Swimming in Winter

We had Isabelle's birthday party at a local fitness center pool. It turned out to be the perfect day for it as we had a light snowfall the evening before. Everyone was cold and appreciated the retreat into the heated 85 degree pool. The kids also tried out the hot tub and the sauna (to dry off and warm towels).

As little sisters can be, Belle had made up her mind that her brother wasn't invited to her party. She was adamant about it and he had somehow decided along the way that he wasn't going to go. Of course, we wanted him to attend but the kids sometimes decide these things for us. Thankfully, the day of the party she decided he could come. He took some coaxing but when we told him he could go swimming - he was definitely interested. The hour in the pool seemed to fly by. The little kids were playing with pool noodles, kickboards, and water aerobic barbells and Alex joined in. He floated around (with a bubble on his back, that he probably didn't need but all the little kids had them and since no adults were actually in the water - it was a safety decision). Alex loved swimming and had a blast at the party. I really enjoyed watching him float around and attempt to swim under the water with the bubble on his back - a challenge). The water is so calming for him and excellent exercise. It makes me wish we had access to a pool year round for him.

From a Real Housewife of the Jersey Shore

From a Real Housewife of the Jersey Shore

MTV's Jersey Shore reality show has the locals all a-flutter. I heard on the radio how a lot of advertisers were pulling out because of the "Italian-American" controversy and the whole guido issue. I also heard that many of these same advertisers didn't stay out for very long when they saw how the ratings picked up. It also seems the advertisers aren't the only ones who can't agree about Jersey Shore.

At least that is how it looks from my facebook friends news-feed and recent invitations. First, I got invited to become a fan of the pages Boycott MTVs Jersey Shore, Cuz REAL Jersey isnt guido!!!! and People from New Jersey DO NOT act like " MTV's Jersey Shore" cast!!! Clicking over to my "live feed" news-feed I read a newsbreaking must-read very important "story" that my best friend's Jersey Shore Nickname is The Paris Hilton of Trenton with an invitation for me to try the What is Your Jersey Shore Nickname? generator and to become a fan of the same. Either way, pledging my allegiance to the first camp of anti-Jersey Shore or claiming a Jersey Shore Name of My Own would be published to however hundred FB "friends" I have and all the world to see including my mother. Ah, the joy of Facebook.

Here we go again, New Jersey's getting (in)famous by yet another misrepresented reality TV show.

First we had Bravo's The Real Housewives of New Jersey and now MTV's Jersey Shore. Neither represent my demographic even though there is some relevance. You see, I am indeed a real housewife/mom and I do live at the Jersey Shore. People who have never been to New Jersey get the impression that these shows are what "New Jersey is all about" which is a far stretch. Although, I do believe there is a small glimmer of truth in what and who they portray even if I have very little in common with these ladies.

Yes, there are some "real housewives" like the Dinas, Teresas, and the Carolines in New Jersey. Of course, more of "us" here are not like these real housewives. I watched the trainwreck called the Real Housewives of New Jersey and I really thought it wasn't a portrayal of New Jersey but rather the drama of these women's personal lives - they just happened to live here. This show could have taken place in any affluent community regardless of their being residents of "The Garden State".

And now we have MTV's Jersey Shore. A reality show about New Jersey Shore subculture that shows up close "real life" at the beach town of Seaside Heights. That would be about 15 minutes from where I live so I consider myself pretty qualified to dish about it. It happens that MTV stirred the pot because of the show promo that touted the "Hottest, Tannest, Craziest Guidos". The cast-members on this show, all but one of them are not from New Jersey - they are from New York - with their signature "Jersey Shore Names" ie. J-Woww, Snooki, and The Situation, and of course we have a Ronnie and a Vinnie. This show is laughable, but it is also a reality. It is a very small reality, but we do have people like this at the Jersey Shore. Am I one of "them"? Oh heck no.

There is a great divide in New Jersey - between North and South, between Benny and Local. The cast of Jersey Shore - they aren't the locals. They are what we locals have termed Bennies. The term Benny originally stood for Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark, New York but has been expanded to include anyone who isn't from the Jersey Shore who comes here, acts rudely like they own the place, and looks and acts a certain way. Some boardwalks are notorious for a lot of Bennies, and Seaside is the worst for how many they are. I prefer the more family-friendly Point Pleasant "Jenkisons" Boardwalk, but even at Jenks you'll find them in the clubs and spot them right away with their spiked hair, tight clothes, and jewelry. And this is why, living here at the shore, we look forward to labor day weekend and the mass exodus of the Benny population year after year as all the bennies go home.

In the meantime, I'll watch Jersey Shore and roll my eyes and shake my head.

PS. My Jersey Shore Nickname is none other than "The Good Time"... Fist Pump.

Hrm. Now I have a decision to make: Like? Become a Fan? or hold my breath for the long-awaited and much petitioned for Dislike button?

