Recently, the statement was "If I lived in a castle, I would have _____" All the other boys said a dragon, but Andrew said "a moat." Another one: "under the stars I see .... an alien." And, "If I were a cowboy I would fall off my horse!" He's so funny.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Uncle Mary
One thing they do at Primrose school is a fill in the blank statement that they then draw a picture of.
Recently, the statement was "If I lived in a castle, I would have _____" All the other boys said a dragon, but Andrew said "a moat." Another one: "under the stars I see .... an alien." And, "If I were a cowboy I would fall off my horse!" He's so funny.
Recently, the statement was "If I lived in a castle, I would have _____" All the other boys said a dragon, but Andrew said "a moat." Another one: "under the stars I see .... an alien." And, "If I were a cowboy I would fall off my horse!" He's so funny.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Pescatarians
Andrew was looking at the photos on my studio wall. There is a young man with a tattoo of his wife's lips on his chest. Andrew points to it and says, "who is that person with the stamp on them?"
Sunday evening when it was time for bed, Andrew told me his ear hurt. He said it hurt deep inside. He woke up about every 20 minutes or so crying because of it. I put some homeopathic drops in his ears, gave him some homeopathic pain killers and put tea tree oil and helichrysum oil all around the outside of his ear. Ted ended up sharing the bed with him to help comfort him. Ted said he kept reaching out all night to make sure daddy was still there, and at one point, reached over and squeezed daddy's nose closed!
Monday was Andrew's second whole day at Primrose again. I was really reluctant to wake him up when it was time after having such a rough start to the night before. He was in good spirits, and he said his ear was fine!!
He told me he had a good day at school. He got to paint a cactus (last week it was making castles) and play games on the computer that had to do with letters and words. He chose an activity that had to do with people, and there was a guy in a wheel chair and the wheels moved (i'm guessing it's a toy?). I asked if anyone was nice and he said yes. I asked if anyone was mean and he said RC kicked him in the stomach and it was on purpose. But then he said the teacher said something kind to him and told RC to say he was sorry and that made him feel better. He told me wanted to cry at nap today but didn't, and that he was able to stay quiet (he expressed concern earlier that he's not able to stay quiet and not cry.) I smiled big and gave him a high five and told him I was so proud of him and I knew he could do it. I asked if he had to pray to Jehovah for help and he said no, he did it all by himself. He was in good spirits all evening. We played a few rounds of chutes n ladders, and after dinner he did his entire bible reading (with lots of questions in between about the little reference letters or what some words mean). I gave him a little "treasure chest box" that I found at Hobby Lobby today and he was super excited about that. I also found a neat whistle at Scarlet Begonia that Nana ended up getting for him since she was already checking out. It's pretty cool and he enjoyed whistling and figuring out different noises and tones with it. (it has a stick that you pull in and out to change the sound)
Tuesday and Thursday he enjoyed his time at Spring Hollow, but Wednesday and Friday he started the mornings off crying because he didn't want to go to Primrose. The teachers say he does fine during the day.
Saturday we moved Annelise so he had to go elsewhere. Originally he picked the Pingles so he could play with Samantha, but she ended up sick. So he spent the day with Joy, Barry, and Lauren. Joy said that Brice and Nevin were there (young teenagers) and they all played well together and played with Legos. They played at the park too and he was showing other boys how to go down the fireman poles, climbing the dome and swinging down from it. While on the dome there was an older boy watching him go up and down on it, Andrew was talking the entire time and the boy wouldn't reply. Finally Andrew asked, "Can you talk?" The boy said, "i can talk." Andrew finally begged him to talk with him.
Later when they were making fish tacos, Andrew was playing Legos with Lauren. Joy and the boys were having a conversation about vegetarians who still eat fish. Lauren yelled from the living room that they're called pescatarians. Joy couldn't hear so Andrew volunteered to tell her. He walks in the kitchen and says, "They're pescatarians." Then he told them, "That's Spanish for fish and bread." LOL
Sunday evening when it was time for bed, Andrew told me his ear hurt. He said it hurt deep inside. He woke up about every 20 minutes or so crying because of it. I put some homeopathic drops in his ears, gave him some homeopathic pain killers and put tea tree oil and helichrysum oil all around the outside of his ear. Ted ended up sharing the bed with him to help comfort him. Ted said he kept reaching out all night to make sure daddy was still there, and at one point, reached over and squeezed daddy's nose closed!
