parties, spring, school

That look pretty much typifies my mood lately. I don't know why. Maybe it's because we had two birthday parties in less than 24 hours. And both were at jumping places. But there was a time when Luke cried for the entirety of every birthday party he attended. And it wasn't that long ago. So I really shouldn't complain. And it's really great that he boldly tries all the inflatables these days, even if he needs help sometimes. That's a huge advancement. But if possible he wants both me and Lamar to go to every party with him. Lamar for help in the obstacles and me for moral support I guess. So we all three traipse to each party. I'm sure all his classmates' parents must think we're crazy over-protective. Or that we don't get out much.



At least I got this cute pic of Luke and his little friend Kate. This party's theme was Despicable Me, thus the glasses (I guess like the little yellow creatures in the movie. I think they wear glasses.)


Yesterday was a pretty gorgeous day and we had some fun outside, trying out some great toys from the party goodie bags. Seriously. The Pump It Up "thunder sticks" were super fun (inflatable sticks great for hitting things and people) We chased each other around the yard with them forever. And then Luke stepped on one and it popped. Oh well, fun while it lasted.


Short sleeves in February. I think Punxsutaney Phil may have been right about this early spring.

Lamar raked some leaves that fell in, oh, November maybe. And Luke was the trash compactor.

Luke had a friend over to play the other day and they had a splendid time playing Wii. When I took his friend home, I asked him if he knew his house number. (I'd been there once and thought I'd remember which house but I'd forgotten to look it up before we left to confirm.) The friend responded that he didn't know. I rephrased, asking if he knew his address, but he didn't. Luke, who had been to to his house once, said, "I know. It's 3-3-0." He was right.

On Thursday afternoon I spent a few hours in Luke's classroom, taking down artwork and of course listening in on the activities of the day. Mrs. W asked a question about a book they'd read earlier. Luke raised his hand and answered correctly. Last week, for some reason, I was kind of mentally stuck on the challenges that remain, and feeling a tad frustrated. But I chose to savor that moment, because my boy participating in class with no aids or assistance, is pretty amazing.

Please vote for Luke!

My awesome photographer friend, Karen Halbert, is having a contest. Please vote for this fabulous photo she took of Luke:



To vote, go to "karen halbert photography" page on facebook. Like her page. Then go to the "2010 Contest Album" and find Luke's photo. He is image 20, 5th row on the far right. Then like the photo of Luke.

That's it! Contest ends tomorrow, 2/24, at 8 p.m. Thanks for voting!

on the big screen

Today Luke made his third trip to the cinemas for . . .



He willingly posed with this sign picturing "the little mad guy."




What is up with this new picture face? Oh well. We had a little popcorn.

Luke was really excited about the whole experience. He covered his ears for all the previews and got a little scared. (He also got scared in a school assembly on Friday, I think due to noise, and had to leave. That hasn't happened in a long time.) But he settled comfortably into his seat for our feature presentation, no hands on ears.

He laughed a lot at the silly comedy in the movie. He seemed to follow the basics of the storyline. Before we decided to go, I made sure the ending was cheery.

But as the credits rolled he burst into tears. I don't know if the ending was emotional for him and the big sensory experience made him a little more sensitive, or maybe he's been googling Shakespeare and was upset at the deviation from the original script. (Sorry for the spoilers but I'm guessing you might have guessed it's a loose interpretation.)

But he quickly calmed down and now says the movie was great. He says it's maybe not as good as Toy Story 3 and Tangled (his other two theater experiences), but still great.


And in the last few days Luke has decided he loves--seriously loves--Scooby Doo. Definitely beats the Hannah Montana phase.


After dinner last night, he got really quite while watching a Scooby DVD. We went to check and this is what we found . . .



Scooby was still playing . . . in French. This morning I asked why he set the language to French and he said, "I love French. It's kind of like Spanish." Of course.

V Day and Teeth Day

Valentine's Day was our third and final class party for the year. Our last kindergarten class party. Sniff.



At the Halloween party we played a little game of sorts, "Going On a Ghost Hunt." And at the Christmas party we went on a Santa hunt. The kids really wanted to hunt again. So I came up with a completely cheesy hunt for the Valentine's party.





Here we are catching pretending to catch candy hearts in our mouths. We swam in a river of chocolate and marched through a field of flowers. Complete cheese. But apparently kindergartners kind of like cheesy.


We played a couple of fun games. Another mom lent me a game with a stack of hearts, each with silly tasks to complete: sing your favorite song, do your favorite dance, make a silly face, etc. They kids drew a heart, performed the task, and got a chocolate kiss. Big hit.



