Random

Laying on the bed/futon with Christopher.....

Looking quite comfy......

And then he falls asleep....

Kraig is fascinated with guns....probably in direct proportion to my dislike of toy guns.  So he resorts to creating his own....

Point.....

Aim....

SHOOT!!!

The gun(s) grow each time there is an empty paper towel and/or toilet paper roll. 

And then he falls asleep watching the boomy show (aka Lock and Load).....poor little thing just went until he could go no more!!

My mom is the nursery leader for the youth leaders during the mid week youth meetings...Kraig gets to go with her.  Often he is the only boy....

Looks a little star struck, doesn't he....look at those pretty girls!

Living with Kraig....

A peek into a day in the life of Kraig. 



Early on we noticed some very strong behaviors in Kraig--always wanting things put away, "assigned" seats in the living room and at the dinner table, only Grandma could have the phone or tv remote, etc.  I took him for his annual check up a couple of years ago, and jokingly asked the Dr. if 2 year olds could be tested for OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).  She asked why, I shared the above behaviors with her, and she NOT jokingly said yes to the testing and gave me a couple of numbers.  Below is an example of the evidence of those behaviors. 

Notice how the tools are lined up?  This was for Daddy's "check up"....last year at school they brought home doctor dress up stuff....and Dr. Kraig(see below)

comes to visit every once in a while. I don't want  any check up that includes a hatchet and a crowbar!

Back to a day with Kraig.....his life is all about order and conistency.  He rides the bus to school....he will hesitate getting on the bus if it is a different bus or if his regular driver and assistant are not there.  We still have assigned seating in the living room and at the table...except when he gets a wild hair and rearranges us.  He seldom (and by seldom I mean the number I can count on one hand) falls asleep on his own....he is very very clingy.  He is not social...he will  not speak to strangers, and it takes a very very long time for him to warm up to others.  It has taken 2 years for him to respond to some of the adults at church, and he sees them every week. 



As for the testing for OCD....he was diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder....which is in the autistic spectrum.  From what I've read, it basically is a catch all...he does not exhibit enough behaviors and/or those he does exhibit are not severe enough to be one of the other 4 disorders in the autistic spectrum.   



Aside from the obvious...this is another reason he is spoiled absolutely, positively ROTTEN!



Life with Kraig can be challenging, but he is a total joy to have in our home and I feel truly blessed to have been chosen to be his mom.

No middle Name

Kraig does NOT like his middle name.....he's been learning his full name recently, and he yells at us, buzzes us, turns his head away from us and out and out denies that his name is Kraig Stewart.  It's just Kraig Juelfs, he says.  Hmmmm.....not how I remember stating his name for the birth certificate. 



We have some fun at his expense...and purposely say his full name just to get him aggravated!

Grocery Shopping

We go grocery shopping when it works with my Schnucks schedule....if that happens to be on Friday evening, we tend to go eat first.....We ran into the Kroger on Houston Levee the other day, and decided we like it better than the Kroger in Collierville (it's bigger for one thing, and for my Texan friends, it reminded us alot of HEB grocery stores). Well, there is a Backyard Burger on the same street, not directly across from it, but close. So we ate there....

They have this amazing play area....Kraig loved it. We often deliberately DO NOT go to restaurants with play scapes because he won't eat....but 1)we didn't know they had one till we were already inside and 2)bribery has been working really well lately. He had to eat at least half his sandwich and then he could go play....he agreed without a whole lot of fuss. Which tells me he either was actually hungry, or he really wanted to go play.











I wish I could be this relaxed when grocery shopping....School wears Kraig out. By Friday, it is all he can do to stay awake...so we were stretching the limits of his stamina. But his favorite store is WalMart, and he knew that was next...so he stuck it out (but not without whining!).

Ghosthunter Kraig

OK...so my husband and my dad have a new addiction....and they have shared it with not just Christopher but also Kraig. You have to understand that when Kraig is interested in something, it is all or none...he dresses the part, even if he has to make it up. Soon I will post a picture of his "guns" he makes out of paper towel and toilet paper rolls....he is so creative (takes after his mom..)!


Anyway, here is Kraig dressed up to go ghost hunting....BTW, Ghosthunters is a TV series based on a business by the name of TAPS (I'll get Chris to tell me what it stands for later)...they investigate suspected "haunted" places. I believe spirits do co-exist with us in this realm, but I also don't believe in upsetting the balance...if they are in a certain place, let's just say I won't be.





Here is Ghosthunter Kraig:

Elmo's Green Thumb

This was our 3rd consecutive year to be able to go to Sesame Street Live....employees of the PBS station here are offered vouchers for free tickets (my dad works there).....and well, I am not one to turn down much of anything free....

We got drinks before we went to our seats....and had told Kraig we would be getting something for lunch after the show...we no sooner got sat down that he said he was hungry. grrrr...

I think he has been hanging out with his sister too much.....each time we take a picture, he also makes a silly face for us to photograph as well.....

This is shortly after the show started....he liked it I think. He DID NOT like that the lights were off. So in between his interest, he kept asking if the lights were going to come back on.


During intermission.....

And, now....the show! It was a really cute story..... This is the intro song....they introduced each character alphabetically (except for E....they saved that one for last...wonder why?) E = Elmo!

Elmo is holding his friend Sunny....he is trying to find a home for Sunny.



Big Bird describes why HIS garden is the best choice for Sunny......


And Oscar the Grouch describes his garden.....

Elmo chooses Big Bird's garden (of course!)....and then wonders how to make Sunny grow...So Abby Cadabby casts a spell to make Sunny big....only she makes the group of them SMALL...they are now in the garden! (Reminds of those little bugs they used to show on Sesame Street in the window planters.....or of Honey I Shrunk the Kids...)



Once they figure out where they are, they meet some garden "critters"....by this time they have met a bee already, who suggested they use their situation to give them a new point of view (ie from Sunny's perspective.) Here they are meeting Ladybugs.....

And then they meet some Beetles (they rapped their conversation)...and they were kind of grumpy!

Then Big Bird waters his garden.....and it rains on Elmo and Sunny and the others.



I like the mushrooms in this picture.....they were outlined in lights and just looked really really pretty.

Abby Cadabby calls her Fairy Godmother for help......but there is a bad connection....so she then calls her Fairy Goduncle Joe (?..Joe is a fairy...hmm). She finally figures out the correct word for her spell and they become big again.

Elmo has chosen the perfect spot for Sunny...and they plant him.

This is the final song....

I took several photos of Kraig with Elmo...he would never look at me....or not look at me long enough. My camera has a delay on it that I don't know how to turn off....so I miss alot of cool shots because of it.

Don't know what was up there...but apparently it caught his eye....

This was the final picture....

March of Dimes Family Teams Awards Get Together

August 29--The Memphis March of Dimes Family Teams held the Awards get together at Lichterman Nature Center. It is always a lot of fun, the kids have a good time, and the adults get to meet and network with others who have similar experiences with prematurity and/or infant loss.
(There may be more pictures to come.....a couple other ladies were taking pics as well, but they have not sent them to me yet.)

Inside, there is a long display of animals.....

And outside, there are several trails to walk...it was beautiful!

Lots of geese roaming around.....

He is sitting on the rail of the bridge....so not sure if that's what the face is for or if he was just getting tired of stopping to take pictures.





And at the end of the day......he just gave out.