Clothes Optional

Today we are just hanging out at home. I am going to skip working today because my mom isn't feeling well and since I work in their home and take the kids with me, I just don't want to risk David or Kyle (mostly David) coming down with something.

So instead, I need to dust (yuck), laundry should be tackled (yuck again), and I should really clean the floors (yuck yet again). We have yet to get out of jammies. Except for David. He's half out. By his own doing.

Keeping shirts on that child is like keeping Kyle away from his Hot Wheels. I know a lot of kids choose to make the "clothing optional" choice. Especially at younger ages. David has started doing this in the last 4-5 years. He probably would've done it sooner except he probably hadn't figured out the fine motor points of getting his shirt off yet. I'm guessing it's a sensory thing with him. Hot weather or cold weather. It doesn't matter. The shirt is coming off. I'm actually ok with it in the dog days of summer like we're in now. His room gets really hot in the afternoons and he has a hard time controlling his body temperature. But the winters are horrible. His room is cold in the winter. Yet, the shirt still comes off.

I don't know what to do about it. It's fine at home, but in junior high, it's not really socially acceptable to do. As long as we're at home, he always wins the war. If we're out, we can put the butterfly harness over him to try to help. He still pulls on it, but it is much more difficult with the harness on. I think they try their best at school to keep the shirt on him, but sometimes, inevitably, I think it's just easier to let him have it off. He has us all wrapped around his little fingers I guess.

Now this is a process I watched him do this morning.

                                  Step one: Pull it up over the face and get it all stretched out good

                                    Step two: Take a breather once the shirt's all stretched out nicely

                             Step three: Get it pulled up over the head and say a little prayer that all will go well

                                        And the final step:  Proudly wear a smile for a job well done.

Now, Kyle would never run around in just his pj bottoms or undies. He is much more modest than David. He's fine when it comes to wearing swimming attire, but that's where he draws the line at half nakedness. My skinny Kyle needs some clothes on him to ward off the cold I guess.

You can tell that we've had a wonderfully unremarkable couple of weeks when I choose to blog about David's clothes. So if you read this, sorry. But I will take the unremarkable couple of weeks any day over some of the others that we've experienced!

And, YES, David's room is always this messy when he's in there. His laundry basket of fun is always emptied out and spread throughout his room. It only gets picked up at night so we don't fall on something while staying awake with the party animal.

Sweet Summertime

I can't believe that we're already into July. Half of our summer has gone by so quickly. School will be starting next month. I will miss having the kids around at first, then ease back into the world of working without them with me (which is always like taking a breath of fresh air).

We made it through our annual SC vacation, including the drive there (David got carsick) and the drive home (Kyle got carsick). The trip, as usual, was a fun one. Michael wasn't feeling the best, so we've probably had better, but it was still fun anyway.

When we got home, David developed Michael's cold symptoms and had two visits to the doctor in a matter of four days. We're going on about 10-12 days of him not feeling well now. Lots of coughing, sneezing, and snot. Before we went on vacation we bought a pool for the backyard. I was so excited to put David in it, but  he hasn't been well enough yet. I'm sad that we haven't been able to enjoy it yet as a whole family. I am determined to get David well so we can reach that goal! Kyle, on the other hand, has been enjoying the pool immensely. He has turned into quite the little fish at our house.

We made it through the horrendous heatwave that washed over the midwest. We made it through by barely taking David out of the house. He hates it. He takes a medication that doesn't allow him to sweat, so he has a horrible time controlling his body temperature. Today was the first day in over a week that I feel like I can actually breathe outside. And it rained some today! Hooray! I thought it would make it super muggy outside, but so far so good.

I am looking forward to being able to ENJOY my evening walks with friends this week for some exercise instead of being MISERABLE during them.  Our walks last week were great for the conversation, but I don't think we looked pretty afterwards! Those walks, or going to workout, are some of the things I actually look forward to each week. It's one of the few things that I get to do for myself. I am so glad that I have good friends who give me that opportunity. They always listen to my down moments, up moments, and all in between. I sincerely appreciate all of them. The friendships that I have made since moving here are priceless to me.

The rest of the summer is still to be determined. Our number one goal is to get David WELL! After that I think we are just going to enjoy. The pool, our friends, grilling, taking walks, and of course, my new found love for those little frozen Daily's drinks. Here's to the rest of the summer!

