Jessie's Boot

We may not have a Dashboard Jesus, but we do have Jessie's Boot.

What a long way she's come

I had an interesting conversation with my mother the other day.

Back when we first got our amnio diagnosis for Sofia, my mother pulled David and I into a room for 2 hours to lecture us. Among other things, the phrase "How can you do this to the boys?" was oft-repeated.

Fortunately, that stage only lasted about a week. Then she stopped freaking out and started learning about DS. And her tune changed almost immediately.

Well, one sure sign was what she said last week:

"I know it's great for Sofia to have such wonderful big brothers, but it's been SO GOOD for the boys to have her as their sister!"

Put a HUGE smile on my face!

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In other news, Sofia is still sick. Boo hoo. Thursday afternoon was tummy bug, then her sinuses went wild. By Saturday morning, one eye was red and puffy from conjunctivitis. She was much better yesterday. But today, the other eye is puffed out, the nose is worse, and she's clearly not feeling great.

Except that she's loving watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks - the Squeakwell" again. And again. And again.

UGH!

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...

Nothing really new, honestly. My birthday continued to be wonderful, with a lovely dinner at our favorite restaurant down in Providence, Potenza. Always delicious.

Sofia came down with another case of conjunctivitis, which meant I could not take her to public school on Wednesday. Which meant she joined us at the day school for All School Tefillah, which I was running (and were I was so proud of my fourth grader students, reading Torah for the first time!).

Which of course meant that, as soon as I turned my back, Sofia was right up there, standing with her buddy SB while he led the service:



Comcast got the Internet fixed. Whew. Boys stopped bugging me (yeah, all three of them!).

Dear friends came over for Shabbos dinner, always wonderful to see them. Relaxing weekend, including taking Sofia to "movie night" at her classmate's house (from the day school), and David taking care of the kids while I learned how to make beaded yarmulkes.

Which I am now addicted to making. Beaded yarmulkes.






I made the red and black one first, and had intended to keep it, but my mother had other plans. Last weekend, I took the kids down to CT, since Mr. Samuel was invited to two b'nai mitzvah. The first was at my parents' shul, so we all went to services - and mom insisted on wearing the red and black kippah. Which she now owns. I have to say, it looked nice on her!

Anyway...

Last week, we also had Sofia's IEP meeting. Actually, it was just Part 1 - we only had 1.5 hours, and the speech teacher was sick. So we are reconvening March 1 to finish up.

Nothing major. We started with a discussion (including the school nurse) about the potty situation. They still take her to the nurses' office for potty. She has had less accidents since I spoke to the nurses and told them how she was playing them. It still all boils down to behavior. So they will continue to take her to the nurses' office, but work very specifically on behavior. She's not big on cooperation.

(Sorry this is so disjointed. It's been a busy few weeks, even though nothing much really happened.)

Let's see...

Sam had fun at the two parties. I picked him up at 5 in Hartford from the very ritzy party, and drove down to Norwalk for the other party (which was more low key). I went out to the most delicious Indian restaurant with my friend N and her daughter while Sam and N's son went to the party. The boys looked so handsome!



Came back to MA on Sunday afternoon, after being fed and spoiled by my parents all weekend. Stopped at Rein's Deli, too.

Let the kids stay up to watch the SuperBowl. David left for Copenhagen on the 4th - looking forward to him coming home this weekend. Boys were very excited that the Giants won - I have Contrary Children. I'm sure if we lived in NY, they would root for the Patriots.

The past two Tuesdays, I have had the pleasure of teaching a whole 45 minute class with the 5th graders. We are talking about The Amidah, the central set of blessings in each prayer service. It's been so much fun! They are very deep thinkers, and I really enjoy working with them.

Sam's been sick all week. He did go to school Monday, because we all thought it was just exhaustion from the b'nai mitzvah and the Superbowl. However, by Monday night, the floor was carpeted with kleenex, and it was clear he wasn't going anywhere. I did take him to the pediatrician Wednesday, but basically it's viral. He's been home three days. Hopefully he's going back tomorrow.

But now Sofia's sick. Tummy bug. It's gonna be a long night!

Lovin' Life

It's my birthday, and a great day to reflect.

I love my life.

I love my husband.

I love my children. More than anything I could EVER have imagined.

I love my family (really, I do).

I love my friends. Near and far.

