Playing catch-up (part one)

There has been so much going on in the last 6 weeks or so that I have been very sadly neglectful of the blog, and also of posting pictures that I have taken along the way.

Today, however, is a day for pausing, reflecting, and uploading.

First, so long ago...Feb 3 and Caleb's sixth birthday. A party at KC Kangaroo's with his friends from school...an emergency hospital admission for Adam that prevented him from joining in the festivities. Here are some pics from that afternoon:

Caleb's friends, from left: John, Bruce, Aiden, Corinne, Alastair, (Caleb!), Aiden, Imdad, Reuben, Nicola (the gf!), Alba and Alba's brother Camilo in front. It was a great, happy group.

The birthday boy in action, playing in the ball pit. He was sweaty and wild and happy all night!

The cake: a weak attempt to recreate the Omnitrix from Ben-10, the popular series where the young boy can turn into all sorts of alien heroes. It may not have looked great, but it did taste out of this world! (ha ha)

I am proud of who Caleb is becoming, and I enjoy watching him learn to read, to write, to express himself through pictures and stories. He is a helper with his brother and with his sister too, as you can see here:

It will be fun to see where we go this year, and to see what talents and gifts emerge as Caleb journeys toward seven. I am glad for him.

Decision made!

It's 2am and Adam is sleeping beautifully, I not so much, but that's life for the adult accompaniment to the hospital night shift.

The nurse comes in to give Adam's antibiotic through his port and halfway through it becomes apparent that something is wrong: the fluid is not going into the blood stream like it is supposed to, it is going into the surrounding tissues. Suddenly Adam is jumping all over the bed and we know we have to take the needle out and alert the doctors. Luckily we got to go back to sleep (Adam did) and wait until 8am for our main doctor.

He checked out the port site and said it looked better, try putting a needle in. This time though, it seemed to hurt Adam even though the fluid was going in better. Called the doctor back and without a moment's hesitation he said "Take it out!" The nurse brought the "Nil by mouth" sign (i.e. no eating) just in time to whisk Adam's breakfast out from under our noses. Quick logistical negotiations: a nurse will stay with Adam while I rush back to collect the baby from Daddy who has to rush to teach a class at 9am. This in rush hour traffic in the rain--luckily we live close to the hospital!

Adam finally went in for his op at 12 noon, the same time the baby went to sleep for her nap. I got a moment to eat breakfast/lunch and read the paper before the circus started again. Adam's op was successful--they removed the port and put an IV cannula in his right hand. We are to hold on to this cannula for two days if possible--Adam needs one more dose of chemo tomorrow and two days of IV antibiotics. If the cannula comes out after the chemo, well so be it and that's us done. Even if it stays in we are free to go by Saturday. That's a sweet deal--and even better to know that the one thing causing all the trouble with infection is now out of his body, even though that's also the one thing we need most to continue with his treatment. We'll cross those other bridges later, i.e. do we put another port in or continue with IV access for each monthly chemo treatment? For now, we get through tomorrow and be ever so thankful we have made it to the end of the intensive part of Adam's treatment protocol.

I might add it's pretty hard to not think about "accidentally" dislodging the cannula tomorrow afternoon and oops, I guess we have to go home now! :)

Daddy arrives at 4:30pm and I walk home with a tired baby, who again mercifully sleeps in the buggy while walking. I collect Caleb from the school friend who took him home with her and her three children. We walk home in the rain, each taking turns to console a crying baby who just wants out and fed. We arrive home to find...my house key is on the key ring in Daddy's pocket at the hospital!! Sigh...not the first time today I've thought "Thank GOD for mobile phones!!" :) Daddy to the rescue...dinnerbathandbed in quick succession. A quiet house at 9pm.

This is one for the record books, and, strangely enough, a good day all around.

Best laid plans...

Today has been another example of what I affectionately refer to as "The Brock Circus", otherwise known as our life.

Today we combined all of the following in a 12 hour period: a funeral, chemotherapy, school, a hospital stay, a birthday party and two trips to Sainsburys. As you do.

This morning I went to the funeral of a friend and our former neighbour Geoff Banks, who passed away last month from cancer. I really wanted to go even though I knew it would be hard, but I wasn't prepared for how emotional I became. I started crying when I walked in the door and saw his picture and his children greeting the attendees. I started sobbing (the embarrassing kind with snotty sniffs and all) when his sons went forward to carry the casket. I miss Geoff, and am saddened at his life shortened...but I am also all too aware that it was shortened by the same disease that we are currently fighting in Adam. It was a beautiful service and his family held up well--all the same the experience left me drained as I confronted for 45 minutes all that I don't want to think about and hope and pray I never have to.

