I am so behind on updating this blog, and I apologize for that! I know I am not recording so many funny things that Tucker does and says.
Over the last few months, Tucker has really grown up. Well, over the last week or so, he has really just changed a lot. We went to his buddy Wes's 5th birthday party last Saturday and I heard at least 8 times, "Wow, Leigh, Tucker is almost as tall as you!" Well, that's not hard to achieve, lol, but I'm not sure how I'll feel when he actually does reach my height. Tucker is now saying 7-8 word sentences (with people he is comfortable with). Yesterday, he told his ABA therapist Liz "Miz, I need to go to the batroom now, peez." lol
He also told Dr. Thomas to "get up peez" because the Dr. dared to sit in the comfortable chair in his own office, the chair that also spins. Tucker was not pleased to be sitting on the patient table, but he did help Dr. T to place the stethoscope on his heart and he showed him his tummy when he asked.
Tucker spent the whole weekend with Chris, Pops, and Chris's brothers at the camp this weekend. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to have them both gone! For years now Chris and I have worked out a hunting schedule so that Chris spends some weekends at home, some weekends at work, and some weekends hunting. So for the weekends when he was at work or hunting, I had the responsibility of taking care of Tucker, the house, and all of the other things that moms take care of .
So I was really looking forward to the "break" of being on my own while Chris had Tucker for the weekend. On Friday afternoon Tucker had therapy, so when therapy was over and I was home from work, Chris and I packed all of their stuff into the truck. Tucker was SO overjoyed to be going to the camp with his daddy, we couldn't pack fast enough for him. Chris made him give me a good-bye kiss, and I hugged him extra tight, and a little too long, I guess, because he pulled away and ran to the truck.
I waved to them, then went back inside and shut the door. I was totally out of my element! I still had tons of stuff to do with the house, running errands, and getting things taken care of for Tucker that I didn't get accomplished during the week, so it wasn't like I had the weekend off. I did get to see my mom and sisters a lot more than I usually would, so that was a nice treat. I also watched TV and just sat on the couch all Friday night, which I am not at all used to doing, lol. But I just missed Tucker so much, and by Saturday night I was counting the minutes until they came home.
On Friday night, it was dark by the time they got to the camp. Around 830 Chris called me, and Tucker was crying in the background, saying "mama, mama, Tucker come home with mama." I was shocked, as he has been working hard at potty training to go with Chris, the punishment is always "do you want to stay home with mommy?" and he says "Go to da camp peez!" But it was his bedtime and he all of a sudden realized that his mommy wasn't there! It broke my heart, but at the same time, I thought, thank goodness, he is not too big to ask for his mommy :) Chris lost cell phone service, so I was panicking. I called Sarah and told her that Tucker was crying. She said "come pick me up, and let's go get him!" I didn't even know where to go, especially in the dark, but she was serious about going, lol. About 20 minutes later Chris called me and said that as soon as they got to the camp and saw Pops, Tucker was so excited. So then I relaxed and told Sarah we were staying home. Over the next few days, Tucker had a blast riding four wheelers, bossing all the men around, and looking for deer in the woods. One thing he did not do is pee in the woods. Every time he had to go, Chris had to drive him back to the camp to use the potty! I cracked up at this, I told Chris that Tucker was potty trained, not tree-trained, lol. That is a different process.
Tucker pooped in the potty at the camp, which is a huge deal. We started potty training him over Labor Day weekend, and he got the #1 potty training very quickly. He has even learned that saying "pee pee on the potty!" gets him out of any unpleasant situation, such as therapy work, feeding time, or even church! We are starting to catch on to when he actually has to go, vs. when he is saying he has to go just to get up and out of the room. We don't want to make too many mistakes with that, lol
#2 has been a bit of a struggle, with his last accident happening last week with all 3 ABA therapists at the house. We have resorted to some crazy tactics, such as wiping his bottom with freezing wipes when he poops in his pants, and letting him have literally everything he asks for after pooping on the potty. We think he finally has it, thank goodness. Tucker also pooped on the potty at school for the first time yesterday, then again yesterday afternoon for Miss Liz for the first time. So we think he has got it!!!
Tucker's teacher at school and other aides and people who have seen him last year and this year are amazed by his recent progress. He works extremely hard at everything he does, and he is starting to have more language and social skills because of all of his hard work. As the planner in the family, I am looking to next school year and wondering where Tucker will be as far as his grade. We love Tucker's current PreK teacher, and Tucker is in her class for the second time this year. We have no idea what teacher he would have next year, or if he'd move into a self-contained class with all elementary ages, or how they'd try to include him in other kindergarten classes, or if we'd like to put him in a different school. So Chris and I have so many ideas right now and decisions to make.
Please pray that Tucker continues growing and thriving, and that Chris and I make wise decisions for Tucker's care and education. I will write a medical update soon, we have made several changes lately and saw quite a few specialists, and luckily it is all just good updates.
