Haunted Halloween

In years past, I've shared how Halloween became Teddy's favorite holiday. It basically is as close to breaking and entering and exploring everyone's garages as is socially acceptable ... with the added bonus of candy. 

About 2 years ago, we noticed that inflatable costumes freaked Teddy out, as did the intentional jump scare houses. The same thing was true last year, but Teddy overcame his fear of his best friend's inflatable costume to enjoy trick or treating at most every house, skipping only a handful of scary ones. 

So, I expected the same this year, but that was clearly a trick. It started with the Halloween dance at school, where I got the call that Teddy was really struggling despite their best efforts. Teddy desperately wanted to be with all the music and kids, but the costumes were too much for him. That gave me pause, although the team said they thought it was harder this year than last because the dance was really packed. (Last year he needed to take a couple sensory breaks but overall enjoyed the dance.)

Our Halloween plans included trick or treating with his bestie, and Teddy was so excited to go to his house. But when his friend came out in costume (not inflatable, no mask and not the least bit scary), Teddy refused to get out of the car. It took about 10 minutes to coax Teddy into their house (through the garage), where he promptly dropped to the kitchen floor overwhelmed and scared with the costumes. 

Our friends were beyond accommodating, taking off masks, offering to take off costumes and making every effort to make Teddy feel comfortable and let him get acclimated on his own terms. Despite that, there was no way Teddy was leaving their kitchen, so I sent them on their way to trick or treat ... with a disappointed bestie who couldn't understand why Teddy was scared and couldn't go. 

As the evening went on, Teddy became more comfortable and moved to their dining room to watch the festivities from the window, scampering back to the kitchen if a particularly scary costume approached. He had plenty of fun in his own way, sending me out to trick or treat at his friend's house, collapsing in giggles with my antics and those of his friend's grandma (who is absolutely amazing with Teddy). 

This was most of trick or treating. Watching from the window.

When his friend came back from trick or treating, Teddy said he wanted to go try trick or treating. It took him 20 minutes to work up the courage, heading out of the house and then running back in, making it onto the lawn and then running back in, and so on. But, with 10 minutes left in trick or treating, with his friend and both his grandparents plus me in tow, Teddy made it across the road to trick or treat. He did 2 houses fully and made it mostly up the driveway at 2 more before deciding the houses were too sketch.

We ventured back to his friend's house for dinner, paint your own cookies and painting ceramic haunted houses, which is something Teddy really enjoys. So, despite it not being what we had planned and even with the fear, Teddy still very much enjoyed his evening, had plenty of laughs and an equal amount of candy. 

It's so hard for me when things don't go as planned (not my strength in general), and it's extra tough when we think something will be so much fun like trick or treating with your bestie. It's also rather heartbreaking when Teddy very much wants to join in the fun but simply can't get over his fear. 

But, his joy still persevered. Joy wins out over fear in the end ... in so many things! 

Joy wins over fear!

Halloween Hijinks

OK, it's almost a month after Halloween, so I'm playing catch up. But Teddy had 2 monumental things happen for Halloween that I want to share. 

I'll preface this with Halloween is a favorite for Teddy because he loves visiting all the people. In the past, he's viewed this as an acceptable form of breaking and entering, an invitation to explore every open garage door and a chance to go to everyone's house. A few years ago he realized he was holding a bucket of candy, and he loved it even more!

Through the years, there have been a few costumes that have freaked him out, especially AJ's ninja/shadow suit. But in the last 3 years, that handful of costumes has increased, in addition to some decorations freaking him out. It seems like costumes wig him out (no pun intended) because his brain can't reconcile who he knows with what he sees. It's fine if a costume is very similar to regular clothing, but any wigs or blow-up costumes instantly put him on edge. 

This costume challenge was apparent at our neighborhood Halloween party, when Teddy was so freaked out he could barely make it inside the garage and couldn't wait to leave. So Dave hung out with him at home because he couldn't handle it (Teddy, not Dave). That made me a bit nervous for the big plans Teddy had for Halloween, but he did really well with both.