Monday was Andrew's second whole day at Primrose again. I was really reluctant to wake him up when it was time after having such a rough start to the night before. He was in good spirits, and he said his ear was fine!!
He told me he had a good day at school. He got to paint a cactus (last week it was making castles) and play games on the computer that had to do with letters and words. He chose an activity that had to do with people, and there was a guy in a wheel chair and the wheels moved (i'm guessing it's a toy?). I asked if anyone was nice and he said yes. I asked if anyone was mean and he said RC kicked him in the stomach and it was on purpose. But then he said the teacher said something kind to him and told RC to say he was sorry and that made him feel better. He told me wanted to cry at nap today but didn't, and that he was able to stay quiet (he expressed concern earlier that he's not able to stay quiet and not cry.) I smiled big and gave him a high five and told him I was so proud of him and I knew he could do it. I asked if he had to pray to Jehovah for help and he said no, he did it all by himself. He was in good spirits all evening. We played a few rounds of chutes n ladders, and after dinner he did his entire bible reading (with lots of questions in between about the little reference letters or what some words mean). I gave him a little "treasure chest box" that I found at Hobby Lobby today and he was super excited about that. I also found a neat whistle at Scarlet Begonia that Nana ended up getting for him since she was already checking out. It's pretty cool and he enjoyed whistling and figuring out different noises and tones with it. (it has a stick that you pull in and out to change the sound)
Tuesday and Thursday he enjoyed his time at Spring Hollow, but Wednesday and Friday he started the mornings off crying because he didn't want to go to Primrose. The teachers say he does fine during the day.
Saturday we moved Annelise so he had to go elsewhere. Originally he picked the Pingles so he could play with Samantha, but she ended up sick. So he spent the day with Joy, Barry, and Lauren. Joy said that Brice and Nevin were there (young teenagers) and they all played well together and played with Legos. They played at the park too and he was showing other boys how to go down the fireman poles, climbing the dome and swinging down from it. While on the dome there was an older boy watching him go up and down on it, Andrew was talking the entire time and the boy wouldn't reply. Finally Andrew asked, "Can you talk?" The boy said, "i can talk." Andrew finally begged him to talk with him.
Later when they were making fish tacos, Andrew was playing Legos with Lauren. Joy and the boys were having a conversation about vegetarians who still eat fish. Lauren yelled from the living room that they're called pescatarians. Joy couldn't hear so Andrew volunteered to tell her. He walks in the kitchen and says, "They're pescatarians." Then he told them, "That's Spanish for fish and bread." LOL
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Long week
It's been a difficult week.
Monday July 8th: With little warning, we got Andrew out of bed (he was just waking up) and sent him off to his new school. Daddy signed him up for breakfast there, and dropped him off and went to work. The teachers said he was having a good day and fit right in and made himself at home - and that he particularly enjoyed the playground. Daddy said that when he came to pick him up, Andrew saw him and seemed to hold back tears. Probably tears of relief that he hadn't been forgotten since it was then after 4pm.
Tuesday he went back to Spring Hollow from 9-2. He was very happy to see me and wanted to show me some art he created. I looked at it and we talked about it for a moment, but then I told him to get his socks and shoes on and he fell on the floor crying saying he wanted to play outside. I told him we had an appointment and had to go - but he wouldn't cooperate. I got up to gather his things and he followed me trying to grab my legs like he was afraid I'd try to leave him. I ended up carrying him out. At our visit to Adam Roberts, he was complaining of his stomach hurting. AR said that Andrew is stressed out about something and it had to do with Spring Hollow and the new teacher.
Wednesday morning he told me that while at school on Tuesday, another girl put her hands around his neck and squeezed really hard and hurt him. He demonstrated and made his face turn red. I contacted the lead teacher and she knew nothing of it but when I mentioned the name of the girl she said that Andrew was no doubt telling the truth and she'd talk to their family, and also tell Andrew next time to tell her if someone else is hurting him.
