Loosey Goosey

Random rounded up bits:

Today, June 1, 2004, was a big, big day for Miss Isobel Rosenberg. She not only lost her first tooth, she swallowed it! And even though she assured me that I could don latex gloves so as to search for the missing item in tomorrow's output, I declined, we made a fake Sculpey tooth, and we put that under her pillow tonight.

Here are three local members of the New Tooth Brigade:

Iz, sans tooth.


Merlin, doing the shark thing with his new teeth (totally normal, according to the dentist).


Iz's cousin Danielle, a few steps ahead of the rest.

Anyhow. I don't know what books the other preschoolers brought to share today, but I suspect that Iz was the only one toting One Hundred Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden.

Good Leelo things. First, language. He's added "Bye-bye!" to his repertoire, for when he's done with someone or something. So, "Bye-bye, Mommy!" would be followed by a shove.

He's figured out "Where is?" and will use it when motivated. Example from 4 A.M. last night, using perfect enunciation: "I want some water. Where is the water?"

His incessant jargoning is increasingly including intelligible words and phrases, much like toddler practice babble--perhaps this tic has a function after all. It is fun to eavesdrop and pick out meaningful phrases.

He seems to be making the connection between the potty and his bodily functions. Twice over the weekend he ran and sat on the potty, saying "Pee pee in the potty?". In both cases he did so only after he'd pooped in his diaper, but it's another teeny step in the right direction.

Food continues to be a battle. He's a pain in the ass about reintroductions--he was apparently fine with his little routine of five bland foods, and sees no reason to change anything. Strangely, he sometimes gets really excited about a reintroduced food the first time he has it (e.g., scramble eggs, pineapple tofu cutlets) but afterwards will reject it completely.

I'm not so worried about some of the rejections--he gets soy in his Vegggie Booty, and I can hide eggs in his pancakes--but I got really worried when he started rejecting wheat bread. So I put on a tiny, teeny dab of raspberry jam. Minute. And now he announces all mealtimes by yelling "Peanut butter and jelly sandwich! I want a sandwich!" (They're made with almond butter, but...)

So I guess we're experimenting with high-sugar foods. Also, we ran out of rice bread today, so he had three meals with wheat bread in them (up to this point we'd only been letting him have gluten for one meal per day).

Maybe the sugar and wheat overload contributed to his loop-de-loop behavior today--or maybe he was punchy like me from his 3-to-6 A.M. party session. Regardless, Therapist L was able to get him to focus well for his therapy and playgroup sessions.

As long as I'm rambling...

Sadness and fun mixed it up yesterday as we Bad Moms and partners bid adieu, BBQ-style, to Good Mom JM and her family. They move to New Jersey on Thursday. JM, a dear friend and veteran ABA therapist, was instrumental in hooking Leelo's program up. I don't know what we would have done without her. I still don't know what we're going to do without her.

Sigh.

Bright spot: My friend Emsie, who I rarely get to see because, well, we don't work together any more and are both very busy, came by for a wonderful visit on Sunday, and gifted me with a Sondre Lerche CD. It is fine indeed, and I am grateful.

Speaking of music, Iz got to wear her new James Brown t-shirt today, but only after she proved that she could say to anyone who inquired that he is "The hardest working man in show business and the Godfather of Soul."

Enough rambling. Good night.