The first was the school Halloween dance. There are several school dances each year, and AJ has attended all of them to work at them for student council. Teddy had attended none, even though he loves people, music, dancing and food ... all the thing the dance includes. So we had asked what it would take for Teddy to participate in the dance this year, as he'd need support and supervision. His team worked it out, so he was able to attend the dance and did great! He only needed a short sensory break to reset, and he was back in the chaos and loving it! We're excited for other dances, especially as they should be easier without any costumes involved.

Trick-or-treating with his bestie! 

The other was Teddy went trick-or-treating with his best friend. While he's been trick-or-treating with AJ's friend group, who certainly included him, and with our family friends, this was his first time with a friend of his own. The two of them had a great time, despite Teddy being freaked out a bit by his friend's costume. His friend was great about encouraging Teddy and asking for candy for him at the few houses that were way too scary for Ted to venture to the door. It was really a neat experience, and it continues my love of Halloween for Teddy!

Life Keeps Us Busy

Life always seems to be busy, which is why there's some time between posts. Let's see what updates I have from the past several weeks ...

Broken Toe/Foot This healed well, thankfully! He got the all clear to spend some time barefoot at his final checkup. We were advised to have him wear his brace and shoe for most of the time to protect it through November to make sure it's fully healed. This was great news, though, because it allowed us to return to our own bed and allow him to sleep by himself for the first time in 2+ months.

School He loves school. He loves his friends, his teachers, gym, music, recess and pretty much everything about school except following directions or doing what he doesn't feel motivated to do. (Not that atypical for a child, now is it?) He got to venture to a wildlife preserve on a field trip the other week, and he was ecstatic to ride the bus!

Shoes Ugh. Buying shoes that fit over his AFOs is the worst. We've used Billy Shoes for several years, and we initially had really good success with them. But the last year, he's destroyed them almost faster than we can buy them ... certainly faster than we care to buy them. In fact, the last pair we got took less than 3 weeks for holes to be worn into them. We spent more than an hour trying on everything we could find (and suggested by the sales staff) but couldn't find anything traditional that fit over his AFO without looking like clown shoes. We finally ordered Friendly Voyage shoes, and we're optimistic. They seem to be good quality (as I'd hope they'd be for the price), and they fit on his feet like a dream. The only problem is we have to rig up something to ensure the zipper stays up because it tends to work its way open with all the movement Teddy makes, and he's stepped out of the shoe once. 

Halloween Teddy had a great Halloween, making up for missing last year due to COVID. He went to a fun Halloween party his friend hosted at a bouncy house and had a great time. We went to a neighborhood party, and he got to do the limbo and had so much fun, once he got over the different costumes. He went trick or treating as Handyman Hal and loved visiting everyone, plus getting candy. It's interesting because he won't let you carry his bag, and he's not the least bit coordinated, so everything spills everywhere. We resorted to frequently emptying his bag (after every house or two). Oh, he does not care for scary costumes at all. One house had someone dressed up as a decoration who then scared kids, and Teddy was done after that with anything that looked remotely scary or suspicious. 

And the final randomness in this post is that Teddy got a paint your own cookie to decorate (since his mom runs a bakery after all). Here's how it started:

There's already a bite out of it, but he's actually painting.

But within 2 minutes it evolved into this:

No further painting was done. Only eating.

Halloween Creepy Crawlies

Whelp, the creepy crawly COVID virus found us this Halloween. After 2.5 years avoiding the virus (by taking rather extreme precautions), AJ came down with COVID a month ago. We isolated him to his room, sanitized everything and came away with the rest of us healthy. Fast forward a month, and Teddy came down with COVID. 

His case came on suddenly, spiking a fever in the middle of the night. My gut instinct told me to check on him after debating for about 20 minutes. See, the tough thing with Teddy is that when he's awake at 3 a.m. and healthy, if you go in his room, he instantly thinks it's time to be up for the day and will not go back to sleep. But if he's sick, you need to check on him ... so it's like a game of Russian roulette of whether you make the right call. Given that his temp was 101.8, my gut instinct was right. 

