Sneaky Little Shit

Sneaky Little Shit

Leelo has been doing so beautifully with the spontaneous and independent full-scale potty going. Clever boy! After a nice morning together getting coffee and going to the grocery store, I was in an optimistic mood. When we got home, I figured he could manage a trip down the hall to the bathroom while I sat at the other end, getting some work done. What I did not realize is that he decided I must accompany him to all potty sessions today, or else.

After about three minutes, he started yelling. Crap. I followed the sound. First I came across a neat pile of Leelo's clothes, nicely put to the side, and perfectly clean. Then I turned into the bathroom and saw -- shit everywhere. In the bathtub. On the floor. Smeared all over the toilet. Smeared all over Leelo. Gaaaah!

I must say, though, that if I got to choose a room for doing hazmat cleanup, it would be that bathroom. Nothing but smooth surfaces, a full bathtub, and two sources of running water. I was able to get the whole place sanitized in fifteen minutes, and we made it to the barber in time to get my boy's beautiful mop of curls shorn into something a little less Sandy Duncan-like. I spend the entire time looking into his face, helping him keep his head still so that the barber didn't accidentally give him a bald spot. He really is the most handsome boy in town.

Technorati Tags: autism, autism blog, autistic, potty training

Gimme!

Gimme!

Just in case you're sitting around wondering what kinds of gifts women with the pseudonym Squid would like, here are two: Squid Soap (Thanks, TKH!) and Lea Hernandez's SQUID! BLOG! TEMPLATE!

'Snot Halloween Without Mucus and Boils!

'Snot Halloween Without Mucus and Boils!

One of my favoritist bloggers in the multiverse, SJ of I, Asshole, is the force behind today's Can I Sit With You Story. Lucky us!

Even though today is the last day of October (the day by which we said we needed everyone's submissions), Jennyalice and I have decided to go on publishing stories. We'll probably move to a once- or twice-weekly format. So if you were thinking about sending something in but didn't, do.

Had a rather surreal day today. Bulleted version:

• Mali went to school in a pale pepto-pink frosty glittery velvet tracksuit. She has never had anything like that on her body before in her life ever. All I can say is that it was deeply on sale, and that in my browser it appeared to be darker pink terry cloth.
• Talked to Ep about her attempts to teach Picasso-style art projects to gradeschoolers, without a net.
• Met with private bankers. Still not sure why we get to meet with private bankers. But they make instant bill paying happen through verbal requests. Welcome yet weird.
• Got called to get Leelo early from school. Apparently if your kids is reported as having diarrhea (which only manifested in the classroom; at home his BMs have had cohesion) they have to stay home for a minimum of 24 hours. Imagine!
• Went to grocery store to buy Sangiovese as directed by Signora Blog.
• Stopped by Jennyalice's with both smaller kids, got to see Jake too and really enjoy the beautiful view from her living room. Realized that I am very bad at interacting with other peoples' kids. Maybe this is why I scored as "Likely Aspie" due to my elevated social blindness tally on the Aspie Quiz?
• Watched with jaw on ground as new dining room set ordered as gift by Seymour's incredibly generous parents arrived and was placed in its very own room. At this point, if you look in certain parts of our house, you might suspect that real grown ups live here and are hiding in one of the closets, waiting for you to leave so that they can discuss window treatments (retching noises) in peace.
• Fretted about my brother Chet, who is currently off doing official things in Islamabad.
• Watched Iz and Violet read, giggle, and gasp over Can I Sit With You stories. So far Iz likes Khaki best.
• Drove Violet home; Mali fell asleep on way and was effectively down for the night at 7 PM. SCORE!
• Cooked dinner featuring ragu sauce made by Signora Blog ("Italians do NOT eat meatballs!") and accompanied by the aforementioned wine, as specifically directed by her precise written ragu directions.
• Rocked through a 5.6 earthquake that shook all our windows and rattled all our glasses. Iz's face lit up; it was the first earthquake she'd ever felt. Thankfully it was minor. Took us a few beats for us to remember to run for the doorways, and collect all the kids in doing so.
• The entire family joined Leelo in his favorite sing-and-imitate game, in which he scatted and those of us who were awake had to imitate. Really fun. He had us going for almost ten minutes.
• Watched Leelo do several spontaneous, successful, and independent BM potty runs.
• Pinned fake leaves all over a headband and a green shirt so that Iz can be a "Cat up a Tree" for Halloween.
• Helped Iz print out summary/description for her California Desert diorama. Obviously I am biased, but I am so pleased by how well and fluidly she writes. And that she uses perfect punctuation plus words like "wondrous."
• Felt like chewing off my fingers, one by one, as Leelo remained active and awake until almost 11 PM (mostly on Seymour's watch, but entirely within earshot as I was trying to work).

