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...

Focus of the Day, within 5 minutes, is PURE JOY

It was a long aggravating day at work and lesson plans at the end of the work day but upon getting home, things looked up as I knew that they would. And why? Because of Ainslee, of course. That's how it always. I always know I have that sweet face to enjoy when I get home. Today, in particular, I got the best surprise ever. As soon as I got home, I said hi to Corey, put my bag down, and went to Ainslee's doorway where I saw her sitting on the end of her bed. She looked deep in thought so I said her name and she turned her head to throw me a quick glance/acknowledgement. Then I said, "Hello, Ainslee" and started to walk away (because she usually doesn't return a greeting...ever). Within a couple seconds, I heard her precious little voice say, "Hello, Mommy." I about died on the spot from love overload. I am still so excited! :)

As a result of the above, the 30 Day Mom Challenge task for today has been met, Today's mom focus: Joy. Mission completed. And, in general, that child brings me joy because she exists and is so wonderful. I love her so much and have been so blessed to get to be her mother. I couldn't ask for a better or more perfect little girl.

So, regrettably, the hustle of bustle of being back as a full time teacher and mommy has put me a little behind on my updates (and have made me quite tired).

Ainslee had a good first day back to school on Monday but missed school Tuesday and Wednesday due to the 2 hour delays with Aiken County. It was 14 degrees overnight Monday night and 20 degrees Tuesday night so, thus, the delay. Preschool/Autism Academy was cancelled both days. She went back today, stayed dry all day, and had a good day. I'm beyond grateful that she had a good day. I am forever grateful to her teachers and therapists for instilling that love and making her look forward to coming to school each week!

We had a friend come by tonight whom we haven't seen since before I got pregnant. In fact, he's only ever met Ainslee once, briefly, and it was so long ago (and sporadic) that I don't even know how old she was. Though she was Ainslee tonight and not a social butterfly, I did get her to share her cookies with both daddy (which is normal) and Caleb. She didn't know Caleb nor did she know his name but, I think, this is how smart she is: she didn't know Caleb so when I handed her a cookie and said, "will you give one to Caleb?" She kind of cocked her head, took it, walked into the living room, looked at the stranger that is actually Caleb, and fed him a cookie. Not hand him the cookie but walked up to him and shoved the cookie in his bearded (and lip ringed) mouth. She did it not once but 3 times. :) And by time 3 she was saying, "Caleb, Caleb, Caleb." When she had one cookie left I asked her who she was going to give it to, thinking full and well it would be Daddy, but she walked right up to Caleb and gave it to him. ;)

30 Day Mom Challenge is a bit behind and I think I may have missed one or two with work simply because I couldn't keep up with them daily. I definitely missed #8: Calculate how many weekends are left until your child graduates from high school. I am math stupid and don't know how to do this (nor do I have the brainpower). I'm sure it's not that difficult. If someone wants to help with this, it'd be interesting to know. #9 I think I also failed at because it was, Picture yourself at your child's age. Remember how you felt. There is no memory left in this brain of mind; I do not remember anything about myself when I was 3. None. Nada. I can't remember if I blogged on day #7 but I did do that one, Leave a sweet note for them. There was one in her room on Tuesday and I've already put one in her lunchbox for tomorrow. I'm hoping someone will read it to her. ;) I'm sure they will though. They're good like that at school.

On another note, I'm so sleepy and so was Ainslee. She was SO ready for bed (that's what happens when you refuse to nap after school for Gigi). ;)