Family Week

Braden loves to climb up and sit on chairs. We were at Zane's preschool for a Family Night celebrating literacy last week. One of the classrooms had a computer game set up for the kids and Braden toddled over and sat down to try to play, but mostly he just banged on the keyboard.
The school had 7 rooms set up with a different theme in each one. I enjoyed reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear to Braden and showing him all the characters. Zane tried many of the crafts and it was a nice time.

My parents were visiting so they came along with us and got to see the new building for deLacey.

It's actually snowing today. Spring is only a few days away so this has to be the last snow of the year. It's pretty but it's a reminder of the isolation of winter.

My parents are seriously talking about moving to be near me, possibly by next year. My dad is retiring in June but my mom is going to work for a few more years. While they were visiting me they went to Sun City in Huntley and picked out what house they want and got lots of information about the area. It would be so nice to have family nearby to help with the boys.

Zane's a Tough Nut

Our meeting went fine with the child psychologist yesterday. We met with the director of intake for the behavioral program at the pediatric development center at Illinois Masonic in Chicago. She said Zane definitely does NOT have autism which had been a real worry of mine. Basically he's a tough kid with behavioral issues. Many of his behaviors are trying to elicit a reaction- especially his actions toward Braden. He had hearing loss and delayed speech at age 2 so he developed behaviors to cope with that and they still continue. We need to crack down and be very structured & consistent with him. We were reaffirmed that we are on the right track with our parenting of Zane. She mentioned that he would likely be a much tougher kid with different parents. She recommended working with a specialist in children's behavior to help us deal better with Zane. I am very interested in doing that. She is going to see if she can recommend someone in our area so we wouldn't have to drive all the way to Chicago.

I've been thinking more about going to back to work but there are some major roadblocks. The main one is finding a daycare that will take and keep Zane. I spoke with Zane's teacher today and mentioned the idea. She said she doesn't know how I do it- staying home with Zane & Braden. It seems very significant to me when she says that because she works with the toughest kids at the school. Zane's teacher said she thought the daycare thing would be tough because he would likely get quickly kicked out for his behavior.

I've got a friend date tonight! Yeah to dinner with Brandi!

Gluten is Evil...Or Not

Our appointment with Illinois Masonic is today at 1pm. Joe is coming home from work so we can all go together. I don't have my hopes up really, just wondering what will happen.

I am trying a gluten-free diet with Zane. Gluten is in wheat, barley & rye flour so no cookies, cake or bread. I'm going to give it a month and see if there's any improvement in his behavior. A friend of mine said she saw great improvements in her son's behavior and she talked me into trying it. Life has been tough with Zane so I'm about willing to try anything. We are now into week 2 of the gluten-free diet. It's been pretty easy so far. I found rice pasta for Zane and he loves all the popcorn and cheese puffs he gets to eat. Also I stocked up on lots of fruit, kiwi, berries so he is very happy about that. The only thing he misses is cheerios & cereal bars.

I haven't emailed anyone or blogged in quite a while. I was just trying to figure out why and I guess I feel like there's nothing positive to say so I don't want to say anything. Zane continues to be a constant source of frustration and exhaustion for me. 3 Bradens would be easier than 1 Zane.

Joe and I have been talking seriously about me going back to work and putting the boys in daycare or finding a sitter. We've been discussing this for an untraditional reason- we don't need the money (although it's nice) but I do need to get away from Zane. I don't know what kind of job I would even pursue or where to begin. What's a girl with an MBA and no experience to do? I don't really want to leave Braden either. Since he's over one I could live with him in daycare but I do enjoy spending the day with him.

I had planned to go to a MOPS meeting this morning but Braden is sick with a runny nose & cough. This means I will miss again- I think I've missed more than I've gone this year. MOPS is a nice opportunity to put Braden in childcare and sit down & eat brunch and talk to adults. Oh well, my life's not that bad. I guess I'm just in a complaining mood.