« August 2003 | Main | October 2003 »
Well, it's still freezing here. It's after noon and we haven't hit 50 yet. Fall really does come quickly. Cara's invitation to visit her in NC is looking more and more appealing.
I called the Y to sign up for Evan's swim class today. We'll go twice a week starting next Monday. I'm really looking forward to it, and I think Evan will love it too. Now I just have to find more swim diapers. If Wal-Mart doesn't have them, I'm screwed.
It's a chilly night here in Meadville and the three of us are kicking back and trying to relax after an interesting weekend. Though I welcome fall with open arms, I'm always surprised at how quickly the cold weather comes--suddenly the night air is just frigid and I'm hauling out sweaters and fleece and feetie pajamas.
Our weekend was spent at home, but not uneventfully. Mike's family came in from Cleveland and Rochester for celebration of Papa's 50th birthday and my belated 27th. Saturday was nice--it was a relaxing day, we hung around the house, ate a nice big dinner together, and had cake and presents. I got a lovely sweater from Jo and Mike's folks got me a session's worth of baby swim class at the Meadville Y (and a gym bag and towels to take to class). I'm really looking forward to getting started with that. Papa got a backyard fire pit from us kids, so we set that up last night and sat and talked around a nice warm fire. It was a good night.
Today was a little more stressful--Mike and his dad set about trying to fix the dryer, which required three trips to the hardware store and lots of time in the basement. There was also a lot of little discussions going on today--I think it's been tough the last few months on Mike's clan because there's a lot happening and we haven't seen each other very much, so that makes visits rather emotionally charged. And on top of that, the Steelers lost. In the end though, we have a dryer that works, everyone is on good terms and Pittsburgh is 2-2, so the day wasn't all that bad.
Now I'm headed to bed (Evan's already conked out, the little darling) and I'm hoping for a nice quiet week for all of us.
Though speech therapy went fairly well yesterday, OT today couldn't have been a bigger disaster. Evan screamed the entire time, so much that he began gagging and coughing. The therapist left after 15 minutes. Oh well, we'll get 'em next time.
I talked to Cara for a while on the phone yesterday. Even though we talk on the phone at least once a week, I still miss her a lot. We're like kids again when we talk or when we get together--Mike gets annoyed when we use words that we made up ourselves or spend 10 minutes talking about a soap opera. I've just been thinking about her a lot today, and missing, and hoping we can get together soon.
Speaking of missing people, I got an e-mail from a high school friend the other day with some sparse details about our 10 year reunion next summer. My immediate reaction is that I wouldn't go--I pretty much keep in touch with all the people I wanted to from school (in fact, the majority of the friends I have now are people I knew in high school, which I guess is kind of unusual). As I thought about it, I decided I wouldn't mind going--it might be nice to see some people that I didn't keep in touch with. But that's assuming anyone I'm thinking of would go, and that is a big assumption in a class of 500. I've tried once or twice to e-mail people that I saw on an alumni website, but more often than not those e-mails are ignored and then I feel really dumb. I'd like to think that we've grown up enough that old pals could be friends again or at least keep in touch, but I guess that is expecting a whole lot. Ah, I'm sentimental like that.
The mention of that e-mail to my husband and his friend who was our dinner guest last night started a long conversation about high school friends, people we once knew, and reunions. It even led to my bringing out some old photo albums so we could remember what Mike looked like with long hair. Ah, those were the days. It was certainly pleasant to bring up some old memories and a lovely way to pass the evening.
Another speech therapy today, another knot of worry in my stomach. Actually this appointment went fairly well, Evan was mostly cooperative and in good spirits. He still talks little when the therapist is here, which I think is due more to his shyness than anything else. She suggested that if he doesn't improve much in the next few months, we will have to start sign language with him. She's not ready to start it yet though, it's just something to be aware of. I really hope it doesn't come to that--not that sign language is a bad thing, but starting it with Evan at this stage would be like saying he's not going to talk.
