First Week of First Grade!

How on earth do I have a first grader?!

The day before school started, Cruise's school held a back-to-school night. We quickly dropped in to meet his new teacher, aides, and the speech therapist. Cruise marched right into the classroom, came up to his teacher and said, "Hey! What's your name?" "I'm Mr. Harris. What's yours?" "I'm Snake Cruise." Mr. Harris looked up at me puzzled. I told him that Cruise likes to call himself 'Snake Cruise'. 

Mr. Harris: Oh, so you are Cruise. Is that C-R-U-I-S-E?

Cruise: No. It's S-N-A-K-E-C-R-U-I-S-E!

Mr. Harris (looking impressed): We've got a speller!

Cruise immediately connected with Mr. Harris and had a fun time talking with at him.

I'm pretty sure Cruise was just as excited for school to start as I was. Here he is on his very first day of 1st grade:

So far, Cruise LOVES his new school, his new teacher, and his new class. The first day of school he came home talking all about his day and all the fun things they did. He had the biggest smile on his face and was beaming with excitement. Every day after that when I ask him how his day was, he always responds: "FUN!" I am so glad he is loving school. He has adjusted to the new routine and schedule quite seamlessly and is ready to go when we wake him up at 6:30 in the morning. I, however, am still adjusting.  

His teacher is absolutely incredible and although he's a seasoned teacher, he is definitely up-to-date on all the awesome programs and therapies for autism and education in general. He involves parents heavily in their children's education, which I think is awesome. He takes a lot of pictures and shares them via e-mail with the parents and updates us on how the kids are doing. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher for Cruise. 

Every year Cruise has an amazing teacher. And every year when he has to move, I get so nervous because I think we've just been getting lucky and one of these years our luck is bound to run out. But I feel so blessed that Cruise has been placed with such incredible teachers who absolutely love him and love what they do. It is such a relief to know that he is spending his days with such competent and caring individuals.

Here are a few pictures his teacher sent me this week:

Cruise told me about this game where they throw rolled up socks at each other. He liked the fact that he could throw them at his teachers. Lol!

Here is to another awesome year! I can't wait to see the progress and growth! 

Cruise's Wreck-It-Ralph Party

Cruise's birthday started at about 7:30 in the morning. I was so excited for Cruise to open his presents from Dave & I and my parents. After convincing him that it was okay to open some presents, I led him into our room where he discovered a brand new work desk and chair from Grandma & Papa Greer. He also got an obnoxious singing hamburger card to go with it. He has loved having the desk and is working much better with his ABA tutors since he has a desk that fits him so well. Thanks so much guys!

He then opened our presents which were the movie Hotel Transylvania (one of his favorites) and a Fix-It-Felix watch. He had decided he'd like a watch rather than a brand new bike. Yeah, I know. But of course, it had to be Fix-It-Felix, so thanks to Amazon.com, I was able to find one.

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This year, Cruise wanted a Wreck-It-Ralph party. I quickly found out that Wreck-It-Ralph products are hard to come by. But luckily I was able to find a few things to tie the theme in. And thanks to Etsy, I was able to get some super cute invitations.

Because I am hugely pregnant, I didn't have it in me to to the whole giant backyard birthday this year. So we decided it would be an appropriate activity (considering the theme) that we have the party at Chuck-E-Cheese. All that was left to prepare was the cake, gift bags and balloons. 

The cake Cruise chose was the Fix-It-Felix building from the movie. I bought some amazing square pans with 90 degree angle corners so I wouldn't have to sculpt out a bunch of cake. For the cake, I decided to just do the box stuff rather than from scratch since I had so many other things I had to make from scratch. I did chocolate and vanilla cakes alternating, and put a rice crispy treat base at the bottom to hold the weight. So there were a total of 5 layers. I made a chocolate buttercream icing for between the layers and all around the cake to hold the fondant on. I made marshmallow fondant in brown, white and blue a day ahead so it could settle in the fridge overnight. Everything else, I relied on colored piping frosting. The cake toppers were just toys I was able to purchase on Amazon.com (luckily) but don't ask me how much I paid for them. 