Wednesday I took him to his first real dental cleaning. He was nervous, but a champ. They said he does have one small cavity in the back upper right that they'd like to clear out and seal. lovely.
I took him to Primrose after the dentist, in time to have lunch with him. He kept telling me he didn't want to go - that it wasn't going to be as much fun as Spring Hollow is. When it was time for nap and me to go - he fell apart. I sat with him for just a minute and told him that I would come back after my appt and check on him. It only consoled him long enough for me to get out the door. When I came back, the teacher said he was still unsettled and was upset for 45 minutes but they couldn't sit with him any longer. He saw me and burst into tears so we went out in the hallway and talked and cuddled. I told him it was okay to be scared with all the new changes and that I was so proud of him for trying anyway.. that it will get easier when he learns the routine of it all. I left again when there was only an hour left before daddy could get him and he was about to go outside to play.
Thursday he was coughing more so I didn't send him to Spring Hollow and I cancelled his violin lesson. He was a pill all day. I'm not going to write out how it went because I'd rather forget - but he was very rude and defiant and disagreeable all day over everything. I know it's just because of all the upheaval in our regular routine but it's very taxing on me.
Friday was the same as Thursday. I kept him home so he could get proper nutrition and rest - but it was a very difficult day dealing with him.
Daddy took us out to dinner Friday night so I could have a little break. We went to Olive Garden. It was cute when we were almost done he was conversing with the waitress and then pointed at her and said in a super cute way, "Don't you smile! Don't do it! Don't you smile!" We all laughed. That's what people end up saying to get him to smile when they want to take a photo. He was very agreeable while we were there. He even tried ravioli's, and bread with bruschetta instead of his usual soup.
Saturday we started off the day with a major fight and meltdown over breakfast. I think it was good for him to let out a lot of his frustration and rage in the way of screaming and hitting - but it was very hard to listen to. That was finally diffused and we headed out for field service. He really wanted to read the scripture at the meeting for service but I couldn't get to it fast enough... but I did let him read it at one of my calls. He did a great job and they were very impressed. We had a pleasant morning and went to Sonic with the Buffingtons so the kids could eat together outside and then play on their little playground. That was very good for all of us.
After nap we headed out to Annelise's to start moving some of her things here. Andrew was really good and helpful - and was disobedient only a few times and we avoided some meltdowns. On the way home, he told me he had a grandson. I explained to him that HE is a grandson, not a grandfather but he insisted otherwise. Then he told me a very elaborate story.
His grandson is named Patrick Olivia and lives in Mississippi next to Alabama. He lives in a blue house on a farm. But the house is not built yet because when Andrew was visiting last, a tornado came and sucked up the bricks and Andrew got stuck inside and was very scared. And it sucked up more bricks and he and his grandson were trapped and crying. He went on and on and I didn't quite follow some of it and at this point can't remember either. It was quite long though. At some point he said that he died and would never be seen again. So I asked, "well, did he serve Jehovah?" Andrew said yes. So I said, "Then he can be seen again!" And Andrew recalled that when Jehovah turns the earth into a paradise, he will bring people back to life and he got excited that he'd see Patrick again.
Sunday we had a decent start to the day. He got to help daddy pick a big bowl of blackberries, and later he got to use a remote controlled boat in the pool. He practiced his Bible reading too:
Tuesday I had told Ted I had an idea. His mom would be out here in August, wouldn't it be neat if Andrew could do the Bible Reading that week. His first one, and she'd get to be here for it. So I made sure Andrew could read that week's assignment. Saturday morning Ted asked the brothers if that was a possibility and they said sure! So.. for now, Andrew is assigned the Bible reading for the week of August 12th. We'll see if we can keep him interested long enough and if he can stay focused on it.
Sunday when we got to the hall, we took the big bible and let him try reading from the podium in the back school. He did pretty well, but he kept losing his place because he'd get distracted by the kids coming in to listen. We'll keep working at it.