We haven't had many smiles from our snotty boy the past two weeks, but here is one he gave us earlier today. I think he figured out that the heat wave has broken!

Lemonade

They say when life hands you lemons, you should make lemonade.

Some people would think this may apply to me. Not me. I'm pretty sure that life straight up bypassed the lemons and handed me a 55 pound jug of lemonade. In the form of a 12 year old boy named David Webb.

In the last week, David has had some ups and downs. He was sugary sweet the day of my sister's baby shower. He thought EVERYONE was funny. Especially his Aunt Mandy. He smiled when people played with him. He smiled when I changed his diaper. And he smiled when he was sitting by himself at the table and no one was paying attention to him. What I wouldn't give to have that type of soul within me at times.

Then his good mood faded a little. A little bit of the sourness came through. He's kind of sweet and sour at times the last few days. I believe he's having some digestive difficulties (which if you know David, you know what I'm talking about). I'm hoping to have that taken care of by this evening. But it makes him unhappy, and I can't blame him at all. One minute he's smiling, and the next, he's crying. He's been very spastic the last two days. His movements are extremely repetitive. I can't get him to stop poking himself in the neck/chin area. I cut his fingernails down as far as I could so try to keep him from hurting himself too badly. He has bruises from it. But once he sets his mind to something, he goes full force at it until the mood has passed. This has been his MO for life.

His life is a lot like a glass of lemonade. It's sour to think about having to have a disabled child for life. To know that he can't do the things that his brother; cousins; and friends can do. He actually doesn't know any better, but it still hurts just the same. I have bad days. I have cried at the strangest times. Sometimes a song will come on the radio and remind me of things I don't have. Or sometimes one will come on that is a reflection of our life.

Then those times sort of fade away. The sweet that hits you after you get over the sour. The innocence of having a child that will never know or understand the meanness of people that we will encounter in our lives. The laugh that comes from his belly for sometimes no apparent reason. Sometimes I wish I could just let out one of those laughs that just come from within. Or the smile he gives when his eyes are still closed and we are getting him out of bed for the day. I desperately would love to know what he has dreamed about the night before to give him that smile on his face.

I follow many sites on the internet that have to do with disabled children. Each family is unique in their own way. We all have our ups and downs. And lefts and rights. The world isn't the same for anyone. All face their challenges in such a brave way. I know that I am lucky right now. My luck changes daily. Pray for the ones who need for their luck to change today.

Happy Friday!

School's Out

Well, it's official. I have a child going into 1st grade. And one who gets to stay where he is (YAY!).  I've never had a child in the regular school world. It's so strange. David brings notes home every day to let me know how his day was since he can't tell me.  What went on in Kyle's day has to be DRAGGED out of him. Even then, I don't know much. But then the most random thing will come up, so I at least know he learned something new during school.
Since school has been out, we've made it to the zoo on a beautiful day. We haven't been to a big zoo since Kyle was 3. He was so much fun this time and really really excited to see all the big animals. David did pretty good too. We actually got him to focus on a large aquarium with a lot of fish for about 15-20 seconds. Pretty good in the world of David.
Our summer will be as follows: play dates, swimming, vacation, play dates, work, free movies, walks, and more play dates. Kyle has an extreme social calendar :) It helps me out when he's at a friend's. I try to plan my work schedule around those. I am fortunate enough to be able to take my kids to work with me (the perks of working for your dad). Unfortunately, Kyle doesn't think he's so lucky sometimes when he comes with me. Every 25 minutes (when commercial time rolls around), he is either hungry, thirsty, or bored.
We will be headed back to SC again this year. We will overlap with my mom and my aunt for a couple of days, which will allow Michael and I one very rare night out together. After that, we will probably have to wait another year before it rolls around again! I took him to The Melting Pot for the first time last year, and we really liked that, so that's probably where we will head again.

Hopefully summer will be good to us. Run smoothly. It probably won't. It never does. There are always some kind of bump in the road. But one can hope :)

Six Years

Six years old today. 

Hard to believe that Kyle joined us that long ago. It seems like yesterday. He was feisty from the time he entered this world and he still is.  He gave me challenges that I never had with my oldest. Different challenges. He cried. A LOT. That first year was full of crying. 

Then he turned one. At that point, he became independent and the crying stopped. He learned to do things for himself. It was a GREAT turning point for him. 

