How Fast Can I Type...

We're off to San Diego (again) for Thanksgiving as of Tuesday evening. Less than 48 hours to wash, prep, pack. Ack! Who wants to feed my cats, nudge nudge?

Leelo had his first B12 shot tonight. Talk about anticlimactic--he didn't even notice! I swear, he made no fuss--and he's usually quite sensitive to such things. Many thanks to Dr. P's staff for the topical analgesic we applied beforehand. We did the deed right after his evening bath but before jammies, as I just couldn't stomach the idea of an injection waking him up. Yet another hurdle behind us.

He is otherwise doing well, although he still has that lingering cold. Fark. It's been 3+ weeks now--he improved but never really recovered. His wavering health coupled with sick and vacationing therapists had made these past few weeks spotty for therapy indeed. He hasn't regressed, according to his supervisor, but there hasn't been much progress this month, either.

Still, we've noticed positive changes. One, he's starting to let us read to him more frequently. For a while, he had very specific ideas about what books he wanted to read and in what manner, and would get very angry if we didn't do it right even though he wasn't able to convey what "right" was. And he is being slightly obsessive over some of his Dr. Seuss books, especially those for which we have both the abridged board book and unabridged classic versions--he puts them side by side, and goes through them page by page, poring over the differences and becoming elated when he identifies identical passages. He's been shredding some pages in his enthusiasm, so it may be time to get him his own classic versions as the ones he's using now are my originals from the 70's.

Also, he is going through a severe separation anxiety phase. All Mommy, all the time, no Daddy, cries when I leave the room or even go to the far side of it. A retired ABA guru friend told me that even though it's making life difficult now (I haven't been able to leave him in the UU church nursery these past two weeks, he gets hysterical), this is a very promising behavior for an autistic kid. Yes, dammit, I am grateful! Plus he's been giving me big bear hugs and squishy kisses, so I'll put up with it.

And I don't let it hem me in completely. Today I took Iz and her cousins Danielle and Elise (ages four, five, and four) to a fabulous, mesmerizing celebration of classical Indian music and dance. I cannot possibly communicate how electrifying this experience was--particularly the gorgeous music and costumes, and talented dancers and musicians. I do wish that the girls had needed less shhh-ing, but they enjoyed it. The Odissi and Bharata Natyam dancers had mad skills that in my opinion should make any self-respecting ballet dancer feel incompetent, and the raga musicians would have had me completely ensorcelled had I not needed to run interference with the girls. However it was the exuberant Dandiya Raas that turned my head inside out and actually made me cry--no performance has touched me so profoundly since Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Below is a picture of San Diego's Patnaik sisters, the Odissi dancers we saw today. The girls got to talk to them afterwards and were amazed that their elaborate, exquisite headpieces are fashioned from fresh flowers. Iz was excited to see their hennaed feet, and to discover that henna comes in red as well as brown. Apparently the sisters have performed with Madonna (that useless bitch, I wrote my complaint about her in someone's comments somewhere: Her prime talent is making the incredible disposable). Anyhow:



Were it within my power, I would wear nothing but saffron-colored silk from this day forward.