two latest cakes...

A breath of fresh air.

Actually, i think that title might be inaccurate. A breath might be better. Because after Mason's OT (occupational therapy) assessment today, I feel like I finally took a breath in regards to helping Mason. And along with that breath come about 3 years of tears. Some that I shed, and some that I held back... but now all being released in the relief that we're gonna get help. We're going to finally get to know what makes Mason tick.

S (the OT) used a lot of big words that I will be Googling once I get her report :) But it would seem as though his need to run, and his need to escape, and his need to play with Play-Doh, and sand, and rice, and water, and shaving cream, are all normal for someone with the degree of Sensory issues Mason has. It would seem that him needing to be wrapped up like a burrito, or to be sitting pushed against someone at circle time, are normal for him. NORMAL. I have finally found my son's normal. And oh my goodness.... I can't ever begin to explain how relieved I am. *insert gush of tears here!*

S said such magical words... "We're going to make sure that the school understands how to accommodate Mason, so that he can reach his full potential." She saw, from the Moment he sat in his special chair, that he is such a fantastically smart little boy. He completed almost all of her challenges. And gave her a delightful display of how sticky, and stubborn he can be when he can't accomplish something. (He had a hard time cutting out a circle. Had a melt down (although, a calm one, for him). And then we were able to re-direct him onto something different. he never did go back to the circle, so that's something I'll have him practice here at home, but really... I'm okay with that :)

Unlike some of the other journey's we've been on with Mason, I'm excited to go down this path. Excited to have something to fall back on. Excited to have found a support system that understands by boy like no other. Speech helped. His resource teacher has become great. His pre-school has been Amazing. But OT? That's where it's at baby :)

Off to breath, and cry (the good tears). Finally.

Attack of the Squirrel.

We went to a local park today to enjoy an end of the year picnic with Mason's Pre-school. It was kinda chilly, but the kids were running around having a fantastic time...so they didn't notice. I joined the committee for the Picnic, so had to get there early to help set up. No biggie. One of the other committee members came, and then one of the mom's of another pre-schooler came. I'll call her The Crazy Squirrel Lady... or WTF!? for short. So, WTF!? brought crackers and cheese as her contribution to the picnic. So, we're standing around, waiting for other families show up, when a squirrel started to wander over. I tried to shoo it. WTF!? started giving it crackers!?!? And THEN she gave my children crackers to give to the squirrel! UGH! I was NOT impressed. I told them to stay away from the squirrel, and to NOT feed it anymore. But, WTF!? was going ON AND ON about how in Toronto the squirrels are so friendly, and how she bets that this Squirrel would just eat from your hand if you were still enough. HA! So, of course the kids are all excited about this, and start approaching the squirrel. I shooed them away. That's when the squirrel decided to stalk the food. When I tried to chase it away, it just hunkered down and glared at me. I was a bit freaked out. I'm pretty sure he was sending mind messages saying that if I took another step, he was going to eat my face. WTF!? was all "I'll get him to leave if he gets too close. He's so friendly! Give him another cracker!" And the rest of us were all "I don't want him near the food!" and "I don't want him near my kids!" So! Finally more people arrived and the squirrel scampered off. We ate, played some games, hung out, went on a scavenger hunt. A few more families went home. Me being on the committee meant that I had to stay later to clean up. No biggie. A few Mom's and I were standing around swapping recipes, and chatting about how to get out berry stains. I probably made that up... I looked over to see poor little Paige approaching the Squirrel. I started to walk towards her to tell her not to, when THE SQUIRREL JUMPED ON HER!!! I did Not make that part up. She was fine, just scared. A bunch of us looked around and discovered that WTF!? had already left!! ARGH!! I knew it!! Aidan ran over to me to show me his mutant caterpillar. Seriously, the thing was 3 inches long! One of the other Mom's suggested he show it to her daughter, so off he ran. I turned back to start clearing tables. Next thing I know, Aidan is running at me, screaming and holding his hand. I thought he had lost his caterpillar (he tends to be a tad dramatic..). but NO! He (foolishly) tried to pet the Squirrel!! And it ATTACKED HIM!! Ran up his leg, and bit the fleshy part between his thumb and hand. He flung it off then :) So, we got it cleaned, and I took him to the Clinic, where they can't do anything for animal bites (PSA). So, then Aidan and i had to spend 3 hours at the hospital. Where they also do nothing for Squirrel bites. Except inform the Public Health Unit. I had to fill out a form for the PHU, and talk to a PH nurse. And that's it. That's the story of how it was all fun and games until your kid gets bitten by a squirrel.

