5.29.2008

You should have seen us

The situation might have been scary had it not been so amusing. We have been working on this fort/swingset in the back yard. When PJ got home I had the "floor" of the fort done, which is about four-and-a-half feet above the ground. The next step is to attach the ladder (already assembled), then climb up and attach "slats" to the insides of the fort, like rails, to keep kids from falling off. (Two sides of the fort are partially open: one for the ladder and one for the slide.)

PJ5 was waiting for this moment. As soon as he saw "daddy" up in the fort and the ladder there...he was up. Of course, he was "helping" with a wrench--putting it on bolts that were already tightened. I went inside to check on NB who was taking a nap and when I came back out the neighbor-boy was there and up in the fort too!

The only problem is that the total "floor space" of the fort is 4'x4'. So here's a man over six feet tall (folded up) and a 4-year-old and a 7-year-old in this 4x4 space. Quite a picture, but just wait: it gets even better. I had let NB up from his nap and he was eating a snack, but soon discovered where all the action was and came outside. At this point, I suggested that my tall spouse come down and let me get up there and work. A little easier for me to fit up there plus I'm lighter. Then of course, NB wanted to get up. He had no problem getting up the ladder and no fears either. I said something like "I'm not sure if we will all fit up here", and the neighbor-boy said "Oh, that's okay I can just stand here on the ladder." And he did. (He's quite a character. I could do another post on some of the conversations we've had when he's around.)

So there we were. All four of us. The neighbor-boy told me it was okay cause he only weighed sixty pounds and "your babies" don't weigh much. "Not 170 pounds like him" (looking at PJ). I curiously asked him how he knew what PJ weighed, and he said "He told me." Then he proceeded to tell us how much his dad weighs. We had some more interesting conversation (e.g., boys can hit boys, and girls can hit girls, and girls can hit boys, but boys should never hit girls), but all the time I was trying to maneuver boards, screws, and screwdriver in a tight space, and worrying that someone was going to fall off (namely NB)! I kept saying "Ack! PJ! go stand over there in case he falls!" I should mention that PJ wasn't just standing idly by, but was actually working on the next step (at ground level) in between responding to my yelps.

Eventually the neighbor-boy went home, and I had the slats up on most of the two sides, so I felt a little safer about the boys. Unfortunately, the now-available space seemed to spark a desire in NB to move around more, and try to climb over me, and sit on my lap, and take the bag of screws or the boards and drop them over the side. He also decided that if my legs were dangling over the edge, his should too. When he leaned against me it was hard to work, but when he wasn't leaning against me I was constantly checking to make sure he wasn't about to fall.

We did finish that part and moved on to something else, but it was almost dark so I soon took the boys inside, much to NB's sorrow.
PJ looked over the rest of the instructions and estimates it will take us another 3 to 4 hours to finish, so hopefully we'll get done tomorrow. Ay-ay-ay!

wake up and stop hurting!

I think I'm going to reintroduce caffeine into my life. I need it. I have been so tired this week and can't find anything to relieve the weariness. Napping is not an option because PJ5 no longer takes naps. I made him lay down this afternoon and gave him some books to look at, but he was up about 30 minutes later. Yes, this is good, except that I went to sleep and it was too short---I woke up with a headache! I think I'd rather be tired and sleepy than have a headache.
I'm going to go take an aspirin.

5.17.2008

Nutrition: a piece of the autism puzzle

That was the name of the seminar I went to today. It was very, very, VERY helpful. I have struggled to make sense of all the biomedical issues and how they fit together, and what is the safest way to address them. This really helped me get an idea of how to proceed.
The only thing I didn't enjoy was the length. It was from 9AM to 4PM. They gave us breaks so we weren't sitting all that time. But there was so much information! By 2:00 my brain started feeling overloaded and by 4:00 I had a headache. (But it was worth it for all the valuable information I received.)

"Meanwhile, back at the ranch...."
I'm not sure I will ever get PJ to consent to watch the boys all day ever again! In PJ's defense, NB's sickness made it harder because he was so cranky (that is, NB was cranky...not PJ, of course). I just told him we got to swap roles for a day :0)

5.12.2008

Learning

Hey Cerys, you remember that boat you made in toddler class that NB was so proud of? The one with the play-doh in the bottom and the sail stuck in the middle that he didn't want to put down?
I just found this morning's bowl of leftover oatmeal with a sippy cup and a spoon (upside down) stuck in it!

Yeah!

I finally figured out how to successfully add my friends' blogs to my homepage. Now I can quickly see if there are any new posts. I tried it once before but it didn't work for some unknown reason.
I also just found Idril's blog, which I had not seen before. She said something about a blog once, but (silly me) I didn't ask her about it at the time.

My IEP meeting at the school went well. They said they have seen a lot of progress in PJ5, though there's still room for more, of course. He will be in the same classroom next year, which is nice because we really like his teacher (and so does he).

We went last night to play "42"--the favorite game of PJ's 87-year-old grandmother. It was interesting as always (you never know what she will forget or thinks she remembers about the game). NB kept climbing onto the table and I made him sit in time out as a consequence, which he hates. I overheard great-grandma saying "I used to spank my kids." PJ told her that NB hates having to sit still worse than being spanked. What was really funny though was what happened after the third time of making him sit in time out. NB made a beeline for the chair at the table that he was using to climb on, and great-grandma quickly shoved the chair under so he couldn't climb onto it. "THERE! That'll take care of that" (with a satisfied chuckle). It did temporarily distract him until about ten minutes later when he found another chair. That boy is so stubborn!

Sick

N has a fever and acts lethargic, but no other identifiable symptoms. I hate these mystery illnesses.

Wichita Mountains!!!

We finally got away on our much-needed camping/hiking trip! No kids, no cooking, no strict time schedule. We enjoyed a short campfire (not good wood), listened to the night sounds from our tent, woke up to the birds singing above us (and a sore back from sleeping on the ground), went on three different hikes, talked a lot, enjoyed the sunshine, saw lots of wildlife, etc. I even made it to 2:00 on Saturday before any veggietales songs popped into my head! It was a good time.

Development

NB has a developmental delay. That's all we "know" right now. What that tells us, though, is that we need to work with him to help those areas in which he is behind---primarily speech. Because he is over 50% delayed in speech, he is eligible for help from state services, so we will be starting that soon. Yes, tomorrow I have an IEP meeting at the school for PJ5...and next week I have an IFSP meeting for NB. (Ask me if you want to know what that stands for, but essentially it's setting goals for their education/therapy and stating how we will work toward those goals.) I've been through all this before but that doesn't necessarily make it easier.
I had a conversation last night that gave me a better perspective on NB. (thanks, Cerys!) It's hard to know what his social skills are when I don't see him with other kids his age. It's also hard to know if my fears/worries cloud my judgment, so it's good to "see it" through someone else's eyes. I have decided to put him in a MDO program (part-time), so he'll have more opportunities to play with other kids.

5.06.2008

Milk is out

Well, we tried one week of giving milk to PJ5 to see if it was having any effect on his behavior. This was at the doctor's suggestion--because we weren't sure if taking milk away had made an improvement.

That was a week of screaming and tantrums. Saturday was the end of the week and we stopped giving him milk, and Monday I never heard one scream. He did scream once today, because I wouldn't let him do what he wanted to do. But it was one scream, not a long series that turns into a tantrum.