Next stop, Adam's school to collect him and head to the hospital for his chemo appointment. It was all going swimmingly and on time too--we were on target to get to his brother's birthday party that started at 4pm, because by the way it was Caleb's birthday today! (I will post pics in another post soon) I wanted Adam's chemo done early so that he could play with Caleb and the others at the party. One of the medicines he was due today requires an hour afterward to make sure he doesn't react, and I had allowed extra time for that. So far so good.

Then I noticed that he felt warm, and saw some little red dots appearing over his stomach and back. I asked the nurse to check his temp and it was well above normal, 39.2. Going to the party now? Fail. The nurse suggested we go to his room to rest a bit and see how he got on...well, within 10 minutes he was vomiting repeatedly and his fever had gone up to 39.7. I'm not even going to try at this time of night to do the calculations...needless to say it was much too high to even think about going home. Blood cultures, check. Full blood count, check. Vomiting bowl, check. Waiting, check. Change my clothes as soon as possible? Check!!

Brian walked up after depositing Caleb and Agnes at the party and designating someone to watch them...luckily I had booked an indoor play place at the last minute, having changed my mind about doing it myself at home. Phew! So he walked in and I handed him a stinky, sleepy and retching Adam and headed to the car--I had the cake in the car so had to get it to the party at some point! The kids were having a great time and everything went smoothly from there. I have great friends--did I say that clearly enough? GREAT friends, who drop everything and put my children to bed so that I can go to the store and back up to the hospital with Brian's stuff.

At this point we have no results from the tests so are assuming it's a vomiting bug that will run it's course, sooner rather than later we hope. The IV fluids are up, he has been sleeping since 5pm, IV antibiotics just to be safe and still waiting to see how he is tomorrow. Our great friends are also going to watch the kids so we can still try to get to this concert we have booked and have been looking forward to for months. Under normal circumstances I would never leave Adam in this state, nor would I ask anyone else to look after him. BUT, nothing is normal anymore and I know we have to try and trust. Our friends will take good care of him, and this is nothing that won't correct itself in a few days at most.

I will post more, including pics, when I get the next chance. It's bath and bed for this tired mum now.

Ground Zero

Well, we are officially on our own again: California Oma left this morning to return to her home, and I drove home slowly with what I'm sure were glazed, panic-stricken eyes!

It's not so bad, and while we are TOTALLY grateful for the help she gave us for THREE months, I always knew I would need to pull up my bootstraps and get back to flying solo. I kind of hoped that time would go a little slower, but on the bright side three months of Adam's treatment have whizzed by, and we only have just under three months left before the maintenance phase.

I was actually quite proud of myself at dinner, and commented to Brian that we had "made it" fine. He reminded me that we haven't actually done a whole day yet. Always the realist, that boy!

Here's to the baby remembering what sleeping at night is, to Adam's mouth being zero tomorrow (on the scale of mouth damage, 0 being none and 4 being where we don't want to go), and Caleb keeping to the "not before seven dot dot oh oh" rule. Peace, love, mercies small and large and enough caffeine to keep the ship sailing.

correction

I have to apologise...I may have been misleading in that last short post. I do not mean to mislead my dear faithful readers, so let me tell you the story:

Many of you know that Adam's favourite TV character is Mr Tumble, aka Justin Fletcher. Justin is a man kind enough to write back to fans when they send a message on facebook, and also kind enough to give the address to which said fans should write when they want to request a visit. I wrote and did not hear back, so wrote again and included my phone number. I then received a call from a woman at the Make-a-Wish Foundation asking for Adam's details so they can begin to organise a trip for him to meet Mr Tumble (Justin) in Surrey, England, sometime. This all happened because Justin called her and asked for her to pursue it.

He (Justin) then had a bunch of Mr Tumble stuff--magazines with fun activities and stickers (Adam LOVES stickers!), DVD's, cards and a picture of himself, much of which was signed by Justin/Mr Tumble--sent to our house, and all this arrived last Tuesday. Needless to say I was amazed and grateful a second whole time, so I tried to get a picture to send to Mr Tumble to say "thanks". It was not a great shot as Adam was really grumpy that day (and who can blame him I ask?), but the result is what you saw in the last post. I think he looks solemnly pleased :)

At any rate, things continue here on a fairly even keel. Adam received his 4th dose today, and we should be seeing the effects of that in a few days, by Saturday at the latest. The doctors are amazed that he has come this far in this particular part of the treatment. He's been enjoying school and his bus rides to and from, though he is still refusing to keep a hat on in our late-Autumn dropping temps. The man is tough, I tell you!

