4.10.2006

Things I Would Have Posted Earlier

Except our DSL had been near-comatose, Mali hadn't let me out of her clutches during waking hours (i.e., between 8 AM and midnight) for well over a week, and Seymour had to go to a librarians' conference two beats after I returned from points north. That was not a complaint list but rather a explanation of lack-of-time. (I've pretty much had it with my own whining.)

Sebastopol continues to be my favorite destination. Something surprising and lovely happens every time I go. Yesterday the minor miracle was the goofy slacker-looking dad at the playground who suddenly busted out the throat singing.

OMFG that Super Playground--fully entertaining for five kids between 1 and 9, adjacent to a duckpond that Leelo can look at and from which the ducks can exit for begging bread crumbs, but which is fenced so that Leelo cannot bring his desired bellyflop to fruition (Babysitter A kindly came along, so our guy was doubly though cheerfully thwarted). We had to drag all the kids away.

Leelo is in a weird space. He peed on my feet twice yesterday, both times while I was prompting him to sit on the toilet. His hyperactivity and verbal stimming are constant; any chance of having him pass under the public's radar is now officially jettisoned (and the public will just have to deal with that because we will never allow Leelo to become Boo Radley). He now thinks trips to the grocery store are fun, because he likes to see how many things he can knock off the shelves. Putting him in the grocery cart seat merely adds to his challenge.

But he has been going to bed without protest and on time. He is so sweet and chatty, in his own way, about how much he loves his parents and how much he wants to spend time with us. I suspect that a few weeks without one parent or the other traveling might be what he and our whole family needs.

Today, two hours before we left to pick up Seymour from the airport and just as I was about to lose my head over the impossible task of keeping all three kids occupied at once (it is spring break), I realized that I could no longer hear the typical crashing sounds that Leelo makes when he goes downstairs and starts tearing apart his room because he cannot figure out what else to do with himself when undirected. I was worried that the quiet meant he had injured himself, but, lo--he was sitting on the floor quietly paging through a favorite book.

Later on while we were all eating dinner (almond butter/rice bread toast sandwich for Leelo and leftover pizza for everyone else) Leelo--who never ever ever EVER tries any new foods--decided for some reason that the dried chili flakes accompanying the pizza looked tasty. That was a shock. He didn't freak, but he did get big-eyed and expressed dismay both vocally and by trying to chew on anything within reach in order to stop his mouth from burning. Poor guy. We have no idea what he thought the chili flakes were...possibly dried raspberries, as he eats those occasionally.

Finally: thanks to Badger for pointing me towards Angry Black Bitch's post about living with an autistic brother. I'm going to keep that one on hand for Iz and Mali.

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