Deren started his new job at Countrywide today. Unfortunately, he woke up with the stomach bug that Rachael brought home from school last week, and he had to go to work anyway. Didn't figure it would make a good impression calling in sick the first day. Poor Deren. Once again, poor Deren.
Rachael went back to school today. She missed Thurs and Fri. She had a good time. Her language seems to be really picking up at home. Still a delay, but she's saying much more than she was. She especially likes to boss us all around now. "Shoosh Jacob. Go to your room. Calm Down!" "I want juice. The cup is Right There!" "Abby, Be Quiet!" ..the list goes on. Jacob's teacher was at the house last Wednesday and commented on Rachael's, uhh, direct manner.
It warmed up over the weekend. The kids loved being outside. I say this again and again - Abby takes after Josh so much. She is in heaven outdoors. One of her favorite things (besides being pushed in her swing) is to pick pansies with sissy in the front yard. The season for pansies is about over, so I will have to be sure to plant some summer annuals so there will continue to be flowers to pick.
I started walking again. I had been on a hiatus since the flu - close to 4 wks with no exercise. Needless to say, I'm out of shape.
Abby is doing better, but still wakes up at night coughing pretty bad. She's "only" 2 wks into the flu, so she may not be better for another couple weeks. I haven't been going to bible study or the mom's group at church - I can't imagine a worse place for her to be right now that the church nursery. I tell you what - the military needs to look no further than a room full of preschoolers to develop an effect bio-warfare program.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
We are finally emerging from the disaster we will call influenza B. Goodness, I don't think I've ever been so sick in my life, and that's keeping drama to a minimum. Rachael came down with it on the 1st - 5 days before her birthday. She was so sick over the weekend that we postponed making ladybug and butterfly cupcakes. Jacob got off the bus that Thursday, coughing and with a fever. Deren and I were sick a couple days later. Abby got sick later that week. Joshua miraculously made it through school that week when the rest of us were sick, only to bring home & pass around a stomach bug during the week of the 13th.
Meanwhile, the rest of us had several days of fever, nausea, fatigue, joint pains, bad coughing and chest congestion - it was so awlful. I tell you what - I was so ugly. My attitude was so bad that week. It was not uncommon to find me shaking my fists in the air, saying "God why are you doing this to us!"
Deren called his father and pleaded with him to come and help while we were all sick. David babysat, ran errands, kept us fed, and held barf buckets for the kids. He left us sick, though I'm hoping his flu shot protected him from the full-blown flu. Sorry, David! We gave him the stomach bug for New Year's, the flu bug for spring. I bet he's just itching to return for the next round the week before Easter! I wonder what the Easter Bunny will bring. Each time I think, 'well, this is the sickest I've ever seen the kids, it's got to get better from here on out.' Well, the scary thing is that the bugs are getting worse. I don't even want to think what is going to come along to top this influenza B.
During the week of sick I attended an ARD meeting with the school district for Rachael. She started a 3 hr/day PPCD class this past Monday (the 20th). On Sunday night I told her that she was going to school like bubbers (brothers) . She had Deren put on her shoes and socks, asked for her coat, and asked Mommy to take her bye bye in the car. She was ready to go to school! The next morning we woke her up about 6:20 and told her it was time to go to school. She bolted out of bed! Deren took her to school on Monday, and got to sit in the classroom and watch her. He said Rachael was very shy at first, but warmed up during circle time. She waved her hands and clapped and sang. When I picked her up at 11 the teacher said she did really well - she liked singing and played with the other kids. On Tuesday Rachael rode the bus to and from school for the first time. She was a real trooper. She is too small to climb up the steps on the bus on her own. Deren carries her. There is one other girl in Rachael's classroom. The driver said Rachael and the little girl laughed and chattered across the aisle at each other on Tuesday.
So.. so far so good. School is going well. They are sending a team into Rachael's classroom in a couple weeks to rule out autism. On her evaluation her skills were really scattered - she can count to 10, but can't tell you how old she is. She didn't make much eye contact - I attribute that to her being so shy. But I was pretty floored with her evaluation results in general - she scored really low on speech and cognitive. I need to look up the boys' evaluations. If Rachael scored in the 5th percentile, I'm thinking they weren't anywhere near the graph then. We see her do so much that the boys never did.
Abby update - she had "only" been sick for 1 1/2 weeks, so she is still having problems. I started to feel human again at 3 weeks, by comparison. She has lost 1/2 lb so far - I've been too skittish to way her again - it can't be that good. She's not able to eat or drink much. Pray for peanut, please.
Meanwhile, the rest of us had several days of fever, nausea, fatigue, joint pains, bad coughing and chest congestion - it was so awlful. I tell you what - I was so ugly. My attitude was so bad that week. It was not uncommon to find me shaking my fists in the air, saying "God why are you doing this to us!"
Deren called his father and pleaded with him to come and help while we were all sick. David babysat, ran errands, kept us fed, and held barf buckets for the kids. He left us sick, though I'm hoping his flu shot protected him from the full-blown flu. Sorry, David! We gave him the stomach bug for New Year's, the flu bug for spring. I bet he's just itching to return for the next round the week before Easter! I wonder what the Easter Bunny will bring. Each time I think, 'well, this is the sickest I've ever seen the kids, it's got to get better from here on out.' Well, the scary thing is that the bugs are getting worse. I don't even want to think what is going to come along to top this influenza B.
