Recovering Noah

Dang it! I missed Anoop . Let's face it. I cannot be counted on to post Noah Watching Anoop videos anymore. After last week's debacle and now this week's, er, embarrassing debacle... well, the glory days of videoing Noah may well be over. You see, one of those spoiler sites said that Anoop would be singing fourth . So, obviously, I was in no hurry when the show came on. In fact, I was in the bathroom. That's right. The toilet. The loo. The john. So, I was just meandering in the WC, doing what you do, you know, when I hear Ryan Seacrest's voice in the other room..... " First up is Anoop !" What? What? He's not supposed to be first! He's supposed to be fourth ! So I scramble off the toilet, run to the living room shouting " Noah! Anoop's on!!! Come on!". I'm trying to pull up my pants. Can't find the video camera. I'm praying the neighbors aren't outside watching all this through our open windows. I grab Noah and ...

It's been a rough few days. I've said it before and I'll say it again, autism can be very unpredictable. The highs are high and the lows are low. Today was one of the lows. Noah hasn't been sleeping much lately and he's been crying a lot. Getting frustrated really easily and hitting himself. The hardest thing is not knowing why he's doing this. Is he hurt? Is he mad? Is he bored? I'm sure it didn't help that Tweedledee and Tweedledum spent the whole evening running around like wild banshees jacked up on speed. Sim actually asked me what I put in the casserole tonight. Seriously. Those two were wired . It was even stressing me out, so I can only imagine how it affected Noah. Anyway, Noah has just not been himself these last few days. He started a new homeopathic remedy and he always has some sort of a reaction after the first week. Maybe that's it. It breaks my heart, though, to see him like this. And I cannot imagine living in a world where you c...

If you haven't visited Sarah's blog yet... then what are you waiting for? Sarah just posted A LIST of surgeries that are needed for her kids. If you feel led, please visit this LIST and donate what you can. Plus, you get to see pictures of all her little cuties and read a little bit about the surgeon in the U.S. who thinks he can save RACHEL'S LEG . Still not convinced to give? Want PROOF that these surgeries actually work? Then be sure to watch this video of DHIVENA WALKING unassisted for the first time in her life after her surgery. (How old is Dhivena , Sarah? 12? 14?) Dhivena has a twin sister who needs the exact same surgery. Also, if you want to learn more about the remarkable work that Sarah is doing in the lives of children from India with special needs, please read her entire BLOG . It's truly inspiring. Oh one more thing. See that button on my sidebar that says "Operation India Princess" ? Click HERE for a list of FAQ's that will give y...

Okay, before I begin, just look at that face. Is that not the cutest kid in the world? Look at that lovely fresh haircut he's sporting. Curious to know how we got a child who is terrified of haircuts to actually sit still, grab the clippers, AND bend his head down so his Nonna could cut his hair? That's right, people. I pulled the Anoop card. Sho ' did. And I'm not ashamed. Okay, well, I am a tiny bit ashamed. But you will just not believe what happened. Here in the Noah T. family, we give our boys short haircuts so that we don't have to touch their heads for at least 4 months. It is a nightmare trying to cut our boys' hair. God blessed us with two kiddos that have sensory issues (Eli even worse than Noah!) and my momma has sworn many a time over the last several years that we're just going to have to buck up and take them to a barber because she can't stand the squirming and flailing and crying anymore. Well, Noah was starting to get antsy and getting ...

Nobody Gonna Slow Her Down... Oh No! She's Got to Keep on Moving..... Ain't Nothing Gonna Break Her Stride She's Running in a One Touch Ground Oh No! She's Got to Keep on Moving....

Something funky's going in on with my blog. All of my sidebars have completely disappeared to the bottom of the page. I haven't changed a thing. Just woke up this morning and saw that they were gone. Scrolled to the bottom of the blog - and voila! - there they are. Since I didn't change anything, I can't for the life of me figure out how to fix it. Any suggestions? Has this happened to anyone before? When I go to my settings layout it shows that everything's okay, but when I click on "preview" from the settings page, it shows an error and won't pull it up. Now Mike's saying he can't even read my blog because it's encrypted with the background. What?? Calling all computer people.... Thanks! Leslie EDITED TO ADD: I fixed the problem. For some unknown reason, it wouldn't let my St. Patrick's Day blog post be called "Those Cheeky Leprechauns". Seriously, what??? What kind of weird thing is that? Those sneakly little green gu...