Then to fill a little time I modified a game we played at the Christmas party. I blindfolded one student and then had another child say "Happy Valentine's Day," trying to disguise his/her voice. Then the blindfolded child guessed who said spoke. They LOVED this super simple game.




Daddy was able to come to the party too. Yeah!



Several weeks ago I made Luke's first dental appointment. I should have taken him before age 6. But there are so many reasons I didn't attempt a dentist visit at a younger age. I suspect you faithful 3 readers can list all those reasons too. Anxiety and super sensitive gag reflex are just a couple.



And in the last few weeks Luke had his first loose tooth. He's wiggled and wiggled, but progress was slow. And then I noticed the permanent tooth coming in behind the wiggly baby tooth. Exactly what happened with my teeth as a child. And I had many baby teeth pulled by the dentist because of it. I certainly didn't want Luke to have a tooth pulled on his first dental visit. I was praying the tooth would come out before our appointment.



Monday night, Valentine's Day, the three of us headed to the little meat 'n three just across from our neighborhood. So romantic. When we arrived I noticed Luke's mouth was bleeding a little. The tooth was just barely hanging on. After a couple of tries Lamar was able to pull the tooth. Yeah for always having napkins in the car! Luke was SO excited. I was SO thankful.



Rockin the missing tooth look.

I had no idea the going rate for teeth these days, and since it was late in the day when the tooth came out, I didn't have much time to compare notes with fellow tooth fairies. Lamar had a five in his wallet, so we went with that and a note that said, "Congratulations Luke! Love, The Tooth Fairy." Tuesday morning I had to remind him to go check for his money. He was equally as excited about the money and the note.

And about 16 hours late we headed to Luke's first dentist appointment. I was thrilled the tooth was out, but still nervous for him. He was super calm. We arrived early because it's a good little drive from our house and I didn't know what rush hour traffic would be like. Luke patiently waited in the lobby. He didn't even play with ipad I'd brought. He did ask me which is the best: the doctor, the hospital, or the dentist. I explained when you would go to each place and that one was not better than another. He said, "Yes, but you have to pick your favorite." His favorite was the dentist. Already his favorite, before he even saw him.



Dr. McNutt is well thought of in the special needs community. I now understand why. I went back with Luke and watched from chairs across the room. He got to select a movie from about 200 titles. He had his own television for viewing his chosen Toy Story. The hygienist asked what type of toothpaste he used and she used the same to clean his teeth so the taste would be familiar. She patiently explained everything to Luke. Luke was a real champ and he had a full cleaning!



After his cleaning Dr. McNutt checked out his teeth. And they took this photo of Luke demonstrating his dental hygiene techniques on the dragon. Luke got a great report. I was so pleased with Dr. McNutt and his staff.

I took Luke to school after his appointment and he shared all his big news with his friends. He was kind of a rock star, at least for a few minutes. They all wanted to know how much he got for the tooth. Judging from their reaction, this tooth fairy overpaid. One little guy said, "What! I just got a penny!" Seriously doubt that.

What a week for Luke! Some days it seems we just chip away at our remaining obstacles and progress is kind of slow. And then some days he just makes a giant leap forward. Glory!

the play date

Two more snow days this week. I didn't even drag Luke outside to play in the white stuff and I took no photos. I'm kind of over the snow.

Snow begin falling Wednesday afternoon. School let out 3 hours early. Church cancelled. Traffic was apparently a nightmare around town. Several friends were stuck in traffic for hours attempting to get home. Lamar left for work at 5:15 Thursday morning. He saw many abandoned cars and several in ditches.

Luke wore his pajamas inside out Wednesday night, even though school was already cancelled for Thursday. Insurance I guess.

By mid Thursday we had significant melting. Mimi and Papa saved us from cabin fever and took us to lunch. We ran some errands and I got my only snow day photo:



On a John Deere at Lowe's.

Thursday night I was kind of surprised when we got the call that no school on Friday. I think that makes 9 snow days this school year.

So no school on Friday. Luke had his weekly OT, but much earlier in the day thanks to the flexibility of no school. About 2:30 a mom of one of Luke's school friends called, inviting Luke to play. I've met the mom many times at school and birthday parties and she's very sweet and has 4 precious children. To my knowledge she knows nothing about Luke's diagnosis or issues.

Side note: Recently at school, Luke has not wanted the help of any aids and therapists. He is extremely embarrassed when they give him any attention. He wants to be treated just like his classmates.

