Dinosaur Watching

Today I (Rich) took Luke on a Dinosaur watch. We searched for hours and found nothing. Hot and exhausted, we decided to turn back when suddenly, in the thickest part of the forest, we came upon a giant T-Rex attacking his prey. Luckily I had my camera handy.

Wanting cookies, football, and more assessments for Aaron

Luke saw Raha eating a cookie and told me, "Look, Raha has a cookie. Mommy, I always want what the other guy has."

I took Raha over to South Oldham to get info about registration and to see the school. We went back tonight to get football gear and practice starts tomorrow. Yikes! I told him that he's not allowed to hit, be hit, or fall on the ground, and of course he looked at me like I was a total idiot. Probably not for the first time? My dad says that he had less injuries in football than basketball thanks to the protection from pads and helmet but it still scares me. I am glad for the initially welcoming coach and I hope that he really feels welcome and thrives on the team environment. I was nervous for him while we were signing up, completely out of my comfort zone with football gear and parents who were obvious sports fanatics, then had a good moment of levity when Raha told me we need to go to the sporting goods store to buy him a cup. I punted to Rich on that one.

It's definitely weird for me to be on the other side of ECE (special education) services. The assistant principal was condescending and quite sure that he should be in self contained services even though she doesn't know him at all and doesn't know how beautifully he's behaved for months. I was furious but acted polite since I'll need to work with her for the next couple of years. We have a meeting next Monday, so I'll take lots of behavioral data, references from administration, and bring his therapist and other classroom teacher. I need to learn how to be a good advocate.

Aaron's speech therapist made a referral for another assessment, this at my request for him to receive services in the home for sign language. Austin is great, Aaron loves her, and we don't want to switch to a therapist who can provide both services. When we were with Barbara and Dennis, Aaron was enamored with Barbara. She speaks fluent ASL, and he'd get so excited that he start wiggling his fingers and waving hands to talk to her. He spontaneously picked up lots of signs and is so willing to communicate, and we're so desperate to talk to him. I'm not sure that there are signs for 50 kinds of construction vehicles, but I'm sure that Aaron would be delighted to learn all of them.

Smithsonian Trip

Yesterday we made a trip into Washington D.C. to go to the Air & Space Museum and to the Natural History Museum. I think Rich was the most thrilled with A & S, and was sad to have to move at kid pace instead of adult pace...he loves airplanes and flight, and of course has a much longer attention span than our little people. I'm not sure if Aaron even noticed the airplanes - he spent most of the time there thrilled to push his stroller around and peek under the sun shade.

I asked Luke what he liked at the Air & Space Museum, and he just said, "I liked the dinosaur bones! I haven't seen dinosaur fossils in a long time. I saw a meat eater, and a huge dinosaur, the biggest dinosaur in the world, the brontosaurus. I learned that dinosaurs lived millions and millions and millions of years ago." I asked Luke how many a million is - "It's more than a thousand."

So I think that all means that the Natural HistoryMuseum was a much higher priority to Luke! It really was amazing, and Aaron loves to see the animals too. The mammal and butterfly exhibits rated lots of shreaks.

Grammar Practice

Luke after watching his new dinosaur movie: "This is my twice time!" (seceond)

More from Luke

On the train from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.: "My stomach has a tummy ache."

That trip was brutal. I think Aaron is getting his two year old molars, or else I'm just losing my mind. We're still recovering.

Levinsons playing

Potty habits

We had to leave the park tonight because Luke needed to use the restroom. On the way home in the car he said, "Maybe I don't need to use the potty. My butt put the poop away."

Luke on Amtrak

question: Do you like riding on the train?
Luke: It's kind of annoying. You just sit and sit and sit.

Daddy: Do you want to watch a movie?
Luke: Let's just relax.

To a woman with fake nails: Your fingernails are too long. You should cut them.

The ride was L-O-N-G, about 18 hours with delays. It was easier than driving though because both of us could take care of the boys. We would have gotten more sleep, but there was a severely disabled child who yelled "AAAH" at ten second intervals for what seemed like hours at a time through the night. It was incredibly frustrating. Aaron managed to throw toys over the back of our seat a couple of times, startling the sleeping passengers behind him.

