And so it begins!

Well, the twins will be three in December, and the powers that be would like me to send them to PPCD (preschool program for children with disabilities). Having taught special ed in this district, I've formed the opinion that for kids with HFA (which we don't have), PPCD can be great. For others, it can be less than great, to be polite. There is one program for kids with language issues only, and another for everyone else. My guys would be part of "everyone else".

I'm generally a soft-spoken type of person, and right now I need a potion to drink which will make me ferocious, or at least, assertive and articulate. I know my reasons, but I want to be able to express them in a way that doesn't (completely) alienate the school district, while letting them hear what could be better.

Right now the twins get hours of 1:1 services, and to sign them up for PPCD, I'd have to give up many of those hours.

What I need to do now is sit down and write out my reasoning, read it over, and practice (each time an ECI therapist brings it up) expressing what I know is best for the boys.

Our First Rodeo

Being that I've lived in Texas for seven years (could this be true??) it is strange that I had never been to a rodeo. Never until yesterday, that is, when the whole family attended the Baytown Special Rodeo.

This rodeo was special in the way that the Special Olympics are special, and also in every other way. I had hired a babysitter to come with us, so the twins wouldn't be stuck in the stroller. But when we picked up our packets (which included cowboy hats, bandana and sheriff's badges), they introduced us to our "Rodeo Buddies". Each child had a buddy assigned to him or her, so that the parents could relax and have fun. What a great idea!

B. was fine with his buddy, but G. was terrified by his. So Rob, a ninth grade boy scout, followed me around, and pretty much talked my ear off. After about twenty minutes of knock-knock jokes, and verbatim routines from sit-coms, I was starting to get a feeling about Rob. Then, out of the blue he said to me, "Have you heard of Asberger's Syndrome?" He claimed to be "five-percent Asbergers". He was really a great kid, but struck me more like a sixth grader. He spent the entire time with us, and was really as helpful as the kids would allow him to be.

The best moments:

B. running in circles in front of the Elvis Impersonator as he performed.

G. walking right up to someone in an Elsie the Cow costume, and having a brief interaction. He even said, "bye-bye".

J. using his free camera to record the whole event. I hope some of his pictures turn out!

We had such a good time, and I'm so grateful to all those hard-working volunteers (especially our "rodeo buddies)

Things I Learned Yesterday

1. My husband does NOT think it's okay to let J. pee on the flowers in front of the mall, even when it's an emergency, and even when he was about to go on a concrete pillar next to all the people smoking. Even when my husband's parking the van and I've got all the boys with me.

2. It doesn't help my husband's mood when I can't stop laughing about the pee situation, the madder he gets.

3. When you put a purple crayon through the dishwasher, it can no longer be used for coloring (that was J's experiment, which I didn't know about until this morning, when I heard, "Oh, no. My purple crayon is gone")

4. My college student helper is a really, really good sport when it comes to sand, mud, and mosquitos.

Where has my blogging time gone??

Due to J. not napping anymore, and my resolving to go to bed earlier, haven't been posting anything.

I'll have to describe later the events which made me decide not to send the twins to nursery school. Long story short: gossipy prejudice against special needs kids, combined with my concern about stressing them out. so on Mondays and Fridays I'll get to be with just them, with (so far) No Therapy Appointments (heaven!).

Thanks to Kristen for sending me the book "The Other Mother"! I've just started it.

G. has been trying to give hugs. I think that's what he's doing, but it's a little unconventional. He also said "elephant" and "umbrella".

Right now, G. is in bed saying "uh-oh" and "oh-no" alternately.

B. is very into looking at books, especially the Backyardigan's Journey to the Tower of Power. Not one I'd choose, but I'm glad he's starting to like books again.

More later! I miss my blog reading!

Number One Son goes Number Two

J. doesn't get much mention in this blog, because he is generally doing well, I suppose. One area he has found challenging is having a poop anywhere other than in his pull-up, which he wears at night (I write this blog assuming that it won't be around by the time my kids are old enough to be embarrassed by it!)

I kept upping the positive reinforcer ante (okay, bribes), to the point where he was getting a full-blown party once he accomplished the deed. Well, he finally did it, and we had the party. He ended up confused, and told one person we were going trick or treating, told others that it was his birthday, and actually asked us to sing "Happy Birthday" to him at the height of the festivities, which we did.

So, there is a light at the end of the potty-training tunnel.

Watching the Hurricane

We're all in a tizzy around here, watching the progress of Hurricane Dean. We think we learned a lot from our Hurricane Rita evacuation, two years ago, but we're hoping not to put it to the test.

The wonderful family we stayed with last time has emailed us, offering to take us in again. They live in a very different type of area: scrubby woods with cacti, lots of deer, even scorpions. I thought it was beautiful...a great change from suburban Houston. In a way, I'd love to go back. On the other hand, twenty-five hours in the van would be a lot more difficult now that the boys are much more active (and opinionated!) We would leave earlier this time, hoping to beat some of the crowds (most of the twenty-five hours was spent sitting still or inching along).

Last time we were given some gas by a local man along the way. This time they say that fuel tankers are being sent to areas along the evacuation route. Lots of people have bought gas cans to bring their own extra fuel.

G. will only drink milk, so we'll bring a lot of that in a cooler. B. will drink soy milk in a pinch, so I can have some cartons that don't need to be refrigerated. Last time I thought we could buy food along the way, but most stores were closed. I wonder if they would drink water or juice if they got thirsty enough? I hope so!

According to the projections, we may not even need to evacuate, but you have to prepare, just in case. If we do go, I'll update from Austin.

Edit on Saturday: Looks as if it will miss us. Yay!

A photo from the last evacuation:

The opposite of mild

Our one remaining ECI therapist just called to schedule the twins' annual IFSP meetings. She said, "Hard to believe it's been a year, isn't it?"

I wanted to say, "Oh, honey, it feels as if it's been a lifetime". But she's new, and I like her, so I just said, "Yeah".

Last summer the ECI evaluator told me she thought I was imagining PDD because I was a special ed. teacher, and was over-reacting. She thought it might be sensory integration problems or maybe mild PDD. I have never, ever wanted so much to believe someone, but I just didn't. I called this blog "Hoopdeedoo and PDD", because that soundsd milder, and I was still hoping for "mild".

I love my boys for the wonderful, silly, sweet guys that they are. I also would love for them to have a milder kind of autism, whatever that means.

My oldest son calls any food which isn't absolutely bland "spicy" (yogurt, orange juice with pulp, etc.) I was thinking that rather then considering our situation "severe", I could think of that other opposite of mild: spicy.