Falling Asleep

Nick has been having trouble falling asleep lately. Sometimes, to get him to sleep at a reasonable time I'll lay down with him. It is an amazing thing to watch him fall asleep, one minute he's giggling or popping up and down and then next he's sound asleep. It's just that quick, in one instant from awake to asleep.

Be Silly

Yesterday after Nick came home from school, I asked him what he wanted to do, play a game? go outside & swing? watch Super Why? No. "Be silly" which meant rolling around on the floor giggling. Silly boy. He also told me that he'd gone bowling and seen his teacher from last year. I love when he shares what happened at school. He doesn't always, just the things that are important to him.

School Drop Off

Nick is at a nearby elementary that is not our home school. One of the 5th graders who's on safety patrol lives in our neighborhood and knows Nick from the pool. Whenever P is on duty when we drop Nick off she makes it a point to come to the car to help him out. This morning she was there and as soon as Nick saw P he had the biggest smile on his face that lasted until he walked into school and I could no longer see him.

It just made my day!

M.E.'s new door

K has been working on this for M.E. since the spring, who is a major Dr. Who fan. M.E. was away for the weekend at a church retreat and it gave us the chance to install the door while she wasn't around. She was thrilled and completely surprised.

31 for 21

O.K., going to try again this year to commit to 31 posts in the month of October for DS awareness month. Since I haven't blogged in 6 months, don't hold out much hope.

Nick turned 9 a few weeks ago, hard to believe how the time has flown. It is amazing how "normal" or "typical" our family is. Nick is a typical baby brother, he figures out the right buttons irritate his brother & sister the most. Loves to wrestle with his brother (or anyone for that matter). He can pretty much take care of his personal needs.

Bad Mommy Moments

We've had a couple of incidents lately that show Nick's developing skills and independence and also that we've gotten a little lax.

Last week, at the rehearsal for M.E.'s high school drama production at a local church, Nick decided it was time to go, picked up my purse, walked to the elevator, pushed the correct buttons to call the elevator and get to the first floor. Then he walked out through the parking lot to our van. Fortunately, the church has a security guard who patrols the parking lot who'd grabbed Nick before any harm could come to him.

Then Sunday afternoon, Nick plugged the iron in and managed to burn himself and the ironing board cover.

Sigh.

Visit

Went for my annual pap smear/well woman visit. When the nurse checked me in she went over my chart and asked was I really gravida 10, para 3. Yep, that's me. Why does it still sting a bit all these years later?

The midwife who delivered Nick did my exam, at first she didn't remember me, it had been about 6 years since I've seen her. She asked about Nick how he was doing, etc. She mentioned that she had seen a couple earlier in the week who have a prenatal diagnosis of DS in their first baby. The Mom was taking it well, but the Dad was having a hard time. If anyone can help them through this I think that Y can. Tonight, I was remembering how kind she was after Nick's birth and how she stayed and rehashed his birth. I don't know how much she knew or suspected at the time, but it was a comfort.

Wishing that couple comfort and love as they start down this journey.

Garden

Despite not so small interference...
We're getting a bumper crop from our garden this year.
Green and Purple beans
Zucchini, Yellow squash, and tomatoes
Watermelon!!

Grilled Chicken Salad

Last night we grilled chicken breasts using my favorite Apple Rosemary marinade. Fortunately, there were two left over, so I made my favorite chicken salad. Here's the recipe.

2 Grilled Boneless/skinless Chicken breasts chopped
1/2 Medium Apple diced
1/2 C Dried Cranberries
1/2 C Pecans pieces
1/2 C Sweet Onion chopped
1/2-3/4 C Mayonnaise
1 T Honey Mustard
1 T Stone Ground Mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a medium bowl mix the chicken, apple, cranberries, pecans, and onion. In a small bowl mix together mayo, mustards and salt & pepper. Pour over the chicken mixture, stir together.

Apple Rosemary Marinade

Here is the recipe for the Apple Rosemary Marinade for the grilled chicken breasts. This marinade also works well on pork.

1/2 C Apple cider or juice
1/4 C Apple cider vinegar
1/4 C Olive Oil
3 T fresh Rosemary chopped
2 T Honey
2 T Stone Ground Mustard

Mix together and pour over chicken or pork. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight.

My Fourth Child

I actually have four kids, bet you didn't know that? My fourth is Daisy the dog. She may not be human but she exhibits the same sort of sibling rivalry the other 3 do. If I hug one of the other kids she try and squirm her way between us. The other day Nate & I were snuggling on the couch. Daisy couldn't stand it, jumped up on the couch, and squirmed her way in.

Imperative not Interrogative

This morning, Nate & M.E. got into it (o.k., not just this morning.) Anyway, M.E. comes up with a gash in her heal. What happened?

M.E.: "Nate pushed me into the edge of the cabinet."

Nate: "Because she pressure pointed me on the side of my head and it hurt."

