Batman's Dream

Batman's dream - or more accurately, a little boy's dream - to meet the real Superman and Batman. (As Jamie put it: "Mom, I KNOW that was the real Superman and Batman. They were so big with huge muscles.")

A Little About Me

I usually never do these because I think they are corny and time-consuming, but my mom recently sent me one. I read her entries and was surprised by how much I did not know about my mom. I was fascinated to hear about her likes and dislikes. Although I have been keeping this blog for two years now, I don't often talk about myself. Sure I express my thoughts and feelings, but I wanted to give you a glimpse into me as a person! So here goes:

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:19 a.m.
2. Diamonds or pearls? Neither.. not a jewelry person
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Harry Potter 5: Order of the Phoenix
4. What is your favorite TV show? Heroes, The Office
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? whatever I can eat quickly and one-handed
6. What kind of soap do you use? The Body Shop nut-scented
7. What is your middle name? Teresa
8. What food do you dislike? Corn, peas
9. What is your favorite food? Chicken anything
10. What kind of car do you drive? Saturn Relay
11. Favorite sandwich? Turkey club
12. What characteristic do you despise? Being fake or contrived
13. Favorite item of clothing? Jeans
14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Ireland or Disney World
15. What color is your bathroom? downstairs is green and white, upstairs is brown and blue
16. Favorite brand of clothing? Lands End
17. Where would you retire to? a huge house on the ocean in New England
18. What was your most recent memorable birthday? 30 (because I turned 30 not because anything terribly exciting happened)
19. When is your birthday? February 27
20. What is your favorite scent? Moonlight Path by Bath and Body Works
21. Are you a morning person or a night person? both
22. What is your shoe size? 9.5
23. Pets? cats Midnight and Jack Sparrow
24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Simon cut his first tooth!
25. What did you want to be when you were little? doctor (or more accurately, a forensic pathologist)
26. How are you today? tired
27. What is your favorite candy? any and all candy
28. What is your favorite flower? tulips
29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? October 28 is trick-or-treat day here!
30. What church do you attend? Ste. Marie's
31. What are you listening to right now? peace and quiet (finally!)
32. What was the last thing you ate? oreo cookie shake from Burger King
33. Do you wish on stars? no
34. If you were a Crayola crayon, what color would you be? sage green
35. How is the weather right now? blustery and cool, just like an autumn night should be
36. Last person you spoke to on the phone? my husband earlier today
37. What is your favorite soft drink? Cherry Coke
38. Favorite restaurant? any type of Mexican
39. Hair Color? Blonde
40. Siblings? 2 sisters
41. Favorite day of the year? Christmas
42. What was your favorite toy as a child? Glamor Gals cruise ship
43. Summer or winter? winter
44. Hugs or kisses? Both from my children and husband - not so much any from anyone else
45. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate
46. When was the last time you cried? Last Friday after Clare's transition meeting
47. What is under your bed? my wedding dress!!
48. What friend have you had the longest? Denis and Nichole M. are my longest friends that I still keep in contact with! (Did that surprise you??)
49. What did you do last night? scrapbooked at my friend's house
50. Favorite room in your house? my bedroom
51. What are you afraid of? my children being hurt
52. Popcorn salted? buttered? Absolutely both
53. Favorite sport to watch? on TV, none - in real life, baseball or hockey
54. Favorite sport or activity to participate in? ummmmm... playing with my children?

Always A Riot

The one thing I can always count on from my children (and my husband who is usually involved in these things), is that they can always make me smile. Even on the worst days, even through tears, even when I am grumpy, tired, sad, stressed, or all of the above, they make me smile. And laugh and giggle and remember why I love being their mommy!



****Okay, I had to add this because there were many queries about exactly what Simon is supposed to be. (There were NO questions about what Jamie was????) Simon is an airline pilot - I know it's hard to see the cap and headset in the photo.

More School Moments

Now that we have Jamie settled in preschool and he is thriving, it is time to think about what to do for him and kindergarten. Unbelievable that we already have to think about this two months into the preschool year. We have many dilemmas facing us, especially with Clare going to school as well. Time issues, half days versus full days, private versus public, bus options, conflicting drop-off and pick-up schedules. So we have a lot on our plate to figure out right now.

Clare's transition process into preschool has officially started. We had our first meeting with the special education team for the school district last week. Clare's case manager with Early Intervention came with us to the meeting to meet the new people in our life who are helping to decide Clare's next phase of the journey. I was happy that the woman who runs the show in the school district transition process was not as grumpy, mean, or evil as we had heard. She was pleasant to us, took us on a tour of the preschool classrooms, and answered numerous questions. Those questions she could not answer, she pointed us in the right direction to find those answers.

Shawn and I were both admittedly surprised by what we saw. The preschool classrooms seemed very crowded (not with kids, but with stuff everywhere) and I was going into sensory overload myself. The teachers we briefly met were happy and smiling and cheery (as you expect preschool teachers to be), but all the children seemed so big and old to me. Clare was a very tiny little girl next to them! These children were running, climbing easily in and out of small chairs, doing glittery art projects, even having gym class! Clare cannot sit in a regular chair because she cannot climb onto one herself and has no concept of her space in the chair. She does not understand that there is an edge and that she will go right over the side. She does not run, climb, or do art projects. I was so overwhelmed that I could feel my eyes filling with tears as I held Clare in my arms. Clare was overwhelmed, too, and was content to perch on my hip staring solemnly at this new environment. Both the director and teachers assured us that the majority of children are eager to get into the classroom the first day and that the parents have a harder time than the child. I can certainly believe that about Jamie's peer group, but I am not so sure about Clare.

I keep reminding myself that Clare will be six months older when she actually starts preschool. I look back to where Clare was six months ago (not walking independently, not transitioning in and out of sitting) and am amazed at how far she has come. Yet she is still so young to me. We understand her for the most part, but will she be able to communicate her needs to others? How will she keep up with her classmates? I don't want Clare sitting on the sidelines. I thought it was hard walking Jamie into school for the first time. Now I know that it will be almost impossible to let go of Clare.

Van Gogh in the Making

Last night, we had the joy of attending our first Parents' Night at Jamie's preschool. It was amazing in many ways. (Not the least of which was that all three of our children stayed home with a babysitter for three hours - an incredible babysitter who put them all to bed, including Simon with a bottle. A big moment for us!)

After weeks of hearing bits and pieces of Jamie's life in school, we finally received more of a glimpse into that world. (Four years old and we already have these conversations: "What did you do in school today?" Reply: "Nothing" or "I don't remember.") We were able to see his math folder and writing journal. The journal has open-ended statements in which Jamie draws a picture to compete the statement. Jamie then explains his drawing to the teacher who writes the rest of the sentence on his drawing. We always knew our boy had quite the imagination, but were a little taken aback by some of his endings. All and all, it was a great, informative night, and reaffirmed our satisfaction with Jamie's preschool. He loves every moment of school and soaks it all up. And school photos have finally gotten cuter!

You Can't Win

What's awesome: After two and a half years of trying, denials, re-written applications, and personally collecting pages upon pages of medical records, Clare has finally been approved for State health insurance that will cover 100% of her medical costs. And they backdated that three months.

What's not: We also found out that they do not reimburse bills, co-pays, deductibles, etc. that we have already paid out-of-pocket. So all those expenses from Clare's two caths (which neatly fell into the three month backdate), numerous co-pays for doctor's visits, so on and so forth, because we are diligent bill-payers and have kept up with our medical costs, we are out of luck.