Mmm, Spring
Mar. 25th, 2010 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sublimatedangelAs always, the change of seasons inspires me to start growing stuff. Considering the number of plants that died due to neglect during my winter of depression (sorry plants!) I kinda needed to get some new stuff going anyhow. My windowbox currently has its container of lettuces and other microgreens sending up sprouts - I like having them indoors and handy for salad cullings. I also saw a really cute idea of using real grass in easter baskets, so I have a couple basket liners of grass seed that will hopefully come up in time. We never use the plastic stuff since it's so bad for the kitties, but even the paper stuff can be messy and Ryan will just try to eat it :P I'm actually using cat greens, so useful after the baskets are picked clean as well :)
In less happy news, my washer died. The little thing that tells it to do things like add water, drain water, turn off... isn't. So it's actually still holding water (clothes were rescued) while we figure out what we're doing with it. Man, I'd forgotten how fast laundry piles up when you can't do it every day or so.... I'm thinking laundromat this weekend if we haven't solved things.
Alex's behavior has vastly improved and he has his legos and everything back... Yay!! We had his IEP (scholastic assessment thing) on Tuesday and that didn't go as well as we would have hoped. A major thing we're looking at is that kids in special education (in the US) tend to stay there regardless of need once they're in. Alex began with a preschool program for one and a half years, followed by a summer program, followed by kindergarten. All along there has been the understanding that he doesn't have any disabilities that would prevent him from being in a regular classroom, but they feel he would benefit from just a little longer... and a little longer... and a little longer. At this point, I think we have to conclude that while he has made great progress under the program, the system is not motivated towards moving him into a mainstream class... and I do kinda get some of the reasons for that, but... that doesn't make it okay either.
This was something we were cautious about from the beginning - the older you get, the harder it is to make that adjustment/changeover happen. It's something we've heard from teachers, students, etc. even as I was growing up and in school myself, and more so since we've been directly involved with special education. Another less-than-pleasant fact of this kind of situation is that they make it clear that you as parents are always in control of the decisions... but all too frequently, children whose parents choose not to follow the school's "suggestions" get a lot of flack from future teachers/administrators once they see that in the chart. So it's not a straightforward decision to make, going from here. I want to have another meeting with his teacher (other staff as needed) and get some firm answers on a few questions, but we need to make some difficult decisions which will have long-term repercussions.... uh, no stress at all, of course. It would be easy to just drift along in the system, but that's not really the right thing to do.
Ryan is doing better now that his eighth tooth has broken through. He's in a huge developmental spurt, lots of babbling and exploring, which is awesome. I think we're close to getting rid of his attachment to only mommy and daddy and back to where he's okay with other people holding him. His favorite book at the moment is My Little California ABC... I forget who gave it to us, but each letter has a Californian-themed word and picture/scene, and there's a little photo baby face used in many of them. He adores reaching out and touching the baby in addition to the usual 'slamming the book closed' and 'gnawing on the cardboard pages' entertainment his books provide :) His other favorite game (which he's been into for quite awhile) is for me to rip something out of his hands. He'll hold the toy and then I'll snatch it away, he'll laugh and then I give it back to him. The more times we repeat, the more hilarious he thinks it is. If I wait too long, he'll offer it towards me to remind me of my job. Bonus hysteria if I grab it with my mouth instead of my hands.
Easter is coming up, which should be fun... I've gotten the kids taken care of except for the candy portion of Alex's basket. We've got some plans for a casual but fun get together at our place that Saturday, and I'm looking forward to egg dye shenanigans. Some bittersweetness - every year, I would handpaint a couple of blown eggs for my mom, it was just one of our little traditions. It still hurts quite a bit to have her gone, and it's hard to believe that it will be six months in a few weeks. I think that the greatest portion of mourning is behind me though, and it's not such a struggle to get through everything. My brother and I have decided to sell the house after all, and while it wasn't the ideal first choice, I think we're both at peace with it which was something I worried about a lot. We'll most likely start fixing it up in a couple months and hopefully put it on the market this summer.
In less happy news, my washer died. The little thing that tells it to do things like add water, drain water, turn off... isn't. So it's actually still holding water (clothes were rescued) while we figure out what we're doing with it. Man, I'd forgotten how fast laundry piles up when you can't do it every day or so.... I'm thinking laundromat this weekend if we haven't solved things.
Alex's behavior has vastly improved and he has his legos and everything back... Yay!! We had his IEP (scholastic assessment thing) on Tuesday and that didn't go as well as we would have hoped. A major thing we're looking at is that kids in special education (in the US) tend to stay there regardless of need once they're in. Alex began with a preschool program for one and a half years, followed by a summer program, followed by kindergarten. All along there has been the understanding that he doesn't have any disabilities that would prevent him from being in a regular classroom, but they feel he would benefit from just a little longer... and a little longer... and a little longer. At this point, I think we have to conclude that while he has made great progress under the program, the system is not motivated towards moving him into a mainstream class... and I do kinda get some of the reasons for that, but... that doesn't make it okay either.
This was something we were cautious about from the beginning - the older you get, the harder it is to make that adjustment/changeover happen. It's something we've heard from teachers, students, etc. even as I was growing up and in school myself, and more so since we've been directly involved with special education. Another less-than-pleasant fact of this kind of situation is that they make it clear that you as parents are always in control of the decisions... but all too frequently, children whose parents choose not to follow the school's "suggestions" get a lot of flack from future teachers/administrators once they see that in the chart. So it's not a straightforward decision to make, going from here. I want to have another meeting with his teacher (other staff as needed) and get some firm answers on a few questions, but we need to make some difficult decisions which will have long-term repercussions.... uh, no stress at all, of course. It would be easy to just drift along in the system, but that's not really the right thing to do.
Ryan is doing better now that his eighth tooth has broken through. He's in a huge developmental spurt, lots of babbling and exploring, which is awesome. I think we're close to getting rid of his attachment to only mommy and daddy and back to where he's okay with other people holding him. His favorite book at the moment is My Little California ABC... I forget who gave it to us, but each letter has a Californian-themed word and picture/scene, and there's a little photo baby face used in many of them. He adores reaching out and touching the baby in addition to the usual 'slamming the book closed' and 'gnawing on the cardboard pages' entertainment his books provide :) His other favorite game (which he's been into for quite awhile) is for me to rip something out of his hands. He'll hold the toy and then I'll snatch it away, he'll laugh and then I give it back to him. The more times we repeat, the more hilarious he thinks it is. If I wait too long, he'll offer it towards me to remind me of my job. Bonus hysteria if I grab it with my mouth instead of my hands.
Easter is coming up, which should be fun... I've gotten the kids taken care of except for the candy portion of Alex's basket. We've got some plans for a casual but fun get together at our place that Saturday, and I'm looking forward to egg dye shenanigans. Some bittersweetness - every year, I would handpaint a couple of blown eggs for my mom, it was just one of our little traditions. It still hurts quite a bit to have her gone, and it's hard to believe that it will be six months in a few weeks. I think that the greatest portion of mourning is behind me though, and it's not such a struggle to get through everything. My brother and I have decided to sell the house after all, and while it wasn't the ideal first choice, I think we're both at peace with it which was something I worried about a lot. We'll most likely start fixing it up in a couple months and hopefully put it on the market this summer.