I love what I am doing for "work" these days (although it probably would be even nicer if I was earning money for it!). I love my students. Every one of them.

It was 56 degrees F today. January. In Massachusetts.

Got to see three dear friends during the course of the day. First went to N's house to fix some computer problems (easy to fix, fortunately). Then, coffee with H - she "forced" me to add Kahlua to my peppermint mocha latte, and then we had a tailgate party in the back of her SUV, seeing how many people we could get to smile in the Starbucks parking lot. Wonderful. Then a yummy Indian buffet with D, my foodie friend. So much love.

David is whisking me out tonight for dinner, and he even remembered to arrange a sitter for our darling children!

And Comcast just admitted that there is a problem with our line (duh, I've been trying to troubleshoot with them for two weeks now), so tech is coming Thursday morning.

What's not to love?!

Thank you thank you thank you. To G-d and to everyone.

Ramblings and Musings

Yes, Facebook has really taken over on the small thought postings. It's so much easier - I can punch out a short note on my phone whenever a thought "needs" to be shared. But I do still love my blog. I'm just sorry I don't get to it more frequently these days. I often have thoughts to share; unfortunately, they usually come to me as I am driving the mini van around Metrowest. And I'm not a "tape recorder" kind of writer - I need the physical contact with they keyboard, and I need the visual input of the letters.

So here we are. It was a busy but ok week. David was in Copenhagen (he's on the plane home now). Kids had school (well, Sofia had no school Friday, but I took her to MWJDS for the afternoon). And it's college vacation week, so I had access to babysitters!

Monday after school we took Sofia to Children's Hospital Waltham for her endocrinology checkup. As soon as she saw the building, she insisted "No Sofia. Boy sick. Micah sick. No Sofia." So the boys had to be weighed and measured before she would allow herself to be weighed and measured. There was NO chance of getting the blood pressure cuff to stay on long enough. And the blood draw was typical for Sofia: took three adults to hold her (she sits on my lap in the "blood" chair with the bar across us and my legs across her knees while I hold her non-draw arm. Another tech holds the "victim" arm - I had to push back on her shoulder to keep her from moving. Then the third person does the needle stick.) After the blood draw, she sat on the floor screeching at us in anger, and then there was the typical 24 hour period of keeping her "victim" arm pinned tightly behind her back.

But otherwise, endocrin was good. She's doing great, and even though the numbers are slightly elevated, they are still not high enough to need treatment. She did not stop talking when we went in to see the doctor, who is a kindly young father himself. She was full of stories about "Chipmunk Princess Towel Dance" - I have no idea what she's talking about!

Anyway, I left the kids home with a sitter at night and I had to go lead a shiva minyan for my friend whose brother died. Very sad. And to add a note of ridiculousness, I had to hold a flashlight during the whole service, because their living room is very dark and I could not see the pages of the prayer book!

Wednesday, I had to take Sam to his snowboard lesson, so I had a sitter for the other two, a dear family friend who is like an older brother to my guys. Thursday, I actually went out for fun with a friend!

OH! I promised I'd do this: last Friday, we had our house vents cleaned. GREAT experience. I'd gotten a Groupon for a household vent cleaning. Of course, the groupon was only for a part of the system, and of course they recommended way more work than just what I'd already paid a very small amount for.

But they were terrific. East Coast Vent. I HIGHLY recommend them. It was two brothers, one very chatty and sweet. First, they reviewed the system, then came back to me with the recommendations and pricing. I called in to check with David, who of course threw a hissy fit over the phone. They guys first suggested they come back another time so we could discuss. Then they reviewed the recommendations, and we found some ways to save money, with one recommendation for a Do It Yourself item instead. That brought the price way down, and then the office allowed them one final discount.

And then they did a complete and thorough job of cleaning all the dust and dirt and grime and socks and rodents from our ventilation system! I can feel the difference. House is warmer, not having to fight through the dust. And less sneezing already!

Whew - forgot to do that last week...

Sofia is now choking me, trying to pull me away to help her clean her toys so she can watch a movie. She's very strong. And she is saying so much these days! Last night, she insisted "Fire. Stick. Eat. Now. Ten Minutes. Come on. Please Mommy. Eat. Outside. Fire.Stick." The wind, the temperature, and my general unwillingness to let her cook her food over a bonfire nixed the idea.

Heading down to CT tonight to take Sam to a camp friend's bat mitzvah. David coming home tonight, but we won't get to see him until tomorrow.

