Spring Days

Days have been gorgeous this spring--mornings have been pleasant and cool, days have been moderately warm (though temperatures have been growing more uncomfortable of late), which means that it is the best time to have the kids outside! 

The smell of morning is absolutely lovely, though Michael will tell you that compared to the mountain air of Colorado Lubbock smells simply of cow poo. 

One of our favorite activities is to have a picnic breakfast on the front porch. We get to see people as they are leaving for work or school and we speculate as to where they are going, the birds are tweeting in the trees and we try to mimic their calls, but mostly we sit there in the quiet calm of the morning and mentally prepare ourselves for the day. 

There has been a nauseating rise in the number of insects (namely, moths) in the area in the past month so some days our peaceful mornings are interrupted by the appearance of winged pests. I find the whole thing distasteful, but Michael has been spraying around our house to keep the worst of the bugs away so we remain relatively unhindered as long as we don't stray past the porch. 

Gabriel is still attending his special PPCD school, so most days are just Emerald, Benjamin, and me and the house. It seems to be getting better for Gabe at school and you can really see an improvement in his behavior at home, but his personality is changing. 

Things that once held his interest are completely ignored now such as the Toy Story movies (a favorite of his since he was little more than a baby), and he has more anxious moments that we can predict but not explain. For example, he is no longer able to watch Veggie Tales because there comes a time in nearly every episode that Qwerty the computer comes on the screen and they play the "what have we learned today" song...and something happens. He starts screaming, covering his eyes and banging his fists on his head, and if that does not illicit the desired response of "turn that crap off NOW", he has been known to attack others in the room--pulling hair, clawing at their faces, pushing them down. It is so unlike Gabe that it is thoroughly disconcerting and we have learned to all together avoid situations that will evoke such a fit from Gaby. 

The biggest change, however, is the level of his emotion. Emerald went out of town to visit Oma and Grandpop one weekend, and every half hour Gabriel would cover his eyes, uncover them and look about expectantly, then burst into tears. He was able to be consoled rather quickly, but he was looking for his sister and could not understand why he couldn't find her. He has never been without her for more than a day, and I think it unsettled him. Practically anything can set him off and unless you are paying the strictest attention, you cannot tell when it is coming or head it off before it begins.

Enough of that seriousness though. One of the best ways to ensure a pleasant evening is to take the kids out into the backyard as soon as Gabriel gets home and give them all a snack. Gabe's class eats lunch so dreadfully early that he is practically starving by the time he comes home from school, so I usually have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or frozen yogurt pop or popcorn trail mix prepared for him. And as you all know, you cannot possibly feed one child and not feed them all without inciting some kind of riot. 

I think staring off into space as he swings is a great way for Gabriel to unwind and get his spirit back. We have the little Fisher Price slide playhouse that is the perfect size for Benjamin to waller all over, and Emerald enjoys riding her scooter, playing with the dog, and watching clouds and airplanes. 

One problem we are having with Emerald recently is that she is four which means she officially knows more than all of us because of course she does. This means that she no longer believes us when we try to instruct her because naturally, she is right all ready. For the most part, it does not matter much--she is convinced my favorite color is green and all I eat is salad, my favorite food. Sure, why not. She can learn later on that those are not exactly correct in the strictest sense of the word (my favorite color being gold and hot wings being my most beloved food, but she is close enough). 

The problem it IS causing however is that she is mispronouncing a certain word that matters and adamantly refuses to believe anyone that attempts to correct her. She has been telling everyone about the pink shi* she sees in the sky. What she means is she sees a pink SHIP, but no amount of enunciation will convince her to use the "p". While embarrassing for me, it is good for us to remember this story for mercilessly teasing Emerald when she is older. 

The last thing that we have been up to on these gorgeous spring days is walking. As anyone will tell you, I am a shameless slacker hippie that does not drive but instead walks everywhere. Which means that the amount of outings we are capable of is directly determined by the weather. We are able to walk for most of the year to anywhere we feel like, but during the winter it is not safe to expose tiny (ha!) baby Benjamin to the cold (even though he is more padded than a polar bear with all his baby blubber). 

Our favorite places to go are the playground down the street, visiting Glo at work, the store, and the library. 

One morning, when we were inexcusably low on groceries (I had forgotten to go that week) and nothing appealed to the very opinionated Miss Emerald for breakfast, we loaded up in the stroller and headed out. We stopped by the store and picked up things for a picnic breakfast--naturally Emerald picked out Sunny D, chocolate donuts, and a banana while I got a Starbucks Mocha energy drink (that was entirely too fabulous for its own good) and a mango smoothie for Benji. 

The grass next to the library is absolutely perfect, soft and free of rocks or twigs or ants, which makes it ideal for eating outside! We set up our blanket and ate and waited for the library to open. 

The reason I got the idea to start taking them to the library was because Emerald saw a book she wanted to read in someone's office but we didn't have time to stop and read it--The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. We went down there the first day and read every Eric Carle book they had available while Ben crawled around on the big stuffed animals they have available. We checked out Pinocchio and a book for Emerald, then came back two days later and checked out some more.

They have puzzles in the kids sections so Emerald generally likes playing with those while I read aloud to her. My favorites are the Dr. Seuss and she enjoys Katy Duck, and it is such a peaceful little adventure for us to go on. The last time that we went, while we were leaving this sweet little girl ran up to me and asked so politely if she could play with Emerald. They invited us to stay for Story Time where Emerald behaved wonderfully as they sang songs, read five books about bugs and then gave her an art project to make her little bug.

I intended to go back today, but I have things to do that interfere :-S Maybe next week!

All in all, it is good to scope out what we are able to do before Gabe is out for the summer. I get so overwhelmed with all three of them all day long every day that it is so nice to be able to have somewhere to go.

Next post is about the Burkhart Walk for Autism!

--Andie--