Author: Melissa

This should be interesting!

Melissa

Today is (dun dun dun!) school picture day. This will be his 4th school picture day and he’s only managed to sit for one photo out of four attempts. The instructions this year were the same as always, “Here’s the check ((WAY TOO LARGE….really???? There is a new company this year. They offer “retouching” (oh la la) and the packages were ridiculous. Ridiculous! Given the fact that a large number of kids in this district are on free and reduced lunch, it is an urban area, I was really taken aback by the costs.)). Don’t torture him over it though.”

Last year he went first in his class which eliminated the waiting and his teacher stood with the photographer so Monkey would look in the general direction of the camera. It went well. The photographer will have a 30 second window for the perfect shot. I feel like I should have sent him in with a flask for the photographer as a thank you, lol.

Will we be greeted with a “He did great!” or a “Here’s your check back?” The suspense is killing me 😉

FYI, I totally cheesed him off this AM when I made him wear a collared shirt ((Never fear, it’s one he normally loves, I suspect he was just being difficult…shocker)).  He kept asking Duhdee “T-shirt?” as Duhdee was helping him get dressed and he *threw* the shirt at Duhdee when he finally realized I was not budging.  He’s so cute when he’s mad!

He’s simply not cooperating!

Melissa

Monkey is being completely uncooperative these days, he’s giving me zero blog fodder. *Hrumph*

School is going well. He is doing his morning routine and transitioning to his teacher very well. I think, in maybe another week, we could step back a micro step and start the process of making him more independent. Maybe we’ll start with one less hug, lol.

This past weekend we intended to go apple picking but two things stopped us.

  1. Monkey decided that there were just tooooo many people there (it was a madhouse) and that staying in the parking lot would be the best course of action. We managed to get him out of the parking lot briefly but deemed it in everyone’s best interests that we return him there as quickly as possible.
  2. Duhdee, still can’t really walk that much. Apple picking in a large orchard was probably not a good idea in the first place, eh?

I ended up picking apples all by my lonesome…out of a bin in the farm store, lol.

We spent time with Duhdee’s parents on Sunday as well. We had a yummy dinner and Monkey ate a lot of food. After dinner, Grammy offered us homemade apple pie and I told her Monkey and I would share a piece since he doesn’t really like pie and no, thank you, he won’t eat icecream…only to have my entire serving stolen! AND he asked for and receieved two small scoops of icecream. Shows what I know.

That’s about it. Totally and utterly boring. 

Isn’t it so cool??

Why can’t I let this go?

Melissa

Monkey doesn’t like Halloween. He never has. He tolerated costumes long enough for photos when he was younger but he would never go door to door. Now that he’s older, he doesn’t even tolerate the costume. Somehow his teacher convinced him to dress up last year and she sent us a photo of that event but he wouldn’t wear it at home, not even to pass out candy.

Last night, I made Monkey cry. I coerced him into wearing the costume I picked out this year despite his repeated declarations that he didn’t want one. I finagled him into that costume, had him look in the mirror and then helped the poor crying boy out of it. What is wrong with me? Why can’t I just stop this? I felt, and still feel, like an utter asshole for forcing such a non-issue.

Honestly, who cares if he doesn’t want to dress up for Halloween? Who cares if he never runs down the sidewalk while Duhdee and I stroll behind greeting all the other parents out and about on Halloween? Who cares if he’ll never go door to door with a pack of kids when he’s older?

Me, it turns out.  Sometimes I hate Fragile X and what it’s done to even the smallest, pointless dreams I had…

Riding the rails.

Melissa

There are so many things I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t have my little Monkey to show me. One of those is this, I love trains. I never knew that until I had a train obsessed, little man in my life and I might have never known it if I’d gotten that little girl I had hoped for.

Monkey loves all things about trains.  Our obsession started with Thomas and wooden train sets.  Before we got too far into that scene, however, we discovered motorized trains and we’ve never looked back.  It seems like a natural progression to move from little motorized trains to bigger motorized trains.  Duhdee has some schemes for a large train table and display for our basement sometime down the road but right now that’s a little too advanced.

Besides, now that Monkey has been on the real deal, he’s a little less enamored of the toys. He prefers watching YouTube clips of subway trains “Here comes!” and, whenever possible, riding on those same subways.  We’ve spent more than one afternoon altering our plans so that we could ride a train.  Sometimes we make plans solely based on the fact that we will go there by train!

It’s no hardship though because I really, really, really like trains!  I ride the subway 5 days a week and that is not much fun but experiencing it with Monkey is a whole different matter.  We’ve also made an effort to take him on various “tourist” railways to experience what a real, old fashioned train ride is like.  We’ve toured cranberry bogs in southeastern Massachusetts, shady woods in Maine, New Hampshire lake shores and, most recently, the Berkshire Mountains.  Every time we do this the stress of everyday life just falls away and the 3 of us (and sometimes a few guests!) can sit back and just grin at each other like fools as the scenery slips past.