Monday July 8th: With little warning, we got Andrew out of bed (he was just waking up) and sent him off to his new school. Daddy signed him up for breakfast there, and dropped him off and went to work. The teachers said he was having a good day and fit right in and made himself at home - and that he particularly enjoyed the playground. Daddy said that when he came to pick him up, Andrew saw him and seemed to hold back tears. Probably tears of relief that he hadn't been forgotten since it was then after 4pm.
Tuesday he went back to Spring Hollow from 9-2. He was very happy to see me and wanted to show me some art he created. I looked at it and we talked about it for a moment, but then I told him to get his socks and shoes on and he fell on the floor crying saying he wanted to play outside. I told him we had an appointment and had to go - but he wouldn't cooperate. I got up to gather his things and he followed me trying to grab my legs like he was afraid I'd try to leave him. I ended up carrying him out. At our visit to Adam Roberts, he was complaining of his stomach hurting. AR said that Andrew is stressed out about something and it had to do with Spring Hollow and the new teacher.
Wednesday morning he told me that while at school on Tuesday, another girl put her hands around his neck and squeezed really hard and hurt him. He demonstrated and made his face turn red. I contacted the lead teacher and she knew nothing of it but when I mentioned the name of the girl she said that Andrew was no doubt telling the truth and she'd talk to their family, and also tell Andrew next time to tell her if someone else is hurting him.
Wednesday I took him to his first real dental cleaning. He was nervous, but a champ. They said he does have one small cavity in the back upper right that they'd like to clear out and seal. lovely.
I took him to Primrose after the dentist, in time to have lunch with him. He kept telling me he didn't want to go - that it wasn't going to be as much fun as Spring Hollow is. When it was time for nap and me to go - he fell apart. I sat with him for just a minute and told him that I would come back after my appt and check on him. It only consoled him long enough for me to get out the door. When I came back, the teacher said he was still unsettled and was upset for 45 minutes but they couldn't sit with him any longer. He saw me and burst into tears so we went out in the hallway and talked and cuddled. I told him it was okay to be scared with all the new changes and that I was so proud of him for trying anyway.. that it will get easier when he learns the routine of it all. I left again when there was only an hour left before daddy could get him and he was about to go outside to play.
Thursday he was coughing more so I didn't send him to Spring Hollow and I cancelled his violin lesson. He was a pill all day. I'm not going to write out how it went because I'd rather forget - but he was very rude and defiant and disagreeable all day over everything. I know it's just because of all the upheaval in our regular routine but it's very taxing on me.
Friday was the same as Thursday. I kept him home so he could get proper nutrition and rest - but it was a very difficult day dealing with him.
Daddy took us out to dinner Friday night so I could have a little break. We went to Olive Garden. It was cute when we were almost done he was conversing with the waitress and then pointed at her and said in a super cute way, "Don't you smile! Don't do it! Don't you smile!" We all laughed. That's what people end up saying to get him to smile when they want to take a photo. He was very agreeable while we were there. He even tried ravioli's, and bread with bruschetta instead of his usual soup.
Saturday we started off the day with a major fight and meltdown over breakfast. I think it was good for him to let out a lot of his frustration and rage in the way of screaming and hitting - but it was very hard to listen to. That was finally diffused and we headed out for field service. He really wanted to read the scripture at the meeting for service but I couldn't get to it fast enough... but I did let him read it at one of my calls. He did a great job and they were very impressed. We had a pleasant morning and went to Sonic with the Buffingtons so the kids could eat together outside and then play on their little playground. That was very good for all of us.
After nap we headed out to Annelise's to start moving some of her things here. Andrew was really good and helpful - and was disobedient only a few times and we avoided some meltdowns. On the way home, he told me he had a grandson. I explained to him that HE is a grandson, not a grandfather but he insisted otherwise. Then he told me a very elaborate story.