We went right to work on the medications and trying to sooth him back to sleep, without a thought that it was COVID. When it was more of a morning time, say 5:30 a.m. and he was up and ready to play once the medicine kicked in, Dave COVID tested him. The poor kid came back positive so fast that Dave tested him a second time, thinking he had done something wrong. 

Nope, Teddy just had COVID. And by that time, he had already passed it along to Dave, who tested positive 2 days later. As of writing this, I'm still a negative Nancy, although I'm quite certain I'll be testing positive soon given the mild symptoms I have.

Trust me, we did our best to mask around Teddy, sanitize and such once we knew he was positive, but it's next to impossible given his lack of personal space, lack of comprehension, lack of personal skills (as in we get to wipe his nose or he rubs his snot on us as he flops on us - that's a favorite!) and don't forget the sneezes right into your face, even if you're wearing a mask.

The good news is that Teddy is several days in and doing well. We've worried about this for literally 2.5 years, and thankfully it's nowhere near the worst-case scenarios we imagined. (It gets old worrying about every little cough for 2.5 years, it really does.) He's hopefully past the fever stage for good and is not overly sick, although he clearly still doesn't feel well.

So we're getting lots of Teddy time, and it's interesting to see what runs through his little mind. The other day he gave Dave shoes to put on, ran and grabbed his swim bag and went to the vehicle. Dave still isn't quite sure where they were supposed to go swimming ... Today he did the same thing, except he grabbed a football. So they ended up running around with a football at an empty park.

He looks like he actually is playing football.

The worst part - aside from the worry the first day with the fever - was that Teddy missed Halloween this year. It's his favorite holiday. It's not about the candy for him, although he does indeed love candy and wouldn't let go of his bucket last year once he realized it was full of candy. What he loves the most is that he's allowed, in fact encouraged, to run up to strangers' houses. It's the best day ever for him, and we love watching him bask in his glory. So it's tough to sit out this year, but the silver lining is that he doesn't realize what he's missing. And AJ got plenty of candy to share with the entire family (and he should hopefully be safe this time around since he just had COVID). 

Halloween - the Best Therapy

I think it's safe to say that Halloween is Teddy's favorite holiday. Now that he's past the phase of being freaked out by costumed characters, he loves most everything about Halloween. (There was one scary beast character that got the side eye from Teddy.) And I loved watching him experience everything!

I say most everything because he'd really love everything about Halloween if he was allowed to enter everybody's home, traipse into their backyards and explore their garages. Those were the only disappointments for the evening when I redirected him from those activities. 

I was so proud of Teddy this Halloween. That might sound odd because all he had to do was wear a really cute costume and get candy, right? When you think about all the effort and skills that go into trick-or-treating, it's like every therapy rolled into one activity that lasts a couple hours. And Teddy rocked it. 

Wendy with her beloved Peter Pan and his Shadow.

From walking so much (with only a few breaks in his chair to rest) to stepping up to every front porch because everyone has a step I swear, he did so much physical therapy. He only fell once, caught his balance several times and trucked through ditches like nobody's business. 

He knows the sign for candy or treat, so he signed that at many houses, along with thank you. Near the end, folks got more of a wave than signs, but they still knew what he meant. (And Dave looked up how to sign trick or treat, so we now have a year to practice the full sign!) 

Grasping candy in a bowl and taking only a piece or two, much less letting it drop into your own bucket, is monumental from a fine motor standpoint. His therapist would be proud of his release skills as he practiced all night, not to mention when he decided to carry his own bucket.

That was my favorite moment. Even though Teddy was putting candy into his bucket all night, I was carrying it because he was holding my hand part of the time and holding his beloved sword that he was so proud to have. All of the sudden, though, leaving one house, he looked at the bucket 2/3 full of candy and realized he should be carrying it. He threw down his sword and used two hands to pry the bucket from me. From that point forward, I was not permitted to carry the bucket and was relegated to sword duty. He was also extremely concerned when he climbed in the car that his candy bucket wasn't in his arms.

