So this week was a fun and interesting week. So much so that we wanted to share them all with our wonderful family and friends.
Monday was MLK day so Atticus was out of school. Daddy had to work so it was just Mommy and Atticus. About 9:30 that morning Mommy got a wild hair and asked Atticus if he would like to go to the Aquarium. He got a membership to the TN aquarium for his birthday and he loves going there. So, we packed a picnic lunch and stopped just outside Chattanooga and had the sweetest picnic at a rest stop. We had lots and lots of fun at the aquarium, Atticus has a different favorite thing every time we go. This time it was on the Ocean journey tour and it was a tie between the butterfly gardens and the jellyfish. It was still early afternoon when we left so we decided to explore a new health food store in the area - Earth Fare. It was very neat and had a LOT of new items that we normally have to order online and a couple things we haven’t tried yet. Atticus tried out some new bread when we got home and LOVED it. He had toast and jam for dessert after dinner. 
Tuesday was our first day back at school and it was a pretty day outside, 65 and sunny! He got finished with therapy early so we decided to head to the park for the first time in what felt like forever!! He had a ball playing and playing and playing until it was almost dark. We then went over to Books a Million and picked out some books for Atticus’ little “girlfriend” LK. She is going to have a serious surgery on February 3 that will keep her out of preschool for 6 months. We’re definitely going to go visit her and have some quiet play dates while she recovers but I know he will miss her in school. He always gets a hug from her every morning. And sometimes, she gets a peck on the cheek. It’s really precious. I’ll try to post some pictures on here soon of them at Christmas. Adorable is the only word to describe them.
Thursday night Atticus got to eat tacos. He ate and ate and ate. He was so excited - I found some vegan sour cream and safe cheese (that he would eat!) at the new grocery store we explored on Monday. He had a steak taco with cheese and sour cream and tomatoes. It makes us so happy to see him eat and be so happy.
Friday was definitely a fun day!! It was his little friend’s last day at preschool and they had a party for her with cupcakes, chips, etc. I had brought Atticus a “safe” cupcake and had the time to make some homemade cream cheese icing (with the vegan cream cheese from the new health food store). He LOVED it. And for the first time EVER, he got to lick the beaters from the mixer. He was in heaven. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Until later that afternoon. He was really on a roll with his cuteness Friday. There was a laundry basket and some pillows in the kitchen under the bar. He put the pillows in the basket and with an apple in one hand and his juice cup in the other, he plopped his little self down in the basket. It was sooo cute!!! We had a good dinner that night as well. To get him to try new foods, I will often put them on his plate and try to get him to take one little bite. It sometimes takes 15-20 different dinners before he will taste it even and after 20, I give up. Many times, he decides he likes it sometimes between 15-20 tries. This is actually very common with most kiddos. Anyway, raw celery has been our food of late. I thought he would like the crunch and it would be good sensory for his mouth. Friday night, as he was about to get down from his chair, Justin said - “take a bite of your celery.” He took a a big bite then another and his Daddy was in the middle of saying “Great job Atticus!” when Atticus turned to him and put the celery right in his mouth and pulled down, making him take a bite. Anyone that knows Justin knows that he’s not very fond of many vegetables, definitely not celery. Not sure I’ve seen him cringe so bad in my life. But he chewed and swallowed as best he could and thanked Atticus for sharing. It was last night that Atticus decided he loved celery. He ate two stalks. And Justin happily watched. Hahaha.
So with sleeping, we’ve started leaving the gate at the top of the stairs closed and all of doors closed upstairs except for his door and our door. At 3 a.m. this morning, Atticus got out of his bed, came down the hall with his blanket and climbed into bed with his Mommy and Daddy. It was the first time he’s done this and we melted and welcomed him with open arms. He was so very precious and snuggled a while with Daddy then said “want Mommy” and rolled over and snuggled with Mommy. We lost about 2 hours of sleep but it was worth every second.
Saturday morning we had our usual family big bed snuggle time while watching cartoons. Daddy smoked some chicken, one of Atticus’ new favorite foods. It was so yummy and tender and he ate it up! After dinner we had the best night. He had his shower-bath and then we piled into Mommy and Daddy’s bed with a big bowl of popcorn for 6 episodes of Wonder Pets on the DVR. It was such a wonderful and fun evening.
It has been fun sharing our week. We’ll try to get better about posting more often. In a nutshell, things are good - busy but good. Hope everyone had a blessed and Merry Christmas. We definitely did.
