Pom pom pick up

It is important to me that we work on skills at home. Even though both of my boys have been in different therapies they only get so many visits. Now especially that it is summer time and Gatlin is out of school I really want to make sure we do some good activities at home.

This simple activity is fun for them and works on OT fine motor skills. I picked up the pom poms and plastic tongs at the Dollar Tree store. The container I'm storing them in is just a reused Ovaltine container.

Autism Awareness Day 19

Autism Awareness Day 19 - Putting aside our adult agendas. Yes I'm still behind on these posts but it's important to me so I will continue on. Hopefully you all aren't sick of them and hopefully some of you are actually benefiting from my posts. So now lets get back to the topic of putting aside our adult agendas.

As an adult you have a lot of responsibilities, expectations, plans, etc but when you have a child with special needs you will find that sometimes it all goes out the window. Some days run smoothly and I get things accomplished that I had planned to but other days just don't work that way. Before the diagnosis of Autism I thought I must be some kind of awful parent who just couldn't get her children to do what they should. A parent who was incapable of getting things done that should be done. I was so frustrated, I was trying so hard to get my boys to do the things they "should" and to manage my household and my photography business the way I "should" but nothing was working right. Why were other Moms and other photographer Mom's able to get things done and I wasn't? Why was I failing so miserably??

Then I finally started realizing that Gatlin just wasn't a typical child, then came his diagnosis and soon after the realization that Draiman wasn't a typical child either. My boys have Autism, therefore they have special needs which means that the things that work for other parents don't always work for us. I finally started to see that things were just going to be different for us and that different is ok. It's perfectly ok that my children haven't met their milestones in the same timeline as someone else's child. It's perfectly ok that our household, our lives, are not the same as some other families. It is perfectly ok that I that I focus more on what my children need and less on what I thought I "should" be doing.

One of my favorite movies that we've watched dealing with Autism is called The Horse Boy. There were so many ways in which I could relate to this family, so many things they learned that we also learned along the way. The journey was crazy and amazing at the same time. My favorite parts of the movie are when Rowan's Dad talks about needing to put our adult agendas aside and do what's best for our children and when he says his prayer for his son and everyone affected by Autism. It was a powerful movie and he makes some powerful points. Sometimes we really do need to put our adult agendas aside, and I believe this goes for special needs parents as well as typical parents.

http://horseboymovie.com/

Autism Awareness Day 9

Autism Awareness Day 9 - Sleep, sleep, please go to sleep. I was going to post something last night but I was too tired to mess with it so I tried to get some extra sleep. I'm tired a lot to be honest and a lot of it has to do with my boys and their sleep issues. A lot of children with Autism tend to have sleep issues. For our family it's anything from difficulty falling asleep, restlessness, leg cramps, trouble staying asleep, to waking up several times a night. Now add in the fact that I have two boys that have those same troubles and you'll soon understand why I'm tired a lot.

Both Gatlin and Draiman have issues falling asleep easily on their own. This is one reason it is important to have a consistent bed time routine to help cue their bodies into sleep time. We do give our boys melatonin, though I hope to stop using it. That helps Gatty a lot which is good so that he can sleep for school the next day but Draiman fights it like crazy so at times it's almost pointless giving it to him. Then once we get them to sleep it's a matter of keeping them asleep. They both can tend to wake up several times a night. Poor Gatlin at times wakes up with severe leg cramps which then makes it difficult to calm him down and get him back to sleep. Other times my boys will wake up at around 3 am ready to go like it's time to wake up for the day.

This can be a crazy cycle for me. I tend to stay up for a while after the boys go to sleep so that I can work on things I need to get done. Then when I'm ready to finally go to sleep about half the time Draiman has already woken up or will soon. Sometimes I spend my night back and forth dealing with one child only to get him to sleep and have the other one wake up on me. Or there are those nights that one wakes up and is so loud that they wake the other one up and no one will go back to sleep for hours at least. A lot of times I wake up with a child or two sleeping with me. Just this week I woke up with both of them laying across me.

The sleeplessness can be frustrating but it's just the way it is. Some days are good and they both will sleep through the night but unfortunately that doesn't tend to happen as often. So we just do the best we can each night and hope for the best. If a night is particularly rough then there will more than likely be naps later. Although naps for Gatty can sometimes cause more bed time issues. But like I said we do the best we can, but you'll have to forgive me if I'm not the most sympathetic to others who complain about newborns not sleeping. Most newborns will eventually learn to sleep through the night just fine. We on the other hand have been wishing for uninterrupted sleep for over 4 years now and I don't see it getting better right away. It's ok though because I love my boys regardless of any sleep I lose.

