Sleepytime

Last night, Sarah wanted to sleep with ALL her small stuffed animals.  Here is the partial result (I didn't put all of them on the bed, just the ones she already had out.)

Cure for a bad day?

Today when I spoke to Gary, he told me he had a "meeting" that basically involved him being "yelled at" for 90 minutes.  Since he's not prone to exaggeration, I took him at his word.  Here is my solution to turning around his bad day:

Doesn't a smiley face cookie make everything better?

Playing with Fire

So I just spent the last 15 minutes in the bathroom with my youngest, literally playing with fire.  More accurately, I was teaching her the safe way to light a match.  Included were topics like proper lit match angle (anyone who's held a lit match point down for a few seconds knows what I'm talking about...), relative flammability (counter versus tissue - that was a fun demo), and how to properly dispose of hot matches.  She has additional safety concerns with that long hair, so we covered all of that.

Turns out she had experimented a bit on her own, but realized she was in over her head, and asked for help learning how to light a candle.  We talked about how dangerous it can be to try it without an adult, and how she can always come to us if she wants to try.  We would really rather that she not burn the house down.

She's gotten to the point where she doesn't freak out when the match is lit (the first time she successfully lit a match she was so shocked she threw it in the air, at me) and can actually hold the flaming match for a while before blowing it out.

So many parenting things that I just. never. thought. I. would. teach!  But, better me than a fellow 9 year old.

It seems to be working...

So, after initial concerns that the Antivert wasn't having any effect, it actually does seem to work, with a large enough dose.  The prescription is written for 1-2 pills every 4 hours as needed, but the doctor told me that I can go up to 4 pills every 4 hours.

On Friday, I gave her two to start, and after an hour there was no effect, so I gave her a third.  That seemed to do the trick!  Saturday, she took 3 pills in the morning, but didn't need any additional doses throughout the day.  Today, Sunday, she said that there wasn't any dizziness and she didn't need them.  It's the first day she hasn't been lightheaded since early February.

I've definitely noticed an improvement in her cognition; she's able to remember things and function much better.  That's a huge relief!

Princesses from the Past

A friend posted these pics on Facebook last month, and I just downloaded them.  Can't believe how young and adorable they look... where have my babies gone?  I'm guessing these are from 2006...

Looking out for me...

The fraud department at Bank of America just called me to verify that my card number hadn't been stolen.  Seems that in the past week, someone's made big purchases at TempurPedic, Pottery Barn, the Apple Store, and Amazon.

Guilty!

Poor Gary, he's not handling this well.  He says he understands our arrangement - he makes the money, I spend it - but I think he forgets how powerfully good I can be on my end of the deal.  :)

iOrdered it!

March 11, 2011 - before my feet even hit the ground after waking up, I had my iPhone in hand, ordering the new iPad 2.  Ended up switching to the macbook, since I needed Sarah to choose the cover color, but had the thing ordered ASAP.  Still, they are quoting a 5-7 business day delivery - not quick enough for someone with autism (or their overly eager mother).  I should have set my alarm for 2am and ordered it as soon as they went on sale - those people got a 2 day delivery.  You snooze, you lose (3-5 days!)