What I Hear at 5:30

One common trait among autistic kids is that they don't sleep a lot. Graham is exceptional in that he's generally in bed from about 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. That's not to say that he's continuously asleep -- I often hear him yelling "Mommy!" with some urgency once or twice a night. And he's usually awake before 6. This morning he showed up in our room at 5:30. When he appeared in the doorway, I mumbled, "Hi, Graham." As he clambered up to snuggle for his remaining 30 minutes of mandatory "you must be in bed" time, he showed his propensity for charming word choices when he asked, "Mommy, did you hear me clattering up the stairs?"

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

If I've calculated right, Jason has spent about 2 1/2 days on buses, trains, & airplanes in the last two weeks. His first jaunt, to Stanford, California, took 24 hours just to get there. A flight home, four days of recovery, & then back on a plane to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (I wonder how many frequent flier miles he's earned in the past fourteen days -- enough that we could go somewhere nifty for our upcoming 10th anniversary?)

Yesterday, Cami came in as I was wallowing in the warmth of the tub & accused, "Didn't you do this yesterday?" Yes, indeed I had. And same rules apply: No fighting! Mommy is not to be interrupted!

Except that about ten minutes later I heard the front door open and grown-up steps on the stairs. Jason's re-routed train hadn't taken as long as I'd expected. . .and I'm so glad when Daddy comes home.

Lap Laughs

Graham was sitting on my lap, eating beignets (don't you love the chaos of our breakfast bar), when Rosie decided she needed to sit there, too. I protested her attempts to climb up with the reminder that I don't really have lap space -- the growing baby is eliminating it. But she figured out a way to wedge herself between the baby belly & Graham. Despite my discomfort, I had to laugh when Graham mumbled around his breakfast, "It's ok, Rosie. I'm not crowded."

Frosted Fairyland

The snow started to fall when I was dropping off Graham at school. Then Jason and I put Rosie in the car & drove to the Bolton Abbey Estate. But instead of going to the abbey itself, we went to the woods. And with the snow just adding a bit of frosting to the world, we got to see the beautiful greens of moss, ferns, and holly (although less so in photos) making the world look magical.

Like her Grandpa Fehr

I read somewhere recently that clothing is aspirational. Rosie must want to grow up to be a trucker.

I Hear You

Rosie just rolled up a tortilla and used it as a megaphone to call, "Hellooo. . . can you hear me?"

The One Child Rule

Jason & Cami just walked in from Cami's Brownies meeting. Jason related that on the walk home Cami asked if we could move to China. Jason commented that she probably wouldn't like it if we moved to China, to which she responded, "Oh, yeah, 'cause we'd have to kill Graham & Rose."

Chip or Dale?

In an effort to distract Rosie from a bumped head, I just gave her a handful of chocolate chips (graciously mailed from Georgia by the wonderful Aunt Cindy). Her mouth ringed in a chocolate goatee, she just requested, "More chocolate chipmunk, pwease."

Constructive Conversation?

Graham just wandered through the kitchen, wearing a Bob the Builder t-shirt. Reading the BtB motto aloud, Jason asked "Graham, can we fix it?" To which Graham responded, "I'm not telling you."