I went to Caleb's parent-teacher conference this evening and his teacher had nothing but good things to say about him, his conduct in the class and the speed with which he is picking up language and maths. I do think he might have my brain for math, but also his daddy's brain for concepts and liking to know how things work. It's a winning combination and a sweet boy to hold it all together.

The baby, well she is practicing her standing up and her new "Ab. Ad. Ab. Ab. Ad." during the day AND the night just now, enjoying several opportunities to call me in and politely ask to be laid down again. "Ab. Ad." It's sweet, and wonderful to see her come on so much and enjoy a little rough play and new foods and the attention of strangers everywhere she goes. If you are in Aberdeen and walk past the Starbucks at Marischal college and see a gorgeous little pink puff lady in the window, it's probably Agnes! :)

That's all for now. It is, as usual, bed time for this mama.

Fright night fun

Well, the festivities were a bit thin on the ground this year, but we made the most of it anyway!

Caleb's school had a "fancy dress disco" on Friday evening, which he talked about all week so I knew we weren't getting out of it. I decided to take Adam as well, since he loves a good disco, and I needed the company! What didn't go entirely to plan was it taking 2.5 hours at the hospital that afternoon for his treatment, so instead of being home by 4:30 we got home at 6 pm (the disco started at 6:30pm). Yikes!!

The costumes and face paint were flying furiously and by 6:30 we had miraculously transformed into the Vampire, the Vampire's Bride (that was my instruction), and the Fu-man-chu Spiderman. Don't ask, his father did the painting there.

Anyway, here we are in our pre-show photo: all ferocity, stifled laughter and nonchalance wrapped up into one pretty awesome package.

Aberdeen: Be scared, be very, very scared.

Here's another of just Caleb with his vampire pose:

And one of Adam enjoying the DJ's fine efforts:

Frightfully fun indeed! Happy Halloween ya'll!

another post-holiday update

Well, it's been a good couple of weeks with lots of news to report.

The October holidays were a success, not least because of the company and help of my mom who is still here (until Nov 9). We had good weather, good enough to get out and walk a lot. The second week Caleb had football camp, which he enjoyed but was equally keen to finish. Hmmm, may not be a star footballer this boy, we'll have to find something else that catches his attention! Adam and I walked nearly every time to take and pick brother up...it's a good half mile to the Sports centre, so I would guess Adam walked in excess of 5 or 6 miles last week. Pretty good for a cancer patient, right?

Speaking of which, the doctors and nurses are amazed at Adam's progress, and particularly the way he's sailing through this current round of chemo. He's had minor (comparatively speaking) mouth trouble for a few days after each of his treatments, but nothing like what they were expecting. I am so proud of him--the energy that both his brother and sister display in their constant movements, acrobatics, exploration and attention to the world around them is mirrored in Adam through his being able to take a full whack of chemo, turn around and say thank you, go to school, come home and eat, sleep well, and do it all again the next day. I know it's only a matter of time until the bubble bursts, but for now we are glad.

The only shadow is the fact that once again Adam didn't "make the cut" on the last MRD test. His result was just slightly higher than the cut-off for continuing as is or pursuing more aggressive treatment, i.e. a bone marrow transplant. As always, Adam is a grey area for the doctors, but our consultant is wonderful and called several of her colleagues to confer. The answer they all gave was "continue with the treatment he's on for now", much to our relief. They feel that this gives Adam the best chances of survival and cure. The way Adam has been going I am beginning to feel that they might be right.

This last sentence of course reveals the fact that I've had my doubts, and who wouldn't if they are being honest? It's so weird to live at the edge of life, to walk a narrow ledge over a deep precipice with your son and know that at the end of the day you will either fall in or stay standing. It's one or the other, and at the beginning I was sure Adam wasn't going to have the strength to handle the treatment. Now, watching him take a blow and heal up and keep going, I'm feeling my hope grow each day that he might just do it. Seeing the docs perplexed at his good response makes my heart swell, and no matter what I'm so happy that he's coped this well so far and been able to go to school and live a (mostly) normal life.

Ok, final news: After two letters to Justin Fletcher, aka Mr Tumble, asking him to come to Aberdeen to meet Adam and his friends, I had a response. Yesterday a woman called from the Make a Wish Foundation asking if Adam would like to come to Surrey and meet Mr Tumble in person!! It seems that Justin called her and asked her to contact me, and said it would be best for the meeting to happen through these channels. WOW!! So now we wait and see how the logistics lay out, and hope that Adam is well enough when the time comes to make the trip. It would be so amazing, and I'm so grateful for the glimmer of hope that Adam might one day finally get to meet his muse. Thanks Justin--thanks Mr Tumble!!! :)

First day of school

For those who have been following the blog, a little bit of sunshine for once!

