Staring down the barrel of a three-day-weekend with the kids has me a little on edge, but it is that time again--the Wearden Weekly News!
Gabriel's first day back at PPCD was Monday. As I have mentioned before, his teacher Ms. Reynold's is out this week for maternity leave (as is his speech therapist) which means that he is with a substitute and his two Teacher Assistants, Ms Dora and Ms. Martha. The reports coming in have not been overwhelmingly positive. He has been pulling hair and scratching people, taking off his shoes, throwing everything he lays his hands on, and is very emotional, crying and fighting. He does not sit on his own at all at this point. The class size has shrunken to five little boys including Gaby, as the other kids were integrated into regular school or pre-k or did not return to the program. One teacher and two TA's to five kids makes for a great classroom ratio, so Gabriel will get lots of individual attention; more students may join later on in the year though.
Emily (the speech therapist) is still out on maternity leave, so we have been seeing Amanda in her place; there were no appointments this week as we readjust to the school year. Erin, the OT, came out on Tuesday and Thursday and will continue to see him as long as our schedules permit. Very blessed news: we got approved for SSI for Gabriel, meaning we will have a little extra funds to use for sensory items, specialized diet, medical or dental bills, or whatever comes up regarding Gabe. I think it will be so helpful.
Benjamin is going through his fussy, clingy stage. You would think spending all day alone with Mommy would be enough, but he is more insecure than ever, insisting on being held and rocked and cuddled nearly constantly, and wanting to share every game or activity or toy with me. It is not a problem--I like that he is so attached, but it can be a bit trying when he is tugging on my pants leg while I am trying to walk around or clamboring into my lap when I am trying to do something (like write a blog post). His teeth have been bothering him more than usual lately as well, which means that he cries and spits up more. Getting to be quite the chunky money, around 25 pounds, and we are considering switching him to a front-facing car seat because our car lacks the anchor points that make rear facing carseats so safe, leaving the seat a tad more unstable that I would prefer it.
Emerald's 5th and Benjamin's 1st birthdays are coming, and a lot of my time and brainpower has been devoted to planning that. I want it to be special because it is a big birthday from them both; part of me feels guilty because they each deserve their own party, but as their birthdays are a mere week apart (Ben's is the 4th and Emmie's is the 11th) and they are so little, it doesn't make a ton of financial or scheduling sense to do them separately. For those of you who are interested, the party is Sunday, September 9th at Ken and Rhonda's house; we are going with a Mickey and Minnie Mouse theme, and we are having pizza and cupcakes. I think it will be a lot of fun, I'm hoping the kids will enjoy it. As for what we are getting them for presents?? Heck if I know. I always leave these things until the last minute. I'm terrible.
Behavior at school for Emerald has improved this week. She still got a yellow bear on Wednesday and Thursday, but she understood what she did wrong, fessed up to Michael and me, and was very apologetic to us and to her teachers. Monday, Tuesday, and Friday she had no problems at all. If you are wondering: Wednesday she got into an argument with a kid that stole her place in line and kept pushing the issue when the teacher told her to drop it; Thursday, she clearly told Ms. Robins that she was not done playing on the computer yet and would not go back to her desk. A few minutes in the hall and she was right as rain again.
The issues we are seeing arising are caused by a general lack of schedule here at home. Oh, we do the best we can and have a general way our day progresses, but we have to allow for a certain amount of deviation because they are kids and because Gabe is Gabe, so sometimes we have to toss the schedule out to accommodate.
Michael sold very well at the dealership this month. He was one car away from his own personal goal, but he has been doing such a great job these last several months, which makes him stress and worry less, which makes for everyone being happy all the way around. He had a Tuesday meeting this past week, which meant that he had his day off as Monday. I volunteer to help with lunch and recess at Emerald's school on Tuesdays, but I had to go in on Monday. The kids are all so well behaved and ate surprisingly well, which impressed me. The other parent there commented that it was odd that none of the kids that bough their lunch went straight for their ice cream like we thought they would, but ate their hot dogs and chips and vegetables first. It blew me away that in just a week and a half, these teachers were able to get these unruly 4 and 5 year old's so whipped into shape!
