Clowns Love Special Needs

We had a blast this weekend with the kids and their cousins at the Cider Mill. My kids don't love plain donuts and cider so we brought our own snacks and went along for the experience. We walked around and looked at the ducks while we ate our treats and visited with family. There was a section where vendors were set up selling items and offering face painting and paint tattoos. We went over to check it out and 2 cute clowns were running the tattoo booth. I asked if they could paint my son's hand instead of his face because he has special needs and I wasn't sure if he would like it especially because he wouldn't be able to see it.

When one of the clowns heard "special needs" she jumped up and said "that's me!" She wanted us to sit down at her station right away! She said that she drives a special needs bus during the week and loves the kids. It was very sweet and felt so great to see someone get so excited about a special needs boy. We had a blast and both of my boys got tattoos that they loved. Her assistant made fun balloon animals for us and a day that I initially was nervous about turned out to be a great time for everyone.

Going to new places always comes with a little bit of worry and hope that there will be something for everyone to enjoy so we don't have to cut the trip short. This was the perfect balance of fun, nature and snacks. I even got to enjoy an apple cider slushee! Fall is fast approaching and we are off to a great start!

 

 

  

This Drinking Fountain Made My Day!

Here it is the third day of school and everyone is doing great. My boy loves his teacher, she loves him and tells me how great he is and we couldn't be happier, or so I thought.

As I have mentioned before, we have been in feeding therapy for a few years now but feeding isn't the only thing we work on.  We also work tirelessly on drinking. My son loves milk but will only drink it out of a particular sippy cup and now that he is a big boy we can't send that cup everywhere he goes. He will drink pop out of a cup or through a straw but they don't want that in school so I have been very worried about him having to go 8 full hours without a drink. On a rare occasion he will try a sip of apple juice and as of very recently he will sip water but only from the water slide sprayer and in the shower. He hasn't had water out of a cup since he was a baby and everyone on his team has tried at one time or another.

Today we had to take a detour to the bathroom on the way to class and on our way we saw a drinking fountain. My little one feels the need to test out every fountain he passes so of course we made a stop. After little brother had his sip I decided to give it a try and ask N if he wanted a turn. He looked at it and only hesitated for a second or two before he took a sip of his own! Who knew I could have so many Birthdays in one year! This little sip of water has made me the happiest mommy every.

To top it off, when we went to his class and told his teacher, she was just as happy as we were and said she was going to take him to every fountain in the school so he knows where they all are. I had sent milk money in his lunch bag because they were going to try a milk carton with a straw today in the cafeteria after my sister thought of this great idea, but now if doesn't go for that we have a backup option.

This is the perfect way for a mom like me to start the day! Hooray for the new school year!