Monday, February 18, 2008

Party Time!!

I ended up staying up until midnight on Saturday getting everything ready for the party. I baked the cake and let it sit overnight before I decorated it. It came out pretty good I think. So good in fact, that Nick actually ATE some of it! That was a very exciting moment-I think the last time he ate cake was at his second birthday. The only time he got a little fussy was when it was time to gather up all the kids to sing happy birthday to him. The noise level was too much, but he got through it and had some fun. Here are some pics:

The cake

The party room

Not too sure about this whole singing thing...

TOO LOUD! And did I mention there is a strange round thing in front of me??!

Hey, this cake stuff actually tastes pretty good!

I think I like this Birthday Thing!

Today I went through Nick's therapy room and got rid of some stuff. I organized it again(it had kind of gone amuck with things put in all kinds of places) and made room for the new items. Nick managed to dismantle the closet doors so they are laying beside the closet now. I am trying to air out the house as well due to it being 50 degrees outside and it was stuffy in here from months of cold and rain. The problem is that Nick really loves windows and screens(he has punched two screens out almost completely) so I have to really watch him when the windows are open. Michael is out playing with his two friends, and I am just listening to the TV right now. Not too much going on. Just relaxing after the weekend.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

A Party for Nicholas


We are having Nick's 4th birthday party tomorrow. Birthdays are bitter sweet for Nick. We are amazed at how far he has come along in the last year-he has accomplished 90% of his goals on his IEP, we have begun potty training, and he has started eating more table foods. These simple milestones however remind us of how far he still has to go. I went shopping today to get decorations and presents. We are having a few kids over, a couple of whom are Nick's age or close to it. Nick still does not get birthdays quite yet. I keep his parties small so that he does not get too overwhelmed-but it will probably happen anyway. It is hard buying for Nick. At least, buying for him when I know everyone will see what he gets. The toys he likes are made for infants. I would have bought him all the light up toys I could; but I am conscious of what others might think, even though they know he is autistic. So, I wandered through the aisles and carefully chose things that a normal kid would get, and things we could use to work with Nick. Mr Potato Head's Vegetable Buddies, a game where you have to stack plastic food to make a sandwich, a tub finger painting set, and for pure fun, a Bouncing Tigger. It is not often that we have "outsiders" in our little world. Our house looks like a war zone with the dents and gaping holes in the walls, we have latches on the closets to prevent Nick from obsessively opening/shutting them, the light bulbs in their room have been unscrewed and there is a switch cover on the switch. All these things help us to lead as normal a family life as possible. People just really have no idea of what goes on behind the scenes at casa de Weger.

We are doing the party in a Shrek theme. Oddly enough, Shrek is the one character that Nick actually liked when we went to Universal Studios. Nick had a Shrek doll that talked when he was smaller, and he always smiled when the phrase "Eat,Stink, and be scary" came up. He LOVED Shrek. Since I could not find a Shrek cake, I am going to attempt to make one myself. I bought a normal yellow cake and white frosting and I am going to try and draw Shrek's face on the cake. I will post a picture of how it comes out. Wish me Luck!!