Over the weekend I noticed that Evan is trying really hard. Most of the time when we try to get him to repeat a word, he'll make an unrelated sound in a similar pitch. For example, I say "Dog?" and he'll say, "Nah?" But when I tried to get him to say "open" so I would open a jar and give him a piece of candy, he really tried. He made his mouth like an "O" but no sound came out. So he's getting the idea at least.
I am going to need speech therapy soon myself. I have mostly forgotten how to talk to adults since I spend my days repeating "up" and "more" and "on". I need to converse with someone who is past grade 8. I'm losing the ability to form complete sentences. Mrs. Brosig would be disgusted.
Due to the rainy weather and the fact that most of the kids are under the weather themselves, our play group trip to the zoo was cancelled for today. So Evan and I are left with a free day--do we stay home, or do we go off to find adventure? When presented with this choice, I have to say that the latter sounds much more appealing.
Sadly, our search for adventure means something like going up to the Edinboro Wal-Mart.
Not to be forgotten, Evan is 20 months old as of yesterday. That sounds very old indeed--two (and all the terribleness that goes with it) is not far away.
As Mike was kind enough to point out, we celebrated my 27th birthday over the weekend. It was a nice relaxing weekend--we actually spent most of it at home which is somewhere we have not spent a lot of time recently. It seems that our weekends are more often for running around trying to get 800 things done rather than taking it easy.
Friday night we went up to Erie for my birthday dinner (mmm, the Lube). Evan was kind enough not to throw any fits during the meal, so that made it pleasant for everyone involved. We then did some shopping at Target and the mall--places we miss living in Meadville! I even got to see my former boss from BR, working a rare Friday night shift, so it was nice to catch up with him too.
Saturday was my actual birthday, and we really did just relax at home all day. I baked cookies for Jerry at school, my parents and grandma came down for cake and presents, and my mom even replaced our toilet seats for me! It was something I'd been working on for about a week and was making no progress with, so her help was more than welcome. I even got to talk with Beth and Cara on the phone, so my day was complete.
In the evening Mike, Evan and I walked around downtown Meadville, returning home with steaks purchased to grill for dinner. We grilled and ate and just bummed around all night. Well, Mike and I bummed--Evan was on a sugar high so he danced and jumped and ran.
Sunday was football, and Mike was good enough to do laundry and dishes while the Steelers were on just so I didn't have to. What a man I have. While Daddy was hard at work, Evan and I went up to my dad's to visit and spend the afternoon. We played outside and Evan even scammed his way into a free Little Tikes play set from the neighbors. It's now in my dad's backyard and hopefully will make it's way down here in the next week or so. It was a good day all around.
Now it's Monday, Mike is back at work, Evan is watching Sesame Street, and I'm 27. So far, not that much different than 26--just closer to 30. I don't feel too bad though, because my younger brother thought I was turning 25 and told several people so. Fair enough, I'll take that.
Happy Birthday, Jennifer! Have a wonderful day.
So after telling everyone this site was back up and saying I would write more, it's been a week since I've made an entry. Bad, bad Mommy.
Though we had no formal therapy this week, we've still been very busy. We've been doing lots of laundry (fall cleaning!) and hanging it outside to dry since we won't be able to do that again for a long long time. Evan and I had a successful playgroup on Tuesday, with no illness or other trauma. We've gone on a picnic and had Uncle Mindtrance over for dinner. And of course, every day is filled with therapy of one kind or another at home.
I'm feeling better about Ev's therapy, but the more Mike and I discuss it the more we wish we had never started it. We're not doing anything different for him (aside from the brushing) than we were doing before, and his progress has remained unchanged. More than anything, the therapy has served to frustrate us both because it piles more and more on our shoulders, makes Evan annoyed, and makes us all feel rotten. Every time the therapists come they find something else "wrong" with Evan--for once we'd just like to hear that he's doing something right. It's hard not to get upset when you hear all these awful things about your child--especially when the person making the observations sees Evan for an hour every two weeks.