LMAO!!

Sorry my posts are so random and sporadic!! I just never seem to get here anymore!!

Anyway..

My kids are watching Teletoon retro this morning. THe chipmunks are on, which they LOVE :) So I decided to take a few minutes to myself before heading down to wash the dishes from the cheesecake I'm baking today. All of a sudden Jenna is calling me, telling me to "COME QUICK!!" I raced downstairs and she's so excited to tell me about the new "Super Juicer!" Here's what she said... "It's so fabulous! You add all the fruits, or even vegetables if you want, and it makes you healthier, stronger, and gives you more energy"! (At which point Mason piped in to say, "Yeah Mom! More Energy!!") Jenna continued on with "You just throw the fruit in whole, unless it's too big, then you chop it up. And the fruit bits go into one part, and the juice comes out of a spout, like a tea pot, or maybe a kettle, I don't know..." AND THEN< Jenna AND Aidan at the same time said "It's like two machines in ONE!"

OMG, my children have been brainwashed!! By an INFOMERCIAL!! They get it from me I think.. I love infomercials. Bet you didn't know that! LOL

Market Research.

So, it's probably fairly obvious (If you're one of my facebook friends, and if not, dude, add me!) that I LOVE cakes. Well, in a way. I don't always love eating cake, but I love creating them. I love taking something as simple as flour and eggs, and turning it into something people crave. I love turning something from a cake wreck, into a work of art in the wee hours of the morning (okay, not really, but that seems to be how it works for me :)) Cakes are me. I'm the cake lady. Need a cake? Call me! I'll do anything.. apparently.. :) Considering my latest creation..



My friend had mentioned awhile ago wanting me to make a cake for her husbands 40th birthday. Specifically, a "boob" cake. I told her that I would do it. Reluctantly. I think these cakes are kinda weird... I don't know why. Almost as weird as the pregnant belly cakes... but those freak me out, because I can't imagine cutting one... seriously, think about it. Yeah. But I digress. So, we never really talked about the cake again, and I thought she must have changed her mind. HA! nope. She called Thursday. And asked if there was ANY way I could do the cake for Friday. EEK!! I, being the absolute glutton for punishment, agreed. It also stems from my need to make everyone happy. It's a sickness. Digress.. again.

So, then began the mad rampage of my kitchen. Do you know how many things I have in my kitchen that are shaped like breasts? ZERO! Who knew!? So, I ended up making the breasts in ramekins... or custard cups, whatever you want to call them. And then A LOT of engineering went into getting those puppies round! Many cake scraps and much icing was used. And I will never be a plastic surgeon. Sorry. :) But, like my husband was so kind to point out, my boobs aren't even, so of course, neither should the cake's be. LOL. Thanks dear.

I felt better about the cake once I got the rest of the icing on. I wish I had lowered the blue a bit more, to give it a bit more cleavage, but I'm always my own worst critic. :) And besides, there were kids at the party, so I wanted it to be fairly PG :)

OH!! Shout out to Jackie!! I used your mousse recipe for the filling! It was AWESOME!! White Chocolate :) My friends raved about it :) And so Easy! Who knew!?

Oh, wow. Did I ever digress on this post! I hadn't intended to write a play by play of my corset cake creation!!

