Finally Warm

So I love the Northeast. Love it. But I'm not a big fan of the cold. Last week we were still in the 30's! But Monday, it was nearly 90. (And because it's so early in the year, not humid. Yay!) Ethan and I celebrated by going to the zoo. The rest of the week has been in the 60s and just beautiful. (It did rain once, but I'm trying to block it out.)

Besides being more fun for Ethan to be out, it's making me feel so good. We can have all the windows open and feel less cooped up when we are at home. It's re motivated me to do a thorough clean and purge of our house. (Why do we have so much crap???) It's even made me want to eat more fresh fruits and veggies. And all the time we're spending outside is going to give me a great tan!

Green Bean Screams

Ethan loves green beans. LOVES them. They've begun taking part in little games. While eating dinner last night, Ethan started by "biting their mouths off" (meaning their heads.) Then, the green beans started screaming because a monster was eating them. John and I were cracking up while Ethan alternately screamed and viciously tore off bites of green bean. I wish we'd gotten it on video, but we were laughing too hard.

Growth!

Finally, Ethan has gained enough weight and added enough height for the drs to back off a little. He's jumped on the growth charts this last month so we don't have to go for another weigh in until August. Yay!

Ahhhhhhhhh........

Ethan is at Grandpa's house for a few days. He's loving it b/c his uncle Bryson (7) has just as much energy as he does. We're loving it for the above reasons. Don't call before 10am!

Enunciate

Ethan has been working on e-nun-ci-at-ing. He can say just about anything now and only has trouble communicating when he's upset. (Who doesn't?) He is actually very clear, but apparently he felt like he wasn't saying his l's right. So now when he says them, he very deliberatly pushes out his tounge. It's hilarious to hear him talking along and then all of a sudden (when he comes to a hard 'l') sound like his tounge has swollen up. It kind of freaked me out the first few times, but now I have a hard time talking to him without laughing! Try it. Read this post outloud to someone, pushing out your tounge on the l's, and see if they can keep a straight face.

No really. Whose child is this?

A little before lunchtime, Ethan came up and asked "Can I have some lunch, mom?" So we had lunch. While we were watching a little post-lunch TV, he said "Can I sit with you, mom?" So we snuggled. And when I turned the TV off, he asked for some milk (a little less nicely, but more like his normal self). When I gave it to him he walked into his room, sat on his couch, and asked me to turn off the light. He was starting his naptime routine!! So I turned off the light, read him a couple of books (a few more than usual b/c I couldn't believe how good he was being), and tucked him in. All about 15 minutes early!

This clearly isn't my child. But if he's yours, too bad. I'm not giving him back.

Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month. I spent several years working with autistic children and I wanted to pass on a little tribute to their mothers, from one of my favorite authors.

Ode to Special Moms

(by Erma Bombeck)

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures and a couple by habit. This year, nearly 100,000 women will become mothers of handicapped children. Did you ever wonder how mothers of handicapped children are chosen?

Somehow I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth, son, patron saint, Matthew. Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, patron saint, Cecilia.
"Rudledge, Carrie, twins, patron saint, give her Gerard. He's used to profanity."
Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles, "Give her a handicapped child."

The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."

"Exactly," says God. "Could I give a handicapped child to a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel."

"But has she patience?" asks the angel.

"I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it.
"I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has his own world. She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy."

"But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you."

God smiles. "No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness."

The angel gasps, "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?"

God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a 'spoken word.' She will never consider a 'step' ordinary. When her child says 'Momma' for the first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a tree or a sunset to her child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations.
"I will permit her to see clearly the things I see...ignorance, cruelty, prejudice...and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life, because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."

"And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, pen poised midair.

God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

15 min of play

On the living room floor: a bowling set, duplos, a firetruck puzzle, and a stuffed dragon. Now let me tell you about 15 minutes of playtime this morning.

Ethan asked me nicely if he could set up his bowling pins in the living room and then proceeded to stand them up very carefully. They weren't always in a triangle, but each time he stood them back up, he spent extra time making sure they were spaced evenly. (He's showing my random obsessive tendencies already!) After bowling, he moved on to the duplos. I now have a dog with a very large tail sitting on the couch next to me. Next, Ethan noticed his firetruck puzzle on the floor. It took him quite a while, but he did it! A real puzzle! All by himself! Finally, he "attacked" me with his dragon, then saved me. Because the dragon had scared me, he brought me some balls to make me feel better and then read me a story. What a cutie.

He seems to be growing up faster every day. I don't want to miss any of it, but I also can't wait to see what he'll do next!

Eragon - Two Thumbs Down

Let me start off by saying that I liked the book very much. No LOTR, but a good read. The movie on the other hand...I can't believe I actually finished watching it. I'm pretty convinced that the screenwriters never even read the book. They jumped through the story so much that it didn't make any sense. They threw in characters willy-nilly without explaining who they were or why they were important. Even though I knew the story, I was confused. They even changed the basic rules of the world!! And don't even get me started on the obvious changes they made simply to save money. (Human Urgles???)

So, don't see the movie. EVER. Not even if it's free and you're bored out of your mind. But do read the book.

GI

Somehow, I forgot to mention Ethan's appt with the pediatric GI. Besides the fact that we had to wait TWO HOURS to see him (he was on time until the patient before us!), it went great. He is in agreement that Ethan is most likely just adjusting to his genetics. So no more tests for now. But he does want to follow him for a while. And because he works closely with our regular pedi (he actually sees patients as a regular pedi himself at our office), he has learned to trust her instincts. So, just in case her gut is right, he gave me a list of things that he would want to know about right away and his personal pager number.

So that's it! Ethan's a healthy boy. My assumption is that if he continues to not gain weight the next step would be a close monitoring of his diet, rather than tests. Whew!

"I'm Stuck!"

