Aidan has also had a great week at Brain Balance, earning three rewards out of four days! He is working SO hard, and I am so proud of his efforts. His first star came on Monday, and he earned a trip to the treasure box too! (He starts each session with 6 stickers, losing stickers for misbehavior or non-compliance. When he earns 20 stickers, he gets to go to the treasure box. He has done a GREAT job lately of keeping most, if not all, of his stickers each session!) Afterwards, we met up with Alana and the little boys at PLAY place for some fun!
Tuesday, we picked up Alana and headed into Atlanta to the Children's Museum. The boys LOVE the museum, and we always have so much fun. The boys seem to discover something new almost every time we visit - this time, Aeson played with these very cool spinning magnets for quite a while!
There was a special treat at the museum this week as well - TRAINS! There was an interactive and super cool train exhibit there, with tons of buttons that the kids could push to turn on lights, make planes fly around, and make all sorts of things move or spin within the display. They LOVED it!
Wednesday, I had to take my van to the Volkswagen Dealership to have one of the sliding doors repaired. I realized at the dealership that I'd left my driver's license home in Savannah (BIG oops), and so getting a loaner car for the day was going to be a problem. Thankfully, Grandma Jean and Ange saved the day, locating my license and faxing a copy to the dealership for me (Thanks ladies, you are the BEST!) Instead of being at the dealership for 30 minutes, we were there for an hour and a half...Grrrr! Swapping out the car seats was quite a challenge, but a friendly VW employee entertained the monkeys on the bench while I did the grunt work. Going from my nice and spacious van to a Jetta for the day was no picnic - the kids could all reach each other and were intent on driving one another crazy, but we managed. Aidan earned another reward at Brain Balance, this time an apple, while Alana played with the little boys at PLAY place.
Later that afternoon, Alana and Aunt Kris kept the little boys while Aidan and I returned the Jetta and retrieved the van. All fixed - even got the oil changed too...;) The great car seat swap was MUCH easier with only one monkey in the car - thanks Alana and Aunt Kris! Afterwards, we stopped at Yogli Mogli for a well-deserved treat!
It was too late to swim at the pool, so the boys settled for a bubble bath in Gogi's tub!
We had an awesome surprise for Aidan waiting in our mailbox when we got home - a sweet note from our neighbor, Lydia! Lydia is Aidan's girlfriend, and he misses her so very much - he was super excited to get his letter!
He even made me photograph and save the envelope. Lydia wrote "Miss You" on the back, and put cute cat and dog stickers all over it! SO sweet!
Aidan came inside with her letter, and immediately pulled out paper and markers to write her a note back. I was trying to get everyone ready for bed, and suggested he write her back the next morning. His response? "Mom, I can't do ANYTHING until I write Lydia back." Choosing not to pick this battle, I agreed to 10 minutes while I changed the little boys and got them ready for bed. Exactly ten minutes later, we were putting the finishing touches on the envelope - I DID have to put my foot down about not taking him directly to the mailbox to mail his letter. He finally agreed that first thing in the morning was fair - our postman doesn't come until after lunch time anyway! Look at what a great job he did, all by himself!
Thursday was our last day with Alana for a whole week (she's at the beach right now with her folks for a well-deserved vacation!) She and the little boys played at PLAY place while Aidan had his session at Brain Balance. Afterwards, we joined them at PLAY place, and everyone had tons of fun jumping into the foam pit! Even Ash got in on the action!
We had another surprise waiting in our mailbox that afternoon - packages for the boys from Uncle Skip, Aunt Pamela, Colleen and Daniel! The boys ripped into their packages too quickly for me to get a "before" picture, but here they are with their new treasures! Thanks Uncle Skip, Aunt Pamela, Colleen and Daniel! ;)
Later that afternoon, we went swimming with Alana and her friend Miranda (the "cousin stealer"), and everyone had fun! Look at how well Aidan is swimming now - he is getting better and more confident every single day!
That night, Alana and Miranda kept the sleeping monkeys and Gogi and I headed to the Dixie Tavern to hear Southern Ground Recording Artist Levi Lowrey play. It was awesome! After the show, Levi signed a CD for Aidan - he remembered meeting Aidan at a BBQ festival back in April, and asked how he was doing with Brain Balance! He was even sweet enough to say "hello" to my little man on video! Thanks Levi - you made his day!
Levi has a facebook fan page, a website (www.levilowrey.com), and an awesome new album called "I confess I was a fool" available on itunes. Please check him out!
Today, the little boys went to the Care Room at play (kind of like a Mother's Morning Out) which they love, and Aidan and I headed to Brain Balance. (We miss you, Alana and Gogi - hope you're having a blast!) I had a very informative meeting with Summer, the behavioral specialist at Brain Balance, while Aidan earned yet another star for the Brain Balance wall AND another trip to the treasure box! (I will give you all the details of my meeting with Summer next time - we are working on a system for home to target and eliminate some of Aidan's behaviors. I think it is going to help a lot, and I can't wait to get started!)
We counted all of Aidan's rewards on the wall today - he has ELEVEN! We put them all in a row for a photo, and he took the photo himself!
We took a dip in the pool here at our condo after dinner! I thought this was a funky and cool photo of Aidan!
We even packed up and decorated a little surprise for Daddy - fingers crossed we can get it in the mail very soon! We miss you, Daddy!
And finally, I told you all about Aidan's recent Bon Jovi addiction. Well, here's proof! Enjoy the belly laugh!
Much love,
Allie
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