Yesterday was Caleb's first day of school, and he looked so handsome in his uniform! Adam too had a joyous return to school this week, another handsome uniform and some beaming smiles to go with it! No matter what happens, it was worth it to see his face when I did the "school" sign.

He is doing really well, and today went to school after his lumbar puncture this morning. Another sign our life has changed: becoming blase about general anaesthesia ("it's only a lumbar puncture today")! The port they put in last week is working beautifully, and healing well. The doctor even said that he can go swimming after the needle comes out! Tomorrow is two doses of chemo after school then a week off. We are so grateful for some normal in our lives, almost don't know what to do with it!!

Agnes is settling in too, learning to sleep better and definitely keen on the whole eating thing!

Here is a pic of the boys, one blond and one fuzzy, both blinded by a sudden patch of light:

The end of Round One

Today is Monday, a mundane enough affair by most people's standards. In Aberdeen it's cold, grey and a wee bit rainy, also pretty mundane for the people who live here. For us, however, it's a fairly momentous day: it marks the last day of Adam's first round of chemotherapy and a rest day.

Yes, you read me right...it's been a rest day. A fairly restful day too, for that matter, especially since the aforementioned weather has limited our choice of activities. To be honest, I've struggled to know what to do with ourselves, as each and almost every day for the last 5 weeks has been oriented around a trip to the hospital for something or other. Not to have to make that trip has left me a bit, well...disoriented. Not that I haven't enjoyed it, and not that I haven't caught up on laundry and cleaning in the free time. Adam watched a bit of his favourite movie Cars, and Caleb had a go at another day of football camp. Agnes...well, she ate, slept and squealed! :)

Tomorrow begins Round Two of chemo, complete with all new drugs, an all new routine and the same old bone marrow aspiration and lumbar puncture to kick it all off. The docs will be doing much the same for the next four weeks as the last five: pounding Adam's body with toxic drugs hoping to kill off even more of the leukaemia cells, watching his blood counts rise and fall, and measuring it all at increments with needles and blood samples.

What has to happen now is up to Adam's body really, and up to the Lord ultimately. The drugs need to kill off as much leukaemia as possible and bring Adam closer to remission, if not all the way. But his body also has to hold up under the strain and this is the slightly more worrying part of the equation. The first round took a toll, evident in the constant slight tremor of his hands, his pasty face, his inability to walk pretty much at all, and his hair that is falling out fast now. We hope and pray that the second round doesn't do worse, though at this point I suspect that's a futile hope. It's all a guessing and waiting game, not exactly my forte but it seems one that I'm destined to practice a lot for the foreseeable future.

We'll keep you posted how the numbers look tomorrow, and if there are any new developments. Adam had a fainting spell over the weekend that we hope not to repeat, though on the plus side he's off the steroids and is finally sleeping better. Now if only I could say the same about his sister....

Peering over the edge

Has it really only been 3 1/2 weeks since the diagnosis that turned our world upside down?

Yes.

We are nearing the dreaded four week mark, at which point Adam's "numbers" (the percentage of his blood cells that are leukaemic and therefore indicate how well he has responded to treatment in this first phase of chemo) are supposed to be zero. The whole point of the first four weeks is to zap his body with enough toxic chemicals that all the bad cells die, a point called remission. The only problem with that is that his good cells will also be killed off during this phase, leaving him very vulnerable to infection. The point where Adam does not have enough white blood cells to fight infection is called "neutropenia", and when he reaches this point he will be "neutropenic."

We are there today. And tonight Caleb had a fever. Oh Dear.

We are trying to convince ourselves that Caleb might just be tired from two days of football camp, where I know he has been exerting himself all day in the fresh air. It might just be that his body is tired and a good night's sleep will restore his equilibrium. Of course, it might also not be that, and it's the feeling of not knowing what is in store that makes me think of walking along a cliff, teetering on the edge and looking down over into the abyss.

I wish we had parachutes, or a magic carpet, or something. Instead we have Nurofen and our prayers, which tonight are for rest, healing and faith to keep walking and not be afraid.

Goodbye to nursery...

Amidst all the stress, worry and sleeplessness of the last two weeks we've also had a major milestone: Caleb has now officially finished nursery!

I attended his leaving tea party on Thursday morning and was so proud to see Caleb singing the "Goodbye to nursery" song with the other kids. I was also amazed (and a little bit proud!) to see him towering over the others--that boy is tall!