Ethan's current favorite game is to be 'stuck'. It began as a game while we were holding him. We'd squeeze a little, he'd yell "I'm Stuck!", and then we'd tickle him or pretend to be the kissy monster. Now, Ethan will tuck himself into little places (or even pull things together to create little, tight places) and yell out for us. He is never really stuck, but it's just so dang cute!

So Tired....

I've given up on getting anything done this week. Between the couple of thing that I just can't ignore (dr's appts, eating, etc.) and the show, I'm pooped. We've had rehearsal every night this week, and the show opens tonight. Luckily, we cleaned the house for playgroup at the beginning of the week, so I'm just letting it go for now. Ethan and I are spending the mornings doing what we have to do for the day. Then, after we both nap, I shower and get ready for the show while he watches a movie. (If my hair didn't take so long, this wouldn't need to take hours!) Then I get dinner started so that when John comes home I can eat quickly and head out the door, not to walk back in for another 5 hours, most of them spend standing under the lights. My legs are going to give out by the second show on Sat! I don't know how those in shows with longer runs keep it up.

Actually, I'm loving this production. It's a privilege to be a part of it. But I'm tired.

Favorite Word

Our current favorite Ethan word is "camtpur". It means computer. We think it's extra hilarious because Ethan is usually very understandable and is good at big words. (He tells us things are delicious all the time.) I wanted to write it down before he figures out how to say it correctly and I forgot how cute it was!

Ethan's Best Friend EVER

Ethan told me today that Maggie is his best friend EVER. I have no idea where he even learned that phrase, but it's just so darn cute. To see his friend Mags, go here. It's an old video, but shows our favorite side of her.

EDIT: If you couldn't tell from the top video of Mags eating her birthday cake, we love to watch her eat. It's endless entertainment. Scroll down to the banana video. It's even better.

He did it!

He pooped on the potty! I should admit up front that it wasn't intentional. He started to go while in the tub, so John grabbed him and we wrangled him down onto the potty. Then he sat and we made faces at each other until he went. So regardless of how he got there, he did it!

We've been talking with Ethan about this for weeks. We have a little video and book that he loves and we even take him with us when we go. (He is always so proud that we did it.) So maybe we this was the kick we needed to get him on the toilet. Wish us luck!

And on to the specialist we go

Ethan had his weight check last week and I've been putting off posting this until I knew when the next step would be happening. He was exactly the same weight as before, meaning he has gained nothing in 8 months, and less than 2 pounds in over a year. His doctor said she just isn't comfortable giving him more time, just in case it is a big deal. So Ethan has an appointment with a pediatric GI in about 3 weeks. Both the pediatrician and I agree that he is probably just adjusting to his genetics and the GI won't find anything, but we can't risk the chance that we might miss something major. We're not worried, so no one else be.

Holy Sickness, Batman!

If you haven't read it yet, read this first. And then come back to read what happened from someone who was coherent the whole time, though not always present.

John came home from work on Friday pale, and not looking so good, but not horrible. So, knowing that he would get some rest before Ethan woke up from his nap, I went to work. Skipping the parts I was at work for, I came home when my mom called saying that he definitely needed a blessing, and maybe needed to go to the ER. I can't adequately describe what John was like when I got home, but I'll try. He was sitting on the floor, propped against the wall. He kept wincing and yelling out as waves of pain hit. And he was so exhausted that his eyes were only half open and he could only mumble. He was even brought to tears by the pain on several occasions.

I should mention at this point that not only have I never seen John like this, I've never seen him sick. He doesn't get sick. EVER. Needless to say, I was really freaked out.

I knew that, shy of making him more comfortable (which our great friends helped me do), there was nothing I could do for him. I spoke with the dr about options, but she agreed that this wasn't life-threatening, and he would probably be most comfortable at home. She did prescribe some meds to help with the nausea and help him sleep, but they wouldn't help with the pain. John finally fell asleep before we picked them up, so he never needed them. (Thank goodness! I didn't even want to think about giving a grown man a suppository!) So I just went to bed with him, calming him down every time the pain woke him up. It was a long night, but I managed to get a little bit of sleep, and John was nearly back to normal by morning. And now, on sunday, you'd never know it happened. (Except for all of the nasty laundry I'm still getting through!)

It was apparently food poisoning from a seafood salad. This is one of the many reasons I don't eat seafood!

Come to the Play!

For everyone who could feasibly make it to Boston, plan to come see this show! (Click on the poster to see a bigger image and to read the details.)

So Sad :(

I am sitting in the office listening to Ethan crying. We had friends over for dinner so he stayed up past his bedtime. He was easy to get ready for bed. Wanted to change into pajamas. Wanted to read a book. Even wanted to lay down and pull up his blanket. But actually sleep? No way! After we prayed and I held his hand for a minute, I got up to leave and he flipped out. I know that he will eventually calm down and climb back into bed to sleep. He'll even pull up his own blanket. But for now, I have to listen to him calling for me. I think it would be easier if he was just crying, but the pleading is rough. "Mommy, you need to hold my hand for a few minutes now." "Mommy, you need to hold my hand for a few minutes please." "Mommy, ...." You get the idea. So right now I'm sad. Because if I go in, it will be worse tomorrow. But I so want to go in....

Happy Valentines Day!

So I had big plans for you all. Ethan picked out cards, colored on them, and decorated them with stickers. He even decorated the envelopes. But when I went to get them in the mail, I couldn't find my address book. I know it's in the house somewhere, but I haven't found it yet, and it's a little late to send out Valentines Day cards.

Then I wanted to put an audio clip of Ethan saying "I love you berry much" here on my blog. Unfortunately I am not as computer savvy as I thought. So I will keep working on it. Maybe video would be easier.

I hope everyone had a Happy Valentines Day!