Melt Down about "Boy"

Whew, that was a long day. Mostly from 2:45 onward...

I was SO happy to get the kids back to school yesterday. And it's sort of scary how much delight David and I took in having to wake Sofia up both mornings: "Sofia! Wake Up! Morning Coming!" Payback...

It also felt good to get back to being "Hamorah Francine", the teacher. I got to work with my Torah students yesterday and today - very rewarding. Especially because I just love all the kids at this school!

So today: it took a bit to get us all out of the house, since they are still on "waking up late" time. Dropped Sofia at Breakfast Bunch, got the boys and myself to the day school. Worked with a new Torah reader, with lots of sweet giggles. Had a couple of quick check-ins with various folk.

Spent an hour running errands - FINALLY mailed out our 2011 Holiday Cards - then went to my favorite bagel place (Cafe Bagel) for some delayed breakfast and a lovely chat with the wonderful owner. Went home and sorted out some stuff, then had a very long and fruitful phone conversation with the rabbi of the synagogue where we will be holding our school Shabbaton in a few weeks.

Got Sofia, brought her back to the day school, reviewed Torah readings with Micah's class, had a very productive meeting with the school psychologist. We are coming up on Sofia's IEP, and it was useful to review with P (who is also the IEP coordinator for the day school) what some of our concerns and questions are for the public school. The nice thing is that, in December, the staff from the day school spent some time observing at the public school, and they now have much more information for me - most of it really good, positive news.

I've been feeling very out-of-the-loop about how Sofia is doing at the public school, because we get almost no written feedback, and of course Sofia is not telling us anything. So it's good to know things are going well.

My own biggest concern is the potty. They are still insisting on taking her to the nurse's office to use the potty, and at least once a week, she comes home in a change of outfit. She does NOT have accidents at home or at the other school, so I'm not sure what the heck is going on. And I've been stonewalled every time I ask. No one seems to "own" the decision. So that will be my own major issue for discussion at the IEP meeting. Besides academics, of course.

Anyway, after I met with P, I got to be Hamorah Francine again, this time by bringing the Torah itself down to the Kindergarten room (I was going to bring them to see it in theCafetorium, but there was a music class going on).

It was SO much fun to be able to show the students the Torah. Most of them had never been "up close" to see the scroll. I pointed out the words of the Shema, which they know by heart (and which has some unusually-sized letters). Sofia was thrilled ot have both Mama and Torah at the same time, and she was very definite about dismissing Hamorah A, her aide, when I appeared! (Although A stayed until I put my Mama hat back on again).

No, the big exhaustion came at the end of school. Samuel started his snowboard lessons today, along with one of his friends. So he was staying in the aftercare program until his friend's dad, came to get them. I collected Sofia, Micah and two children who usually walk (but it was way too cold, so I was driving them). But Sofia refused to budge without "Boy". She was laying on the ground in front of the door, screaming for Boy. She got so very upset. Shouting "Boy" and demanding we get him. We had to go back in to school and get a hug from him, and even then, it was difficult to get her in the car.

Dropped the other kids at their house, took Micah to Old Navy for some jeans. Sofia was VERY vocal about not liking the design of the new shopping carts, and then even more vocal about "HUNGRY!" Thank heavens they now have snacks in the check out line, although she ate half and then tossed it on the ground.

Took Micah to gymnastics, took Sofia to Starbucks, then sat in the car with her for 45 minutes waiting for Micah. She watched her Signing Times video on my phone while I napped ;)

Treated the two kids to sushi (takeout), and got her to bed a little earlier tonight. Before she fell asleep, we were practicing her reading lesson for the weekend reading group. And I discovered something amazing about my daughter:

SHE CAN READ!!!!!!

Not every word, but most of them. She can actually read the WORDS, not just identify them because of the pictures on the page. 'Cause she can read them without the pictures on the page!

She can also count to 10, and identify almost immediately how many items are on a given page.

I am SO proud of that little girl!

End of December

First, I wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year, and I hope that whatever holiday you may have celebrated (or still be celebrating) was wonderful.

I just returned from a quick trip to West Palm Beach, Florida, to visit my 100 year old grandmother, Doris. But I should probably say "100 years Young":



We should all be like this lady! She is quite amazing. Still lives alone. Stopped driving only last year (she said her eyesight isn't as good anymore - although she only wears glasses for reading!). Loves to dance and drink and cook and play cards.