This was the few moments Teddy was actually with the kids. I'm not creeping behind him. Oh wait ...

Teddy is such a social butterfly that going from house to house to see all the people is completely his jam. He honestly thought we were supposed to go inside each house because why else would they open their doors. He did amazing at listening overall, going to each front door, ringing or trying to ring the doorbell and then moving on to the next house. Seriously, taking him trick-or-treating was absolutely amazing this year!

I think we should consider trick-or-treating once a month as therapy. I think Teddy would be on board, but now I need to convince my community. 

Sneak Peak for Halloween

How on earth did this child get to be so big?

The end.

Happy Halloween!

All right. I know Halloween was yesterday, but we were too busy having fun for me to share last night. I know a number of children with CDG-PIGN are enthralled with Halloween, some to the point of asking about Halloween for months on end, and I believe Teddy is going to follow in their footsteps. There's something magical and inclusive about this holiday that is perfect for my little social butterfly.

Teddy absolutely loves people. If you smile at him, he believes you are his friend. He will even take strangers by the hand if they smile at him and interact with him. He's extremely curious as well and wants to check out our neighbors' houses and particularly garages when given the opportunity. 

So eager to keep up with the kids!

So a holiday where you get to meet a whole bunch of people and go right up to their houses is ideal for Teddy. We met up with one of AJ's friends in her neighborhood and started trick-or-treating with her neighborhood friends. We stayed with them for quite a while, although we kept dropping further and further behind because AJ couldn't run in his costume, and Teddy's run is a fast walk. That bummed AJ out, but Teddy had the time of his life.

When Teddy saw the front door where he was supposed to go, he made a beeline without any regard for ditches or driveways. He took the shortest path, fell quite a few times and picked himself right up to keep trucking up the house. Then he was more interested in trying to see if he could go inside the house than taking any candy. I carried his bag for him, and he managed to put a few pieces into his own bag, which is a great use of his fine motor and motor planning skills. There were a few open garages that required a bit of steering to keep Teddy from exploring, but he had such smiles and amazement on his face that he was able to go visit all these people. 

So cute and so easy to redirect to the next house!

Costumed characters can be a bit dicey for Teddy, but he was remarkably fine with everyone at Halloween. There were a few costumes that seemed to intrigue him, and none scared him. I think the fact that he had such freedom to go visit people wiped out any concerns about costumes.

I loved seeing his independence that he would walk, or run, toward houses with the other children. I imagine future costumes and years where he perhaps uses his talker to say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you." Wouldn't that be amazing?

As for this year, it was perfect. We had amazing weather, the nicest I can remember in years. We spent nearly 1.5 hours trick or treating, with Teddy doing an incredible amount of walking with some breaks in his chair. Then we came home to have our neighbors over for margaritas and cookies, which seems to be the start of a new tradition. It gave the kids an hour to wind down after trick or treating and us adults the chance to socialize ... all in our house where Teddy has relatively free reign.

And what was Teddy for Halloween? If you couldn't tell from the pictures, he was a bull in a china shop. At some point, I am confident Teddy will exercise some strong opinions about Halloween costumes, but for now, he could care less. So I will continue to have my fun creating costumes that are made to suit Teddy's personality. 

Treats Instead of Tricks

Happy Halloween! This has been the happiest Halloween I've had in the past several years. We started our morning with a Spooktacular Show presented by AJ and all his kindergarten peers. Their performances were just a joy to watch, particularly the expressions on AJ's faces throughout the songs. That kid has a personality all of his own. One of the nicest things about the program was that Teddy enjoyed it. He hung out contentedly in his Kimba Kruze the entire time, not attempting to escape or wander or express any concerns. I think he enjoyed all the music and costumes, and it was so nice to be able to watch and enjoy the entire performance without needing to occupy Teddy.

Dorothy and her tornado.

