Two Steps Forward...

Two steps forward, one step back; that's the potty training shuffle! Yeah! I feel pretty strongly that "jazz hands" would finish off the dance nicely.

Further news from the Toilet Bowl playoffs:

Winning game for the home team (Mom): both kids did "number two" in the potty on the same day, and the youngest added some beautiful "number one" plays, staying dry most of the day.

Winning games for the other team (A and K): neither did anything in the potty for three consecutive days after the fabulousness listed above.

It's been a while, but I have to say, again, that the recording of the potty training process is probably not typical blogging material, but it is a challenge we are facing with A's autism. So I duly record some of the triumphs and setbacks we encounter along the journey, if for nothing else than to give someone else the reassurance that another family has been through/is going through the same thing, and to give a small glimpse into our personal struggles, and hopes, and fears for those who have no experience with special needs whatsoever. Including other members of our immediate family, this is a first for both my and Z's sides.

I have tried to maintain a sense of humor about it, but admit that as time passes...and passes...frustration creeps in much more easily now than it used to at the onset of the process. A will be 5 in a couple of weeks, and it is gross to have to clean the rear end of someone who passes excrement with the full-bodied, ah, aroma of a bigger kid/adult. We are praying that he "gets it" one day (preferably sooner than later!), but we also know that some kids never do, and there are adults that have their toiletry needs taken care of by another individual. And we are willing to deal with that, too, if it comes to that.

But for now, we are still going to keep trying to instill proper toilet etiquette, we still hope for a fully potty-trained A. I'm sure there is a point beyond which continuing the toilet training would be folly, when it is apparent that it's just not going to happen (again, realizing there are adults that still need help), but we are not to that point and pray we don't reach it.

Aside from the daily "to pee, or not to pee?" battle, it would appear that old man winter has engaged in its own playoffs with its preceding season, and kicked fall's colorful butt for a couple of days. We've had rain/snow and freezing rain mix, combined with 30 mph winds (with gusts up to 44 mph) yesterday and lows in the 20's. Let's say it all together, folks: Brrrr! Fall is supposed to rally, though: we are supposed to get back up into the upper 50's, and dare I say even 60 degrees one day next week, all starting on Friday. (So today and tomorrow will still be a bit unseasonable). We live on a hilltop that receives a direct wind out of the mountains from the north and west, so we are a bit more unseasonable than people further east on the plateau. This being our first fall in this house, we are learning about our new micro climate that we live in, which is always different than the weatherman prophesies (given, he's pretty accurate as weathermen go for the in town folks, considering the terribly fickle nature of the weather in the first place).

I enjoy gradual cooling down, my body just can't handle the up and down of normal fall/spring weather, let alone when it goes more berserk than usual for a couple of days. I get sick for about a week every fall and spring, whether I do nothing or mainline copious amounts of sinus medications and extra vitamin C, and it would appear that my children are following in mommy's footsteps. They've both been sniffly and miserable for the last week and a half. First A, then Miss K. Poor dears!

The Toilet Bowl

Throughout life, there is instilled in (most of) us a challenge to be the best that one can. Abject perfectionists need not apply, I'm referring to each person's innate pride on a job well done, on whatever terms they think that is. (Not to be confused with haughty, puffed-up pride, which benefits no one). It feels good to do something right. Admittedly, for some the personal bar of "excellence" is set rather low in comparison to mainstream society ~ but, then again, that is not necessarily a bad thing depending on exactly what the situation is.

*soapbox* If "excellence" for one means never applying one's self and apathy to consistently cranking out a crappy job, then that's not an area to low-ball in. Part of (only part of) the driving factor in this economic problem in the U.S. is a percentage of the workforce is demanding larger paychecks, but they don't actually do the work that would warrant the salary. This idea that "the big guys" can afford it pervades nearly every large company on some level (sometimes quite close to the top), and when people take pens, merchandise, printer paper, etc., and don't do their work they're getting paid to do ~ yeah it seems like small potatoes but it adds up. And if the work isn't getting done correctly, whatever services or products the company provides likewise are going to decline in quality or sometimes literally in amount. This inevitably leads to lay-offs so the company can try to stay afloat. During which the same people who are robbing the company, both of quality work and literally in materials, are the first people who will complain about it. *end soapbox* Now, on the flip side, if "excellence" means the dismissal of religious ideas in favor of whatever the current scientific paradigm is, then count me in with the "slacker", low-baller crowd.