Luke was enthusiastic about the spontaneous play date. In route to his buddy's house, he asks if they have a dog and it occurs to me I didn't even ask. I tell him I guess we'll find out when we get there, and he agrees with no real apprehension. Wow.

We arrive at a house full of toys and children and tons of fun. It was clear that the mom didn't plan on me staying. I was just about to begin my explanation that Luke likely wouldn't separate from me. And then I thought, "Hey, you want to be treated just like the other kids so let's try it." I explained to Luke I was heading to the grocery, but I would be back. Friend's mom confirmed she would call me if he got nervous or needed to go home. Luke looked a bit nervous but then smiled and said, "Mom, I'll be fine."

So I left. Driving to Publix I thought, "I've lost my mind. I didn't tell her anything about his issues. I didn't list all his triggers. I just left him."

I made it through my grocery shopping with no phone calls. I finally called to check after a couple of hours and asked how things were going. Friend's mom said things had gone just great and she said and I quote, "He is just so sweet. He is the easiest kid ever."

So many words I use to describe Luke. Easy is never one of them. But glory to God!

I picked up a very happy boy, showing his friend and his little brother some secrets to winning gold on a Mario game. I fought my urge to photograph this monumental event. Couldn't blow our cover. We left with lots of smiles and thank yous, never letting on that today was a milestone.

We spent our evening at another classmate's birthday party. The kids were precious and all had a ball, including Luke. But I think there is some sort of time warp during birthday parties and one hour somehow becomes 5. Sure feels that way.

A fairly eventful snow day for us, even if we never touched the snow.

lately

What have we been doing lately? We certainly seem busy, but it's hard to recall what business has filled the days.

A week or so ago we got a little more snow. Luke learned about some snow day rituals and tried them all out the night before in hopes of a snow day.

He wore his pajamas inside out, flushed three ice cubes, and put a white crayon in the window. He mentioned something about a spoon under his pillow, but he forgot about that before bed and I didn't remind him. Seemed like it might result in interrupted sleep or a lost spoon.

And what do you know? The next morning there was a little white covering on the ground.

These snow day practices must be a Tennessee thing. I knew nothing about this from my childhood in Georgia. Oh, and he crossed his fingers. He told me you cross your fingers when you want it to snow and when you want the Smartboard to work (fancy touchscreen thing at school that's apparently less than reliable lately).

Just a recent photo of Luke taken on the way to church. I think this was his birthday weekend.

This week Luke's school celebrated the 100th day of school. I was completely unaware that the 100th day of school was an important milestone that needed celebrating. But apparently his school is not alone in celebrating the fact that they've attended school for 100 days.

Our 100th day of school assignments were to send in 100 small items that could be glued to a 100 day banner (which was a very cute counting activity). And to send in 100 edible items (nut free of course) for a special "100 days of school snack mix." Luke told me it was nasty and he ate the snack I'd packed for him, anticipating he might feel that way. And we had to make a 100th day of school shirt. The shirt was to have 100 items drawn, glued, sewn, or somehow attached to it. This caused our uncrafty family great consternation.

After a trip to Hobby Lobby last weekend, we had a plan (and supplies for several back up plans. and a back up shirt just in case.) After all "our" work (with heavy emphasis on the adults. Very little of the work was done by the kindergartner.) He deemed it boring--his feeling about most crafts.

Unfortunately I didn't get a great picture of the shirt but it was covered with 100 stamps of Toy Story characters. He was pretty happy with the finished project.

Check out his little buddy's shirt with 100 smiley faces made with googly eyes. Isn't that precious?

And here's Luke and friends getting ready for the 1st graders 100th Day parade (apparently the celebrating doesn't end in kindergarten.) The 1st graders and teachers dressed like they were 100 years old. It was a sight to behold. Notice how Luke is kind of touching his throat in the photo, and how he looks just a little pale. We were at the doctor's office this morning to learn he has strep. Again. Several in his class have had it. When I emailed Mrs. W to tell her, she suggested perhaps the kids have gotten a bit too good at sharing.

He was so pitiful at the doctor's office, but such a good boy. He hates the throat swab, but was brave about it. It was a quick visit as the office was PACKED with sick kids today. Luke said, with his voice strained from a swollen throat, "We had a nice day at the doctor's."




After a dose of antibiotics and motrin, he felt like getting up off the couch for a little wii. Now we'll see if I catch it from him like I did in September. Does finger crossing work for strep? I think I'll stick with prayer.