For you Mom

Sometimes in life, well most of the time, it is the small gestures that makes it all worth while. This has been a tough year for us as it has for most people and I haven't exactly been feeling the Christmas spirit. Summers and Zander got supplies together and made me this beautiful wreath. They put it together and Summers let Zander decorate it with what he wanted. He chose gold balls, feathers and black scratch off paper. I don't know if you can see it all in the picture but it was perfect. Then he wrote "To Mom" on a peice of paper and put it on the wreath. It is really special and Zander was so excited to give it to me. Merry Christmas!

What to do???

How do you know what is best for your child? I am doing good to figure out what is best for me most days much less the rest of my family. Child Development is one thing that I feel like I know. It is hard when you know that you have a child with some special issues and the rest of the world just views him as a brat. I see it everyday, the looks and disgust for me on their faces. The sad thing is it is only going to get worse. I have the ability to change his environment now, but what happens next year when he is in kindergarten and I don't have any control over his environment or his teacher?
How do I help others see the bright and very funny child that he is? If they only stopped and talked with him, they would see it. Don't they see his interests? Even the lady at Sam's knows that he loves firemen. He has worn a firehat for 1 year now. Would it be so bad to let him wear it on the day that the firemen come to school? He told me on the way home that there was a fire hose and fireman coats and hats in the block center today and then he said, with tears in his eyes, "I couldn't play with it, not even today." It broke my heart. He knew it was a special day but they don't see that they are killing his spirit. So he doesn't pick up toys as fast as the other children and he sometimes is doing his own thing. Isn't it a teachers job to teach children how to do the things that they don't know? As I try to read this through my tears, I wonder what I am supposed to do. Do I leave him in a place that is supposed to be the best school in this state? I know that he is learning some things there, but at what expense? He will get the Occupational Therapy that I know he needs if he stays there and he will get to be part of the social emotional pilot program that will be there, but I can't help but wonder if I am doing the right thing.

Flying Rabbits???

Apparently rabbits can and do fly if they are tossed into the ceiling fan. Zander discovered this after we got home this evening. Thank goodness it scared him and I don't think he will do it again. It reminded me of the email that was circulating awhile back about all of the things that little boys do. I do believe flying animals are on the list. Maybe I should have saved the email as sort of a check list so I will know what to expect now.

On a different note, will he ever take off the fireman hat? It has been months. He wants to sleep with it and cries to take it everywhere we go. I hope this is a phase.

Bubbles

http://picasaweb.google.com/bohenstiel/Bubbles?authkey=hDFuiwicXuI
What happens when mom leaves the house and leaves daddy in charge of bathtime? They get into the jacuzzi tub, lather up and turn on the jets. For those of you that have jacuzzi tubs, you know that is a no, no. Even a little bit of soap makes a lot of bubbles. As you can see from the photo, we don't even have the walls around the tub tiled yet. They were supposed to be careful not to get anything wet. It has been caulked so too much damage can't be done.
I remembered to get the camera this time. Here is Zander's explanation.

Worker man truck

We went to Toys R Us to get Zach a birthday present. While we were there, we decided that we would get a battery and a charger for Zander's old four wheeler. It was a hand me down and the battery was the wrong size, so it didn't work well. We discovered that a battery and charger were going to be almost as much as a new riding toy. We decided to go ahead and get him one. He really wanted the firetruck, but it was $400. Who can afford that? Not us! We settled on the Arctic Cat and he loves it. I think he has ridden it everyday. We took it over to Granny's and he rode it down to the old house and in the field. Then we rode over to the Brady Bunch compound and they all rode there cars and trucks. Much fun was had by all.

Halloween shopping

I love Halloween and I think Zander does too. We went costume shopping on Saturday and he wanted to try on every scary mask that was in the store. He wasn't interested at all in the children's costumes. For about a month now, I have been asking him what he wanted to be and he kept going back and forth between a fireman and a bit rat (Remy from Ratatoiulle). When it came down to actully buying on of the costumes, he didn't want either one of them.
For everyone that knows Zander, you know that his favorite thing in the whole world it the Jungle Book movie. I preordered the 40th anniversary edition months ago and it was time to pick it up this week. Guess what was at the store - the 40th anniversary Shere Khan costume. I am glad that I waited to get something. You should have seen his face when I showed it to him. He didn't want to take it off. I think that was the perfect costume. Expect to see Zander's sharp claws!

bowling with three year olds?

Whose idea was it to take 2,3 and 4 year olds bowling? Granted, now they have this metal contraption that you can put the ball up on and the kid can push it so it actually goes all the way down to the pins, but they are not very good at having to sit and wait for their turn. It was quite an adventure but I don't think we will be going back anytime soon.

Can he fix it? Yes he can!

What a great idea! We went by Lowes Home Improvement one Saturday morning to pick up something, and they were having make it take it projects for the kids. Zander got an apron and safety goggles to take home. He made a wooden calendar for Mom's desk at work. He had a lot of fun and looked so cute. They have the projects the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month.