At recess, a kindergarten-er named Sarah took me by the hand and led me all around to introduce me to everyone, which was so sweet. I thought Emerald would find me too distracting, but as soon as I told her I had to help the other kids as well and couldn't keep giving her kisses and hugs every two minutes, she settled down considerably. She is well-liked among her peers; it seems as though she plays with everyone in the class, or at the very least gets along with them. The first week was all about Caleb; the next week, she played more with Natalie and Keelyn. I guess she is going to find where she fits in the best!
Reading through the school handbook, I saw that getting a cheerleading uniform and going to games to cheer makes for a pee-wee cheerleader. Darling Ms. Holly from Rhonda's work had a spare uniform lying around from when her precious little girl was younger, and so generously lent it to us...so now I have a little cheerleader! Tell me that is not just perfect for our little social diva.
Gabriel is still having some issues at home. We are having trouble with him playing with his own poo. It baffles Michael and me because we find it so repugnant, it is hard to understand why he would find it enjoyable, but honestly we would not get the same experience as Gabriel does. Gabe has a hypoactive olfactory sense, which means that he doesn't smell as super well because his other senses are too loud and drowning that one out. His feces doesn't smell bad enough for him to turn him off from playing with it, and it feels funny to squish it.
Horrific, I know.
-shudders- Anyways, the way we are working around that is insistence that he wear shorts or pants at all times even to bed, he is not allowed to go unsupervised especially in the backrooms, and making him take lukewarm (which to the heat-loving Gabe is horrendous) showers to wash after he is caught. Finger painting with washable crayola paints is a good alternative, as is squishing Daddy's shaving cream in the shower or squeezing play dough.
I apologize for the off-putting topic; I debated whether or not to include it, but my desire to record our lives as accurately as possible overrides my sense of propriety in this case, and I couldn't leave off such a major struggle.
Teeth-grinding and chewing his collar have also been issues for us of late. Gaby will worry the front of his shirt until it is riddled with holes, meaning we are having to buy new clothes every couple of weeks to keep him from looking awful (another instance where SSI is coming in handy).
To mark issues and problems as well as notes, questions and progress, what works, what doesn't work, likes and dislikes, I have started keeping a detailed log of what the children are doing (specifically Gabe). This allows me to look back and see what we need to address with the therapists or doctors and helps us chuck out the useless habits and focus on the things that are benefiting us. Hopefully we will be able to narrow down some triggers for tantrums or meltdowns as well, giving us the opportunity to prevent them or contain them in the future.
Friday (yesterday) as I was taking Emerald to school, I stooped down to pick the corpulent, rotund son of mine and felt just wretched pain in my back. I made an appointment to see my doctor who gave me another shot of cortisone and gave me a prescription for anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxers, and pain killers for continued back spasms. Just a sign of getting older and hefting around too much weight from the combined (and considerable) girth of my three sweet children. I will have a check up next week to see how I am feeling, and if it hasn't improved at all then I will have to get an MRI done, which is yucky and I don't want to do.
Beth and David Peacock moved out of town to take jobs in Midland, a sad two hours away. As it is a three-day weekend for them as well, they came and took me out last night to Applebee's for drinks and to catch up. It was so great getting to see them again, and Sarah Barber showed up to which made me realize how much I miss hanging out with my friends. Poor Michael works endlessly and his friends are mostly moved away and hardly come back to Lubbock any more. We have been making some friends at church; I am going to be volunteering in Cradle Roll as a teacher's assistant starting a week from tomorrow (the 9th, day of the party, lol) and as child care during a Ladies Bible class. It feels great to be working again, even if it is infrequently, and getting involved in a community.
I think that is all that is on my list to talk about, unless you want to hear the rant about how terrible Thursday was (trust me, you don't--I can go on forever), I will say--until next time!
--Andie
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