His grandson is named Patrick Olivia and lives in Mississippi next to Alabama. He lives in a blue house on a farm. But the house is not built yet because when Andrew was visiting last, a tornado came and sucked up the bricks and Andrew got stuck inside and was very scared. And it sucked up more bricks and he and his grandson were trapped and crying. He went on and on and I didn't quite follow some of it and at this point can't remember either. It was quite long though. At some point he said that he died and would never be seen again. So I asked, "well, did he serve Jehovah?" Andrew said yes. So I said, "Then he can be seen again!" And Andrew recalled that when Jehovah turns the earth into a paradise, he will bring people back to life and he got excited that he'd see Patrick again.
Sunday we had a decent start to the day. He got to help daddy pick a big bowl of blackberries, and later he got to use a remote controlled boat in the pool. He practiced his Bible reading too:
Tuesday I had told Ted I had an idea. His mom would be out here in August, wouldn't it be neat if Andrew could do the Bible Reading that week. His first one, and she'd get to be here for it. So I made sure Andrew could read that week's assignment. Saturday morning Ted asked the brothers if that was a possibility and they said sure! So.. for now, Andrew is assigned the Bible reading for the week of August 12th. We'll see if we can keep him interested long enough and if he can stay focused on it.
Sunday when we got to the hall, we took the big bible and let him try reading from the podium in the back school. He did pretty well, but he kept losing his place because he'd get distracted by the kids coming in to listen. We'll keep working at it.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Trying new things
Monday we went to tour two potential preschools for Andrew. After the second one, all three of us chose that school, The Primrose School. Afterward we took daddy back to work, wasted some time, and then met him for lunch at an Indian Buffet. The food was amazing!! It looked terrible but tasted great. Bombay Bistro. The manager came out and talked with Andrew at good length and told him if he eats all his lunch, he'd give him a chocolate bar. He made friends with the older couple at the table next to us and chatted a bit. They all loved seeing such a young person willing to try all the different foods and liking them.
While at a stoplight: Andrew: "Mom, what's a canoe?"
Me: "It's a kind of boat. You use paddles to push the water and make the boat move forward."
Andrew: "Oars. You use oars, not paddles mom."
Tuesday morning Andrew came running in to my room... "mom, there is food in the toilet with my poo! Come see!" You could see the noodles from last night's dinner and he pointed to the toilet with a big grin on his face. He was a slightly concerned but thought it was cool. And then he said, "but you can't see the carrots or peas."
We had an appointment with Adam Roberts later and I asked him what he was working on. He told me the intestines. I told him about the noodles being undigested and didn't know if it was relevant. He did some more muscle testing on Andrew and told me that Andrew was stressed because he's been given too much information and doesn't know how to process it, and it's resulting in his digestive system reacting. Nothing serious or to be concerned about, that Andrew would be fine.
The convention maybe? I know he was listening because he'd ask me questions. And for the entire drama he was asking me "which one is Mordecai? Who's the king? Is the queen in the pink dress? Why are they wearing those long shirts with belts? Who are they? What are they doing? ..... you get the idea. I was narrating the entire drama the best I could. But then Monday we toured the schools so maybe he's trying to analyze all of that too. Or maybe it's just because we were completely off our usual schedule and he's trying to sort through that.
I realized a lot about Andrew that Tuesday. After our visit with Adam we went back to the Primrose school to give the paperwork and pay registration. They let Andrew visit with the class he'll be with while I did paperwork. He immediately made friends and felt comfortable enough to join in the activities. The children were friendly even to me, so that is a good sign. Anyway... talking to the director, I told her one of my concerns is that it's such a long day for him. Right now he's used to 9-2 or 9-3, and he knows how to read the clock enough and knows when to expect me. I don't want him to get anxious when much time goes by and he hasn't seen us again. And I asked if it was normal for children to be so concerned about what time it is and what is going to happen next, and after that too. She didn't tell me it was normal, but she told me I'm not going to change him and that he had to have gotten it from one of us. That he is the type that wants to know what the entire day holds and has it organized in his mind how it's supposed to play out. And anything, even the question 'do you want to go to the park' will throw his entire day off even if he would enjoy that venture - it's just that he wasn't expecting it and doesn't know how to process it right away. It wasn't in his plans. I realized at that point - that is exactly how I am too. I don't have to have everything planned out for the entire week, but I make a plan for the day when I get up, or maybe the day before - and I'm good at following that plan. When something all of a sudden changes, I can go with it, but it throws me off mentally and emotionally and will stress me out a little bit as I process the changes. poor kid.
