Ramblings

I tend to take life with Isaac in stride, knowing that even a year ago life with him was a lot more exhausting and trying. I have friends who daily lift wheel chairs in and out of cars, watch their children overcome daily seizures and a whole host of other things, so my tasks seem fairly minor in comparison. But this week I was tired of diapering and tube feeding and blending and mixing and putting on braces and taking off braces and calculating the risks and benefits of possible tantrum inducing settings. I was tired of lifting up steps and down steps and I was thankful Isaac isn't any heavier than he is, even though he's supposed to be gaining weight that I can't seem to get him to gain. I'm definitely tired of worrying about his growth in weight, in height, in color recognition, in counting, in overall smarts that we measure our children with that really in the scheme of things don't even matter. 

It's exhausting pretending to be a pirate (I have this whole pirate scene I act out in an attempt to keep Isaac from screaming when I wash his body--it's worked a couple times) while bathing a screaming tyrant and going from silly pirate to bad-guy mom who has to change the extension tube because it really has been in too long. And then there's the clothing issue. Do I let him stand there and scream until he finally consents to putting the shirt over his head on his own, or do I take the easy way out (so they say...but no one really counts on having to dress, bathe and diaper their four year old) and just do it for him. If I continue doing it, does that mean I'll be dressing him when he's eight, thirteen, sixteen? Probably not...probably. 

Anyway. My grandma says, "the complaint department is in the bathroom." I guess I should go spend some time in the bathroom. 

More about vacation...

Isaac is my brother's number one fan. For some reason Josh is allowed to walk up to Isaac and hug him or pick him up without assaulting his personal space and setting off his bodily alarms. Josh is also allowed to talk to Isaac and get more than a growl in return. He's magical. 

Everyone had to participate in cooking a meal while we were on vacation. Except Walter. Walter either feigns being unable to cook grilled cheese or he truly is incompetent in the kitchen.

This is an action shot to prove that my dad did cook, even if it was a matter of heating up already made meatballs and spaghetti sauce that my mom made at home and froze for a quick meal on vacation...or a meal that my dad could pretend he spent all day in the kitchen cooking.

Josh is also allowed to touch the iPad. You know you rank high in Isaac's world, if you're allowed to touch the iPad.

Isabella shared a room with Jesse and Josh and talked to them non-stop. Jesse and Josh like to sleep late and take naps...they quickly learned that Isabella likes to wake people up and ask completely random questions.

First night at the beach...

Thankfully Walter recognized that I needed time to myself today, or I just made that clearer than I usually do. I slept in, read a book in relative peace, managed to write this barely coherent blog post, and took Stella for a hike. Walking with Stella was probably the best part of the day. We don't let her join in on hikes because she believes all other dogs should be ferociously attacked. Today an old lady was walking her two ugly little dogs, sorry but some dogs are just ugly and mine isn't one of them, and I saved those dogs at the expense of Stella's claws attacking my thigh as she repeatedly lunged at them. The rest of the hike was quite peaceful.