From that point on, life has been a learning experience for him. He takes in everything around him. He lets us know when he thinks we're wrong and he's right (which is almost all of the time). He tells me "I love you" at least 5 times at random moments throughout the day. He has very strong opinions on how he should be living his life. He wants to be outside almost all of the time. 

Kyle has been such a great kid. He keeps me on my toes. I never know what he's going to come up with next. 

I am looking forward to watching him grow and develop more and more throughout the years.

He's gone from this:

                                             

To this:

                                                              

In the blink of an eye.

Happy birthday, Kyle! I love you!

Music In My Life

I love listening to music. And I listen to all kinds. Everything. Although classic country's not really my thing. But Michael loves it, so sometimes it's on.
Most of the time, music means something to me that I can relate to. Life, love, kids. Good and bad times. Sometimes music is just something fun to listen to that puts me in a good mood. I mean, who doesn't need a little 'Moves Like Jagger' in their life to put a smile on their face?? Kyle doesn't have the same appreciation for music as I do. Unless it's Jason Aldean's 'Big Green Tractor', he doesn't relate. Now, I love playing music loud in the car when I have my 4 year old neice, Kendyl with me. She LOVES music. She sings with me. She does a lot of foot tapping and head bobbing. It's just fun.
If you know me, you probably know that I have an unhealthy infatuation for Keith Urban. I really love him and his music. But yesterday, in the car, a new John Mayer song came on. It's called 'Shadow Days'. I LOVE this song. I already really like John Mayer. Afterall, he had the good sense to have a Crossroads concert with Keith Urban. But I like him even more now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4FC9iuftAA
We had a bad week with David this week. He had the flu one minute, and we were in the hospital the next. It happened so fast. He is just unable to digestively cope with belly issues. He has a hard enough time when he's well, so you can forget about it when he isn't. I think these were definitely some very shadowy days for all of us. We were tired. We were frustrated. We were unhappy. David was all of these things and then some. But now he's doing better. He's still a little tired. He's not near as frustrated. His belly issues are doing a little better. He can go back to school tomorrow to try to establish a routine again after a week. It is high time to put our shadow days behind us. I'm ready for some sunny days. Some beautiful ones that we can enjoy being outside with the kids.
Now, I do know that I will have more shadowy days. I get that. But this past week is gone and we can't get it back. I've said before that I would go through lots of bad days to get to the good ones. And I am eternally grateful for the good ones that I've been blessed with.

Growing Up Is Hard To Do

Kyle turns 6 next month. I love him so much and just cannot fathom that he is going to be 6.  He is discovering who he is and trying to figure out where he's going. He is almost finished with kindergarten. While sometimes it has been a challenge for him (talking, talking, in class), he has learned a lot of great things and picked up on some not so great things. He's never been exposed to such an array of different kids that are all "typically developing" kids. Our house is pretty unexciting and drama free compared to a classroom of 5 & 6 year olds. His reading skills are starting to develop. He can write sentences. He knows his address and phone number. Still working on shoe tying, but it's coming along. He is so far from perfect, yet a perfectionist. He is undeniably ALL boy. Dirt, trucks, tractors, guns. Those things are his favorite things.
He is always talking about turning 16 and driving. He's talking about getting married and moving away (SCARY). He was even playing "restaurant" a month or so ago and his dad was the waiter. When asked what he would like to drink with his "meal", he asked for a "beer" and said to Michael, "Just pretend I'm 21, ok?" I don't even know how he KNEW he had to be 21 to order that!
Don't get me wrong. I'm excited to get to watch him grow up. Mentally and physically. It's been a different roller coaster ride for me with Kyle than with David. In fact, my journey with David wouldn't even be considered a roller coaster ride. More like bumper cars with all the unexpected bumps, lurches, and crashes. Mentally David will never grow up. But Kyle is doing it right before my eyes. Sometimes I just want to tell him not to be in such a hurry. Take the time to enjoy it. What I wouldn't give to go back and be a kid sometimes. Not to have the stress and worries that come with being an adult. Just to be footloose and fancy free.
He still has a long way to go before he gets his license, or orders that first beer. (Pray for my sanity when those days come.) For now, his biggest worry is to decide whether or not to have a monster truck party or an Army party for his birthday!
And my biggest worry is what question he will ask me next about life. Sometimes great questions and sometimes HARD questions!