Taking the Scenic Route

Look ma, no hands!

After church on Sunday.  (Zane undressed within 3 feet of entering the apartment, so there are no pictures of him looking spiffy.  lol)

Turtlenecks are not a great choice for a child with no neck.

Sporting the Boohbah Look

Zane and his speech therapist.  (we had to take the camera to get a photo of her for Zane’s visual schedule).  This is taken through the one-way mirror, so it is a little hazy.

Here is the update on our family:

• Zach’s mom is recovering really quickly and has been home a few days now.
• Despite a crappy day today, Zach’s semester is OVER (well, except for the grading and turning in grades and other teaching-related tasks)
• Zach’s crappy day:  Had to go in early to meet with his ‘group’ one more time to turn in the project and some papers.  After that, went over to his appointment to get anxiety meds and waited.  and waited.  and waited.  and an hour after he should have been out of that office asked the receptionist if there was time for him to take some time sensitive paperwork to a prof before it was too late.  Since the two people who had appointments before his hadn’t been seen either, she told him it would be no problem.  He ran his errand and low & behold, both people had been seen and the PA had left.  The next appointment time is in JUNE.  Then he gave an exam to his class and came home.  I called another dr. office (listed on his insurance card, but he has never been there before) and they didn’t have anything available until the end of May.  I begged, told them he really needed to be seen sooner, and finally got an appointment at the end of next week.  Grrrrrrr.
• Speech therapy seems to be going well for Zane. 
• On the way home from speech today the car broke down AGAIN.  I really hate this car.  I wish there was some way to afford a different one, this is driving me batty.
• Zane came through the MRI and dental surgery just fine.  I was infinity more pleased with the hospital and staff at Wesley than the people at St. Francis.  The latter made me so angry I can’t even really talk about it yet.  I hope I never have to go back there again.
• Zora is still teething, but a guardian angel calmed her the nights before and the mornings during the surgeries.  She was much quieter and kept falling asleep right when I needed her to.  Nothing can explain that ‘coincidence’ except a bit of heavenly intervention.
• My mom came with me to both procedures.  I am so thankful for her help.  Proof that being a parent doesn’t end when the kids leave home…she helped teach me how to advocate for my kids more effectively.  The only thing I would have done differently is had the doctor write in the orders to have Zane sedated (with Versed (sp?)) as soon as he gets there (Wesley listened to me without that written in the orders, St. Francis kept spouting off about ‘procedure’ and I had to get nasty before somebody finally listened).  She also was a calming presence for me and really helped with both kids when I had to talk to doctors.  I am so lucky to have her.
• Church was a bit rough, but turned out ok.   When I dropped him off in the preschool room the person in charge said that her mom worked with ASD kids and she was around them all the time.  I went back up to the service and enjoyed a song and some of the service when I all of a sudden got ‘that feeling’ and went to check on Zane.  I came around the corner as Zane was being taken out into the hallway (pretty good distance from where I was at the time).  As I walked towards him, neither he nor the gal saw me, but I could see her trying to comfort him.  As I came up behind them I heard her saying “I will go find your mom for you”.  I think I shocked the heck out of her when I piped in and then gathered Zane up into my arms (as best I could since I was holding Zora).  She was so gentle with him and I appreciated how she was trying to handle things…taking him into the hallway away from the chaos of the room was probably what I would have done too.  After a bit he calmed down and I got him to get up so I could take Zora to the nursery so I could go with him back into the class.  The nursery had once of those older ladies where you just ‘know’ she is going to be fine.  (I checked on Zora several times and the lady was always engaged with her and Zora was happy as a clam.)  I went back in with Zane, and for a while, he just sat on my lap, then played with a toy on my lap, and eventually ventured back out again.  By the time Zach came back, he was doing pretty well.  Next week I am going to just stay there from the start.  Funny thing is, one of the other people in the nursery was a sophomore at WSU and a special education major.  
• I am getting a handle on the housework.  The laundry has another marathon session tomorrow, as soon as we get some more detergent, but I might be able to finish it up tomorrow.  I am hoping to have this place together by the time I go to bed tomorrow, but we will see how it goes.  I can dream though.
• Now the next chapter begins….long ‘to do’ list for getting Zach ready to go to NASA…..paperwork, financial aid, travel arrangements and tons of other ‘little things’ that need to be done before he leaves.  I sincerely hope we get things cleared up and in order in time for us to all enjoy a few days truly ‘off’.  The last time either of us has had a true ‘vacation’ is when our parents took us as kids.  The closest thing we had was a few days of ‘honeymoon’ where we didn’t turn on the tv or answer the phone for a few days (were unaware of the Okahoma City bombing for a few days) and the car trip when we moved from Kansas to San Diego a year later.  (hey…we stayed in a hotel and only saw each other for a few days…that counts, right?).   That was 1995.  We need a vacation!!!!!!  We probably won’t get a true one for at least another year, but a few days without a giant ‘to do’ list would do wonders right now.