But we continue to plug away.
I'm looking forward to the weekend.
Today it felt like everything was crashing down around my ears. Evan wouldn't nap, he threw his lunch all over the floor, I didn't have time for a good shower, things just weren't going right. And then the afternoon hit, and things actually got worse.
One of the playgroup moms called me to let me know that her daughters had just been diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease. Yeah, sounds great, doesn't it? I guess it can give you a fever, runny nose, sores in the mouth and on feet and hands--lots of good stuff. And there's nothing they can give you for it. So now I have to watch Ev for the next week to see if he gets this. Ugh.
Then it was time for occupational therapy. This is the first time we've seen that therapist since the PlayDoh barfing incident, so this was a really important session. She decided to try fun foam (like shaving cream) with Evan, since she thought his aversion to PlayDoh was mainly because of the smell. Boy was she wrong, which Evan showed her by immediately gagging when we made him touch the foam. I have no idea why everyone thinks I'm making all this up--they always have to test him to see if he actually pukes!
So she then proceeds to tell me that Ev's the worst case of texture aversion she's seen in her five years of working, which really made me feel great. In order to help him overcome it, we're now having to do brush therapy and joint compressions with him every two hours, all day long. This is where we brush Ev's arms and hands repeatedly with a surgical brush, and then compress the joints in each shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle ten times each. He is not thrilled about this, but it's supposed to help make him less sensitive and give him better body awareness. We were also given a new set of sensory activities to try.
All I can say is, thank God I don't work outside the home, because his therapy alone is becoming a full time job.
So today I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed by all this. I'm going to go take a bath or cry or both and tomorrow will be a better day.
Woo hoo! We're back in business here at Evan's site. I've missed posting every day, and I'll try to get back into the habit.
Let's see, what's new with Evan. I'll do a numbered list because I like numbered lists.
1. He sleeps through the night now. Almost every night, in his own bed, from 9:30 or 10 until 7 or later. We are so pleased we could just burst. I just love getting a full night's sleep again, it's so wonderful. Time to have another baby. Just kidding.
2. Evan is getting speech therapy and occupational therapy at home now, twice a month. He's doing okay, but so far no major improvements. He's still communicating with gestures more than words, but he does make a lot of noise so that's good. He's now saying mom, dad, hi, yeah, and no with some regularity. He's still having major texture problems (the mere sight of PlayDoh or bananas makes him vomit) so that's a hurdle we're still trying to overcome.
3. We've joined a weekly play group of Allegheny moms and kids, and it's great. There are a lot of nice moms there for me to talk to, and many kids of different ages for Ev to play with. I think it's good for both of us to have socialization!
4. I'm looking into swim class for Evan too--I think that would be a great winter activity for us to do together.
5. Evan is growing and changing so fast now. He's much more a little boy than a baby, and it really is amazing. Mike and I are always astonished by the little changes in him every day.
So we both like living in Meadville so far--our house is great and we're glad to have Daddy's commute cut down to two minutes. The town is nice and it's exciting to learn about new places and meet new people. I'm still doing a little unpacking and sprucing, but we're pretty much settled. I'm really happy we made this move, even though it was hard leaving the family and friends (and Target!) in Erie.
For now, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is another exciting day in Crawford County.
You should be able to view this bad boy from its old URL, creamofpotatosoup.com this week. It's all setup on my end, but the changes need to slowly make their way across the web. Finally, eh.
Much is up with Ev lately, though I'll let Jennifer add a more detailed report later. This weekend, my folks came in and took him for the entire weekend, as Jennifer and I had a million things to run around and do, including a wedding, a wedding shower, and a party on Saturday night. It was weird to not have him around, though we were way too busy running around all weekend to really enjoy some time alone, lord knows we could use it.
All in all, it was a fun time, and we're glad to have him back home causing havoc in the house. Here's a picture from a few weeks ago, it's Evan and I at one of Jo's bike races.