New Jersey Moms Blog post by MaryTara. MT blogs her adventures in parenting two beautiful children on the Jersey Shore, life with autism & without it, the gluten & casein free diet, and vaccination choice issues at The Bon Bon Gazette and raising a child with amblyopia at Adventures in Amblyopia.

Alex's finished movie - Ice Age Scrat visits Pixar UP!

Alex really missed going to Small Factory since they had a bit of a holiday/winter break between lessons. This weekend he finally finished his creation in whice Scrat from Ice Age visit's Carl and the "Up" house from Pixar's UP.

Enjoy!

Louise Kuo Habakus to visit Brick SEPTA

Louise Kuo Habakus, Age of Autism's 2009 Person of the year will be visiting Brick SEPTA in February. Please mark your calendars and plan on joining us for this informative (and FREE) event!

Brick Township Special Education PTA presents
an introduction to Parenting For Wellness A Health Empowerment Series
Louise Kuo Habakus, MA, HHP

Please join us for an informative and timely look at nutritional and perspectives on parenting and family wellness. We’ll discuss the “New Normal” of children’s health, and how to take back parenting and make our life health choices. Bring your questions about cold and flu season, including prevention, vaccines and immune system support. Life Health Choices is dedicated to building community and creating change through informed choices affecting our lives and our health.

Individual registration louise@lifehealthchoices.com

Free admission & light refreshments

Monday, February 22, 2010
7:00-9:30 pm
Veterans Memorial Middle School Auditorium
105 Hendrickson Avenue, Brick, NJ

For more info visit Brick Septa's website at www.bricksepta.org

Really Cool GFCF foods we've tried lately

It is so hard to believe some days that the Alex who stands before us today is the same child who was barely verbal and tantrum-ruled when he was diagnosed with autism. The same child who went from eating everything in sight to eating about 5 things and ate those same 5 things for years. Until, in first grade we switched him to the Gluten and Casein Free diet. The diet, which limits food ingredients and made things even more selective for him opened him up to a whole new world of eating. The same child who now will eat a turkey leg or a hamburger and not just chicken nuggets and pizza. Before starting "the diet" I had images of my child starving or wasting away because he would have no food choices, but it has most definitely had the opposite effect.

I've been really lucky lately in having the chance for Alex to try out some new gluten and casein free foods thanks to samples being sent my way.

Kenzoil review

I have shared many times how my son loves ketchup. The kid puts ketchup on everything - his eggs, his noodles, his potatoes, his fries, his chicken, his everything. A couple days ago he put ketchup on sweet potatoe, which made me gag but he ate it. Anyways, we tried a new condiment - Kenzoil. The name is reminiscent of something that goes in cars to make them run, I don't really love the name. But thankfully the product is nothing like motor oil. It is actually EVOO with basil, garlic and spices and you can use it in a gazillion different ways - as a sauce, dip, marinade. I first tried to give it to Alex similar to how he would eat ketchup but I assessed that the "taste" is a bit too grown up for him like that. Next, I tried cooking with it on his grilled chicken. Success and it definitely jazzed up plain bland grilled chicken. I also cooked his sunny side eggs with it and served his eggs on top of his Udi's bread like eggs in the basket, except they were greenish eggs. Another hit. Kenzoil is one of those products that I will just have to experiment with in terms of cooking but my goal is that maybe if I make Alex's food a bit more flavorful or seasoned he won't see the need to drown them so much in ketchup. Since it is a gluten free condiment, I'll definitely be trying more things with it.

Gluten Free Pita Review
Which brings me to Gluten Free Pitas. Since Alex is now eating more than 5 things - when we received a package of gluten free pitas from GFL foods they didn't last very long in my house. I used these for school lunches and stuffed them with grilled chicken. And that Kenzoil I just blabbed on and on about - the pitas go really well with it. I could not taste any difference between these pitas and a "regular" non-gluten free one. I don't think Alex ever ate a non-gluten free pita before, so this was a first for him. He liked how the bread was shaped like a pocket - this was very novel to him. When I gave him suggestions on what we could stuff it with - the only thing he wanted to put in it was chicken which was just fine with me.

Boomi Bar & Prana Bar review
While on the topic of school lunches - I have to pack Alex's lunch every day. It gets old because I do feel like I give him the same things over and over. I received some samples of Boomi & Prana bars which are gluten free, and they have a line that is also dairy free/vegan. Note: some of the gluten free bars have whey protein in them, so as with everything check the ingredients. These are laden with nuts. My husband happens to be allergic to nuts and for a long time we didn't give Alex nuts because we felt he could be allergic to them even though the results from testing were not conclusive on that. I've been allowing nuts and introduced almond flour with no issues. Still, I watched carefully for a reaction and proceeded with caution on these since his father has a nut allergy. Alex preferred the Coconut Acai prana bar over the the Apricot Cashew Boomi Bar. He started out with both of them quite enthusiastic but didn't finish them. I shared them with them and found these energy bars are really quite filling and I liked the taste. I'd buy them in the future, but be sure to cut them in half and just send him with a partial bar so they didn't go to waste.