Zoo, Spotty Internet

Our Internet service has been going in and out for the last couple of days and no repairman until tomorrow (and that's if we're lucky). We're leaving tomorrow night for Cincinnati to jump on the Amtrak at 3:30 a.m. to go to the east coast to visit Rich's family. It feels like the last hurrah of summer. We'll probably won't post to the blog as much as usual for the next week or so.

Yesterday Meghan and I took a slew of kids to the zoo....Luke, Aaron, and Raha, plus Zachariah and her step daughter Madison. Aaron is finally able to fully appreciate the train and he grinned and giggled through the ride. Raha surprised me by asking several times if the animals were real - with the rhinos, pygmy hippos, and reptiles - which really reminded me of just how limited his experience is sometimes. He was a hoot though, so excited that he easily took 100 photos through the day of all the animals. I'll post some pics of the day when I get a chance around packing and travelling. We had so much fun that we're planning another trip to the zoo before the school year starts, but next time to visit the Australia section and the splash park.

It's the middle of the night and I'm tired and cranky. As usual there are more things I want to do than there are hours in a day. Tomorrow morning I meet with a group of baby teachers to talk about classroom management related to science modules and math investigations. Nice group of teachers and I get to do it with my friend Sabeen, so maybe it is worth being up past midnight to prep?

Speech with Austin & Misc

The camera re-appeared!! Aaron put it in Meghan's diaper bag (much better than the diaper pail where he put the video camera).

Aaron was tired and easily distracted at speech tonight. He'd had a short nap and a bad fall that scraped up his face. Austin read a Sesame Street Book and looked at picture cards with Aaron. He's definitely saying "eye" and when she showed him a picture of a flower he ran to it and blew on the card. Funny because that's what we tell him to do instead of pick flowers.

Aaron was most excited about Zachariah so he was the focus of the speech session for about 10 minutes. He still pets the baby's head and coos and him -- the big change is that Zachariah smiles and coos back! We touched all of the baby's facial features, and played with his toes and fingers, and patted his knees. Aaron was a little teary when Zachariah had to leave, but very enthusiastic about waving bye-bye and blowing kisses. I didn't know that Meghan had taught him to blow kisses, and it's unbearably sweet.

He fussed and fumed and disrupted everyone at dinner before Rich figured out that he was asking us to take him downstairs to bed. It's much more peaceful now, although Luke is tired and overly emotional tonight too.

Rich and I went to a training on sexual abuse at St. Joe's this morning and it was great because we really just talked with Beth about potential issues and questions we had about raising Raha. She's wonderful because she's very earthy and warm, and has raised several adoptive children. I'm going to miss talking to her every week when we're done with classes. In the afternoon Rich and I took a PD session on MovieMaker -- great fun! I'm excited to use the fiction/non-fiction books I scan then use in math class. I'm going to set them to music and add narration, plus use the nice transitions between slides.

Question of the Day

Luke asked at dinner, "What color are my eyebrows when I'm really tired?"

New Anatomy

Luke has a new system for digestion: "I have one tank (pointing to his left ribcage) for food that makes us grow, and one tank (the right ribcage) for treats." Fortunately his ideas of nutrition are developing. He just told me that it's ok if the treat tank isn't full and that you can't fill up the food that makes you grow side with treats because you need that food. Luke suddenly looks so grown up to me. He's long and bony, and his face is still sweet but I can see just what he'll look at as a teenager. There's been such a big shift this summer.

Aaron the Tosser did a big one.....he found the camera and did something with it. Rich went through every bag in garbage, the recycling, the backyard, the toy bins, etc., but we still don't have a camera. We're hoping it turns up in some weird place, but it's hard to be optimistic at this point.

For some reason Aaron is more willing to imitate Raha than anyone else. He's made "la" and "vvvv" sounds for Raha in the last day, and he's waving bye-bye like a mad man.

Letter from Raha

Raha came upstairs a few minutes ago and dropped this in my lap:

Thank you for inviting me into your home. Many homes I have been in have gone wrong. I hope this time it works out. I feel like this will work out but I guess we'll find out sooner or later. I have been searching the world for the right family for me and I think I found it. So thank you. Love, R

Family of Five

We're official....Raha moves in August 1st. Cathy at St. Joe's told him on Thursday and we set up his room as a surprise on Saturday and got a super-choco "Welcome Home" cake from Plen's Bakery. Lots of adjustments for all of us over the next year....he's a wonderful, bright child with lots to learn academically and adjustments to make for being a part of a nuclear family. We'll have good support from St. Joe's and I'm really glad that he'll be going to Oldham County Schools. Luke says that he's "b-cited" that Raha (legally can't use his name online) is coming to live with us, even if he's not the biggest kid in the house now. We'll have lots birthdays in the next two months: Luke's 5th on 8/22, Raha's 13th on 9/6, and Aaron's 2nd on 9/26.