Autism Awareness Day 8

Autism Awareness Day 8 - Sensory Seekers. My boys are what some refer to as sensory seekers. What that means is that they crave sensory input or stimulation. They need activities like jumping, bouncing, and rough and tumble play. Ever since my boys were very small they would always try to lift things that seemed way too heavy for them. That's because their muscles needed that input. This is why Draiman loves to jump pretty much all the time and why he also enjoys walking on his tip toes. Gatlin also loves to bounce, jump, and run around a lot.

Without these kinds of activities it is very hard for my boys to settle down and focus. They need these activities on a regular basis and when they don't get enough of it then you see them get crazy hyper or overly agitated. Not to mention that they are nearly impossible to get to go to sleep if they haven't used up enough energy.

This is why in our home we have a fairly large preschool trampoline, an exercise ball for bouncing, a crash pad for jumping and wrestling, weighted balls for playing with, and several other balls as well. We spend quite a bit of time rough housing through out the day too. My boys love to be slammed down on the crash pad or smashed against the back of the couch. We have to watch out for Draiman too because he enjoys head butting, what hurts us feels good to him. Though he has gotten much better about that.

Now it may sound odd but these things are actually good for them. They need this kind of sensory input and like I said it does help them focus better. It also provides a good way for us to engage them, to actually pay attention to us rather than just being in their own world. Through P.L.A.Y project therapy we use the rough and tumble play to get the boys to communicate with us too. Draiman rarely says anything but if I'm smashing him in the chair behind me and then stop and say "Ready, Set ..." you better believe he will yell "GO" just so I'll continue to smash him some more.

Its kind of funny how their needs sort of force us to play with them but the truth is I really enjoy playing with them. We could all stand to play with our kids more. Find those games that your child enjoys and make them a fun, learning, bonding experience.

Autism Awareness Day 7

Autism Awareness Day 7 (sorry it's late) - Talk to your children, even if they don't answer you. One thing I have always done is talk to my children. I've done it since they were babies and I will always do it. Obviously when they were babies I knew they couldn't answer me but then later of course I found out that it would still be difficult for them.

Even though they can't always answer me I feel it is important that I talk to them and try to carry on a conversation so to speak. I know they hear me, sometimes I can tell they are listening though with Autism they don't always make direct eye contact or show signs of paying attention. Either way I know it's good for them and this is how they are going to learn to converse with others. Now that Gatlin talks more he will talk to me, though sometimes he just repeats what I say to him. Like I said though it's still important to talk to him so that he will learn from me.

One thing I've noticed is that when I go to the store with my boys, even when they were babies I always felt like people stared at me because I was talking to them. I always talk to them about whatever and now with Gatty I tell him what we are buying and try to get him to name some of the items. I know that this will help him learn new words and to identify different items. The thing is, I don't really see many other parents talking to their kids. It seems like a lot of them are just in a zone trying to get their groceries or whatever. Now maybe they don't want to look like a fool talking to a child who can't or doesn't answer but I'm not concerned about what others think when they are looking at us. My concern is teaching my children things throughout everyday life.

So don't be afraid to strike up a conversation with your non-verbal child. I'm sure that one day you'll realize how much they really were listening.

Autism Awareness Day 6

Autism Awareness Day 6 - Therapy alone is not enough. One thing that Dr. Soloman told us when our boys were diagnosed was that we needed to record our therapy sessions. He said that we shouldn't rely on therapists, that we needed to learn how to do the therapy ourselves at home. Dr. Soloman said that we as parents were the key to helping our children meet their milestones and that a few hours a week with a therapist was never going to be enough. So we took his advise and recorded the first several sessions so that we could replay them and learn how to provide therapy at home.

At this point in time we no longer record therapy sessions but at the beginning it was very helpful. We still observe therapy sessions and partner with the boys therapists to keep up with what skills we need to work on. We've done our best to incorporate the things they do in therapy into our everyday lives. We are constantly working on skills at home but we've made it more a part of life rather than endless therapy sessions. The key to teaching our boys is through fun and play. They learn so much more when they enjoy it and I think that is really true for just about anyone.

