Stokke Tripp Trapp Giveaway!

**WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER**

Congratulations to Kimberly from Twitter for her winning entry!  Please send me an email to sunday@extremeparenthood.com to claim your prize! 

Its been over 2 years since I first began blogging and in that time I haven't done a review & giveaway on my blog.  It was surely not due to a lack of PR pitches but rather it was because of my own decision early on to only promote products that directly benefit those with autism and special needs.

I was thrilled when I was contacted by Stokke with the offer to review not just one, but two of their awesome Tripp Trapp highchairs.

I first became familiar with Stokke and their Tripp Trapp chairs when Sam was 2 years old and diagnosed with autism.  We began welcoming therapists into our home for 1:1 therapy sessions of various sorts and at each of these sessions Sam was sitting in his regular highchair and it was quickly becoming obvious that he was much too large for it.  I went to the internet in hopes of finding another chair that would offer the same benefits of a high chair but would easily hold an older child.  This was when I found the Scandinavian company, Stokke.

I loved that each high chair came with a five-point harness which in the beginning was a definite necessity to keep Sam on target during his sessions with the therapists.  I was also amazed that the simple design would accommodate not just a child, but a full grown adult (up to 300 pounds!).  I was ready to whip out my credit card and order one when I realized that unfortunately the chair was greatly outside our already stretched out budget.

This is all too common with families caring for children with autism and/or other special needs.  Our budgets are more than tapped out buying diapers for children well past the toddler years, additional therapies not covered by insurance, and the like.

So, I made the tough decision to purchase a wanna-be Tripp Trapp chair that was more inside our means and we made do for a number of years with that chair that often fell apart and did not have a seat belt.

This is why when I was contacted by Stokke I was through the roof excited to finally get a Tripp Trapp chair for both of my boys. I requested a green chair for Sam and a blue chair for Noah and we received them just 6 days later!

Plain Jane wood grain for us?  No way!

Sam is chillin in his Tripp Trapp surfing the web like a rockstar

I haven't needed to use the included safety straps YET...
I love that they are large enough to fit a wormy 6 year old like my Noah.

My favorite part was how easily these chairs came together.  They arrive in a flat box and are put together with an allen wrench and the included screws and hardware.  I kid you not, I had both chairs put together in less than 10 minutes!

I chose to remove the 5-point harness from Sam's chair since he is less likely to dash away from the table during mealtimes and when doing homework.  As you can see, I kept Noah's in place and I am sure we will be utilizing them during his less desirable activities such as haircuts and family mealtimes.

The Tripp Trapp chairs have been everything I knew they would be... easy to assemble, very lightweight and streamlined, and best of all...the boys love them and took to them right away.

But, the awesomeness that is the Stokke Tripp Trapp highchair does not stop there!

1 reader will win a Tripp Trapp highchair
in their choice of color!

a $264.00 retail value!

Mandatory Entry: Visit Stokke and leave me a comment telling me what color Tripp Trapp chair you would choose for your child....or perhaps, for yourself!  (I would love a pink one!)

Optional Extra Entries: (leave 1 comment per entry)

• “Like” Stokke on Facebook and leave them a comment telling them your child's favorite table activity or how the Tripp Trapp highchair will benefit your child with special needs.  +2 entries
• Follow Adventures in Extreme Parenthood via Google Friend Connect
• Follow @xtremeparnthood and @StokkeBaby on twitter +1 entry each
• Tweet this giveaway- Win a Stokke Tripp Trapp highchair from @xtremeparnthood $264 RV! #specialneeds #seating http://bit.ly/iUHvsB #giveaway US/CAN  (up to 2 x/day)

This giveaway ends on June 1st, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. Random.org will be used to determine a winner who will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen. 

This giveaway is open to US/Canadian residents only.

Disclosure- I was sent 2 Stokke Tripp Trapp seats for review and Stokke is providing the giveaway prize. I was not compensated for my review, all opinions are my own!

Good Luck!

