Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Thursday, January 21, 2010

BubTar and the Cheerleaders

Sorry for the radio silence, Josh and I started back to school this week AND I'm sick (No, not THAT kind of sick! I know what you're thinking.) There is nothing and everything going on around here, but not much to say about it! However, I do have a little gem of a BubTar story...

Last weekend, we went to a local professional hockey game because he was the top popcorn seller in our cub scout district and he had the opportunity to go out on the ice. Let me tell you, hockey is something else! Oh my. 3 fights in the first 10 minutes, but it sure was a fun sport to watch. Even Josh, who hates every sport on the planet, would like to go again! After the game, BubTar got to go out on the ice, but they wouldn't let Josh or I out with him. The poor kid was confused and we were trying to give him directions from the other side of the plexiglass and he couldn't hear us no matter how loud we spoke or how dramatically we gesticulated. The cheerleaders were in the penalty box right next to us and saw our predicament, asked us his name, and then pulled him into the booth so I could take a photo. He was like an adorable little deer in the headlights. He stood way far away from them, perhaps due to a fear of contracting a case of The Cooties, so they scooted closer to him so I could get a shot.

On the way home he said, "Mom, you know that first picture you took?" I said, "The one with the pretty ladies?" He grunted, "Yeah. That one. PROMISE me you'll never show my friends that one! It is soooo embarrassing!"


Somehow, I think he MIGHT feel a little bit different about this picture in a few years. Haha!

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

I took a nap.

So in the absence of the horrifying excitement of previous eras of our lives (an absence we hope to continue, knock on wood), I find myself at a loss for writing material. Sure, there are plenty of bright and shiny things to talk about...but not much to write about these days. I don't have much need to utilize writing as as a form of self-expression or as an art form currently, which is definitely messing with my blogging mojo. I'm testing a new tactic, one which fully embraces the dullness of everyday life, thus the title, "I took a nap." What a hook! Riveting! Exciting! What in the world might I be about to discuss?! You're on the edge of your seat, aren't you? You've got a white knuckled grasp of your mouse...you can't WAIT nudge that scrolling wheel and read what is sure to be a literary MASTERPIECE! Well, wait no more!

The first day back to real life was a bitch, I'd use a nicer word for it but I don't think there is one. (Brief side bar: Anytime I use curse words, I hear Josh in my head saying, "Ooooh, potty mouth." For real, he does this. Every time. Usually I'm highly frustrated when I curse and this always take the blustery wind out of my sails, but it also has the side effect of making me laugh...so I don't really mind. Plus, HE said a curse word the other day, which never happens, so I gave him a standing ovation...then tossed the potty mouth remark back at him. HA!) 6am wake up after a week of sleeping until after 10am? NO FUN. Though, I highly recommend the sleeping in for a week part. Then, to add insult to injury, not only did I have to wake up at 6am, I didn't even get to lounge in bed with my coffee, netbook, and old episodes of Dawson's Creek! I had to get OUT OF BED and DO THINGS in the morning. Ugh. It was painful. The day was long, and made longer by my volunteer shift at the hospital. I fell into bed around 1:30am. When the alarm went off at 6am the next day, you can imagine my displeasure. 4.5 hours of sleep! Like Ariel sings in that song I hear 75 times every day, "I want moooooore!" Bet you'll never guess what I did after dropping the kids off at school?

I TOOK A NAP!


Whoa, how did you guess that? You're good!

Anyway, it was a GLORIOUS nap. I got home from dropping them off at 8am, and I stripped off my clothes, pulled on a night shirt, and crawled back into the warm bundle of covers. The sheets were soft and smooth and the temperature in the room was just slightly chilled which made my place nestled underneath the comforter and quilt the precise level of needed warmth. I adjusted my alarm, closed my eyes, and fell into dreamland straightaway. I slept until 10:23...exactly enough time for me to pull on my jeans and jacket and get back to the school to pick up KayTar. I'm sure I had pillow creases on my face and all, but who cares? I TOOK A NAP!

The rest of the day was so-so...pick-up duty, laundry, tea parties, doing a puzzle, having my parents over for dinner...you know, the usual. However, that nap...it was pure brilliance.

Stayed tuned for my next installment of the everyday life series. What might it be? "I ate a yogurt!" or perhaps, "I bought a pair of pants."

The anticipation is KILLING ME!

Friday, January 01, 2010

2009, the year that rocked.

I thought about doing one of my annual wrap up posts this year, I started writing it even, but then I got sidetracked reading my first post of 2009. It was such a hopeful and happy post, full of the joy at the emergence of the child we've gotten to know so well this year. In it, I said this:
I have spent years worrying over her cognitive development. When she was still silent, I wondered if she would ever speak. When she began to speak, I wondered if it would ever be natural for her, or if she would simply parrot and label forever. When her vocabulary began to grow, I worried about her comprehension and cognition. Over the course of the past year, those worries have fallen away, one by one, and what has been left in their wake is an intelligent, well-spoken, beautiful little girl.
According to the post, last New Year's Eve, my friend L looked at me and said, "She's going to be brilliant, you know." And this year, we do know. Everyone who knows her knows. This year she IS brilliant. She has blown our hearts and minds more times than we can count throughout her life and especially over the past year. It is hard to believe, looking at her now, that she was ever that closed-off, lumpy, silent 18 month old, or the 2 year old not yet walking or talking at her party, or the 3 year old who only used scripting. It doesn't seem possible that she was ever anything other than this intelligent, hilarious, joyful, bubbly, amazing kid who is filling every corner of our lives with goodness and light.

2009 was the year we stepped out of the dark cloud cover of the frightening unknown and into a well-lit world that mostly makes sense again. Her developmental gaps have closed, the episodes have tapered off, she hasn't been to the pediatrician in over a semester, most of her specialist appointments are now only an annual event. We don't have a whole lot of answers still, but the questions seem to matter much less now. 2009 gave us back a sense of normal-people normalcy, and though we might never have a life without specialists and tube feeds and a laundry list of medications, this new stage of life with KayTar was well worth the wait. I can hardly wait to see what 2010 holds for us all.

2006, the year this blog began.

2009, the year that rocked.