I realized then, he NEEDS a regular schedule that doesn't change. Right now, Mondays and Fridays are whatever we need to do days. Tuesdays and Thursdays have been for school at Spring Hollow. Wednesdays Gymnastics. Although he knows what to expect each of those days for the most part, I think he will thrive on every day being the same. I'm feeling better about him going to school full time. I can't really explain why he is obsessed with knowing what is the name of each road we're on, and where we are going, and what roads we need to take to get there and why. I've never met another child like him. But because of my visit with Adam and my revelations while at the school - we're just going to have to indulge him and answer his million and two questions. If we don't - we're only going to stress him out because he's not getting the information he is wanting to process. We try to tell him not to worry about it, to just enjoy the time right now. Even though he'll say, "Okay" he is still
stressing about it. It breaks my heart that he stresses so much, now that I'm recognizing it better.
Andrew was in his carseat and told me, "My stomach hurts. I need to eat some ginger to make it feel better." Not sure where he learned that.. but that's my boy!!!
Thursday it rained. All day. Daddy was working in the workshop and I put a raincoat and boots on Andrew and let him play outside. Ted told me that he was jumping in a puddle for a little bit, but apparently that wasn't enough. Andrew went and found a chair and pushed it by the puddle so he could jump off the chair into the puddle and make a bigger splash.
I overheard him in the other room saying "I'm in the town of Joppa. I'm in the town of Joppa. (pause) I don't know how to spell Joppa. Papa rhymes with Joppa."
Andrew calls me to come wipe his bottom and then puts his feet up on the seat. "Look mom, I was standing on the seat, and that was silly." Then he says, "When I was little, I fell in and someone flushed me down." I told him that didn't really happen and he asks, "Why? Would that be scary?" I told him he's too big to fit down the toilet, even when he was little. He said, "even when I was an eeny teeny tiny baby?" I told him when he was that small, he was still inside me. He had nothing to say to that.
He tells strange stories. For a while he was telling everyone that daddy climbed a tree, fell out and hurt his head. Lately he has been telling everyone that he went to the circus and fell off an animal. They ask which animal and he says he was riding a tiger and the elephant caused him to fall off.
He almost always wants to help me do whatever it is I'm doing - especially if it's cooking. Some days I really just want to get it done quickly and without mess, but then I feel guilty that I'm not including him in the experience. I sometimes let him measure out all the ingredients when I'm baking (and have to send him off to wash his hands repeatedly because he can't resist tasting every ingredient.) Thursday evening he helped daddy pick all the banana peppers and jalapenos from the garden. Then he helped me cut the tops off (yes he got to use the knife) and de-seed them. He also helped grate all the cheese. Then I put cream cheese and bacon bits in them as he stuffed them with cheese and chopped spinach. We made a good team - albeit a slow one. He'd pick up 2-3 threads of shredded cheese at a time and I'd have to tell him to get more, or he'd squeeze the cheese into a big blob and I'd have to tell him not so much. Same with the spinach. Silly boy. He's an extremist sometimes.
Andrew has been asking every day since visiting the Primrose School when he gets to go back. Friday morning, I decided to call the school and ask if they have any part time availability now. He'd love the interaction, I could really use the extra un-divided time to get things ready and done before I start school in August. So, he starts Monday. He'll go to the new school according to Ted's work on M W F, and Spring Hollow from 9-2 on Tues and Thurs. Spring Hollow is only for the next three weeks and then he's done with that. I think this will help him ease into the longer schedule and new environment whilst phasing out the old one. This will also allow me to catch up on my work, and get done all the other things weighing on me that need to get done and I just haven't had the ability or energy to focus on. Lots of changes for all of us!