I am so, so, so tired right now. Tomorrow is Halloween. Leelo will likely be home all day with me. The following day I'm taking him and his sisters and Iz's friend Emma to the Aquarium, seeing as the girls have the day off and I never ever do anything fun with my kids. Friday the girls have off too, but it's Leelo's long school day so he gets to be educated while I take the girls to the zoo and/or lunch with their dad. The next day is Leelo's birthday party. Need to get a rest in there some time, trying to figure out how to make it happen. This having children thing, it is problematic for a grouchy introvert who needs lots of social-withdrawal time for recharging.

Technorati Tags: autism, autism blog, autistic

A Story About Having A Special Needs Sibling

A Story About Having A Special Needs Sibling

Today's Can I Sit With You story, The Real Meaning of Might, is our first to deal with the social implications of having a special needs sibling.

It's also our second story in a row in which injustice gets squashed by righteousness. Not that we're not loving all the angst...

Very busy weekend. Very busy.

Very busy weekend. Very busy.

Seymour's parents stayed with us this weekend. We all had a lovely time. Amazing what a difference having a larger house makes in terms of guests feeling comfortable while being able to both track and keep a safe distance from the cute, snuggly, unpredictable boy who lives here. (They did make special efforts to interact and play with Leelo, too.) Seymour's dad even watched all three kids for a while; his mom was very brave with Leelo (he has pushed her before) and spent a lot of time playing Ring Around the Rosie with Mali.

They were here to watch Iz on stage as a fairy in The Tempest (her school's production). Iz was cute and iridescent and even hit her marks occasionally. I spent the first half of the play freaking, thinking that my hearing was officially going, but at intermission everyone remarked on how they couldn't understand a damn thing. *Whew* Though I did forget to take my own advice of having a stiff drink before the lights went down (Elementary school + Shakespeare? Yikes).

Seymour's folks were a bit concerned over how "empty" our house is with respect to furniture. Although I know it appears somewhat spare, I don't mind because I have no sense of composition, plus to me big + empty = not cluttered + soothing. But because they are kind and generous and actually understand decorating, they gave us a lot of good advice on creating a more homey and less monastic environment. They also provided truly wonderful wines, all of which were dispatched. I can get along with almost anyone after a glass or two of wine, but am so happy that we were all able to relax enough to enjoy each other's company. Again, an honestly lovely time was had.

With my in-laws. My children were another matter. Leelo was the best boy ever yesterday; he tolerated breakfast with the other six of us, and then complied nicely and with no acting out while we went through three different furniture stores. (I don't think I would have been so well behaved at that age.) Too bad it made him so stressed that he had not one but two shit storms during the night. It's turned-back-around jammies for the indefinite future for our boy. I so love the "sanitary" cycle on our washer! And of course Mali refused to sleep until almost midnight, whereas tonight it was Iz who couldn't go to bed before 10:30 PM.

Had better go to bed. Tomorrow is Mali's Day (her turn for the Leelo's Day-style photo shoot from four years ago) and I'm not really ready at all. Perhaps I should have done something about my inch-long dark roots, or made certain clean clothes will be available, etc. Then again, it might be nice to get our real reality documented.

Keep nodding off as I write. To bed.

Technorati Tags: autism, autism blog, autistic

Inspiring

Inspiring

Today's Can I Sit With You story, Fish Face, is a truly inspirational tale from elswhere. Spread the news! And links! And comments!

I am still so amazed by and grateful for the instant support and considerable effort everyone has put into Can I Sit With You. We have more than met our goal of recruiting daily stories for the month of October, and even have a healthy backlog. We definitely have enough stories for the book. All of this in less than a month. I am truly in love with everyone today.

Technorati Tags: Can I Sit With You

Mali: Look, She's Cute!

Mali: Look, She's Cute!



I love puffy pom-pom pigtails on a tiny girl, don't you? Unless she's still up at 10 PM, which happens with alarming frequency even though she is simultaneously losing her afternoon nap:



In my office somewhere is a scribbled piece of paper listing all the amazing wonderful things Mali's been doing lately. But I can't find it. Here are some excerpts that I can actually remember:

I don't smell like poo-poo! I smell like Strawberries! (Said while sitting atop obvious and malodorous funk.)