We've taken a lot of the advice given to us from therapists and put it into play (literally play time) at home. We've also found some of our own methods that work too. I don't feel that we are the best at this but I will say that the therapists have always told us that they can tell we're working on things at home. So if you ask me that must mean we're doing something right. All I know is that our boys have come a long way since the beginning of this journey.

Autism Awareness Day 2

Autism Awareness Day 2 - Communication can be very difficult for children with Autism. For us this lack of verbal communication was one of the things that tipped us off that our boys had Autism. At 3 yrs old when Gatlin was diagnosed he was only saying "No" very rarely and Draiman at almost 18 mos had not attempted to say anything. We had plenty of "tantrums" but no real communication, that is until we (the parents) learned one very important lesson. That lesson was that behaviors are not merely behaviors but rather a form of communication. It's easy to assume that the child with Autism is merely acting out or being a brat but that is not always the case. Now I'm not saying that they don't misbehave because let's face it, everyone does, even adults. What I am saying is that when working with a child with Autism (in my opinion even neuro-typical children) you should always make sure that their behaviors are not in actuality a form of communication.

Once I began trying to decode Gatlin and Draiman's behaviors I started seeing that my kiddos had been trying to tell me all kinds of things the whole time but I just had not been "listening." I was failing to understand their messages. When Gatlin would smack himself in the head he wasn't trying to injure himself for no reason, he was trying to tell me that his head hurt. When the boys would scream and fight me when trying to get them dressed it wasn't because they were brats, it was because I was putting scratchy jeans on them that caused them sensory issues and irritated their skin. Draiman's random crying wasn't actually so random, he had noticed that I was wearing different clothes and putting shoes on which meant his Mommy was leaving him. Gatlin's screaming and crying because I turned on the blender wasn't just him being ridiculous, it was because the noise was so loud it hurt his ears.

Suddenly I realized that they had being trying to tell me so many things but I just didn't get it. At first I felt awful, like a bad Mom. How could I have missed this? Why didn't I see it before? Later I realized that I had just as much to learn as my boys did and that it was going to be a wonderful journey together. I was finally beginning to understand them and the "tantrums" were subsiding because we were finally getting the message.

Autism Awareness Month

It's Autism Awareness Month!!!! That means that for this entire month you all will get to read my thoughts, opinions, experiences, lessons in Autism that I have gotten through my personal experiences with my super awesome boys. Some of you will agree with me and some of you won't. That's fine, I'm ok with it. So let me kick off this month by saying that I am THANKFUL for autism. What??? Yep you read that right, I am thankful for autism. It is true that autism has brought a lot of challenge into my life but it has also brought its blessings. Through autism I strongly believe that I have learned to become a better parent and a better person. It has taught me to be much more understanding and accepting of everyone around me. It has shown me that there are much more important things than keeping pace with everyone else. I've learned to enjoy the simple things and appreciate life much more. I am amazed and inspired by the way my boys see the world and how they work through their personal challenges. I accept autism as a part of them and I do not see it as a tragedy what so ever. I truly feel I was meant to be their Mom and live and love this life with autism. I feel blessed and I embrace it with all it's challenges and triumphs.

