Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Quiet on the Homefront

Really not a lot going on this first month of the new year. Kids are struggling with allergies that are leading to ear infections, but nothing a little antibiotic and love can't cure.

Transitioning back to school was a breeze for the kids...thank goodness. Mom had a pretty easy time of it too...except the having to get up early, make lunches, and get them ready to get out the door on time. But, I managed to get back into the swing of things okay.

Notes from Ian's school have slowed down A LOT! When I get them, I don't generally reply anymore. I just mumble to myself and initial the day. Really I don't see the point in why they feel the need to write me everytime he, "had a good morning in Mrs. X's class and Mrs. Y's class, but he had a rough afternoon". Please tell me exactly what 'rough' means? If it means he got overstimulated and was loud and maybe annoyed a kid or two, well then I think we're working on two different perspectives of 'rough'. Oh well.

He's doing well at home. He really tries to communicate better, does his homework with me pretty well, and is wanting to do so many more things independently....some I wish he wouldn't try quite so hard at. :) He's also still staying in the same underwear all day (but changing them daily :).

Avery and Benjamin are truckin right along. Benjamin is getting more and more, ummm, what's the word???? Obstinent. Yeah, that seems like the right word. But, darn it, he's still so cute about it!

Avery is still our little princess.....with attitude. She's gonna be a great story-teller one day. The girl will spend 20 minutes straight telling me a story...usually about her "friend", her "friend's baby", her "baby", or her "husband". It's exhausting trying to stay up with it all.

That's about it. I guess sometimes 'non-exciting' is the way to go.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

So Proud

Well we just hit 2 weeks off school. Ian and Benjamin go back tomorrow. I have to say, I usually get really anxious when I know we're going to have that much time off. And this time was no different.

However, the kids did so incredibly well over the time off. That was even traveling by car out of state too. We had no major meltdowns or injuries. There was lots of time of playing nicely together. No illnesses. Wow, what more could I ask for? I would say the biggest problem was when we were with another smaller family member who has a hard time 'understanding' Ian anyway. That was par for course and nothing unusual.

I also forgot to mention that we increased Ian's dose of clonidine to a .2mg pill a day. He still takes 1/4 of the pill in the A.M. and afternoon, and 1/2 pill at bedtime. We're thinking this increase may have contributed to Ian's positive behavior. He's never had the dose increased since he started taking it a couple years ago.

Another step in the right direction is that while we were out of town, Ian decided that instead of saying 'shut-up' (which he picked up and brought home from school - getting disciplined when he'd say it), he would say 'be quiet'. We praised him a lot for this and are very proud of him. We still catch him saying 'shut-up' every once in a while. And he still gets in trouble for it. Now we have to get Benjamin to stop saying it!

On 3 different occasions (not in a row), Benjamin has come to me to tell me he has to go potty and then goes to the bathroom and does it! Treat time!!!!! On of those times he was in the bathtub and told me he had to pee. So I told him to get out and pee. He did. Now that would make any mama proud!