It's been a good five years and I've enjoyed seeing Caleb mature into a child who is keen to ask lots of questions, ready to learn and able to absorb lots of information and new experiences. We went today to visit his new school, St Peter's Catholic School, and meet his teachers, and he was very excited to see it and begin to get to know the place where he'll spend the next seven years of his life. We are pleased with the school and staff and anticipate lots of happy memories will be created during his time there.

Here is a video of Caleb and his friends singing their song, and above is a picture of him holding his sister. He is a sweet boy, and I look forward to seeing who he will become in this next stage of his life.

The Holiday Report

They say timing is everything, and that is certainly the case with the last two weeks of our lives, also known as spring break.

When Caleb got up on the Wednesday morning before school got out covered in spots, I knew that we had finally come face to face with the dreaded Chicken Pox. It wasn't as bad as I had expected, but still knocked him down a bit. However, he was well enough by the weekend when Opa joined the party, and our happy seven-some got to spend a few warm days out and about in Aberdeenshire at various parks and cafes. We had a great week, and sadly bade goodbye to Oma and Opa on Saturday at lunchtime, ready to embark on life as a new family of five. We headed first to the park, and then came home for dinner.

At bath time we saw Adam's first spots. It seemed pretty mild, so much so that we all went to church on Sunday morning like usual. By evening, though, his fever had come on and we spent the next two days with the works, watching spots come out like fireflies (see below)

Whew, that was bad. But despite the redness of some of the spots it's been a pretty classic case too, and a trip to the doctor on Thursday morning relieved my worries about infection. He gave us some antiseptic lotion to use and Adam is pretty much over it now. Though midway through a trip to the country with our friends I saw a spot on Agnes, so the poor soul has had to go through the whole thing too! Her case was so mild I wouldn't have known she had it but for the few spots, and she is also over it too. I can't say how grateful I am for the timing of all three kids having the pox over the holidays--I really feel now like we are starting fresh, ready for school tomorrow and bursting with (some!) renewed energy.

We also enjoyed a visit from our lovely friend Andrew Cameron and his son Thomas last week. They were good enough to tolerate our spots, sniffles and general grumpiness, and we all enjoyed some nice outings and good food together. Thomas and Caleb had grand fun playing, and the boys (minus Adam) got to see Urqhuart Castle and Loch Ness on Tuesday. Caleb loved the fact that he stayed up till 10pm, and I loved the walk through the Botanical gardens that Adam and Agnes and I did in the sun and the quiet evening we had together instead.

And now I will head to bed and await my little lamb waking...I tried my first night of sleep training and failed miserably, but it's still early days. Gina Ford, here I come (again)!

Whirlwind (Whirlpool?)

It's been a rather full and quick few days, so I'll give you a rather brief and compact summary of it all!

Daddy came home Friday evening, safe and sound though late thanks to British Rail. The boys and I toured Union Square mall while we waited, making sure to exhaust all fun potential in the escalators and buy a birthday present from a local shop. When Daddy came out of the train all eyes were on him and his 75 pound bag (weight, not price!). Whenever he goes to Oxford to work with Mr Bernd he always takes a lot of books, and this trip was no exception. He still had room in his bag for some gifts for the boys, though--this time two hand puppets from an Oxford toy shop. Still haven't decided who is the mole and who is the fox, but they are sweet.

The boys then spent most of Saturday with Stevie, our angel from next door, while Mommy and Daddy did their workshop for Welcoming Church Forum. If you want to see what that's about, look here. Stevie took the boys to the beach where Adam had his first ever birthday party. I don't know how many people wait until their child is 7 for them to be invited to their first birthday party; needless to say it was a fun event for him and us. Sadly we couldn't be there, but Stevie told me all about it and it sounds like the kids (and Adam) had a blast. I would have been nervous about him, but it was a girl from his class with Down Syndrome, who I know for a fact is in love with Adam anyway, so I figured he was in good company! They all had a great time, and we had a lovely day on our end discussing issues of disability, worship, inclusion, belonging and growing as the Body of Christ with 18 people from around the city. Day well spent, four very tired people at the end of it!

Sunday, and a lovely church service and back into the groove of the swimming club. This time Daddy joined us, and by 5pm again we were all warm, tired, and ready for a pizza. What a quick weekend!

I'll have more this week on further developments in Adam's school and education experience. It is not great at the moment, for reasons Adam--bless his heart--cannot express to me but thankfully his teacher can. I am still trying to find the right way forward, the right people to talk to, and the courage to put up the fight that I suspect is coming. Pray for me, and for Adam, that we would be able to get him the support he needs to enjoy school and get as much out of it as possible.