Birthday Break and Paintings 25 & 26

     Well I really wanted to keep on top of my painting but I also wanted to do something special for Gatlin's birthday so I ended up taking the weekend off from painting. That way I could spend more time getting ready for Gatlin's small birthday party and make his special cake. So at this point I'm still behind one painting but that's ok because my little guy had a fun evening.
     Pretty much every birthday party that Gatlin has had before always ended up with him being very upset. I could never understand why he would always be so grouchy and crying. He wouldn't want to open presents, blow out candles, or do much of anything for that matter. This never made sense to me until we were on the road to getting his Autism diagnosis and I finally started to understand  my baby better.
     When we started the process for Gatlin's diagnosis it was February of last year and he had recently turned 3 years old. I had always known that my boy was sensitive and that he saw the world a little bit differently but I was only just beginning to understand it all at this point in time. During one of our visits with a specialist I started telling her about how Gatlin always hates his birthday parties and how the last one had been a little stranger than before. You see Gatty has always collected and carried special toys with him at all times since he was really little, and at that point it was some Handy Manny tools. He kept his tools with him at all times and he was all about Handy Manny. So in an effort to try to do something special for him I had my friend Sarah decorate a cake with Manny and the tools on it. I thought Gatlin would love it.
     What I did not anticipate was that Gatlin would not understand that the tools were just cake and not his toy tools. He immediately became very upset as we started cutting the cake and he kept trying to take the tools. It was my Aunt Dona that first commented that he seemed to think they were real. In order to calm him down we just gave him pieces of cake with the tools on it and he carried them around for a while until he dropped one and the cake fell apart. He then looked at it puzzled and then started to smear the frosting all over the floor.I felt like the worst Mom in the world! Here I had tried to do something special for him and instead I just upset and confused him. I felt like a complete failure, so much so that even writing this now brings tears to my eyes.
      As I told this story to that doctor she explained to me that birthday parties may not be a good idea for Gatlin. She said that although I had the best intentions I had basically put his tools, his prized toys, up on this pedestal that he couldn't get to and then it fell apart on him. She also said that all of the commotion of extra people and the expectations put on him to open presents and blow candles was probably just too overwhelming for him. She continued to say that probably the best party for him would be just us with plain and simple white cake. I was finally starting to get it when she explained that a lot of times birthday parties are really for the parents and not as much for the kids. I understood now that I needed to do what was best for him and not what I thought was the perfect party.
     Fast forward to this past weekend. A whole year has past and Gatlin has grown and changed so much. He's doing great in therapies and preschool. He's even beginning to interact more with other children in his class. We knew that he had come a long way and that more than likely this year a birthday party would be much easier on him but I did not want a repeat of last year at all. So with that we decided to do things a bit differently. This year we only invited a select few very close relatives, the ones who come to our house regularly. We told everyone ahead of time that it would be a relaxed event and that we would be following Gatlin's lead to make sure he was comfortable and happy. If he did not want to open presents or blow out candles then we simply would not do it.
     Now me being me, I still wanted to make a special cake for him. You know sometimes we as parents just can't let things go. I really didn't want him to have a plain white cake and I was confident that he understood things much better now so that he wouldn't be confused with his cake. I mean now I can tell him if something is to be eaten or not and we've even looked at cakes in the bakery section at the store too. So I decided to go ahead and make him a special Buzz Lightyear cake but I reminded myself the whole way that if he didn't like it that was my problem and not his.
     I am pleased to say that his birthday party went over very well! He was in a good mood, when we asked him if he wanted to open presents he was excited to do it. He did very well sitting at the table when it was time to blow out candles too. My brother sat with him while I was taking pictures and tried to explain to Gatlin how to blow out his candles. After a few tries I noticed Gatlin start to put his head down so I immediately sensed that he was headed for frustration and told my brother to just blow them out for him. That was that and Gatlin was happy again. He even helped me cut his piece of cake. I was just beyond proud of him. He amazes me every day and I love him so very much.

Here is a picture of Gatlin's birthday cake.

At the end of the weekend I finally got some time to work on my paintings. This first one is Fireworks, a 5x7 on acrylic paper. I supposed I made this because I feeling such excitement over birthday party gone right for once.

This next painting I call Perfect Puzzle, it's another 5x7 acrylic on paper. This one is inspired by my boys. You know a puzzle piece is the symbol for Autism and I honestly have mixed feelings about that and anything else that holds any negative connotation towards Autism. I know very well that Autism can make things more difficult but it is also very much a part of who my boys are. It makes them see the world in a different and amazing way. My boys have taught me so much and made me a much better person. Learning to understand their perspective has humbled me and made me more understanding of everyone around me. I thank God for them everyday and I do not feel the least bit upset about having children with Autism. If my boys are a puzzle then they are a perfect puzzle to me and I love them just the way they are.

Chalk board fun

The boys each got their own dry erase/chalk board easels for Christmas. As you can see here they are actually coloring together. As much as these two fight they do also play together very well at times.
I'm really glad that they got easels for Christmas. My sister got one for Gatlin and we got one for Draiman. Half the time the use just one together but hey at least they have the option of coloring seperately. Their occupational and physical therapists said that writing on a verticle surface would be good for strengthening their wrist muscles so let's hope these help them.

Day 8 - Storm

Day 8 - Storm - acrylic on paper

     This painting went over much better than the last one. It's not as good as I'd hoped but I'm still diggin it. Of course I kind of like storms so why wouldn't I? I am also pleased to say that I already have my day 9 painting done as well. I just finished it so I will photograph and post it later. Now if only I could stay ahead of the game, that would be pretty good.