First things first.... "We're going to Idols Live! We're going to Idols Live!" cha cha cha Guess who did a conga around the living room last night when they found out that Anoop made the Top 10 and will go on tour late summer? Ahhh , the kids were so excited. Noah didn't quite get it, but Eli did. He's never been to a concert before but he knows enough to guess that they'll be selling all sorts of things that I'm gonna be a sucker for and buy. Oh that kid. He knows me well. I hope they come to Dallas this year. We've never been to one of their concerts. Do their tickets sell fast? Am I going to have to wait in line and knock down grandmas and grade school kids to get first dibs? 'Cause I'll do it ya know. I'll do it. Anyway, I'm hoping that if they swing through Dallas then Noah will be able to meet Anoop . Wouldn't that be awesome? Although, I have to admit, it looks like Noah has got some serious competition in the #1 Anoop...

Wow! Did Anoop rock or what? He was fantastic!! Doesn't he have the most beautiful voice? I'm so glad he was able to showcase that tonight. I think we recorded an awesome video of Noah watching Anoop tonight. If you've seen his other videos then you'll know exactly what I mean. He is so calm tonight. No shrieking or squealing or spinning in circles. Granted, he's chewing his shirt through the whole performance (his fifth shirt of the day)but he just seems so different tonight. He's so calm and mesmerized. For most of it, he just sits there with Sim and watches - I mean, really watches - Anoop perform . It's just.. I don't know how to say it, but I'm sure any mom who has a child with autism will understand. Except for the shirt chewing, it just seems so normal . And what a relief to see Noah watch a living, breathing human being perform... you know, instead of Barney or Elmo or a Baby Einstein puppet. I'm just on cloud nine tonight. I know it ...

Last night was an exciting night in the O'Noah, O'Elias, and O'Nandini household. After reading The Night Before St. Patrick's Day and O'Sullivan Stew , we tucked them into their warm beds while visions of pots o' gold danced in their heads... The trap was set with caution and care In hopes that a Leprechaun soon would be there The bait was gold coins And a trail of Lucky Charms With hopes that a Leprechaun Would soon be in our arms In the morning, however We soon realized That we had been tricked! Right under our eyes The chairs were upturned And tied with string Gone was the gold And other shiny things Wait! What's that? Our cheering was loud Could there be a leprechaun Trapped under our cloud?? Those cheeky leprechauns! They tricked us! They took our gold And left gold chocolate in it's place Well, Eli was sold! Hey! Look here! A giant leprechaun hat! Could a leprechaun be hiding Underneath THAT? Aarrgh! Another trick A Leprechaun toy Mommy hates the...

I've wanted to write about Sarah for a long time now. Honestly, I just didn't know where to start. How do you describe someone is who so completely amazing and has the most beautiful and wonderful and selfless heart? I was afraid I wouldn't do her justice - and I really wanted to write something passionate and eloquent, something that would make all of you go straight to her blog and read about all the wonderful things she's doing for the lives of Indian orphans. But I didn't know what to write, so I kept delaying it... but today she wrote about a fantastic idea, Operation Princess, and I realized that, regardless of whether or not I can do her justice, I HAD to let you all know about her. Sarah lives in India with her husband and three kids. They run India Christian Ministries, and Sarah "adopts" children from government institutions and places them in various homes that she's set up in her area. We're not talking healthy, robust children here. S...

Just a quick FYI.... You know that button on the my sidebar? The one that says "Life Without Limbs"? Well, the founder, Nick Vujicic (that's him in the picture) will be on T.V. tonight at 8:00pm. Well, that's if you live in our area. It'll be on Channel 58 during the "Hour of Power Show". If you want to know when it comes on in your area, you can click HERE . I've never seen this show, so I can't vouch for what it's like, but I have seen Nick Vujicic's videos on YouTube and they are incredibly inspirational. Just thought I'd share this info for anyone who's listening.

Isn't that amazing??!! I really wish you all could have seen Noah's face when I told him. The smile he gave.... I will never, ever forget it as long as I live. The only way to describe it is by saying it was pure joy. Like brilliant sunshine. You know, it's really wild how this whole Noah watching Anoop thing has taken on a life of its own. I truly thought that maybe only a handful of people would watch it. You know, Mom, Dad, Aunt Jayne, a few friends. The thing I've learned is that you should never underestimate the power of a fan club! lol Here's what happened... Anoop used to be in a fantastic acapella choir at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They're called The Clef Hangers . There are some really great videos of them on Youtube HERE . Well, one of their fans spotted Noah's video and then forwarded the link to them. Then, one of their representatives contacted me and told me that The Clef Hangers would like to send Noah some of their CD...