He told us he wants to do a Bible Reading at the podium in the back school. I told him he had to show me that he could focus on reading from the bible for 4 minutes. Sunday he asked if we could time him while he read from a new brochure. I told him we could, but it had to be from the Bible. I flipped to a chapter in the Psalms that looked relatively easy and set it down in front of him. He started reading and came upon a few big words he had to have help pronouncing. He got frustrated and said he couldn't do it. I explained to him that when someone on stage is reading - it's not the first time they're reading the chapter, they practice it over and over and over again before getting up to read. Andrew was doing *awesome* at reading the chapter. I told him not to worry so much about how long it takes to read, but focus on reading all the words and reading each line without losing place. In less than 8 minutes, he read the entire chapter, and that was with him stopping after a few verses because he thought he couldn't succeed, and also getting up and moving to the couch instead of being at his table. Ted and I both were very impressed. He stuck with it and read the entire chapter, line by line. Ted said he's going to talk to the brothers and see if there is a reading coming up that we can go ahead and let him practice and see how he does.
While at a stoplight: Andrew: "Mom, what's a canoe?"
Me: "It's a kind of boat. You use paddles to push the water and make the boat move forward."
Andrew: "Oars. You use oars, not paddles mom."
Tuesday morning Andrew came running in to my room... "mom, there is food in the toilet with my poo! Come see!" You could see the noodles from last night's dinner and he pointed to the toilet with a big grin on his face. He was a slightly concerned but thought it was cool. And then he said, "but you can't see the carrots or peas."
We had an appointment with Adam Roberts later and I asked him what he was working on. He told me the intestines. I told him about the noodles being undigested and didn't know if it was relevant. He did some more muscle testing on Andrew and told me that Andrew was stressed because he's been given too much information and doesn't know how to process it, and it's resulting in his digestive system reacting. Nothing serious or to be concerned about, that Andrew would be fine.
The convention maybe? I know he was listening because he'd ask me questions. And for the entire drama he was asking me "which one is Mordecai? Who's the king? Is the queen in the pink dress? Why are they wearing those long shirts with belts? Who are they? What are they doing? ..... you get the idea. I was narrating the entire drama the best I could. But then Monday we toured the schools so maybe he's trying to analyze all of that too. Or maybe it's just because we were completely off our usual schedule and he's trying to sort through that.
I realized a lot about Andrew that Tuesday. After our visit with Adam we went back to the Primrose school to give the paperwork and pay registration. They let Andrew visit with the class he'll be with while I did paperwork. He immediately made friends and felt comfortable enough to join in the activities. The children were friendly even to me, so that is a good sign. Anyway... talking to the director, I told her one of my concerns is that it's such a long day for him. Right now he's used to 9-2 or 9-3, and he knows how to read the clock enough and knows when to expect me. I don't want him to get anxious when much time goes by and he hasn't seen us again. And I asked if it was normal for children to be so concerned about what time it is and what is going to happen next, and after that too. She didn't tell me it was normal, but she told me I'm not going to change him and that he had to have gotten it from one of us. That he is the type that wants to know what the entire day holds and has it organized in his mind how it's supposed to play out. And anything, even the question 'do you want to go to the park' will throw his entire day off even if he would enjoy that venture - it's just that he wasn't expecting it and doesn't know how to process it right away. It wasn't in his plans. I realized at that point - that is exactly how I am too. I don't have to have everything planned out for the entire week, but I make a plan for the day when I get up, or maybe the day before - and I'm good at following that plan. When something all of a sudden changes, I can go with it, but it throws me off mentally and emotionally and will stress me out a little bit as I process the changes. poor kid.
I realized then, he NEEDS a regular schedule that doesn't change. Right now, Mondays and Fridays are whatever we need to do days. Tuesdays and Thursdays have been for school at Spring Hollow. Wednesdays Gymnastics. Although he knows what to expect each of those days for the most part, I think he will thrive on every day being the same. I'm feeling better about him going to school full time. I can't really explain why he is obsessed with knowing what is the name of each road we're on, and where we are going, and what roads we need to take to get there and why. I've never met another child like him. But because of my visit with Adam and my revelations while at the school - we're just going to have to indulge him and answer his million and two questions. If we don't - we're only going to stress him out because he's not getting the information he is wanting to process. We try to tell him not to worry about it, to just enjoy the time right now. Even though he'll say, "Okay" he is still
stressing about it. It breaks my heart that he stresses so much, now that I'm recognizing it better.
