Friday, November 19, 2010

A Great Friday!



1. My folks, aka Grandma and Grandpa, arrive tomorrow for a 2 week visit. Hooray! We're going to celebrate Thanksgiving with lots of food at my sister-in-law's house, my father will help Marshall finish the living room project and do lots of other fun little things together. A trip to the Aquarium perhaps, a littleHarry Potter, playing in leaf piles (our neighborhood leaf pickup starts Monday so there are lots of great piles all over the streets), and Crazy 8's. Miranda learned how to play Concentration (aka Memory) two weeks ago and now beats me regularly. Mimi gave her some Crazy 8's cards earlier this week and she's learning how to play.

2. Speaking of leaf piles, my children wanted to "help" me rake the leaves to the curb this week and this is the first time Alex really did help. Miranda was there for the company but Alex was a significant asset. I'll have to remember that for next year.

3. The living room is accessible again, which the children are enjoying. The worst of the mess is cleaned up even though the project isn't finished. Still, I like the chocolate brown walls and Marshall is looking at Craig's list for new couches. Our children are kinda hard on furniture; they bounce a lot. I'm sorry I don't have pictures yet. I'll put some up in the next few days.

4. Miranda pretty much potty trained herself in 2 weeks. It's weird. Alex was a several year process. She still wears a pull up at night but half the time that's dry, too. Her teacher was right: take away the pull ups and make her wear underwear and just deal with the mess. It worked. I think I'm still in shock.

5. I have finished with whatever illnesses have been plaguing me for the last 6-7 weeks and am now just back to allergies. I'm tired because Miranda's sleep pattern in the last week has been irregular, but not sick. This also seems weird.

6. Not having a television throughout the remodeling process has been a great thing for the kids. I think I missed it the most, and that was primarily because it made watching the World Series a lot more complicated. They can still watch their programs on the laptop, which they do on occasion, but they are watching less than half what they used to. I'm sure this is healthy for them even if it made my life more difficult. And making them eat dinner at the table is actually easier now. We'll see if it lasts after the house it restored to rights.

7. Miranda seems to be growing more and less flexible as she gets older. We can talk about what we're doing and where we're going with a lot more ease and I can now make more than on stop on an errand run with her in tow, which I haven't done since she was an infant. But if she's upset about something or tired, she doesn't want to go out, no way, and most times, it's not worth dragging her. I guess this just means her development is starting to follow a more "normal" pattern; it's just delayed. Strange. When your first kid is diagnosed with autism, you never know what to expect for any subsequent child. Ah, well, parenting is an adventure.

Sorry there are no photos today. I am weary from leaf raking.

And here's Jen.

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