     Now I think I'm going to go pour some paint into a ziplock freezer bag, tape it shut with packing tape, and then let the boys "paint" with it. I saw this idea on pinterest and have been wanting to try it for a while now. I think now is the time to give it a whirl. We'll start with that and then maybe we can move to finger paints later. I have a whole board on pinterest devoted to things I'd like to try with the boys, so I better get busy with it.

Day 6 - Impact

Here is day 6 - impact - acrylic on paper

I hope you all are enjoying my paintings as much as I am. I can tell it's getting easier for me and it's only been 6 days! Ok well I'd love to write some more but it's time to get ready for preschool and P.L.A.Y. project.

If you would like to learn more about P.L.A.Y. Project than please check out this link here. We are loving P.L.A.Y. and if you have a child with Autism I highly recommend you check it out. It has helped us engage so much more with our boys. It's amazing!

Day 4 - Molten Sun

Here is day 4 - Molten Sun- 6x6 acrylic on paper.

     This challenge had bee a lot of fun so far. I am very excited about it and I can't wait to have all these paintings to display later. Well that is provided that I keep them all. If I could keep this pace up for the entire year imagine how much I would accomplish. For now let's just hope I make it through this month.
     Now that it's time to get back into the swing of things after the holidays it's about to get much busier around here. Monday already I have to get ready for two P.L.A.Y. Project home visits and then we have appointments every day of the week except for Friday. Gatlin also is back on schedule for preschool and on top of that I have some custom crochet orders I need to get done.
     Let's hope I can find my motivation to get through it all. LOL Today I am feeling very exhausted as I did not get to bed until after midnight and then for some odd reasons the boys took shifts and were awake from 4am on. Needless to say I had a heck of a time getting myself awake this morning. Ahhh it's the story of my life. :)

I'm back!!!

     Well it's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog and I apologize for that. Life got busier and more interesting to say the least. We had a lot of adjustments to make but it has been a great journey. I'm hoping to get back into blogging this new year, as well as lot of other things.
     Before I start any new posts let me give you a brief recap of things since I last blogged. This blog is aptly titled BrothersBad because it's really all about my boys and life with them. At the same time my boys are the reason I took such a hiatus from blogging. In February of 2012 Gatlin was diagnosed with Autism and with that we as a family had a lot to learn. Shortly thereafter we started noticing the huge similarities between Gatlin and Draiman. Then in August Draiman was also diagnosed with Autism. Since that time Gatlin has started preschool, Draiman has started early intervention home visits, and we have lots of therapy appointments as well. On a regular basis there are appointments for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. We spend a lot of time working on sign language at home as well as other things and we also have a P.L.A.Y. Project consultant that comes to our home to teach us the P.L.A.Y. method of engaging our boys.
     So as I'm sure you can tell it's been a busy time for us but it has been wonderful as well. Our boys have progressed so much this past year but more importantly they have taught us even more. We are blessed and honored to have them in our lives. For us Autism has not been a tragedy but rather a wonderful learning experience. We have learned new ways to understand and connect with our boys all while they have taught us so many valuable lessons. I am thankful for them everyday and proud to be their Mama.

Halloween Fun

Well I know I'm late with this post but you know what they say... "Better late than never." I would like to share a couple of the boys in their Halloween costumes. This year I made their costumes. Draiman was Gnomeo and Gatlin was an Alien from Toy Story.

Halloween was a lot of fun and I truly enjoyed making costumes for my boys. Now it's time to work on Christmas stuff though. I have lots to make and little time in which to make it. It will be fun though and I can't wait to share some pics with you.

New skills

Recently I taught myself how to crochet hats. I'm still very new to crochet but I'm steadily getting the hang of it. When I decided to learn to crochet I wasn't really sure what all I would do with this new skill but now I am so glad that I learned. I can see that this is one skill that is definitely going to come in handy. Check out a couple of the hats I've made so far.

The dangers of photographing your own children

I should have known better, it is never easy to photograph your own children. I know this first hand because every time I try to do it they decided to do everything in their power to defy me. It's been this way forever. Gatlin gets angry or runs away laughing when I try to photograph him. Draiman usually just gives me a very sour puss face or he refuses to look at me. They put up enough of a fight for just candid portraits but when I actually set up a scene it's always game on. That's when they decide to be their worst.