Aaron the Tosser

This is the view from our upstairs deck, looking down at the patio and backyard. Aaron adores carrying most anything out there and pitching it off the deck. Toys are an obvious favorite, but he's also thrown my cell phone a couple of times and Luke's good sandals (which I blamed Rich for losing).

Aaron pointed at his mouth and said "mmmm," and he's waving goodbye regularly.

S'mores

Meghan made s'mores with the boys today. Luke said, "These are so good that I just HAVE to have another one!" I think Aaron agreed!

Accidental Swim

Yesterday we took Aaron, Luke, Jack, Raha, and my student Anthony back to Big Rock since it was such a success the week before. The three little boys were playing in water about 18 inches deep while Rich, Melinda, and I waded beside them. Melinda said, "Look at Aaron!" and he was floating face down, waving his arms and legs like he was swimming. It took a second for me to register that he was in danger of drowning because he looked so calm and deliberate, but of course he started crying in panic as soon as I scooped him out of the water. He hadn't swallowed water and wasn't choking, so I think the primary damage was to our sense of well being. I can't believe that happened without my noticing when I was only a couple of steps away.

Luke's First Bike Ride

Today we received a "tag-a-long" (don't know the official name for it) from Chuck, a friend of Heather's, so Luke can now go on tandem bike rides with Dad. We went on on our first ride today, but had to stop early because Luke's "legs were getting so tired."

July 4

Today's highlights:

• Raha and I ran the Firecracker 5K this morning in the rain. I ran 21:26, a 1:10 PR that earned 3rd place for women. We're lucky we make it -- the start time was moved back 30 minutes!

• Luke, Aaron, and Raha played at the Puzzle Dome this morning. Raha refined his putt putt golf game (even a hole in one). I'm not sure if Luke was playing golf or hockey....and Aaron took the flags apart and shoved the fabric down the holes.

• There were giant dinosaur inflatables for jumping. Aaron and Luke bounced each other senseless.


• Rich took Raha and Luke to see Wall-E. High marks from all. Luke was heart-broken that he couldn't buy a Wall-E toy on the way home.


• Raha and Luke made extra-choco chocolate chip cookies (despite shakes at lunch and ice cream with Rich....4 guys in the house, all with a giant sweet tooth), and the kitchen survived.

• And they actually did celebrate the 4th a bit, with sparklers and one fancy firework.

Death & Grammar

Luke describing the movie Batman: "Batman pushed the really bad guy out of the high window and he went to dead!!"

New words, maybe??

Tonight in the car Aaron pointed at my eye and said, "Ah!" then pointed at my ear and said, "Eh!" These seem like meaningful approximations to me. Rich and I have both noticed more deliberate uses of "Mama" and "Dada." Last week with Austin he waved goodbye for the first time, and he's doing that regularly with prompting, and tonight when I took his pacifier out of his mouth he bunched up his fingers and tapped his lips. I'm counting that as an invented sign for binkie.

As of today, his signs are: bye bye, binkie, more, eat, drink, please, up, throw, all done, book/read (with help) and help (with help)
His words are: Mama, Dada, Uh-oh, eye (maybe), ear (maybe), whee (maybe)

In his speech service plan our goal is 50 words/signs by December. I think we're doing better at prompting and rewarding Aaron for making sounds and Austin is definitely helping, I think primarily by modelling ways to interact that are most likely to elicit speech. We're supposed to be doing Beckman exercises to stimulate the muscles in and around his mouth, but Aaron has been resistant then I forgot to do them today. We're also giving him a vibrating teether to chew on and press on his lips, which is also stimulating the muscles in his mouth. Fortunately he likes the teether!

How to get to heaven

I had Luke and McKenna in the car on the way to swimming when they started talking about relatives who had died. McKenna told him that you go to heaven when you die. Luke asked if your body went to heaven, and I responded, "Just your soul." So McKenna asked, "Just your head not your body?" I tried to explain, but apparently was unsuccessful, because Luke said,"Oh, your SKIN goes but the rest of you stays here."