I’ve decided something, and this is the first that Duhdee is hearing of this, I’m going to come up with my own “Bucket List” that involves all the amazing railroads I want to travel on. 

And, I’m thinking big…

Really big…

Embarassing yet adorable

Melissa

Monkey as been doing this thing for a little while. I rather thought it would be a passing phase but it seems to be escalating.  We’ve not really made any effort to curb this thing because it’s quite adorable but it can be a bit cringeworthy at times. There are times where he’ll do this thing in public and we get understandably quizzical looks. It’s not something we can explain away quickly though, now that I’m thinking of it, I could come up with a very easy lie as a cover story.

I know you’re just dieing to know what this thing is.  You see, whenever we see a man with gray hair, Monkey yells “Grampyyyy!” Loudly…and repeatedly. Most of the time they look nothing like Grampy beyond the gray hair but from now on maybe we’ll just fudge on that rather than leave a wake of confused old men in our path everywhere we go.

Lesson learned. School, Day 11.

Melissa

This time it is not Duhdee and I learning a lesson, how novel!

It seems that one of the classroom assistants brings a coffee from Dunkin Donuts with her each morning.  It seems that each day, for the last two days, her coffee was going missing before she was able to finish it.  It seems like our little Monkey has been missing his morning sips of coffee with Duhdee.  It seems like he’s found his daily fix despite the new school year schedule.

My only question, when asked if Monkey is a coffee drinker was, “Did he say, ‘Mmm, good!’ when you caught him?”

*Snicker*

I guess we need to teach them to reinforce the rule that Monkey only drinks out of his own water bottle or out of cups with his name written on them.

His daredevil gene emerges.

Melissa

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a daredevil. I am scared of heights, claustrophobic, I hate being too hot (or too cold), I don’t like bugs and let’s not discuss spiders. I get my adreneline rushes by working on complex legal transactions, get the picture?

Duhdee on the other hand loves anything with a motor…the faster, the better. There is only one reason he doesn’t own a motorcycle and that is because he flipped a snowmobile at over 90 mph when we first started dating. Since that day he’s gotten nothing but a “Have you forgotten the time….” look from me coupled with a “Only if you triple your life insurance,” comment when he brings it up. He no longer brings it up. 

Monkey has seemed to follow me in this department so far. He holds the handrail on the stairs, he holds hands when we’re outside, he never climbs anything other than his 2 step foot stool. Sure, he loves being swung around by his ankles but only by Duhdee who he trusts without question. I mean, Duhdee’s only dropped him once, right? I doubt Monkey even remembers ((But, oh, yes, Umma does!!  It’s mostly forgiven.))

Anyway, he’s always been a cautious boy which is one reason it never crossed my mind that Monkey would hit the door frame in his new swing! I thought it was due to his nature but now I’m starting to wonder. Two days ago I witnessed Monkey, while swinging in his swing, let go of the ropes ever so slightly. I told him, sternly, to hold on.  He did.

Last night, as we waited for Duhdee to get home from getting the pizza he was once again swinging. The next thing I know he’s on his back on the floor looking dazed. He’s fine, he has a little scrape at the base of his back but otherwise is unmarked. We discussed the fact that he needs to hold on while he swings but I’m pretty sure, based on the gleam in his eye as he headed back to the swing, he was thinking “Let’s do it again!”

Progress has been made. School, day 9.

Melissa

We realized, last week, that none of the tabletop activities to choose from in the mornings qualified as a “sensory” activity. They have been putting out coloring activities, matching activities, puzzles, etc. These are all things that require focus and regulation. These are not good activities for a child who is struggling with the transition into the classroom. He needs something to bring his arousal level back down after that stress.

The teacher, who is amazing, added a sensory option to the tabletop activities at our request. There is now a table with little bins of colored sand available each morning. There are “treasures” buried in the sand for the kids to dig out. It’s amazing what a difference this one little change has made and it’s an activity that all of the kids in this classroom choose whenever there’s an open seat at that station! 

Yesterday morning, after we finished the “check-in” routine, Monkey’s teacher approached. This is when we make the final switch from Money and Honey to school. Monkey had been clinging to Duhdee for “one more hug” each morning but yesterday, as the teacher approached, he smiled one of his huge, contagious smiles and reached out for her. He took her hand, they walked to the table with the sand and then he couldn’t even bother with a “good-bye” for his beloved parents!  

There are some times when I am annoyed that he ignores me.  This is not one of those times!  Go Monkey!