Well yesterday I decided to set up a fall scene because I really wanted some fall portraits of the boys. I knew that the odds of me getting anything good were very well stacked against me but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. It's always a challenge with these two but at least it's worth a shot.

Overall Draiman was very good, he stayed in the same spot and even looked the right direction a few times. Gatlin on the other hand wasn't having it at all. He refused to stay on the hay bales and if he did sit still for a moment he made sure he was facing backwards so that I could not get a portrait of his face at all. Most of the time he was screaming and attempting to run away. Things were so crazy that at one point I knocked my tripod around and managed to get some crazy out of focus shots. This one here depicts how the shoot was really going. I must say I love it as much as the nice portrait, got to love my boys. :)

New pics and a freebie!

I was finally able to get a fairly good picture of the brothersbad together today. Yay!! So now the header to this blog is no longer outdated. Thank goodness for that. My munchkins love to be difficult when it comes to me taking their pictures. Today I was lucky enough that Daddy was home to help and Gatlin was more interested in his movie than me photographing him.

Here are some pics from a few weeks ago when both boys were mad at me. They were not in the mood for me to be taking the pictures but I did it anyway. I absolutely love these pictures. they show so much personality.

I love photographing my boys! Well on that note I would also like to add a freebie here for you. This one is a set of two actions that I created in Photoshop CS5. These are my go to actions for resizing images for facebook. I created two actions, one for horizontal pics and one for vertical pics. I did it this way so that I can just select the appropriate one and it resizes automatically without opening up any dialog boxes. These will resize your photos so that they are 500 pixels on the longest side at 72 ppi. I hope you find them useful. Click here to download.

Getting ladled

It's always sheer craziness around here and today was no exception. First off we needed to head to the grocery store for groceries. Those trips are always fun as we caravan through the aisles with separate carts for each of the boys. Generally all of the food or anything else that can be easily destroyed goes in Draiman's cart so that it is safe from Gatlin. Well today we learned that things are not much safer with Draiman either. Today he decided that he must pull things out of the cart and chew labels off or throw things out of the cart as we headed down the aisle. Lots of fun!

After hitting both grocery stores it was nap time for the boys. Luckily for us they both fell asleep in the car on the ride home. The good news here is that we were able to unload the van and put away the groceries with out any fuss. Then after the boys woke up and dinner was over, I decided to make a peanut butter cake. I've never had peanut butter cake before but a photographer friend gave me the recipe (yes we share more than just photography tips) so I thought I would give it a try. Of course during the prep of the cake Gatlin started freaking out because he wanted the rubber spatula. My boys are always stealing my kitchen utensils!

After I got the cake in the oven I washed off the spatula so that Gatty could play with it. Yes I let him play with my stuff because it keeps him entertained and I plan to teach my boys to cook one day anyway so the sooner he gets used to the utensils the better. As it stands one of Gatty's favorite movies right now is Ratatouille and he loves to act like he's cooking. So all was going well, Gatty was playing with the spatula and Draiman had a ladle, then the next thing I know BAM I get smacked upside the head with the ladle. It did hurt but man did my husband and I get a laugh out of that one. John told me I "got ladled!" So I sit here typing this with a mild headache from Draiman "ladling me" but I wouldn't change my life for anything in the world.

Missed you.

 Oh how I've missed you. Lately I have been so caught up in family stuff, reunion stuff, and photography stuff that I have completely neglected this blog. I need to balance my time better. There's so much I want to say and it seems I never get to typing it out. Some how this has got to change. This blog is important to me and for that reason I need to make a better effort of posting here.

I don't have many followers and I don't really know how many of you are reading this but it's still important to ME. I enjoy writing about my boys and everything that I post is just more documentation of their lives. Time passes by so fast and I know that I will enjoy looking back through these posts later. So it's just like everything else in life. I need to prioritize and schedule things better.

In just the time that I have neglected to post my babies have grown so much. Gatlin is looking more like a little boy and less like my little toddler. He seems to have calmed down some and now he's not near as uncomfortable with new people as he used to be. Draiman is all over the place now. You can't keep that little guy still for anything. He's crawling all over the house and trying to get into everything. Now he's all about standing up. He still can't stand all by himself but it's only a matter of time before he will. It's just crazy how fast they grow.