What I really came here to ask was about the name of my future venture. I'm thinking of calling my business SugarMama's Cakes and Bakes. SugarMama's for short :) What do you think?? I have a good friend who does business branding, so I'm going to run it past her, to see what she thinks... But I kinda love it already :) I can just hear it. "OMG! Where did you get that cake!?" "SugarMama's" :)

I want to be able to start leaving my customers with a business card or two when I deliver a cake... so I need a name!! If there's any other suggestions, feel free to throw them out there!!

Thanks guys.

Oh, P.S. Need a cake?? ;)

And then a sigh of relief...

I love it when I freak out about something, and then get a sign that I am right :)

Mason had his first session for his second block of speech therapy today. And He Did AWESOME!! Never was there a child more perfect than mine :) He was blowing J out of the water with his mad speech skillz :) There are definitely still delays there, and I'm glad we're addressing them now... but man.. he was just so GOOD! I'm hopeful that by September, when he starts Kindergarten, all these struggles will be a distant memory :)

I like being hopeful..

2 steps forward, 2 steps back.

When I dropped Mason off at school today, I found out that the integration resource support worker was going to be there observing Mason. Surprise!! This of course, after I had been through the whole spiel with him about being nice to his friends, and listening to his teachers, and being a very good boy today. Figures. :) I mentioned to his teacher that he was starting a new block of speech therapy tomorrow. And that his ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) is coming up soon, on May 14th. She seemed surprised by that, and said, "Oh! Who's doing the ADOS??" I replied, "Dr.K" in a tone that said, "duh, thought you knew that??". And then she said "oh! no no no! Dr. K won't do the ADOS." And I said "Huh??" She said, "No, he is just the pediatrician. Mason has to be accepted as his patient before the ADOS can be done." HUH!?!?! NO ONE TOLD ME THAT!!! Here I'm thinking we're almost done with this shit, and we haven't even started. What if Dr. K decides not to take Mason on?? And seriously!? This is NOT what I was told. I was told, OH! You really want Dr. V for your ADOS ped. She's the best. And then I found out that Dr.V wasn't doing the ADOS anymore. So I got stuck with the Dr they kept telling me I probably didn't want. Crap.

So now I'm so confused. Mason was put on a waiting list with the Pre-school speech and language program for them to do the ADOS on video. The video would then be sent to Dr. J (Who really is the best of the best), who would assess from there. I was also told to get on board with a pediatrician to do an ADOS, because although doubtful, that might be a faster way of getting it done. So, fine, I got screwed around by my family Dr trying to get that referral. And now that I have it, I find out that I may still be up shit creek without a paddle. AND! the resource teacher tells me that one of the speech path's at the pre-school speech program is who will do ADOS!! And then Dr. K will read the results and make the final diagnosis from there. So no matter what, it's the same people doing the same test! WTF??

I'm most worried that he won't be accepted as a patient by Dr.K. Since his surgery, he's shown pretty much ZERO signs of Autism. I still really really really want to do the ADOS. I have a point to prove now. I want his resource teacher, and the supervising speech path to STOP assessing him, and treating him like he has Autism, if in fact he doesn't. I have concerns about Sensory Integration Disorder, but even that is only a small concern. Sorry, sidetracked there... seriously. During Mason's last Speech and Language assessment Mason was so good. However, he was really interested in the lanyard that A was wearing, with her name and picture. Mason has always been interested in those. Not obsessed, interested. In the report I got regarding that assessment, it was 'observed' that Mason invaded A's personal space to fixate on her identification. WHAT!? he's THREE!! At the same appointment, she brought out a puzzle he had never seen before. And as he was absorbed in doing the puzzle, she started talking, randomly, about how she had ridden a horse that weekend, with a wagon, blah blah blah. She was trying to get him to engage in conversation... I get that. But I don't see how that relays back to speech and language... not in the way she worded her report. It was a big fat, this kid has Autism report. And I'm not impressed.

Shoot this is random. Bottom line is, I want the ADOS to prove to these people that they are wrong, and to start focusing on his Speech. But that I am afraid I will never get an official diagnosis (or a negative diagnosis... does that make sense??) because Mason's behaviour is so different now than what it was pre-surgery. Blah. Just more hurry up and wait I guess. Blah.