Ah, Noah. You're so unpredictable, aren't you? One minute you're jumping up and down screaming (with joy) and the next minute you're running in circles around the couch. You're causing Mama to do a lot of editing. I'm afraid none of the videos are ever going to match that first one. But we still know that you're Anoop's #1 fan. The best part is when Noah goes nuts over Paula (???) and then stops, scratches his head, and walks away when she calls Anoop's performance "karaoke". It might not translate well on the video, but we were dying with laughter over here. I also kindly edited out Eli's little dance fest to Anoop's version of "Beat It". I'm sure I've already worn you out with his Irish jig that I posted over the weekend. lol Those younger two... I tell ya. SUCH camera hogs. Will try to write more tomorrow. It's been a long day. Nandi is now in a leg cast for the next 4 weeks. The Botox didn't work, s...

Are ya'll sick of all the videos yet? This was taken last night at the North Texas Irish Festival. Sim and I used to volunteer there when we were first married, but it's been ages since we've been. And, let me tell you, I'm so glad we went! It was just fantastic to do something as a family - the WHOLE family. The kids are already asking to go back and we're making a list of all the upcoming cultural festivals that we can go to. Let's see... the Ft. Worth Main Street Festival is next month, along with the African Unity Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival is coming up. There's Scarborough Faire (love me some Scarborough Faire! I worked there as a serving wench during high school). The Texas Scottish Festival will be in Arlington in June. Can't forget the big celebration for India's Independence in August. And don't get me started on everything in the Fall... The Tyler Rose Festival, Czech Fest, OktoberFest, GreekFest, WorldFest. Basically, we love a...

Yay!!!!! Anoop made it to the Top 12 - er, I mean Top Thirteen (!) - on American Idol tonight. For those of you who don't know, Noah is crazy about Anoop. I don't know what it is about him, but Noah loves to watch him sing. We videotaped Noah watching him sing a few weeks ago and Noah loves to watch it play on Youtube. And he looooves watching Youtube videos of Anoop performing with the UNC Clefhangers. Seriously, when this guy puts out an album, don't you know I'll be the first one in line to buy 1 or 2 or 10 copies. Anyway, we had our Church LifeGroup tonight and Kim was gracious enough to postpone it until American Idol was over. No hate emails about priorities, 'kay? ;-) I brought my video camera to see if Noah would react when Anoop sang tonight and he did... a little bit. Granted, he was in a new environment in a room full of people.. and he totally knew I was taping him. He kept getting all camera shy when he would spot me. But I thought I'd play it for y...

If you've read this blog for any amount of time then you know that my 5 year-old LOVES dinosaurs. In fact, I'm fairly positive that on some days he actually believes that he is a dinosaur. We're an eclectic bunch. Anyway, Eli really struggles with math. He has some learning issues and has yet to master recognizing his numbers 1 - 10. If he paces himself and doesn't get too worked up, he can count objects or dice, but has great difficulty actually recognizing numbers. For example, in his mind, a 2 is a 5. A 4 is an H, a 5 is an S, 7 is an L, and 6 and are d's, b's, and p's. So, we are really, really focusing on recognizing numbers right now. Here are the some of the ways we're trying to make learning fun for a little boy who is crazy about dinosaurs... The Dinosaur Hunter Game Print off numbers HERE . We used pieces (dinosaur footprints and paleontologists - which we call "dinosaur hunters") from an old Monopoly Jr. Diggin' for Dino'...

Sorry, ya'll . I've been in a major blogging funk lately. I seem to have lost my mojo and don't know where it is. Oh wait. Yes, I do... K-I-D-S. I've been spending a lot of time lately just spending time with them. Which is really how it should be, right? But I am one of those people who has a one-track mind. When I focus all of my attention on one thing, everything else gets left behind. Oh, you should see the state of my house... We've been doing a ton of crafty things. Sim swears I'm making a ton of memories, but sometimes I think I'm just making a ton of mess. But you know that old saying... " How do you spell love? T-I-M-E ". I am thinking that I should be scrapbooking all of this, though. Anyone know anything about digital scrapbooking ? I need a serious tutorial. Shara? Anyway, we are currently doing monthly themes. This month we are doing Ireland and conveniently studying St. Patrick's Day and doing a load of crafts. I'll try to p...