A week of Project 366 in one go...

Because I've been full of this stupid fluey-cold-thing and Max has been off all week with the same.

Oh, and it's minus the one that only went on instagram on Jan 31st, which I can't be bothered trying to find right now...

Zack is obsessed with Bumpeez right now... however they seem to now be sold out everywhere in Crieff! So we're back to him getting a magazine at the weekend if he's been good (i.e. got smiley faces monday-friday on our calendar).

The view I both love, hate, and cower at: 

Love it when I'm sleepy and I get to go to my bed.

Hate it when I'm enjoying a late one and know I *have* to go to bed.

Cower at when I stand stock-still, to listen out and see if Max is really asleep.

There's a story behind this... 

So this fluey cold I've had for TWO weeks now seems to have its perks. Namely I can't seem to stop myself from cleaning. 

I even cleaned my window... inside AND out. 

So I could take photos of the birds that like to lunch here.

Do you have ANY idea how bloody difficult it is to take a decent photo of these damn birds?? 

Seriously. 

I've given up now. 

Still, I got two cute photos.

And my window is now clean...

I've been finding Max here more and more lately... seems that this is one of his favourite places to get some peace and quiet to watch his iPad movies in peace...

Of course, when his big brother is around, that peace and quiet is rare to come by! Zack insisted on joining in... and who am I to say no, eh? 

So! That's been our week in pictures. 

I've even managed to... 

get on top of the laundry pile!!!!! 

That NEVER happens!

So... what have you been up to this week? 

Is that? No... it can't be. It is. It's a SUNNY DAY!! 5/366

I woke up this morning, after a horrible night with not much sleep and a Wide! Awake! Max from 2am-4.30am, and I actually thought I saw SUNLIGHT peeping through my blinds.

Turns out - it was!!

Which had me so excited I got dizzy and had to sit down again after getting out of bed so quickly to look!

Did I mention I was woken by a solid lump of a 4 year old Max using me as a diving board for my bed? No? 

Well... he's definitely better from whatever it was that was wrong with him (fever, grumpy, tired, not his usual self, basically).

So, we're finally ALL feeling well, and more than a bit stir crazy from staring at the same walls every day. 

Not that any of us actually stare at walls - that would be strange. 

No, I prefer to attempt to lie down for a snooze and stare at the ceiling. Much more interesting. 

ANYWAY, the furthest we've ventured since the schools were out (that was the TWENTY THIRD of December, mind!) was the shops which are like a 20 minute round trip to walk. That's including actually *doing* the shopping, by the way. 

So we (ok, I... the boys are too young to decide these things! *cough*) decided to go up The Knock, to have a bit of a picnic (what do you mean pop tarts don't count?? The boys loved them!) and head back down. 

Really it was to get us all the hell out of the house and somewhere that would tire everyone out!

Well, we met some gorgeous, friendly (i.e. scavenging for food type) horses on our way, who followed us as far as their paddock would allow. 

Zack was smitten with this one, as he was with us. He was the one who must have got the whiff of the last crumbs of pop tart as we were giving him pats and scratches behind the ears. 

[Note to self: You've now found your horses to go and cuddle when you want to, yay!!]

We had a good long walk. It's gorgeous up there. 

Max had a great time and the only time he got upset was when we had to go home. 

If we'd stayed any longer I'd have ended up carrying him home. You should have seen the state of his feet! Caked with muck! He really seemed to enjoy the way it felt - all squelchy underneath his boots. That was pretty awesome to see. I wasn't sure how he'd take to it!

So, all in all? A good first attempt at a longer walk for my boys and me. It was an hour and a half by the time we got back home. All of us rosy cheeked and sooo glad to get into the warmth of the house, cosy up with a drink and some chocolates, and watching Rio. The new favourite movie in our house!

Oh, and look at the gorgeous view we had when we were nearly back on the highstreet:

Other than being cropped, I haven't done anything to this one either - not bad for being taken with an iPhone! 

Day 7: Random Vlog from Zack!

Ohhh the adorableness! <3 

I was looking through my Photobooth photos and videos, and found this little bit of cuteness from Zack, done in January of this year. 

Total geek in training!

Obviously, Zack is my first work of art. One that I've helped to shape over these last six years... by far one of my two (Max as well, naturally!) biggest and best accomplishments!

I realised that I tend to blog a lot more about Max than I do about Zack, and I guess that's normal in a way. His difficulties (and triumphs) are at the forefront of my mind, much of the time. 

But that doesn't mean that my young man Zack isn't also there.

Every day he shows me how much more independent he's becoming. 

When he's excited about something he's done, it's all "that was totally awesome, man! Eh Mum??"

Though he still does call me Mummy occasionally, that's mostly gone from his vocab though.

He says by when we get to the bottom of the road so he can walk run the rest of the way to school. With a stop to chat to the lollipop man on the way, of course. He's a right chatterbox - just like his mum. :)

It wouldn't even occur to him to *not* go into school as that's where all his friends are, and he adores it so much.

He's become much calmer since eradicating the Wii from his gaming... I refuse to have one more broken tv!!

He's also a very empathetic, and caring little boy. Beyond his years, really.

I guess that's what having a little brother on the spectrum, and being the son of a single mum does?

Last week (or the week before?), when I was suffering the most horrendous migraine, he led Max out of my room first thing, so that "you can get some more rest, Mum.", and then later on in the day, as I was laying on the sofa attempting to have a wee doze while the boys were watching Spongebob, he brought over the blanket and put it round me, and started gently stroking my cheeks. 

Honestly, it was the best feeling ever. 

My wee man Zack isn't such a wee man anymore sometimes, but he'll always be my baby boy.

I'm so lucky to have such beautiful and sweet boys. 

How did I get so lucky??

Big Brothers Ain't So Bad

Or at least this one isn’t.

In fact, this big brother, is pretty much a star.

He always knows how to cheer up his little brother.

If Max is starting to cry about something, he instantly tells me why.

He’ll run into the room from wherever he’s been and say “It’s ok Mummy, I know what to do!” and will proceed to do his ninja moves with sound effects that make Max laugh, or start chasing him, or even giving his little brother the last few crisps he has left, just so he’s happy.

He’ll make sure to give Max a Wii controller with no batteries in it, so that when he’s playing whatever he’s playing, Max will feel like he’s getting to play too.

Yeah... this big brother is definitely one we like having around.

Max *adores* his big brother. If he wakes first in the morning, he instantly goes to wake up Zack so he’s not on his own.

He looks around for him when he realises his big brother has left the room without him seeing.
He calls him “Ack”, or “Dack”. Sometimes.

He’ll even tolerate hugs from his big brother - something he’s not prone to letting any other kids do.

Sometimes I worry about what pressures are being put on Zack, being the Big Brother.

I remind him often that he has to be a good boy because Max wants to be just like his big brother, and so I need Zack to show him how to be good. I think most parents explain this to older siblings once they’re of an age they’re expected to behave. Well, as much as they can at least!

The thing is, Zack has to put up with a lot more than if his sibling wasn’t on the spectrum.

If Max is about to have a meltdown, Zack will give him whatever it is he wants, just so that he doesn’t have to hear the screaming.

He’ll go from being sleepy and almost ready to sleep, to jumping about all silly to cheer up his little brother who finds it difficult to sleep, even though it makes it worse in the long run for them both to get to sleep. He really does mean well. Most of the time!

Sometimes the two of us just look at each other and roll our eyes when Max has a tantrum about not getting his own way *yet* again.

As far as big brothers go, I think Max got a gold medalist for his.