Posts Tagged ‘baby’
Baby Harbor
This is baby Harbor. The third baby. The third boy. The third little thief of sleep and sanity. He will be 16 months in just a few days. He is walking, talking, eating with a fork, playing hockey and incredibly curious. Of all three of my boys, he is the busiest. He wants to know how things work. Like the toilet. And Kleenex boxes. And mud puddles. He is also a terrible sleeper. And sick a lot. And he has the best hair. Like ever. Think Garth from Wayne’s World.…
Read MoreA Baby After Autism
As I was looking at our recent family photos, I started thinking about all the joy this baby has brought to our family. And how I can’t really remember a time before him. In a way, he healed us. He healed the wounds that weren’t necessarily visible on the surface. He’s the brother Sawyer dreamed of. Sawyer spends so much time kissing him. Holding him. And talking to him. He’s told me, ‘I’m not lonely anymore mama.’ And then there is Cooper. The one I was the most nervous about.…
Read MoreThe Baby Who Put Us Back Together
Our family had the best day celebrating Harbor’s first birthday. As I watched him devour his cake I thought back to a year ago. I was so scared. So nervous. A baby. A third boy. How would we ever have enough time and energy for another one. And what if. Oh, the what if’s. The elephant in the room always autism. What if Cooper was aggressive? What if he got worse? What if he couldn’t handle the crying? We actually had contingency plans. Scenarios. Plans. We’d have to put a…
Read MoreWhen Babies Don’t Sleep
My name is Kate and my beautiful baby doesn’t sleep through the night and there is nothing wrong with him. I feel a relief just saying that out loud! There is this weird stigma around babies who sleep. Or don’t sleep. Like some moms get good babies and some get bad babies. Or babies who don’t sleep through the night have something wrong with them. Or the parents are doing something wrong because their baby wakes up to eat or snuggle or have a dance party at 3 am. It’s…
Read MoreWhat if he has Autism Mama
You were sitting on the living room floor trying to build a tower with your Legos. At six years old you looked like a teenager sitting there. Your baby face is completely gone. Your legs are getting long. Your hair so blonde and eyes so brown. The baby was all over you. On your legs. In your lap. Pulling at your toys. You kept rotating away from him. But he was onto you. You moved. He moved. I hear you yell, ‘Harbor! You wild baby!’ I looked up and you…
Read MoreHas Autism Changed our decision to have more Children?
July 8th. That date will sit in my head forever. It was the day my son Carter was diagnosed with autism. As his mom knew for about a year before that Carter might have a delay or be “different”. He wasn’t speaking or doing simple things that other kids his age were doing. But before I really noticed anything with Carter his dad and I decided we wanted him to have a sibling. I grew up close with my sisters and I wanted that for my children. Being pregnant with…
Read MoreA Second Child Changed So Much
We’ve lived with autism for four years, some days it feels much longer. I’ve always wanted kids, wanted what you see on TV, in magazines and what your parents teach you. A boy and a girl. A perfect family. But what is perfect? Four years ago we had our first child, a gorgeous little boy that melted our hearts with his wonderful smile and infectious laugh. However, from a very young age things never felt right. He slept for an hour at the most at any one time, refused to…
Read MoreA Tale of Three Brothers
This morning my six year old was talking to his baby brother. I was running around getting lunches ready. We were running a bit late. And after a night of no sleep the morning felt never ending. I peeked over and saw Sawyer head first in Harbor’s car seat. He was talking to him in his loving, brotherly voice. ‘It’s your brother Harbor. Your big brother. I just love you baby.’ My heart absolutely melted. I watched Harbor stop fussing and grin at Sawyer. Those two. Already two peas in…
Read MoreAdjustment in Progress: Big Brother, Baby Brother
The nights are the toughest when I’m alone with my boys while my husband is at work. Just now, putting my autistic son to sleep, my almost three-month-old baby boy cries. Gabe, who is six, is instantly anxious. He starts covering his ears, starts humming and whistling loudly. I wait a bit to see if the baby will stop, but he doesn’t. I explain to Gabe that mommy will have to check on the baby. He follows me to the room where the baby is, all the while whistling and…
Read MoreA Boy and his Baby Brother
Oh how far he’s come. 14 weeks ago he refused to acknowledge our new addition. He had never touched a baby. Never held one. Honestly, never acknowledged one. We’ve worked in it every single day. We started slow. Eased into it. A wave. A smile. A quick touch. A hug. A kiss. And we built up to this. Today, he’s holding him, hugging him and kissing him. With a 20 second count of course. This kid is amazing. I have so much hope for their relationship. https://www.facebook.com/findingcoopersvoice/videos/344747129459436/ Interested in writing…
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