2:50

 
is when he woke up this morning. Honest to God, I feel sorry for him but also? GO BACK TO SLEEP I think. He was very weepy and sad last night, maybe his face hurt or maybe he had a dream about the wasp? Ugh, who knows.

First

 
I think it was a wasp, there was one floating around near him when I went out there. We have a nest but it's SO high I don't know how we'll ever get rid of it.

Bee Sting

 
I am just waiting for the locusts and the frogs around here. Seriously.

Outside

 
He's been having pretty good days, aside from some horrifying poop situations, which are more a result of bad timing than anything. He's been (whispers) sleeping well. We think that after our deductible is met (1,000$)we'll have his school covered by insurance which still seems beyond belief. I don't really think I have allowed myself to think of how hard it would have been for us to borrow so much money. Mike and I aren't loaded but we don't have much debt and it was freaking me out to think about it. The thought that we don't have to take that loan, that Anthony can maybe go for more hours than we were going to be able to send him, that he can go for a second (or third?) year if he needs to? It's mind-blowing, really. We are very grateful and happy about it and also still suspicious.

Wielding a Knife

 
At least he looks happy about it?

Sweet

 
He is having a hard, antsy, tense time of it here lately. He probably misses school and a routine. He is starting in August, some time, at the new school. We are continuing to get dribs and drabs of information about the insurance and it's super frustrating. The policy came in WAY less than we thought it would be and when I asked the insurance agent why she told me she didn't know but she'll check on Monday. We are supposed to get ID cards in the mail but we didn't get them today so now it will be probably next week on that, too. Once we have the ID number, we can find out what is covered and it is torture until then.

Sincerity

 
Ha!

Crystal Light

 
He's going to have that stain forever.

Orson and Murray and Maria and Maria and Anthony

 

Strolling

 
We have had a hard day with everyone, but especially Anthony. He gets really mad when we can't do exactly what he wants and he wants ridiculous things! He wants to rub his belly against my back all day! He wants me to go lie in the bed and say 'blanket' a million times when I have Veronica in the Bjorn! He wants to go for a walk when it's going to rain! On and on. We have had a lot of tears and recriminations today. Ugh.

Super Cute

 
 
 

Monkey Joe's

 
 
 
We went to Monkey Joe's today. I've wanted to go for a while, I've heard great things about it, but I'm (as usual) scared to take the two of them anywhere, especially Anthony. He has a had time with lines and taking turns, etc. As you can see, he had fun. We had some trouble later, he was trying to climb UP the slide, but we got it worked out. Then he wanted to take his Goldfish out of the eating area. AND once he found the large fans that blow up all the bouncy things, it was all over. But we were there about an hour, and I do think he had fun.

Eye Contact

 
...and they said kids with autism don't give good eye contact! He can be so funny and look how Maria loves him. He was up at around 4:00 this morning, so it should be an ... interesting day.

He finished his extended school year this week. He had the same teacher as last year, she is also the teacher that was at his first case conference, she's very good with him. Her assistant's name was Wanda and she, like everyone, fell in love with our Anthony. We were lucky because there were two teachers and only three students so he really got a lot of one on one time. Wanda would ask Anthony for a hug at the end of the day and more often than not, he would open his arms and fall into her for a hug. It was really nice to see. He will hopefully start at the ABA school in August. We are 99 percent sure he is going to start there and that it will be covered by his insurance. Anthony's teacher told me she wasn't sure about ABA because they don't do a lot of social stuff, since they do so much one on one work. I said I could appreciate that social skills were important, especially for autistic people, but until Anthony starts to talk, he really can't start using social skills, at least not in our society, and that's where we live. I hope and pray it works - I hope that he gets a little bit better communication and then I hope it gets better and better and then it's great. I really can't imagine having a conversation with him, or more important, saying "hand me that" and having him do it. I really want him to start working for me! :)

Those Damned Remotes

 
We can never find the remote we need, he takes them all over the house. He lost my Dad's tv remote the other day, it was behind the couch and curtain in their livingroom. He is a pain.

Ha!

 
They had been in the pool, I think. Laura asked me the other day if Anthony had a permanent red mark around his mouth from the Crystal Light and I guess the answer is yes! I'm glad they like that, though, rather than real juice or soda. I don't want them to have that much sugar and I really, really don't want these people to have any caffeine.

Ha