The total time it took to make and decorate the cake was about eight hours. It wasn't my best work, but I did the best I could considering I had two unattended monkeys running around the kitchen poking the cake and stealing all my tools (not to mention they ran off with the cake toppers and lost them outside at one point). 

For the party favor bags I had to get a  little more creative. I ordered some inflatable hammers from Oriental Trading Co. and then picked up some candy and bouncy balls at the nearest party supply store. But really, the hammers were the big hit. Also in the bags were a thank you card that were also done by the same person who did the invitations.

Chuck-E-Cheese turned out great. All but one of his friends were able to attend and he was just so excited to have them all show up. They all played games until their tokens ran out, and then we had pizza and soda for lunch. Of course they had to do the "show" where Chuck-E comes out and frightens all autistic children everywhere, but Cruise held it together really well. I was quite surprised, but then again, he'd been talking about this party for months. I don't think he was going to let it get to him. After the show, we cut up the cake and served it. Most of the kids didn't touch theirs since they were too busy redeeming their tickets and running around the building. We were finally able to wrangle them up for gifts. Cruise received so many wonderful gifts, all of which he plays with every day now (he likes to hide them in his desk). I am confident he got everything he wanted for his birthday and then some.

I love Cruise's face here. He is trying so hard to not freak out.

Later that afternoon, Grandma & Grandpa Ybarra came over to give Cruise his present. Since they too found out that you can't find anything Wreck-It-Ralph, they were genius and made shirts! One had Wreck-It-Ralph, another had Fix-It-Felix, and lastly, one had a picture of himself, Jett & Dave from a fishing trip. They also gave him some money for school clothes/shoes, so that will be so nice! Thank you guys! 

And as always, Cruise said it was "the best birthday EVER!" I love that kid.

Today You Are Six...

Dear Cruise,

I am amazed at how quickly this past year has gone. In fact, I'm amazed at how quickly the past six years have flown! One minute you're a tiny little baby who can't stop wiggling and the next, you're a great big first grader who still can't stop wiggling! But either way, I love you more and more each and every day.

Cruise, you have grown to be such a sweet and happy boy. I admire how much you love life and how you spread your enthusiasm to all those around you. I love that you truly live each day to its fullest without skipping a beat. I have loved spending more time with you this summer and learning more about your likes and dislikes, your passions, your talents and interests, and have truly enjoyed your sense of humor. You make me laugh and smile every single day, and I will never grow tired of it.

This past year you learned so much! You started learning how to sight read and do some math. You have become quite the artist and love to practice drawing and writing words. You made some good friends and have been blessed with teachers who see you the way I do. Probably one of the coolest things you learned this year was how to fish! I am always amazed at how good of a fisherman you are and how patient you are when you're out on the water, waiting for a bite. It makes me so happy to see you doing something you love!

This next year you'll be in a new school again and making new friends. But I am confident you will be able to adjust pretty well since you are so good at being a friend to others. I am so excited for you to learn and experience new things this year! You might have some not-so-fun experiences that I wish with all my heart I could prevent, but unfortunately there are somethings I can't control. However, I will always have your back and will do everything I can to help you learn, grow and feel loved.

I know sometimes other kids can be mean and not treat you the way you should be treated. I know there will be kids who will say and do mean things that will make you sad, but please don't let them break your beautiful spirit. Always remember that there are nice kids too and that you are such a wonderful boy! Never lose your love for others and for life.

You are such a wonderful brother and I am so excited for you to have a new one to play with soon! I love watching you play with Jett because you two are the best of friends and are so kind to each other. Thank you for being such a good brother and friend. Jett loves you so much!

Cruise, thank you for being my son. Daddy and I are so blessed to have you as our oldest boy. You teach us so much and are such a great example to us every day. I am so sorry we aren't perfect, but thank you for being so patient with us! My life would be so boring without you; you truly bring so much color and excitement to our home and I love that you are in our family.

Don't ever change, Cruise, because you are beautiful inside and out.

Happy Birthday Kiddo! I love you!

Love,
Mommy