Look! It's Daddy and Mali's bed! (Said upon entering the room containing her parents' bed, from which she has only recently been bounced.)

She makes me laugh and gawk and wonder where she came from, mostly because she intuitively knows how things work in ways that this intuition-challenged parent never quite figured out. At Godmother Stacy's girls' birthday party, she picked up a birthday hat and put it on herself, with no fumbling. Then she took the paper off of a cupcake, methodically and cleanly, before eating it. I still can't do that without making a mess.

She says Thank You and You're Welcome appropriately and spontaneously. This I truly appreciate.

More gawking in wonderment: She and Iz are actually starting to bicker. Sibling bickering! Of the "Mommy! Izzy took my blanket and it's MY turn!" variety. Love it.

---

Seymour's parents are coming to stay with us tomorrow. I just realized that, due to Iz's being on stage tomorrow night while Seymour works back stage, said in laws will be trapped in our house with just me, Mali, and Leelo for a few hours. And my mother-in-law is really really nervous around Leelo, whereas he is unpredictable around guests. I have been calling around for a babysitter, but no luck. Ah well. It's not a situation that can't be helped by little bit of my mother-in-law's beloved Chardonnay.

---

And, hey! Though I slept with a barf bowl next to my bed last night, and despite my pipes gurgling ominously and loudly (according to Seymour) all night long, I did not succumb to this dual-ended splatterhose illness. I'm either very strong and healthy or extraordinarily fortunate.

Barf, Sigh, Booty

Barf, Sigh, Booty

I doubt my fastidious handwashing will keep me immune from this GI bug that has been plaguing my family for the past nine days, seeing as Mali barfed all over my face in the middle of the night. Sigh.

As least Leelo's going to school today. Yeah! First time in five days. The jubilation is not just getting him out of my hair for a couple of hours (have you ever had to watch an autistic kid? Leelo is sweet and fun, but having him home means unrelenting surveillance and nothing else getting done in a house with triple the usual amount of laundry) but because he really, truly loves his school and is thriving there.

Also, Veggie Booty is back on the shelves! Praise the gods of spinach and kale and vegetable matter that my son will never ingest any other way!

Zyax

Zyax

Our very own Badger wrote today's Can I Sit With You story, The Sex Change of Zyax II. Yet another fantastic read. Don't forget to comment!

Are any of you reading these stories to your kids, or letting your kids read them? Iz reads the site every day, and adores it.

She is at school today. So is Mali, although I'm not entirely sure she's 100% better. Still, she's been symptom-free for 24 hours (her school's yardstick), and she was insistent on going this morning: "My tummy does NOT hurt. I am not going to barf today. I barfed on the stairs already."

Leelo is home, still, because he barfed again last night. It's not clear to me if that was due to eating too quickly or to lingering ick, but I'm not risking putting him on a bus for thirty minutes until he's really, really better. Which will be tomorrow.

I am taking him to the doctor this morning to check for ear infections seeing as we have this rare free morning together. Although last night when he was pounding on his head and pointing at a very specific spot on his noggin, and I told him, "Don't worry, Leelo, I"ll take you to the doctor tomorrow," he said, "No see Dr. M_____!" Good language, worrisome lead up to this morning's appointment.

Seymour is still pretty much dead to the world. Or at least dead to the other people in this house, as his laptop is missing from the kitchen table, which means he is most likely and feebly attempting to work.

Technorati Tags: autism, autism blog

Coolest Cephalopod T-Shirt Ever

Coolest Cephalopod T-Shirt Ever



A gift from the skeptical but generous heart of Badger.

Another One Down

Another One Down

Now Mali is sick, too. Barfs and squirts. Google says it's viral gastroenteritis, which means that I apologize to any of the five thousand people I socialized with this weekend if they come down with said barfs and squirts, and that I may just have to keep the six dozen chocolate chip cookies that Iz and her friend Olive baked as snacks for the rest of the cast in their schools production of The Tempest (the girls are dancing, singing fairies).

Probably the best part of this entire barf/poo week happened this afternoon, when Leelo projectile vomited all over our kitten Shia. Poor thing, all she was doing was waiting expectantly next to Leelo's bar stool, hoping for some crumbs from his PB&J sandwich.

Please do go read today's Can I Sit With You story; it is particularly compelling.