Say 'ello to my leetle frends....A.K.A The day I joined the Mafia

I've always wanted the opportunity to quote lines from some of the greatest Mafia movies ever made in a blog post but when you write about autism and struggling to keep pants on your six year old its not an easy literary jump to make.

But thanks to my pal Stefanie from the San Diego MOMfia I now have carte blanche to warn those that get on my bad side with a horse in their bed, to "go to the mattresses" and if needed I may instruct someone to "leave the gun, take the cannoli".

The San Diego MOMfia is a group of bloggers from the San Diego, California area who believe it "takes a village" to run a successful website and "collectively discuss the fabulous things to do  in San Diego with and without children.  Their site is a "place to share links, stories and opinions, while supporting each other, focusing on building the community at large and bringing awareness to the lovely city of San Diego."

Today the lovely ladies of the San Diego MOMfia have opened up their blog to this East Coast gal with a re-post of one of my favorite posts I wrote about my boys and autism. 

I hope you'll jump on over their and check it out...just consider it an offer you can't shouldn't refuse.

Reunited and it feels so good

I cannot thank everyone enough for their kind words of support about the loss of Noah's dear Backpack Bear last Monday.

I was touched by dozens of you who shared your own childhood stories of loveys lost (and some found!) and how many of you wrote me with a desire to contribute in some way towards a new bear, or spent time scouring the internet and eBay in hopes of finding a replacement, and one of you who even thought of writing a story for Noah about the adventures of Backpack Bear out in the world in hopes of lessening the blow of his loss.

My twitter pal @WorkoutMommy heard the story about Backpack Bear and contacted me to say she had the same bear and wanted to mail it to us as a replacement.  So, she did!

I cannot tell you how much EVERYTHING you all said and did meant to me.

But, the story doesn't end there.

I have some wonderful news.

On Thursday I drove up and down the road where the bus driver said Noah had last had the bear and within 20 minutes I found him laying face down in a left hand turn lane.  He was missing his little red backpack but upon further searching I found it up on the sidewalk 20 feet away.

I grabbed him and ran back into my car and drove off in a state of shock.  I couldn't believe I had actually found him. 

I brought him home and washed him inside a pillowcase on the gentle cycle of the washing machine.  He then took a ride inside the dryer set for fluff and when he came out he was good as new...or at least no worse for wear.

When Noah came home from school I handed him Backpack Bear and he looked at it for a moment with a questioning look and then ran in to his room where he held him and repeated "My Noah" over and over again.

He didn't let go of that bear for the rest of the day and when it came time for bed his faithful friend was snuggled up next to his cheek...

Right where he belonged.

I once was lost but now I'm found.

Goodbye faithful friend

Dear Backpack Bear,

You came into Noah's life when he was 2.  He had recently been diagnosed with autism and you were little and easy to hold.

Just like him.

When Noah was hospitalized with a bad MRSA staph infection you came to the hospital with him and kept him company for 2 days in his little crib.

Noah loved to put you up on this ramp and pretend you were sliding down a slide. He'd say "Wheeeee" every time he did it and you let him crash your fuzzy body into the fridge over and over again.

On Noah's first day of Kindergarten you were there to help him transition to a new classroom, a new teacher, and a full day away from home.


You made every trip back and forth to school, on grocery shopping trips, to weekends away at Daddy's house, and everywhere in between for four years.

Recently Noah had discovered that you liked to fly.  He would throw you over our third floor balcony every few days and each time I would walk down the stairs, pick you up amidst the many leaves and branches, dust you off, and present you back to Noah would would cry "My Noah" as if you had jumped off the balcony all by yourself.

Unfortunately yesterday you fell in a place where even I couldn't rescue you. 

Noah didn't realize that dropping something out the window of a moving school bus means its gone to a place where it cannot be retrieved.

Not even by Mommy.

I wish this story had a happier ending.  Both for you, sweet Backpack Bear, for all the years you comforted and soothed my baby boy and for Noah who misses you desperately.

We love you backpack bear. 

You will never be forgotten.