Shift of Attention- Peyton turns four!
This weekend, we celebrated our baby turning four! How is that possible?
He has brought so much sunshine to many cloudy days. Even though he has grown up surrounded by atypical behaviors, a seemingly unfair amount of attention on his brother, spent more time in his carseat traveling to doctors appointments and therapy visits as an infant than most, and has to spend his real birthday tomorrow in the hospital with Hunter, instead of at home playing with his new toys....
he has somehow, someway, remained sweet, gracious, and caring. He crawls in bed with us in the morning, puts his little hand around my neck, and whispers, "I love you so much, Mommy."
Sweet bliss.
I was pregnant with Peyton when Hunter's Autism symptoms really surfaced, more intense and more socially withdrawn. I remember praying, PLEASE God, give us a girl. I knew the chances of having a second child with Autism were higher if that child was a boy. Of course, a few weeks before his diagnosis, we found out our new baby would be Hunter's little brother.
With shameful admittance, I was devastated. I couldn't handle the thought of raising two children with special needs. We knew in our hearts that something had changed medically with Hunter to cause his Autism, but we weren't in that stage of our journey to have validation that PANDAS truly occurred. So what if I had been blind to early symptoms, and this second boy baby would be the same? Or, unimaginably, more severe?
Yes, those horrible thoughts ran through my head. Not horrible for the extent of the possibilities of who this child could be; but the fact that I was "devastated" for even a minute about being given the gift of another child. I was about to be the mother of three children- a situation that some women long for.
But looking back on it all- I truly believe we were blessed to bring another son into our lives to show us and remind us of who Hunter used to be- the similarities are not only in looks, but in actions...
...to show us that we didn't imagine an unimaginable change...
...and to give us hope of bringing Hunter back to his pre-PANDAS state.
So this weekend, we celebrated this beautiful ray of light who has brightened even the rainiest of days. He is our "Master Builder"- this kid LOVES his legos. He has gone from destroying all of Paige's creations (and a few of our friends' sets- sorry A and G :)) to building a set from start to finish with just a little help. I created a LEGO experience for Peyton's preschool friends(and their siblings)- we kept it small and invited just his class to celebrate this big guy's special day.
We had to make a morning run to get the lego smiley face balloons for each kiddo to take home...
Peter built this utensil holder for us!
Paige and our neighbor were the Master Builder Helpers...they helped get the numbers from the kids,
and led the Lego hunt in the backyard.
We hid these Lego faces all over the house, and they had to find one for a later game. Time to go outside!
The birthday boy found a few legos, but instead of hunting, he started building a spaceship!
Then, it was time for pin the head on the Lego Man. They used the face they found in the house and had fun playing this old-school game.
After pinning the head, we gifted all of the kiddos a new lego set, with their own working station, to encourage these Master Builders to use their skills!
So happy fourth, big guy. Time needs to slow down...I am soaking up every minute with this baby of mine.
IVIG number 10 starts bright and early tomorrow morning. Please say a prayer for my other (much bigger) baby boy.
He has brought so much sunshine to many cloudy days. Even though he has grown up surrounded by atypical behaviors, a seemingly unfair amount of attention on his brother, spent more time in his carseat traveling to doctors appointments and therapy visits as an infant than most, and has to spend his real birthday tomorrow in the hospital with Hunter, instead of at home playing with his new toys....
he has somehow, someway, remained sweet, gracious, and caring. He crawls in bed with us in the morning, puts his little hand around my neck, and whispers, "I love you so much, Mommy."
Sweet bliss.
I was pregnant with Peyton when Hunter's Autism symptoms really surfaced, more intense and more socially withdrawn. I remember praying, PLEASE God, give us a girl. I knew the chances of having a second child with Autism were higher if that child was a boy. Of course, a few weeks before his diagnosis, we found out our new baby would be Hunter's little brother.
With shameful admittance, I was devastated. I couldn't handle the thought of raising two children with special needs. We knew in our hearts that something had changed medically with Hunter to cause his Autism, but we weren't in that stage of our journey to have validation that PANDAS truly occurred. So what if I had been blind to early symptoms, and this second boy baby would be the same? Or, unimaginably, more severe?
Yes, those horrible thoughts ran through my head. Not horrible for the extent of the possibilities of who this child could be; but the fact that I was "devastated" for even a minute about being given the gift of another child. I was about to be the mother of three children- a situation that some women long for.
But looking back on it all- I truly believe we were blessed to bring another son into our lives to show us and remind us of who Hunter used to be- the similarities are not only in looks, but in actions...
...to show us that we didn't imagine an unimaginable change...
...and to give us hope of bringing Hunter back to his pre-PANDAS state.
So this weekend, we celebrated this beautiful ray of light who has brightened even the rainiest of days. He is our "Master Builder"- this kid LOVES his legos. He has gone from destroying all of Paige's creations (and a few of our friends' sets- sorry A and G :)) to building a set from start to finish with just a little help. I created a LEGO experience for Peyton's preschool friends(and their siblings)- we kept it small and invited just his class to celebrate this big guy's special day.
We had to make a morning run to get the lego smiley face balloons for each kiddo to take home...
was a little bit of a challenge to get them all in the car...
and an even bigger challenge to find my children amidst the smiley faces.
 |
| Guess the number of Legos in the jar |
Peter built this utensil holder for us!
 |
| We covered the juice boxes to look like Legos |
 |
| My sweet, sweet, talented friend made this cake for Peyton's party! AMAZING! |
and led the Lego hunt in the backyard.
We hid these Lego faces all over the house, and they had to find one for a later game. Time to go outside!
The birthday boy found a few legos, but instead of hunting, he started building a spaceship!
SUCCESS!!
These sweet boys decided to take it inside...
....and these sweet girls took it to the playhouse
The Birthday Boy's finished product!
Then it was time for pizza, fruits and veggies, and other "lego" shaped treats
And then, the moment he had been waiting for...time to sing to this birthday boy! Hunter wanted to share his seat, and kissed his cheek, but screamed and left as soon as the song started.
Make a wish, buddy!
And time to enjoy that yummy cake!
IVIG number 10 starts bright and early tomorrow morning. Please say a prayer for my other (much bigger) baby boy.
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