Hello, Tooth Fairy??

Isaiah lost one of his top, front teeth today. It's been loose for over a week and was ever-so-disgustingly hanging by a freakin fiber for the last two days. I wanted to just yank it in his sleep because I was so grossed out by unnatural ways he could move it around. lol

It came out at some point during school today and his friends have been hyping it up to him that the two top, front teeth are worth the most money. Whatever amount that is, I'm not too sure. So I need to talk to this Tooth Fairy person and see if they will put some $$ under Isaiah's pillow in exchange for his tooth. She can seek reimbursement from the Dish and Laundry Fairy, who owes me BIG TIME, since that bitch keeps forgetting to come by my house and do her duty.

More!

"You will never, ever take progress for granted. Every milestone met, no matter what the timing, will be cause for celebration. Every baby step will be a quantum leap." -diary of a mom

There have never been words that were more true! In an effort to bridge the communication gap between us, we recently started to introduce "Baby Signs" to Liam, which are signs for basic needs like "more", "milk", "eat", etc. This morning, Liam signed the gesture for "more" and handed me his sippy cup! My heart leapt with excitement and I scooped my baby up and we danced and giggled throughout the living room. This is a huge milestone because, although he has been doing the gesture with his hands for a couple of days, I never really knew whether he was just imitating me or if he actually knew what it meant. But this morning, I knew that he knew the meaning when he handed me the empty sippy cup after he signed his need.

I'm super excited because I'm learning what I can do to help Liam progress forward. And when he does, no matter when or how small the step, I can't help but jump for joy.

Soccer Saturdays!

Oh, how I LOVE our Saturdays! I love, love, love packing up the kids and some snacks, heading to the soccer field and cheering for these dedicated Under-7 boys who just tear it up! Go Tracy Fireballs!
I never imagined I'd one day be that crazy, screaming, over-excited mother on the sidelines as my big guy brings that ball toward the goal. The excitement is too much! Last weekend, I was advised to sit down...I think people are more worried about me falling on my pregnant ass and hurting myself than anything else. Soooo embarassing.

I should also mention that last weekend, the Fireballs played against "The Best Team in the World". Yes, that was their team's official name. Awesome? Yes! Even more awesome that the Fireballs won that game, 2-1. So the kids are pretty excited that they won against the best team in the world. ;)

This soccer stuff is some serious biz, people.
Our cheer section. lol Can you sense the excitement as Mikey picks his nose?

Soccer momz. woot woot!

Isaiah charging after that ball!

Post-game huddle
Super proud Papa & Mama!

This is harder than I imagined!

We have recently switched Liam to a gluten-free, casein-free diet (gfcf diet) after talking with a few friends with kids with autism and doing a ton of reading on it. Everything I've read says that it can help with various digestive problems and food intolerances that kids with autism are often affected with. So, Shawn and I figured...what the hell, let's give it a try.

I say it's harder because 1) it's more expensive to buy the special foods that Liam can eat and 2) we have three kids who love to eat together, so you can just imagine the level of control needed in order to keep things from getting to Liam that he is not supposed to have.

But, the hardest part is when I walk into the room and find this scenario....
Two brothers sitting on the sofa watching Go, Diego, Go! Mikey was munching on froot loops and is happily sharing with Liam, and Liam is even happier to accept the unallowed goodies. What is a mother to do?! If I hadn't noticed various changes and improvements in Liam since we started this diet, I may have just said, "To hell with it! Enjoy those froot loops, boys..." But since the gfcf diet has been doing him some good, I traded the fun, red box for his favorite gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. I like to believe that he'll thank me one day....LOL