This quest for excellence can be on a personal level, whether it involves churchwork, classwork, artwork, jobwork, or housework. It can come in the form of sporting events, in which teams or individuals vie to get a place in the ultimate reward for a great season: the championship event. The best of the best are supposed to compete head to head to determine, once and for all (for that year, anyway) who is truly the champion.

I have decided that the epic ongoing battle of the potty-trainees vs. the potty-trained falls in this category somewhere ~ it is, after all, an internationally recognized, time-honored event ~ and therefore must have a name fitting of its place alongside other famous, often grueling events such as "The World Cup", or "The Presidential Election". Therefore I present you with the latest installment of what is coming to simply be known as: The Toilet Bowl.

In today's skirmish:

The potty-trained, "home" team: Mom!

And, the opposing potty-trainee team: A and K! Represented in today's play-offs by A.

This morning's colossal matchup was destined to test the patience of both teams. The home team had studied up on the various plays commonly made by the potty-trainees, and Mom's eagle eye had caught the unique posturing and grunting generally associated with what is commonly known as "number two". The first play was ugly: A absolutely refused to even sit on the toilet until he was physically picked up and put there by the home team. Out of defiance, he stood up and peed all over the floor. There was some controversy over the call; the refs threw yellow flags, but the home team was most definitely seeing red.

Thus began a long and sordid battle, but, hey, aren't they all in this exhausting series? Following the urination foul, A lowered his eyebrows and glared up at the home team in a move favored by the potty-trainees. In a rare show of pique, the home team arched one eyebrow, pinched her lips together, and put the recalcitrant rear end back on the toilet ~ in all honesty, perhaps with a little more force than was really necessary, although A did fight the play by Mom. Much moaning, crying, and strange howls interspersed with still more grunts and posturing soon emanated from the opposing team ~ but the home team recognized the tactic and refused to give into A's desire to get down off of the toilet with the obviously impending discharge. Today's game saw several more rear-end replacement maneuvers by the home team.

In the end, it was a draw: nothing went into the toilet, but A sat on it for twenty minutes until he had to go catch the bus for school ~ and Mom is sporting a couple of minor injuries. Potty training is indeed a full-contact sport.... Stay tuned; we might be in for a "double-header" if sister K decides to tag-team today.

Two out of Three

So ~ A can read, at least at a beginner's level. Which, since he's not even 5 yet, I'd say he's doing pretty good.

And now, he can (sort of) write.

His OT has been working with him aggressively on this achievement, and on Tuesday he voluntarily wrote his "A" followed by an identifiable next letter, and something very close to the third one ~ but then he either lost interest, or his hand was tired so he totally flaked on the rest of his name. He can tell you how to spell it verbally, though, first and last.

So ~ woo hoo! We're getting there! Reading and writing...arithmetic is going to have to wait a bit, though. Two out of three ain't bad.

Yesterday I took advantage of the nice weather and worked outside for about 6 hours, planting and transplanting new things, and ripping the grass out of part of the front yard to extend my flower garden for next year. I didn't finish removing the sod just yet, my innards are still just a wee bit tender after having surgery a month ago ~ but the fact that I was out there is testament to the fact that I'm feeling much, much better.

K helped me while A was at school ~ she had to help me dig the holes for the mums, iris, peonies, black-eyed susans, and hostas, and put dirt back into the holes over whatever needed covering, and watering the plants in their new homes. At least, she helped me until one of those big, fuzzy, brown and black caterpillars caught her attention. She then proceeded to play with it for an hour ~ much to the caterpillar's chagrin, I'm sure. It stayed rolled up in a ball for most of the "playtime", but to her credit she was (mostly) gentle with it. All of a sudden, I realized that she was up and heading towards me, and I asked her where the caterpillar was, and she told me it was "in caterpillar's house". It took me a minute to get what she was saying. You see, we have a gravel/rock driveway, and apparently K thought Mr. (Ms?) Caterpillar needed a nice cozy home, so she built it one. I tried, but couldn't figure out exactly where it was so I could free the sucker. I'm hoping it was able to get out...

When A returned from school, Miss K went down for a much, much needed nap and A stayed outside with me. He had absolutely no interest in what I was doing, and much preferred to sit in the sandbox in the dog pen, and then go inside and watch a movie instead. Nature boy, he isn't, I guess, unless it pertains to fishing. And then, it's only with Daddy, so I suspect it's more "Daddy oriented" than an actual love of fishing.

Hello, Fall!

Here's one of the trees in our backyard. Yes, that's our garage/barn in the background ~ metal roof and all. We's country now, didn't you know?



