School Begins and Sickness Prevails

So it's been a while. It's funny... there is actually this overwhelming urge to apologize for not writing every week. I know that's silly. There has just been so much going on and now that I'm finally writing... I don't even know where to begin.

I need to follow up regarding Jason's dad. He is doing very well... in fact, he is here visiting right now. He had his stitches removed last week and got the ok to travel from his doctor. They left their house on Wednesday and arrived here this evening.

We successfully saw two kids off to school. Clara started 2nd grade last week (9.8.09). For the first week of school, it rained nearly every day. In fact, it rained on the morning of her first day, but she still wanted to walk to school, singing "Singin' in the Rain" for about half the walk. Every day since, she's come home saying it was another "awesome" day. She likes her teacher a lot (and so do I). I really feel like this is going to be a good year... for ME! Last year, I never felt comfortable talking to her teacher... like I was always somehow on the defensive for our decision to move her up a grade. And it wasn't only me, I often wondered if her peers viewed her as the outsider (maybe not so much toward the end of the year). All I can say is this year they are all starting fresh... I, too, am starting fresh. I think Clara's teacher this year is also a little more free with the day-to-day communications, so that will be a nice change. Jason and I attended a Back to School night and were met with nothing but positive reinforcement that Clara is in the right place. Aside from the "she's such a sweet girl... always follows directions" sort of thing (which of course, we just eat up), we were also given a little insight into her independent efforts to socialize and be helpful to her peers, which is a really huge step not just for her, but for anyone with Asperger's. And let's not forget... Lucas also started his second (and last) year of preschool this past week (9.14.09). He really likes his new teacher. Each day he comes home and tells me who he played "blob monster" with that day. Apparently, "blob monster" is a game where one is the blob monster and the rest run away. Lucas invented that game and the other kids like to play it with him. Another quirk is that going into the preschool building and coming out, he insists on wearing his backpack on his head (with his arms through the straps). He calls himself "backpack head"... very creative name indeed. Well, the funny part is when he notices other kids noticing him. For example, there was a girl walking behind us who remarked to her mother "that boy has his backpack on his head" and Lucas just looked up at me and smiled great big. He is so ready for Kindergarten, though. Whenever someone asks him if he goes to preschool, he responds with "next year I'll be in Kindergarten at WSES".

Lucas went to his very first birthday party all by himself. He's been desperate to be invited to a birthday party without Clara, especially since he witnesses all the times that Clara gets her very own invitations. He was so excited and had a blast. I wasn't able to stay. That is a big change from when Clara started getting birthday invitations... with her, I went and stayed no matter how uncomfortable I was, making sure that she was having a good time... with him, I just dropped him off and left. I think I just feel more comfortable that he can be independent, that he won't be afraid to ask for things, and that he'll play with the other kids and have fun. I wasn't wrong. When we picked him up, he couldn't stop smiling.

Clara has been a busy little girl already. Soccer and dance were apparently not enough extracurricular activities for fall. We signed her up to participate in The Nutcracker ballet that the Burke Civic Ballet puts on each year. We asked her if she wanted to do it and she said yes, so we committed. Unfortunately, it is going to be incredibly time consuming (a lot of mandatory rehearsals and required volunteer activities) and cause many conflicts with her already busy schedule. She had to miss her very first soccer game of the season to attend Nutcracker auditions. There are at least two more soccer games that she may end up missing, plus at least one soccer practice. This doesn't include the birthday parties that she may miss out on as well. Of course, I'm complaining about it now, but when I see her performing on stage in her namesake's ballet, I'm sure that I will be bursting with pride and all these conflicts that seem like a big deal right now will suddenly seem worth it.