Off to bed!

Sticky Monday

I've got quite a bit to catch up on, so this probably won't be the most clear and concise blog post. Then again, the busy and rambling nature of life with kids might better be represented by a rambling narrative of that life, so here goes.

First of all, last week was great and marked by Adam's participation in his first ever sports camp. I say "camp", but actually it was just two hours every day of sporting activities at a local gym with a few other kids with special needs and some lovely coaches. I like the environment, because no matter what Adam gets up to, they never seem flustered. If they have to chase him around, it's fine. If they have to pick up his shoes from the far corners of the gym, that's fine too. Even when he escapes every five minutes, they just go running after him with a smile, though they did take to calling him "Houdini", and for good reason! The kid can surely disappear when he wants to!! I wasn't too sad to be spared 10 hours of it! :)

The camp afforded Caleb and I the chance to do some gardening, shopping and resting, all of which we enjoyed. We needed it too, as our holiday was looming large and I needed to get organised. We left yesterday, Sunday morning, and arrived in Orlando, FL at about 2pm. That's when it all started to get HOT.

Heading to Aberdeen airport we all needed sweaters, as it was only 55 degrees outside. All the flight details and transitions went really smooth and we had absolutely no trouble traveling at all. Let me just say that the boys are professional and wonderful travellers. They didn't give me any trouble, and were so patient as we waited in this queue and that queue. The first flight was only 45 minutes, and we didn't do much apart from sit. We stopped off in Manchester airport, but didn't have time to see or do much as getting from one place to another took most of our time. Then we got on the "Big One": the Virgin jumbo jet.

This was a very full plane, but we were comfortable in our little row of three seats, tucked in by the galley. The first meal was a bit of a wash, especially as I wasn't feeling much like eating, but we did manage to piece together enough to make the hunger go away. Then the movies started, so Adam and I said bye-bye to brother! Actually, Adam wasn't interested in listening at all, but he did watch some people dancing and I watched a bit of Shutter Island.

After a while we all had a bit of a doze, which made us feel so much better. Then, before I knew it we were touching down in Orlando and eventually meeting Oma and Opa at the airport. They took us in their car to a grocery store and then to the house we are staying at, where we met up with Aunt Diana and Uncle Brian, and cousins Micah and Kaitlyn. We all had a very nice swim in the pool, a good dinner, and went to bed early.

Other than a few blips at 2am and then again at 5:30, we slept from 8pm to 7:30am this morning, much better than I had expected. Then we headed to the park, where I noticed two things. First, it's hot. The hottest point of the day is about 5pm here, so at 11am it's not yet reached the peak, but 90 degrees was still feeling pretty warm. And sticky. But we love it! We won't complain since it's the only proper heat we'll get for a long time yet.

The second thing I noticed is that hornets' nest in the playpark we had gone to, but only after Caleb inadvertently stepped in it and got stung four times by hornets. Nasty little buggers. He cried so hard for a while and then settled, but even now he still says "Mommy, my stings hurt." Poor sweet boy. Well, at least now we've got that out of the way, hopefully it's all fun from here.

Summer: Week One

The week is finally over. I don't say this to mean that it's been a drag, just that it seemed much slower than any other week I've had this year. I don't know exactly why that is, except to surmise that maybe I take a while to acclimatise to the slower pace of being fully with kids. I'm used to having a little break now and then to do my own things, which surely speeds up the pace. Then again, I had an afternoon off last Wednesday, generously donated by my husband, and it seemed to drag too. Not sure why...we have lots of fun things to do, and we've had great weather by and large. Maybe it's that summer vacation looming up in only nine days that has my head in the clouds? Or maybe it's some other exciting things on the horizon, even farther away? Probably that and the fact that I can't do anything toward them because, again, I'm with the kids! Oh well, that is the point of these seasons, isn't it--the relaxing into what is and not what can't be right now. I really am praying that I will settle down soon and enjoy these moments fully because they really are fleeting, despite what it seems.

This week we have had some firsts and lots of completely normal. We've been to at least seven different parks, 10 hours pushing boys on swings (slight exaggeration), 4 hours spent indoors because we'd had too much sun (major exaggeration!), one really nice walk, a couple of fun play sessions with friends, a tiny bit of extremely uncomfortable shopping, and some good solid nights of sleep at the end of it all.