After enjoying the last few days of our Indian Summer and upper 70's and low 80's, our weather is supposed to drop off starting this evening following some rain. We're supposed to be right at the freezing mark overnight, with highs in the upper 50's and possibly 61 one day in the next week. I figured I'd better get a couple of shots before the rain made all the leaves fall!

It's too bad you can't see these trees in person. My wimpy camera (it's one of the first digital cameras made) just can't capture the vibrancy of the colors out there, in every red, orange, yellow, and brown hue and shade possible ~ plus it's overcast today, in preparation for the coming showers. I must admit a personal fondness of the oranges and reds, as evidenced by the shots I took!

As I type this, I am looking out the back window at the lazy downward drifting of hundreds of leaves along the treeline. It looks like a moving rainbow, like some sort of surreal ballet set to strains of music that one can almost, but not quite, hear. Every time a gentle breeze comes up, still more leaves succumb to gravity, and it is literally a shower of leaves ~ almost as a portent of the imminent rain.



Every morning in the fall, fog covers part or all of the mountains that lie across the street (and about 3 miles away). I thought it looked especially interesting this morning against the now leafless branches of my neighbor's tree stretching to meet the gray sky. It looks like fall! Views like this promise future days of crisp nights, apple cider, sweaters (finally!), and snuggling in front of the fireplace.

Time Warp

I am having difficulty keeping current at the moment. I lost a couple of weeks in September, so to my brain it feels like it should only be the end of September, not nearly a third of the way through October. Time certainly flies, whether you're having fun or not!

I get a jolt every time I walk outside and see the leaves starting to change on the maples in my yard. I get a jolt when I walk through my back yard that hasn't been mowed in over a month now and the grass is up to my knees in some places. I got a jolt on Tuesday when it was 37 degrees in the morning (with a windchill of 34) before the sun came up. It's taking me some time to re-adjust, in little ways. Definitely not something I ever considered, this feels completely random.

A is doing well in school (a whole month of "green lights" for September!), and has proven to us that he can actually read. He read the first part of "The Cat In The Hat" to me, and part of "One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish". He also read the back of a library book to me that we'd checked out earlier in the day. Some things may be recognition, but he was also doing phonics work with his OT and spelled out "hat", "pat", "mat", and the like. (His fabulous OT has a game where you have to use bi-lateral motion to take letters from one side using a magnet on a stick and line them up to form words ~ and she pulled it out after I told her we thought he could read. Yup, he sure can!). Super exciting stuff!

A is also trying to say more things, and ask for more things. The only difficulties we have sometimes with his increased verbiage is that he'll get stuck on a phrase if our answer is "No." It's part typical kid -- repeated begging for something, hoping mom or dad will give in -- and part echololic tendency that his brain still locks into sometimes. After he gets stuck like that, then for a while ANYTHING we say he just repeats the last word or words until he can snap out of it.

Miss K is overly dramatic, exuberant, and active. Good grief! For whatever reason, her new emotion to practice is "crying". She'll walk in, with her bottom lip stuck out, and then (very exaggeratedly) collapse on the bed, couch, chair, whatever and bury her face in her hands while sounding like she's crying. When you ask her what's wrong, she picks up her head and very solemnly replies, "I'm upset. I'm crying." And then she'll bury her face again and start making sobbing sounds again. When you ask her why, you never know what her answer will be. Yesterday, she said, "I need some food to eat right now." Like she just hadn't had a snack an hour beforehand, but whatever. When she decides she's done, she just turns it off, beams happily and skips off to play. Can I get an eye roll, please?

Num Yummy!

With the proliferation of tomatoes we've been given, I have been looking for some new ways to use them, other than making spaghetti sauce, making stuffed tomatoes, or using them for bruschetta, salads or on homemade pizza. Here's a winner!

Sweet Tomato Pie ~ uses a store-bought pie crust, a whole head of garlic, fresh basil, and Havarti cheese. Num num!

I'm still pulling tomatoes off every 2 or 3 days, 5 or 6 at a time. And there's plenty left to ripen. We're supposed to get up into the 70's again during the days towards the end of the week and starting off the next week, so we'll have plenty of time to ripen up even more.

I also found my first tomato horn worm of the year this morning, my plants have been remarkably free of pests the whole season. I have only lost two tomatoes to something eating them, and I think one was due to the groundhog that resides under the deck. Mr. (fat! enormous!) Caterpillar has gone to that great plant in the sky, and if he has any relatives lurking they are about to receive the brunt of my latent mercenary skills too. I have been well trained in the "way of the shoe". : )