I could only escape my family for three days. David and the kids drove me to the airport Friday evening, and I landed in WPB at midnight. She kept me up until after 2am, looking at the photos from her 100th birthday party (which I had missed, back in October). I had brought her a digital photo frame and put all the pics on that. She loved it.

We went to the mall Saturday morning. Shopped a bit, went out to lunch. She thought perhaps she wanted to buy an iPad! However, I convinced her that a Nook Color would be what she needed - and Saturday afternoon (15 minutes before the store closed), I raced back to buy it for her! (I also got to spend a few hours poolside. AAAAAAHHHHHHH!)

Spent Sunday, which was Christmas day, setting up her Nook and sitting by the pool. Thankfully, the Clubhouse has WiFi, so she'll be able to download books there. She likes the ability to make the print bigger. I also set her up with email, but I don't know if she'll actually use it.

Sunday night, we joined thousands of other Members Of The Tribe for an ancient ritual - in our case, deli, rather than Chinese Food. Extremely long line to get in, chock full of folks from Central Casting - old Jewish folk, mostly from New York, but a few Israelis and Russians, too. And the visiting "children" of all ages.

The wonderful thing about South Florida, and especially about eating out, is that you talk to EVERYONE. Everyone wants to make a comment, or ask how your food is, or tell you their own complaints and woes. It's a riot.

(Actually, at lunch on Saturday, I got into a conversation with the ladies next to us about Special Need Adoption - two of them work for an agency in Philly!).

Still: Romanian steak with onions, kasha varnishkes, homemade stuffed derma. Heaven's got nothing on Boca.

Spent Monday morning at the pool and then took Grandma grocery shopping. Then it was time to come home. So sad to leave. It was sweet - on the phone I asked Micah if he wanted me to bring him anything back from Florida, and he said "Can you bring Grandma?" I really wish I could (well, no, actually, I wish I could stay there - its' much too cold for her here!).

So my 100 year old bathing beauty:


will stay home:


With her digital photo frame and her Nook, and her granddaughter will try hard to go see her again soon.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch...David took the kids to shul and then in the evening to Kosher Chinese (the REAL custom!). Sunday he took them down to my uncle's house for Christmas, and Sam went home with my sister and the twins for the week. My folks will bring him back Thursday (so it'll be nice and peaceful here for a few days!). Yesterday, David took the little ones to the Chipmunk movie (yeah, means I don't have to go!!!).

The two kids were VERY happy to have Mama back. Micah, who had been calm and mellow all weekend, was bouncing off the walls, and Sofia kept clutching me. Mama can't go away for more than a few days.

The rest of December was nice. We had a Bat Mitzvah on the 17th, my dear friend's daughter, who used to be in Sam's class. Micah didn't come to the party, opting for an afternoon with his friends instead, but the rest of us had a blast.

Hanukah has been nice and mellow. A few new movies and video games, an RC Copter for Micah, snow hats for the boys, a "Cowgirl Jessie" doll for Sofia. Simple pleasures.

Sam bought himself an iPod Nano - with his own money! He's trying hard to grow up.

Laura's boyfriend installed a new laminate floor in the boys' bedroom - it looks FABULOUS. We rearranged the furniture, so the room looks much bigger. Of course, there is still a large pile of stuff in the hallway to be sorted through, but we are trying to throw out (or donate, if appropriate) as much as we can. Of course, for all his trying to grow up, Sam would only get rid of about 3 stuffed animals ;)

I'm happy.

Just simply happy. Not ecstatic. Not overjoyed. Just pleased with life in general. I love love love working at the school. I love being a mommy. I love my husband (although I do wish HE were happier, but we're working on it - work is very stressful for him). I have wonderful friends, near and far. I have a nice house, which is getting nicer (hopefully in time for the Bar Mitzvah in June!). I have some cool tech toys (I got a slide converter, and am working on digitizing a carton-load of my dad's slides; I also took his old Super8 movies in to be digitized, and found a reel from my mother's childhood, that my grandfather had made, that ended with my parents' wedding!).

Life is good.


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Oh, and Dear "Anonymous" - I will not be publishing your hateful comment. Sometimes you have made a good point - notice that now I block out faces of background folk - but your way of saying things is so nasty. Please thing about how "words hurt" before you type. Take a deep breath. And feel free to use your own name. I do not publish "Anonymous" comments.