Among the firsts to note were Adam eating raisins, which I have already mentioned. Another was Adam beginning to show interest in riding the push-bike he got for Christmas. We also had our school sessions in the mornings, where usually Caleb would draw a picture and do some letters to go with it while Adam worked on the letter A. No major progress yet, except that he will sit at the table for 15 minutes and work with me (and throw the crayon at my hand, and on the floor. And oh yes, he's strapped in to his chair too, but that doesn't really count as cheating)

Next week brings the first sports club Adam will go to on his own every afternoon from 1-3pm, and Caleb's first playdate away from us all day with his friend from nursery. I bet you can't guess who is excited that these two sessions happen to overlap for an hour and a half on Monday? :)

Here's enjoying slow days...

Mud and Molasses

I'm so tired, I feel like the above: mud and molasses. Mud drenched in molasses. Ugh.

Having said that, the boys and I were out today from dawn till dusk, or something like that. We had a lovely playdate at the park with Caleb's friend from nursery Aiden and his mummy, then an indoor play session at good ol' KC Kangaroo's, so that mummy could talk to Chioma (her friend!) It was a "hot" day with lots of sun, laundry, cooking, phone calls, and only one forgotten thing on the to-do list. Well, I might have accidentally forgotten to write most things down on the list in the first place.

Oh well, it is summer after all.

Summer Holidays: Day One

I have set myself a goal this holidays, and hopefully not an overzealous or irrational one: I want to spend 30 minutes each day doing something educational with the boys, both together and separately. This might not seem like a big deal to you, since most moms I know seem to educate their children easily with each natural breath they take in any given day. I, however, was not born to teach, and find that my creativity is somewhere just below ground level in this area. Also, when you add in the fact that Adam's needs mean he is resistant at best, completely crazy at worst, I tend to give up quick.

That's why I figure that 30 minutes a day, hopefully just after breakfast, is a small enough goal to be manageable. We shall see who manages in the end, and since it's only been day one I will hold off from giving my opinion just now.

This morning we did singing. At least, Adam and I did singing. Caleb and I told stories. We'll call it a verbal foundation for learning, shall we? But now that I know Adam can count we'll work on that some days, and on beginning to write his name...luckily for both of us half his name is the same letter. I'm not being flippant: I know the immensity of the task before us, and it's best to appreciate all the positives that we can! Caleb has mastered the letters in his first name, though they come in all sorts of different variants and I have yet to see them written in the right order! So we all have something to work on.

After "school" we went to the park with Auntie Meg and the boys played while the mums chatted, which was a very nice gift. Then we met up with Daddy and had a lovely walk to the top of a nearby hill. We hid in a thorny bush when the rain came, and threw rocks and found sticks. Adam walked all the way to the top and back down, and had some raisins for his snack in the middle.

Wait, did you read that right? He ate raisins for a snack. Out of my hand. This is another wonderful first for Adam, who up to now would not take food out of my hand readily and certainly not dried fruit. I could hear the sound of doors opening as he ate each one--really, it is a wonder that we ever appreciate the small miracles of life, isn't it?

Another small miracle today was a workshop I went to this evening on Rhythms of Grace, a church service for children with disabilities started by a wonderful priest named Audrey Scanlan in Connecticut. She talked us through what she does, how she does it, and why she does it, and even included some Play-Doh exercises for us to do! The people who came were from all different corners of Aberdeen--it was again an event with a sense of excitement for what the future might hold for Aberdeen in terms of what churches are doing for children with special needs and their families. I am pleased to be working in this field as well, and look forward to taking Audrey's message further in the near future.

That's all for now--night!

Beach day (shhhh!)

So, when left to our own devices, and the weather heats up to a balmy 75 degrees, what do two boys and a mum do? They go to the beach!

We were actually all dressed for church, but that last minute indecision hit and I'm a little ashamed to say I don't regret changing course! The boys and I haven't had too many unrestricted spaces to relax and enjoy each other in, without having something else to do or somewhere else to go. In fact, we enjoyed ourselves so much that we also missed our afternoon engagement at the swimming club, sad only because it was the last one before the summer holidays. But again, who wants to be swimming inside on the "hottest day of the year"? (not really, but the media like to claim it)

The beach was packed but we found a nice spot and settled down, near the river sheltered from the wind by dunes. This spot is our fave because the water is slightly warmer and there is no danger of getting doused by a wave. The boys played in the water for a while and then Adam started to play a new game. I don't know who started it, but he had this little rhythm of taking off his clothes (yes, all of them!), walking through the river a bit, then coming back to me and putting them back on. Then he would do the whole thing again. After a while we dropped the nappy and just had the shorts and shirt. Then after another while we spiced things up with a zip-up jacket over the shirt! Adam loved it, so much that he did it for an hour. Each round took about 90 seconds, so if you are the calculating kind of person you'll see that's about 40 times of clothes on/clothes off. But hey, he was happy, we were interacting, and the sun was shining, so it was very good.