M.E.: "I did that because he wouldn't stop poking me."

Mom: "Did you ask him to stop."

M.E.: "Yes!"

Nate: "No, you yelled at me to stop. Yelling is imperative not interrogative."

Sigh

Katie Beckett

Nick is eligible for, and has so far been approved for a Katie Beckett (or Deeming) waiver, which helps pay some of the bills that our insurance won't cover. It is essentially medicaid for disabled children who's parents make too much money to be covered by medicaid.

When Nick was in early intervention it paid the co-pays for therapy which were substantial, at one point about $800 per month. Since he's started school, the therapies are done at school and we aren't billed. We did use it for extra PT the first year Nick was in school and for his orthotics which our insurance didn't cover.

Every year there is an annual review, which freaks me out more than any thing else, I don't find taxes anywhere as, um, taxing. And every year I debate whether to apply for it.

Anyway, the review papers came the last day of school. Of course, Nick was late for his annual physical and his doctor had retired. Plus, I didn't have a current copy of his IEP. I managed to get everything, doctor visit included done and sent everything off in the mail this morning. Then came home and realized I forgot a copy of Nick's insurance card. Argh!

Dentist

Nick seems to take after his big brother in being slow to lose teeth and having lots of crowding. His bottom front teeth had started to come in even though his baby teeth haven't fallen out yet. So, this morning it was off to the dentist to have them extracted. With a little laughing gas he did very well. Even following directions to bite down on the cotton. I'll have to post of picture of his new grin once it looks less gruesome.

Hmm...

Last weekend, we took the big kids to see the new Star Trek movie. This weekend, we were talking about the older movies and t.v. series. So, off I went to see if Blockbuster had "The Voyage Home" or any of the other movies. They had 1 copy of "The Wrath of Khan," which was checked out.

So, from my iPhone, I checked Walmart.com. Sure, enough, they had a boxed set of "The Wrath of Kahn," "The Search for Spock," and the "The Voyage Home," in stock. They also had best of collections for the original series and the Next Generation.

Obviously, Blockbuster is missing out here. Wouldn't it be logical to think with the new movie there would be interest in the older movies? Or is Blockbuster so focused on just what's available for rent right now?

Feeling Guilty

Today is Nick's spring program at school, but he's not going and I'm feeling guilty. He's not going because Nate has a guitar lesson that I hadn't managed to reschedule followed by baseball. He's not going because the program is at 6 and to get him there we'd have to leave at 4:30 but M.E. doesn't get home until then (dang Atlanta traffic).

Not going, will save him sitting in a car for more than 90 minutes in addition to his round trip on the bus today. And he won't really know or care. And I feel guilty about that. I feel guilty that he has to miss something because of his older siblings. And I feel guilty about that. You can't do everything. The other kids have to make choices in their activities but they can make their choices. Sigh.

Suddenly

Nick's speech has improved so much in the past few months. He's really trying to make himself understood, to speak clearly and slowly. His favorite movie of the moment is Finding Nemo, and he's obsessed with the diver and mask. So, he's worked so hard to say diver, repeating it over and over. Today, I noticed he's starting to pick up the syllables that he often dropped in words and to pick up words in phrases he often left out. So, bu-els have become bubbles, pole has become ishing pole and the movie "Sages" has become "Ice Age."

I miss sages a bit tho.

Sweet Moment

The other night at bed time, Nick patted the rocking chair and said "sit." So I sat. Then he climbed into my lap and said "sing." So, I did. I know it was partly a tactic to delay bedtime, but, it was a sweet moment, one I miss as the kids get bigger and bigger.

The next day, I was singing in the car and he said "no, sing moma." So, I kept on singing.

Amazing

Since the beginning of the year, I've been working on decluttering. Today, I was going through my files of appliance and other manuals, rooting out the manuals for things long broken or that have been given away. One the items was the microwave K & I bought when we moved in together after getting engaged in 1992. On the front page was contact information, an address and a phone number. No email or web page address. Amazing, what we did before the web became such a part such a part of our everyday lives.

Spring Break Activities

For Spring Break, we did a "staycation" Monday, we went to a local pool and swam. Nick was very reluctant to get into the water at first but by the end he put his face in and blew bubbles, held onto my hands and kicked. The may be the summer he learns to swim. At least he should be able to stand in the shallow end.

Tuesday, we went to Chuck E Cheese. I took a book and let the kids run loose. Nick spent most of his time in the overhead tunnels. The older kids went for the games with the possibility of winning the most tickets.

Wednesday, we hung around in our p.j.s

Thursday, two families we know from an email list came over. We had lunch, played a bit of badminton, played Apples to Apples and the moms hung out & chatted.

Friday, we went to the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coke. Nick loved the aquarium and practiced signing the words for all the sea animals he knows. His favorite was the beluga whales with the giant tank with the whale sharks, rays, etc. He wasn't too thrilled with the World of Coke until we came to the tasting room.