And poor poor Eli! He is turning 2 years old tomorrow. Our celebration has been put on hold though due to the fact that he is miserable. He started getting a cold last weekend and was noticeably improved by yesterday. Then last night he was up all night crying. I took him to see the doctor this morning and he has a double ear infection. He was so miserable today... all he wanted to do was sit next to me with my arm around him. Anytime, I got up to do something, he was crying after me trying to pull me back to the sofa. The doctor prescribed antibiotic, which I'm already afraid that he's allergic to. Tonight when I took his diaper off to put him in the bath, the whole side of his bum (on both sides) was covered in a bright red rash. The rash was how we found out Clara was allergic to Amoxycillin years ago. I'll be taking him back to the doctor tomorrow morning. What a way to spend your birthday, Eli! Poor poor Eli. The other two are also sick with colds. I'm just waiting for that moment when the ear infections start with them. Clara was already complaining that her ears hurt, but I know her and she has to be crying in pain before I take her to the doctor (her ears hurt with every cold). I'm curious to see how things look in the morning... will they be more improved? If I were an optimist... I'd be saying "yes". If...

Last Days of Summer

A friend from California was staying with us a couple weeks ago. It was really nice having the friendly company. It was so relaxed and familiar, I was actually sad to see him go. Hopefully, next time he comes, he'll bring his wife and kids! While he was here, he helped us with a home-improvement project, but was "stymied, thwarted, mission aborted" when he ran out of time. He was telling us that the phrase "stymied, thwarted, mission aborted" was from a Dr. Suess book called The Butter Battle Book. I liked the phrase so much I went to the library and got the book. I can't remember a picture book making me that uncomfortable before. It's this silly book about two towns who are at battle because each one butters their bread on the opposite side as the other. Of course the whole book is an allegory for the Cold War and at the end of this book, you know that the "Bitsy Big-Boy Boomeroo" is a nuclear bomb. I was actually squirming by the end. As an aside, the phrase is not actually in the book, but in the movie.

Clara's glasses made their first (of many predicted) trip(s) back to the eye doctor for a repair. Apparently, Eli got hold of them and completely bent them out of shape. There is a small piece that is broken in the hinge, but they are as back to "normal" as they can be. Poor Clara was so upset when she found them... too bad they weren't on her face where they should have been! I guess this gets filed under 'lessons learned'.

This past Sunday, our neighbor invited us to go with a large group of her friends into DC. She had reserved tickets for all of us to go to the top of the Washington Monument, something that I have wanted to do since we first moved here. The windows were tiny and slightly hazy, the area, though not small, felt tiny with all those people crammed into it, but the views were spectacular... totally worth it!

Yesterday we went to the National Zoo with a friend and her kids. I was amazed at how little interest my kids had in the animals at first. All the kids loved the Invertebrate House (which makes me think that a trip to the aquarium might be in our future). I'm trying to remember the exact turning point for Lucas... and I'm thinking it was the hippo. The hippo was the first animal that was sooo big and sooo close. After the hippo, Lucas was finally more interested in the animals than the info plaques along the walk. Of course, the interest didn't help him keep up and stay with our group... his constant lagging and disappearance increased MY stress levels immensely. Clara started off immediately wanting to see the red panda (she had read about one recently), took one look and started gathering leaves. In fact, that was pretty much how she spend the majority of the day... either imagining all the different fairies that could live and hide in the flora along the walk or checking her watch to let us know that it was past lunchtime. Eli and Lucas really enjoyed the monkeys, both big and small. At the end of the day, everyone had had a great time... it was definitely a wonderful last bit of fun before school starts.

Tonight we learned that Clara's second grade teacher will be Mrs. Thibodeaux and her special education teacher will be Mrs. Gillespie. I admit that with all new teachers, I worry that we will be starting from scratch within the system. I know that they will read her file and her IEP to familiarize themselves with Clara, but it's not the same as having that familiarity of having worked with her previously. Of course, as I type this I wonder... maybe that's a good thing? She has matured a lot over the summer and with all new teachers, there won't be any preformed judgements of how she will react/respond to situations. I'm just glad that Clara is excited and happily anticipating the new school year, because I (obviously) worry enough for the both of us.

We also found out tonight that Jason's dad had emergency surgery earlier in the day to repair a hernia. We are really glad that he is recovering nicely and will possibly be home tomorrow, however, we are waiting to find out if he'll be able to travel, as they were planning to come see us middle of this month (in time for Eli's birthday).