During the week of sick I attended an ARD meeting with the school district for Rachael. She started a 3 hr/day PPCD class this past Monday (the 20th). On Sunday night I told her that she was going to school like bubbers (brothers) . She had Deren put on her shoes and socks, asked for her coat, and asked Mommy to take her bye bye in the car. She was ready to go to school! The next morning we woke her up about 6:20 and told her it was time to go to school. She bolted out of bed! Deren took her to school on Monday, and got to sit in the classroom and watch her. He said Rachael was very shy at first, but warmed up during circle time. She waved her hands and clapped and sang. When I picked her up at 11 the teacher said she did really well - she liked singing and played with the other kids. On Tuesday Rachael rode the bus to and from school for the first time. She was a real trooper. She is too small to climb up the steps on the bus on her own. Deren carries her. There is one other girl in Rachael's classroom. The driver said Rachael and the little girl laughed and chattered across the aisle at each other on Tuesday.
So.. so far so good. School is going well. They are sending a team into Rachael's classroom in a couple weeks to rule out autism. On her evaluation her skills were really scattered - she can count to 10, but can't tell you how old she is. She didn't make much eye contact - I attribute that to her being so shy. But I was pretty floored with her evaluation results in general - she scored really low on speech and cognitive. I need to look up the boys' evaluations. If Rachael scored in the 5th percentile, I'm thinking they weren't anywhere near the graph then. We see her do so much that the boys never did.
Abby update - she had "only" been sick for 1 1/2 weeks, so she is still having problems. I started to feel human again at 3 weeks, by comparison. She has lost 1/2 lb so far - I've been too skittish to way her again - it can't be that good. She's not able to eat or drink much. Pray for peanut, please.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Rachael had her evaluation with the school district this morning. She scored w/speech and cognitive delays, and they recommended PPCD (public preschool for children w/disabilities) placement. She will go to a school that is about 20 mins away, Mon-Fri from 8-11. To be honest, I'm upset. I remember crying and crying about sending Jacob to all-day school when he was 3, thinking about how little he was. But I was ready for Joshua. I knew what to expect, Joshua was in the process of systematically destroying the house. I was upset because they recommended 8-11 for Joshua. I was at the ARD meeting griping "he needs to be in school all day!" To put this in context, so everyone reading doesn't think I'm Attila the Hun, let me explain that the experts in the field of early autism treatment recommend extensive hours of therapy each week. Less than 3 hrs/day for Joshua was really ridiculous for his needs. And last year proved it. He lost most the skills he had gained at home, before starting PPCD. Today I was sitting there thinking how much more advanced Rachael is than Joshua, and how they justified warehousing him PPCD for a year..
My pride has also taken a big clip today. I was convinced that Rachael would be our first one not needing special services. I called Deren and told him about the evaluation. He sounded bummed on the phone, too. But on the positive side - Rachael will be going to a classroom that will focus entirely on her deficits, with trained teachers. And I'm kind of thinking this is her chance to catch up with other kids her age before kindergarten. I know one thing I won't do is send her to a kindergarten class where she will be ignored by a teacher who is too busy to help out Rachael, and be picked on by all the other kids. Can you say "homeschool?"
But back to sending Rachael off to school 5 days/week. She seems so little still, and I am having a hard time picturing mornings without her. I'm just feeling sorry for myself today, ya'll! Having been up since 4:30 might have a part in it. We have been passing around a cold/flu bug that hangs out in your chest. I am so finished with coughing up nasty stuff. Rachael has been running a low-grade fever off and on since yesterday, and is lethargic. I'm hoping Deren can come home and watch the kiddos so I can take her to the doctor later this afternoon. There's no way I'm going out with all 4 and little sleep!
In closing, I've been repeating Psalm 94:19 to myself since yesterday evening: "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul."
My pride has also taken a big clip today. I was convinced that Rachael would be our first one not needing special services. I called Deren and told him about the evaluation. He sounded bummed on the phone, too. But on the positive side - Rachael will be going to a classroom that will focus entirely on her deficits, with trained teachers. And I'm kind of thinking this is her chance to catch up with other kids her age before kindergarten. I know one thing I won't do is send her to a kindergarten class where she will be ignored by a teacher who is too busy to help out Rachael, and be picked on by all the other kids. Can you say "homeschool?"
But back to sending Rachael off to school 5 days/week. She seems so little still, and I am having a hard time picturing mornings without her. I'm just feeling sorry for myself today, ya'll! Having been up since 4:30 might have a part in it. We have been passing around a cold/flu bug that hangs out in your chest. I am so finished with coughing up nasty stuff. Rachael has been running a low-grade fever off and on since yesterday, and is lethargic. I'm hoping Deren can come home and watch the kiddos so I can take her to the doctor later this afternoon. There's no way I'm going out with all 4 and little sleep!
In closing, I've been repeating Psalm 94:19 to myself since yesterday evening: "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul."
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