I know I said I would post an update about the gluten free diet, and I haven't only because I don't trust myself to be reading in to things too much. I'm the first to admit I'm not exactly unbiased. But I really, honestly feel that Adam is more "there" now than he was 6 days ago. He has been much more verbal this week, much more switched on and cooperative (most of the time!), and much more settled, again not 100% of the time, but more than usual. Today's game was a new thing we had never done, and after he was (finally!) tired we laid down on the towel just looking in each other's eyes and pretending to sleep. "Eeep", Adam said, and pushed my head gently down onto the towel when I had looked up. Has he ever done that before? Heck, no!! That requires imagination and the ability to pretend, which Adam has never demonstrated having before now. Do I think not eating wheat for a week has made this happen? Can't say. But again, it's the subtle change in his whole demeanour that I can't put my finger exactly on but I can claim is there. It makes me excited--I will eat gluten free, dairy free muffins for the rest of my life if need be! (they are not good, at least not the ones I made. But Adam likes them, sweet boy!)

Anyway, two tired boys went to bed and now for the tired momma. So much for the filing!

Trying something new

I never said I was a "techie" person. Is that even how you spell it?

We've had a great weekend, and despite the bleariness and weariness I just had to fiddle with the blog a bit. I've seen some great looking blogs and wondered how people did it, and now I know: the Cutest Blog on the Block website. It's great, and if I can use it, so can you. Not that my blog qualifies as "the cutest" or even "one of the cuter..." But a girl's got to start somewhere.

But enough of that...I'm actually surprised I'm sitting here now, since I've struggled all day with a headache and upset tummy courtesy of Adam. We wondered yesterday why he was being such a pill, and after dinner he prolifically announced the reason. Yikes. The up side of the experience was that I marched him to the bathroom and showed him how to use the toilet, which he seemed to enjoy, inasmuch as one enjoys that kind of thing.

Today I've had it, but I've tried to follow Caleb's sweet advice, given to me this evening when he wanted me to read him a book: "Don't mind your tummy too much. You'll be fine." And he was right. Ironically, after I had brushed my teeth and had a conversation with a dear friend in London on the phone, I felt better. Good enough to fiddle on the computer, much to my husband's chagrin!

So now it's off to bed. It's been one of those days where you stare resentfully at the fact you've done nothing but lay around and moan. It's been grey and cold and rainy too, which after a day like yesterday, where we were very productive and it was hot (yes, hot) and sunny, is a bit of a rub. But never mind that, there's always tomorrow.

Good night!

What a day!

Let me recap a glorious day for you.

The day began bright and warm, with blue skies and sunshine galore...this week has been much of the same, in fact: a true Aberdonian dream. We set off for another round of Run, Jump and Throw at the local Grammar school. Adam settles right in for his hour of mischief, and Caleb and I set off for "fruities", his term for anything that is soft and chewy and tastes like fruit. We found the local Co-op food store, he found a pack of yogurt covered fruit pieces. On the way back we scoped out a shop called "Hamish Munro"...the clothes and shoes were a delight to look at and feel. I found the dress of my dreams. Too bad my wallet is not dreaming: £275!!! Oh well...back to the school.

After Adam's hour we set off along country roads for his Bowen therapy. We've gone several times now, but this session was by far Adam's best. He let Jan do her work for the most part, only hiding under the therapy table for a minute or two. He is responding well to the treatment, coming on in leaps and bounds. Full of leaps and bounds, as a matter of fact, as he seems to be climbing, leaping, jumping, running and bouncing all the time lately! After 30 minutes we were back in the car, home to get Dad.

After a quick lunch we set out for the beach: where else would you go in Aberdeen to enjoy the sun and get some homemade ice cream from the Washington?? One big tide pool, several huge rocks, two pairs of soaking, sandy trousers, and four scoops of ice cream later we were heading home. I caught more than a few pairs of amused eyes at our two lovely blonde boys trotting around in shirt, socks, shoes and grins--no trousers for either and absolutely no shame!! Caleb in fact was parading in his red Mr Men undies without a hitch--rode his bike like a champ for Dad, too. Only three "falls", but he gets a high-five for each so no tears!

Back home, it was a lazy evening feeding and bathing, finished off by a curry and Lost for mom and dad. Now all that is left is the Last Episode...which we will watch sometime next week...it's going to be a crazy one, but such is life.