Andrew was in his carseat and told me, "My stomach hurts. I need to eat some ginger to make it feel better." Not sure where he learned that.. but that's my boy!!!
Thursday it rained. All day. Daddy was working in the workshop and I put a raincoat and boots on Andrew and let him play outside. Ted told me that he was jumping in a puddle for a little bit, but apparently that wasn't enough. Andrew went and found a chair and pushed it by the puddle so he could jump off the chair into the puddle and make a bigger splash.
I overheard him in the other room saying "I'm in the town of Joppa. I'm in the town of Joppa. (pause) I don't know how to spell Joppa. Papa rhymes with Joppa."
Andrew calls me to come wipe his bottom and then puts his feet up on the seat. "Look mom, I was standing on the seat, and that was silly." Then he says, "When I was little, I fell in and someone flushed me down." I told him that didn't really happen and he asks, "Why? Would that be scary?" I told him he's too big to fit down the toilet, even when he was little. He said, "even when I was an eeny teeny tiny baby?" I told him when he was that small, he was still inside me. He had nothing to say to that.
He tells strange stories. For a while he was telling everyone that daddy climbed a tree, fell out and hurt his head. Lately he has been telling everyone that he went to the circus and fell off an animal. They ask which animal and he says he was riding a tiger and the elephant caused him to fall off.
He almost always wants to help me do whatever it is I'm doing - especially if it's cooking. Some days I really just want to get it done quickly and without mess, but then I feel guilty that I'm not including him in the experience. I sometimes let him measure out all the ingredients when I'm baking (and have to send him off to wash his hands repeatedly because he can't resist tasting every ingredient.) Thursday evening he helped daddy pick all the banana peppers and jalapenos from the garden. Then he helped me cut the tops off (yes he got to use the knife) and de-seed them. He also helped grate all the cheese. Then I put cream cheese and bacon bits in them as he stuffed them with cheese and chopped spinach. We made a good team - albeit a slow one. He'd pick up 2-3 threads of shredded cheese at a time and I'd have to tell him to get more, or he'd squeeze the cheese into a big blob and I'd have to tell him not so much. Same with the spinach. Silly boy. He's an extremist sometimes.
Andrew has been asking every day since visiting the Primrose School when he gets to go back. Friday morning, I decided to call the school and ask if they have any part time availability now. He'd love the interaction, I could really use the extra un-divided time to get things ready and done before I start school in August. So, he starts Monday. He'll go to the new school according to Ted's work on M W F, and Spring Hollow from 9-2 on Tues and Thurs. Spring Hollow is only for the next three weeks and then he's done with that. I think this will help him ease into the longer schedule and new environment whilst phasing out the old one. This will also allow me to catch up on my work, and get done all the other things weighing on me that need to get done and I just haven't had the ability or energy to focus on. Lots of changes for all of us!
He told us he wants to do a Bible Reading at the podium in the back school. I told him he had to show me that he could focus on reading from the bible for 4 minutes. Sunday he asked if we could time him while he read from a new brochure. I told him we could, but it had to be from the Bible. I flipped to a chapter in the Psalms that looked relatively easy and set it down in front of him. He started reading and came upon a few big words he had to have help pronouncing. He got frustrated and said he couldn't do it. I explained to him that when someone on stage is reading - it's not the first time they're reading the chapter, they practice it over and over and over again before getting up to read. Andrew was doing *awesome* at reading the chapter. I told him not to worry so much about how long it takes to read, but focus on reading all the words and reading each line without losing place. In less than 8 minutes, he read the entire chapter, and that was with him stopping after a few verses because he thought he couldn't succeed, and also getting up and moving to the couch instead of being at his table. Ted and I both were very impressed. He stuck with it and read the entire chapter, line by line. Ted said he's going to talk to the brothers and see if there is a reading coming up that we can go ahead and let him practice and see how he does.
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