I feel a bit sheepish...like I forgot to do my homework assignment and I am hoping that the teacher doesn't decide to collect it today.
As the kids get older the "work" of caring for them gets easier, but your time compresses. Suddenly 24 hours is no where near enough time to fit everything in. I rise at 4:30 to get to work by 6:00, get out at 2:30 (hopefully) and dash off to fit in as many errands or as much housework as possible before I pick the kids up from their learning center at 5:00. Between dinner, playtime, bathtime, etc 7:30 comes all to quickly and we are getting the kids into beds (or still a crib in Nixon's case...we are crossing our fingers to be out of it by Christmas) and lights out by 8:00. Muma gets a precious hour to read/watch Project Runway/talk to daddy before I have to start getting ready to go to bed and do it all over the next day. Whew! I'm exhausted just reading this!
As an update, Nixon's speech and social skills have improved greatly thanks to the excellant therapy through our local school district. He attended a summer session, and will be starting preschool through their developmentally delayed program this fall. He will attend three half day sessions a week, and we are so excited to see how much more ground we can cover with so much more time with therapists. He still can not speak well, and it is very difficult to understand him, but he wants to communicate - which is great! His favorite thing to do lately is tell us his routine:
Said at bedtime
"Bubbie go nite nite. Bubbie wake up. Bubbie have waffle. Bubbie Ya Ya go school. Muma get Bubbie Ya Ya. Bubbie go home. Bubbie eat. Bubbie play. Bubbie go nite nite."
On the weekends, we tend to do the same things and eat at the same places, but it helps with his behavior. We find that new environments are often too much for him and he acts up. Much easier to go where he is comfortable. On the question of wether he is autistic or not, all of the specialists that he has seen do say he is on the spectrum, but Bill and I are convinced that he can pull out of that diagnosis. His sensitvity problems have been getting better (can you believe he will eat a popsicle now...can you believe I cried when he did!) and with the fall program coming we have high hopes.As far as our vacation, both the kids did excellant for their first time away from home . They LOVED the water - spent all day swimming, catching minnows, or finding seashells. They were so pooped out by bedtime each night that we had no problem getting them to sleep. We were very worried about this aspect, because Nix does not sleep well out of his crib, but the sun and water did their job and he was down for the count by 8:00 each night.
Reaghan is still solidly in the princess stage. I don't see that ending any time soon. My mom and I took her shopping recently, and she is showing signs of being a professional shopper by the age of five. The girls loves to shop. She was mad at us when we had to leave after a few hours because my mom and I were whipped - she could've shopped all day. Rea still wants to wear mostly pink, but we will work on that. I still can't believe that I had such a girly girl! I don't think I ever wore pink in my life! At her age I was ripping through the neighborhood in a dingy pair of overalls, no shirt, with twigs in my hair trying desperately to keep up with the older boys who were my playmates. All she wants to do is dress up in princess dresses and twirl around the kitchen with the radio on. Thankfully, Nixon will act as "prince" and dance with her sometimes, otherwise I am playing "prince" every evening. Cute for a few months, but after almost a year it gets old...real old.
As for me, I had quite a spill about six weeks ago. I was cut off and ended up laying a motorcycle down for the first (and hopefully last) time. I was only doing about 20 mph, so the damage was minimal but I still ended up in the ER with a seperated shoulder and a whole lot of road rash. It is weird for me to go to another health system other than the one I work for...I find myself being so highly critical of my care and I left convinced that the system I went to didn't provide the level of care that I am used to. Anyway...my shoulder still hurts like crazy, but its getting better and I am determined to get back on the "horse" as soon as it heals.