I'm so thankful that Alex has gotten the chance to try these new foods out and expand his repertoire bit by bit. I am still impressed that he is being so adventurous and has clearly stepped out - taken a giant leap- away from his old limited diet ways.

What will he try next?

Related Links:
www.kenzoil.com
www.glutenfreepitas.com
www.pranabar.com

Disclaimer - I was provided with samples of the above products for our honest no holds barred review.

And he eats a Hamburger thanks to Video Games

Alex adores cooking games and food themed games on the Wii and Nintendo DS. His favorites include the Cooking Mama Games and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I've always found it very funny and ironic because he plays all these games that involve food that
1) he can't eat because of his GFCF diet
2)If he could eat it with GFCF accomodations, he won't because he is very selective - which is common in kids on the autism spectrum.
However, since we went to Disney his food profile has expanded and he has been on an uphill climb, trying new things almost weekly.

And so it started, like this.... Alex has always been obsessed with making miis on the Wii. We used to try to be diligent and not let him make a million of them. But we have since caved and have come to enjoy the crazy miis that he comes up with or makes from the instructions on the mii characters website.

This one is a personal favorite:
The Hamburger head mii.










So, he has asked a few times for a Hamburger for dinner. I've held off on making it for him because, well... I figured he wouldn't eat it. But, he asked again and I thought I would just try it. If he didn't like it, I'd make him something quick like a sunny side up egg, another favorite of his as of late.

After procuring the $5.99 bag of Kinnikinnick buns from the grocery store I headed home to make burgers for the family.

He ate one, and then asked for a second! On the second. He asked if we could...

1. Slice the Tomato
2. Tear the Lettuce

These are steps from the Cooking Mama game and he scripted the game sequence as I did the above two steps. You can see a video of Cooking mama here making a hamburger.

Really, I wondered if he would eat this 2nd one with the vegs on it. His first one only had ketchup.

Today, my son ate his first (and second) hamburgers in his entire life!

Related Links:
Consider the Nintendo Wii for Kids with Autism

A Day to be Awarded

The schoolyear got off to a rocky start for us at school with some issues largely revolving around food. But, things are looking up for the most part. As with anything there are good days and not so good days. Today was more than a good day.

After school I had to load Alex into the mom-van and drag him along so his little sister could make up a dance class that she had missed last week (going to the dentist). While she was in the class having fun - Alex and I waited in the car.

A car pulled up next to us and it happened to be a para from his class. Her daughter is older and also takes classes at the same Dance Studio that my daughter attends. She asked me if Alex had told me what happened at school today. Of course he hadn't - he is usually not very good at telling me what happened and I have to really pull it out of him and ask just the right questions. She asked me if I'd looked in his backpack, but I told her that I hadn't because we came right over to dance class. So she tells me...

They had an assembly today with a singer, Mr. Sprout. He asked for kids to volunteer to come up and sing a solo and Alex volunteered.

My son, who in the past has not even been able to ATTEND assemblies, or had to attend them wearing ear muffling headphones. My son who hates clapping. My son who doesn't like microphones or loud speakers.

My son, My Alex. He got up and he sang with his sweet little voice over the microphone on the stage in front of the entire school. There was clapping, and there were a lot of tears (from his teachers and paras who are "in the know" about how HUGE this is for him).

In his backpack I received a really nice note from his teacher. I seriously could frame this. When I'm having a bad day, I will read this.. over and over and over again.














I am so proud of Alex. He actually made me cry. The past 2 assemblies he has been participating, CLAPPING along and enjoying himself. Today he actually volunteered to sing in front of the entire assembly with the Presenter Mr. Sprout. It was beautiful. He has come so far already!

In his green folder, I found this Star Student Award.




For: Participating and singing during our Assembly.







I am so proud of Alex every day for his hard work but today even more.

Welcoming in 2010 with a Meltdown

I've been a little bit absent from the blog here as the kids as ever have kept me busy lately.

The New Year, 2010, got off with a rocky start. We went to friends house for a low-key New Years Eve celebration consisting of Wii games and good company. Alex was having a blast playing the Wii and showing off how good he is at making all sorts of "celebrity" miis and mii-look-a-likes. We brought some of his new games with us including Super Mario Brothers and Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games. He was happy, we were happy. All was good. As it got closer to midnight the kids -- who had made it without a meltdown and on relatively good behavior for being up way late, started playing on their Nintendo DS so we could watch the countdown on TV with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest. Alex was looking forward to seeing the ball drop and was counting down with us. But, he made a fatal mistake and he looked at his video game and he missed seeing the ball drop!

We then entered the year with the biggest meltdown ever, tears, and serious upset.

Thankfully our friends live only about a mile away so we headed home and with the help of You Tube, I was able to find someone who had already uploaded the 2010 ball drop and so Alex got to watch it and he calmed down.

There are days that I really dislike Youtube because my son likes to find videos on there and play them over and over and over. It is usually harmless but he has found some things I would really rather he not. But this time, YouTube came to the rescue.