"So, are you ever going to write another blog post?"

Walter has been asking me for weeks when I am going to write another blog post. It's funny because he didn't even want me to start a blog in the first place, and since I'm a good wife who listens...I started a blog. I took his opinion under consideration. That's really all one can expect. Now he checks daily for a new post and comes home from work and asks when I'm going to post something new. 

This is simply a list of highlights and some pictures from the last month of our own Long Winter like Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about in her sixth book. Isabella and I have listened to over twenty-seven hours of Little House on the Prairie audio since January 3rd (we skipped Farmer Boy). We've both enjoyed every minute of it and we've had some really good discussions about the books and new vocabulary. 

*Isaac's speech is on fire. It's really incredible that a year ago he said about ten understandable words and still mainly used sign language, and now he is forming sentences. Last night he tried to convince me that he should stay home alone and wait for Walter, while I took Isabella to ballet: "Ma, me stay me house. No go you guys. Me wait daddy come me house."  

*Isabella is learning how to cook. I don't really know how this started, because generally I like to cook without people talking to me and crowding my space, but then I realized that I don't want her to be helpless in the kitchen so I gave in to her participation. She's actually become quite handy. She can crack eggs, make homemade tomato sauce with some instruction, cook oatmeal for breakfast, and a few other things. 

*Isabella's favorite subject is spelling. I usually get so frustrated with her because she constantly asks when Isaac is going down for a nap which in turn makes Isaac scream because he is in denial that naps are vital to our well-being, so yesterday she spelled out the complete sentence: "When-will-it-be-nap-time question mark". She got an A for spelling since she spelled every word correctly. 

*Isaac can now say his name and no longer calls himself, "Ike". 

*We learned how to blend with oil pastels.

This is how she looks when she catches me taking her picture...

This is what I usually lead you to believe it looks like when I take her picture...

*As it turns out, Isaac loves unloading the silverware from the dishwasher.

*Isabella has exceeding my reading expectations for this year. It is so fun to see her read for pleasure and also for her own education on whatever topic she is interested in. We always have library books strewn about the house.

*Isaac keeps himself entertained pretty well during our lessons. Sometimes he even tries to participate during recitations.

Spelling dictation...

Building two syllable words as part of the All About Spelling (level 2) program...

*Isabella and I rearranged the living-room. The change lasted for less than twenty-four hours because Walter couldn't handle the new look.

*Isaac crosses his arms and looks the other direction when we tell him something he doesn't want to hear. I laugh every time.

Trying to change up a spelling and dictation lesson with dry erase boards...

*I've been knitting a scarf instead of reading or writing. And our big family news is that Walter will begin a new job on March 10th.

My next post will be a product review of Real Food Blends, so please check back for that and learn about what one mom is doing to revolutionize packaged food for tubies.

Six to Eight Weeks? Try, Three Years.

On Sunday I was talking with my mom and reflecting back on our journey with Isaac, and it hit me that I have finally found my stride in this world of special needs. It has taken three years, almost four, actually, but here I am, more awake than ever. I've spent the last three years tired with my eyes half open. That's not to say I am bursting with energy, because I'm not, but I'm happier with the energy that I do have. 

When I was pregnant with Isabella, other parents used to tell me: Just give it six to eight weeks, and things will get better! Before she was born, I had no idea what they were talking about. Then she was born and, well, I was in the club and they were right, around eight weeks things got better and I found my footing as a new mom.

That wasn't the case with Isaac. At eight weeks we found out that instead of needing a laproscopic surgery that would require a very small incision into his skull and a very short surgery, he would need a full blown cranial vault reconstruction and orbital advancement which would require an incision going all the way from ear to ear, and would be a six to eight hour surgery...but actually ended up being a twelve hour surgery. Add to that the fact that he spent almost all of his waking hours screaming, or crying (I'm sure you know the difference if you're a parent). The screaming went on for over two years.

I feel like due to his medical history, I've bonded and re-bonded so many times over the past few years with Isaac, that I know him inside and out. I have probably grown to over-calculated his needs or responses to situations and I'm just beginning to loosen the reigns and give up a little bit of control at a time. Preschool has helped a lot. I know that I can leave him in a safe place and he will be able to manage just fine without me. But I am always so eager to pick him up from school because he has grown from a screamer, to a really funny little guy.

Maybe when special needs becomes a household word in your home, it takes three years, instead of six to eight weeks to find your ground. For the most part, we have our plan, we know what appointments are necessary and what goals need to be met. This morning as I was talking with a mom in the waiting room at Isaac's therapy appointment about friendship among children who have special needs, I shared that I worry about the future for Isaac and whether or not he will be accepted. I told her how much I love to see that his preschool classmates interact with him and get excited to see him join the class in the morning, but I don't know what that will look like in five or ten years. Conversations and topics like that, still bring strong emotions to the surface.

I never thought I would love to live in a bubble. But I love the safe bubble my home provides for me and for Isaac. In our house, I forget that he has developmental delays, and I forget that a three year old not using his mouth to eat is abnormal, and I forget that he's almost four and I'm still changing his diaper. Within these walls the differences aren't as apparent.

Last week, in pictures...

"When I grow up, I want to be an artist and make my masterpiece just like this. But I'll have to ask the director at the art museum if it's okay for me to make my masterpiece this way." 

"Isaac, we're birders, so we're going to look for birds."
"Okay, Beeda."
"Isaac, I have to go to the bathroom. Let me know if you see any birds!"
"Okay, Beeda!" 
...."See bird! Me see bird!"
"You saw a bird? I didn't get to the see the bird! I'll never see a bird!" and so begins the crying. 

If you're new to special needs, and you feel like you're drowning, it will get better. Maybe it will take only a few months for you, or maybe five years instead of three, but you'll find your ground. And I guarantee you will be stronger than you ever thought possible.

A Joy-Filled Morning