go retrieve them. To do so, I had to get a small flashlight. It just so happened to be red. After finding the blocks, Ainslee looked at my hand and said, "red, please." I gave her the flashlight and she proceeded to look at me and say, "say ahhhhhhh." I said "ahhh" and she held the light into my open mouth. Then I told her to say "ahhh" and she opened her mouth and I looked in her mouth (for less than half a second before she closed it). Apparently my flashlight was reminding her of her dental screening a week ago at school. 

Then, just a few moments after the flashlight scenario, it was time to go potty. Ainslee asked for her cowgirl hat. She was saying, "howdy, cowboy" as we walked to the bathroom. I said, "howdy, cowgirl" in which she promptly responded with, "howdy, ma'am." 

Also before bath, I heard her correctly use a pronoun, "my." She wanted in my lap after her milk and said, "sit in my mommy's lap." It was sweet. :)

She also, at the end of Bubble Guppies, heard Nonny sneeze and she very appropriately responded with, "bless you." 

My sweet girl never hesitates to amaze me.

Short night

I hate work nights. Don't get me wrong, on most days I like my job but, on most nights I hate that I miss precious moments throughout the day with my sweet girl. I love that I have a job and a paycheck but, sadly, my girl is growing up too quickly for me to keep up. So, nights like tonight are tough. Ainslee is super tired, a little grumpy, but doing so well. Her reports from school are great and I know that she loves school. Just this morning when Breanna opened the door, she was saying hi to her. That in itself is enough to make my day. She is finally greeting someone besides inanimate objects! :)

On another note, dinner was kind of a bust tonight. I tried something new, spinach ravioli, and she took 2 bites and was done. This is what I tried: http://www.hormel.com/Brands/Compleats/Hormel-Compleats-Balanced-Selections/HORMEL%C2%AE-Compleats%C2%AE-Cheese-Spinach-Ravioli.aspx I figure 2 bites is better than none, yet I'm still baffled by how she'll eat stage 3 Earth's Best Spring Vegetables and Pasta (http://www.earthsbest.com/products/product/2392370028) baby food but not this. Anyway, she eventually ate cottage cheese & applesauce, chicken and vegetable soup (http://www.earthsbest.com/products/product/2392370039: yes, a stage 3 Earth's Best food, shoot me, but I want her to get nutrients somehow), and 3 whole wheat Ritz crackers. Y'all can judge that I occasionally resort to stage 3 food, but I want my girl to get a variety of veggies (and nutrients) however she can. Picky eating calls for desperate measures. Between this method (mostly squash, the soup I gave her tonight, and broccoli/carrots), canned sweet potatoes, and mixing corn, green beans, peas, and/or carrots in pasta, plus giving her V8 Fusion juice to drink, that's how I get fruits and veggies in her. She still likes some veggies as stage 3 baby foods (as I slowly transition her to "real" versions of it). If that makes me a bad mom, oh well. It's getting her veggies in her.

Of the 30 Day Mom Challenge, I met it without even looking at it today: Do not criticize your child today. I try to never criticize Ainslee or tell her what she did wrong. I either tell her "good trying" or try to errorless teach her. If I can't errorless teach her, I praise her for what she did do and try to correct her from an incorrect choice to a good choice or we try again. If she doesn't get it, I say "good try" and move on. Criticizing kids only discourages them so I do what I can to encourage and build her up. I'm not going to be the parent who completely frustrates their kid (at least not on purpose). I would hate and feel terribly guilty if that ever happened.

Today was a good day for Ainslee but I felt a bit icky all day and developed a headache that progressively got worse. Needless to say, I played with Ainslee when I could but she played a lot by herself some too. For this I feel horribly guilty but my head was throbbing. The kind of throbbing that intensifies with standing and being in lights. On a bright note, I did more "under blankie with Mommy" for Ainslee today which made her happy. Being under the blankie with her was fun, of course, but also helped shield my eyes from the light.

Ainslee had an okay potty day but a few accidents. She did awesome though, as always, when we went to Sam's. She requested the potty, as we knew she would, and peed in the potty. :)

I downloaded Ainslee a game today on my Kindle and Ainslee loved it! We played it after lunch and after dinner. It's really cute. If you have a Kindle Fire and your kid likes Bubble Guppies, search the Kindle store for Bubble Guppy apps. The app is here: http://www.amazon.com/Bubble-Guppies-Animal-School-Edition/dp/B00GK4SBMY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1389574197&sr=8-7&keywords=bubble+guppy+app If your kid has never watched Bubble Guppies, then they should. It's so cute (and educational)!

For 30 Day Mom Challenge, today was, pray for wisdom which I did. I try to pray every now and then for stuff, though I may not be the greatest Christian or attend church regularly, but I do pray every now and then. I notice, also, that when I pray it's usually about that sweet girl of mine about matters of her happiness and me making the right choices to help foster that and her development.

Mommy's Girl...

Today was a fun day with Ainslee. An early day (7AM) but a fun day. She was very much into being around me today which I'll take, but it was moreso than usual. She typically drinks a cup of milk after she eats her breakfast, after she eats her lunch, after she eats her dinner, and before her bath. Today though, she would say, "sit with Mommy's lap" and crawl in my lap to have her milk. She also started wanting me to sit under her blanket with her a LOT today too. She got mad at me a couple of times when I wouldn't because a) it was time to change a poop diaper or b) it was time to eat, and finally c) I was trying to put lotion on her after bath but couldn't see her legs and such under the blanket. Those moments were rough but we worked through it and I got her to wait. She's doing okay with reasoning lately (i.e. you can sit under the blanket with Mommy after you eat, and so forth). I told Corey that tomorrow we should attempt to build a fort.

I ordered Ainslee a firetruck a week ago because her favorite episode of Bubble Guppies is of Gil and the firefighters. We thought that if we got her a toy truck, she might play more interactively and maybe, just maybe, push it around. I let Corey be the good guy with Ainslee and give her the truck. He said her face lit up into a HUGE grin when she saw it. She then proceeded to play with it, piles her Bubble Guppies in it, make them go up and down the ladder, and she made the siren noises. Still not pushing the truck yet but it's only day 1.

Ainslee had an okay potty day today. She had two BM's, both in her pants, but several good dry trips to the potty to go pee-pee. Sometimes she gets to playing though and loses her dry streak. What's strange though is when we're out in public, she asks to use the restroom (because she likes them) and usually pees. For example, we went to Salsa's for dinner and she said 3 times "want to go potty" and so I took her and she peed in the potty. After dinner we went to Academy Sports and no sooner got in the door than she said, "want to go potty" so we took her. She peed in the potty. If only she could be so "with it" at home. She has it out in public and at school but not at home. I have to be doing SOMETHING wrong.

Corey and I are working on letting Ainslee walk more by herself rather than immediately putting her into the confines of a cart when going to the store. She's doing better, staying with us, and listening pretty well. She also thinks it's fun to push the cart. My only worry about her being so mobile, even though we keep our eyes on her, is her getting snatched up or running off in an instant. We live in a very, very scary world. It's bordering on a fear of mine. Autism or not, I'd worry, but especially since she has autism. Anyway, she was a good girl at Academy Sports and I got some silly pictures of her.

Today's 30 Day Mom Challenge was, Tell your child, "I am so glad that you are my son/daughter, which I did and have tried to do a lot since I saw this challenge posted on Facebook before December 30. It's a good thing to practice and good thing for kids to hear, especially this day in age. I am so glad she's my daughter, through and through. I love her with every ounce of every thing that I have. I could not (and do not want to) imagine a world without Ainslee. She is the best, most sweetest, little thing! I am so, so lucky...