.....I have wanted to post here for a few days, but just haven't had the opportunity. There are now several things I want to talk about I'm not quite sure where to start....
I guess I have to choose -- I suppose we'll talk about our trip last week. Overall, the trip went quite well. I wish I would have gotten more of a chance to sleep, but Simon decided that sleeping wasn't something that Mommy needs, and Rachel tended to agree. I saw Daniel surprisingly little (or maybe not so much) all week -- his older and fun cousins were around and they entertained him almost every moment Daniel could connive them into it (they are 13 and 11). And then, Daniel was given the opportunity to talk about starting kindergarten later this month.
Rachel and Simon both got to spend time with their grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins; something that rarely happens. We only commit to seeing aunt, uncle and cousins twice a year (summer and winter holidays) and we don't see grandparents too much more than that. They haven't seen them since BEFORE their birthday and they started their new programs. It was nice to see their reactions to how much they've changed in that time. Neither one of them are pulling the books off the shelves any more. They would STOP when told. They were PLAYING with toys. We had very few true breakdowns (yes, there were some, but far fewer than any other visit to date).
Rachel also had an amazing moment. She DESPERATELY needed a haircut so I brought her to the local shopping mall. They didn't have a place that specialized in kid's haircuts which had me concerned, but there was a shop that had someONE who took care of the kids who was available. I told her that Rachel was autistic and the haircut went smoothly. But that wasn't the amazing part. We had a 40 minute wait for her haircut after we arrived, so I took her to a play area for that time. There were several other kids there, including a couple of little girls (I'd guess) about a year older than her. One of them asked her to play with them (they were playing "Monsters"). Rachel didn't directly answer, but the rest of the time we were there (about 15 minutes), she was chasing these other 2 girls around the play area. This was clearly what the other girls had in mind. I'm still not 100% sure Rachel fully understood this cooperative play she was engaged in, but she was having a BLAST!!!!! And it was so nice to see her playing in an age appropriate manner.
Simon also had a moment. We were driving home and, as usual, we had the video iPod going for a good part of the drive. We were listening to a special that had aired on Noggin (now NickJr) last year called "Let's Hear It For The Laurie Berkner Band" (can't wait to actually get a clean copy when the DVD comes out next month) and he started singing (responsively) along with the music. Kevin was able to record a snip-it of his performance.
Overall, it was a good week and a nice visit with the family. We have about 3 weeks before school starts (August 30) with minimal activities planned. Hopefully, the rest of the summer will go smoothly.
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