My O.D.D. Child

I have a special needs child.
It's tough to admit that because I've been in denial a long time. On the surface Zane looks normal. He has a speech delay and that's easy to explain to people. His behavior is much tougher to explain. We don't have a definitive explanation why he is the way he is. He's so young that it's difficult to tell what's really going on with him.
When Zane was born I didn't imagine he could be anything but perfect. His adorable dimples & bright blue eyes were and are extremely charming. The Lord has reminded me that he's not perfect over & over but being "perfect" is not what is important. This amazing blessing of Zane is more than I could ever deserve.
We had Zane's annual IEP meeting at school to discuss what progress he's made on his goals and to set new goals for the next year. The biggest thing Joe & I learned at this meeting is that Zane's behavior is holding him back and getting in the way of his learning. He spends the majority of his time fighting his teachers while he's at preschool instead of learning.
His teacher, Jeanne, suggested that Oppositional Defiant Disorder was one explanation for some of his behaviors and she believes we should research O.D.D. to see if it offers any answers. Zane is the most defiant, rebellious, strong-willed, difficult 3 yr old I've ever met. I guess it would be nice to know there is an reason, even if O.D.D. is not an easy answer.

What is a BLOG...And why do I have one?

I'm trying to figure out why on earth I have started my own blog.
Am I not busy enough?? No that's not it. My 2 boys keep me very busy and very tired.
I already have a website where I post pictures and news of my family. It is: http://jnrichards.homestead.com/index.html
I guess this will be an outlet for me. A way to vent frustrations and write stories. I need to remember this is for me and not anyone else. My mother told me I need to start writing down all the crazy/interesting/weird stuff that Zane does and I know she's right. So I shall think back on a story...
We were in KC over spring break and Zane had just discovered the garage door at the Richards house with a little help from Grandpa. They made it into a game with Zane controlling the remote to open and close the garage door while they walked in and out of the garage. At one point Zane was standing outside and Grandpa was inside the garage and Zane pushed the button to open the door. Zane did NOT want that door to go up so he grabbed it with both hands as it was lifting. He held on and was dangling in the air as Grandpa rushed to rescue him before the door was completely open. Zane was fine and not at all traumatized by this, he wanted to continue to play "garage door" but the game was over for them that day.
I have so many stories and my words don't do them justice. I'll just have to remember them as best I can.

Thursday... sigh

It's Thursday already, where has the week gone? Zane stayed home sick from school today with a cold. I should have made him go but he was coughing a lot when he woke up. Oh well, we had Grandma here to help out. Braden and I went to Baby Jamboree at the library this morning and little B was dressed as a cuddly little bear.
Our friends from KC, Karen & Matt Huber stayed at our house last weekend for 4 nights. The kids actually played pretty well together all things considered. Jackson (2 1/2) had to claim everything as his and was ofter taking toys from Braden but B has gotten used to being abused by Zane so he can take it. Here's a cute picture of Jack and Zane wrestling.