Teddy and I displayed our costumes at speech therapy, with me accompanying him as Dorothy. He was a tornado since he is a destructive force of nature. His costume held up the entire day without him destroying it, so perhaps I used the right amount of hot glue. His speech therapist loved his costume and completely understands why he was a tornado.

If you look closely, you should see a house in the tornado.

I also had the opportunity to help clean up at AJ's classroom party in the afternoon, which pretty much consisted of opening a few snacks and being in the picture when AJ's teacher took photos of each table of students. He asked, "Can my mom be in the picture?" So as all the other parents intentionally backed out of the way to avoid being in the pictures, I had to jump right in, minion costume and all. (I had switched costumes for the afternoon since Dorothy with no tornado wasn't as cool as being a minion.

The tornado is on the move! No stopping him!

The day ended with trick-or-treating with both boys. This year is noteworthy as the first year that Teddy walked to houses trick-or-treating. Although he was walking last year, he didn't have anywhere near the endurance or ability to navigate trick-or-treating. He did need to be carried for a bit this year, but he did awesome walking. Teddy thought it was really cool that we got to go up to everyone's houses, but he couldn't understand why we left so quickly without going inside at each house. He'd stand on the step staring at each person who went back inside instead of realizing we're supposed to move along to the next house. Guys, they opened the door to their house! We should go inside. It's rude to just leave like this!

LEGO Nexo Knight Clay (AJ) and Teddy the Tornado trick-or-treating.

It was a fantastic Halloween, with our boys thoroughly spoiled by our neighbors with special bags loaded with treats for them and happy family memories. And trick-or-treating is much more enjoyable when you have full stomachs versus hangry adults. (Lesson learned last year.)

There's a Storm A'Brewing (aka Halloween Preparations)

I've been planning Teddy's Halloween costume for more than a year. Last year, we used his Kimba Kruze chair to get him around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating since walking required so much effort for him. He was cool enough as a hot air balloon, but I said that I wanted to make him into a tornado when he could walk.

He's such a destructive force of nature that it's only fitting. (My other idea I got this year was a pinball in a pinball machine after watching him bounce off the walls, doors and people at AJ's school's pumpkin walk last night.) Since it's so fitting, I remembered my idea this year and put together his costume in less than an hour.

The irony of the fact that he'll likely destroy this costume the first time he wears it is not lost on me ... despite the oodles of hot glue holding it together and cars strategically placed where he wouldn't notice them immediately.

He's a force of nature to be reckoned with ... that's for sure. I'm just hoping this costume holds up through the afternoon at school that he can wear it again trick-or-treating in the evening without needing to do too much repair.

Now, the question is whether I am ambitious enough to go as Dorothy.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I hope your day was filled with more treats than tricks. Our boys had a wonderful day, filled with candy, candy and more candy.

One of the few pics of us in costume with Teddy's hot air balloon.

Treats included:

• AJ telling us that they visited some old people, like grandma and grandpa, who gave them extra candy. (This was his version of telling us the sitter took them to the assisted living facility where she works to go trick-or-treating.)
• AJ's one grandma insisting he was referring to the other grandparents. So I asked him, "Old like which grandparents." His reply was "All of them."
• Trick-or-treating with friends who helped carry Teddy's bag to score lots of candy for him, too. Just because he doesn't talk doesn't mean he won't mow through Halloween candy.
• Teddy having a cool costume that got quite a few compliments, didn't require him to walk and get tired or be awkwardly carried and gave him built-in entertainment.
• Two sets of our neighbors having special goodie bags for our boys. As in, bags filled with coloring books, stickers and the like, along with oodles of candy.

Tricks included:

• Dave taking pictures of the boys ... only to discover after they went to bed that there was no memory card in the camera.
• Teddy peeing all over while getting his diaper changed before bed.
• AJ's endless tears from over-stimulation ... one of the things I dread about holidays.

Lesson learned:

• Parents need to eat a good meal before they go out trick-or-treating. It would greatly help them take the tricks in stride better.