Recovering Noah

Lorenzo Odone, the little boy whose life is featured in the movie "Lorenzo's Oil" passed away yesterday. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/30/lorenzo.odone.ap/index.html I rewatched the movie shortly after Noah was diagnosed with autism. I was so struck by how persistent and diligent Lorenzo's parents were - and how they refused to give up - and in doing so they discovered Lorenzo's Oil . His parents NEVER gave up. Even when he went from a vibrant, multi-lingual little boy to a man who could not move, speak, or communicate... his parents NEVER gave up. And I just think of how many children afflicted with ALD have been helped because of that persistence. If you haven't seen "Lorenzo's Oil", you really should. In fact, I think I'm going to have to watch it again. Leslie

Today I finally joined my kids in the little plastic pool we bought a few weeks ago. For days, I've been sitting out on a lawn chair going over homeschool stuff while keeping an eye out for any sign of Nandini trying to sit on Eli's head and push him under the water. But today it was just so stinkin' hot that I dusted off my swimsuit and decided to join them. As I neared the pool, Eli shouted: "Wuh Oh, Nandi. Look out! Here comes Free Willy!!" Now, I assumed he meant Free Willy, the whale. But seeing that willy is also what he calls his dingaling, I figured I'd better get some clarification - and fast. I think the words " 'cuz you look like a big whale, Mommy " cleared up any confusion. Thank Goodness. Although, I'm not sure being compared to a giant whale is any consolation prize. Ah, four year olds. Ya gotta love them. They just shoot straight, don't they? None of that " You look fine. Don't worry about it " crap that adu...

Curious to know what a typical day is like at our house? It's NONSTOP!!! I was cooking supper tonight and had U2 blaring on the little portable CD player next to the stove - and Nandini and Eli sauntered in and started getting down. You'll have to excuse that it's U2's "Desire" playing in the background - not exactly a fitting choice for a couple of preschoolers to dance to, but it was the song that happened to be on when they wandered into the kitchen. Pay close attention and you'll see Nandini whop our dog on the back at the very beginning of the video. Don't blink or you'll miss it. And stay tuned to the end when she reels Dolly over her head and whacks Eli with it. I wasn't kidding when I blogged about her hitting habit. There's also plenty of Eli pretending to be a dinosaur and Noah making a beeline out of the room in hopes of finding some peace and quiet. The video's only a few minutes long, but the scenes are repeated all day lon...

Ya'll have really got to check this blog out: Postcards from Insanity: One Foster Mom's Journey Through the System It is the funniest thing I've ever read. Well, it's not all funny - it deals with serious stuff - but the blogger is hysterical and has such a way with words. I know her from another list I'm on and have to keep everything anonymous - but her journey through the fostercare system makes for great reading. It's like a suspense novel - she blogs another piece of the journey each day and I just sit at the computer waiting for her to update. You have to go back to the very beginning of her blog to catch up. But she only started blogging in April, so it won't take too long. And it'll be well worth it. I promise. Leslie

Someone that I love very much - who is very near and dear to me - told me today... "You'd better not adopt any more kids with brain injuries." You see, Nandini is missing almost a fourth of her brain. The actual term is porencephaly. It's a brain cyst. But basically, her front parietal and temporal lobes are gone. The cyst is just formed around the empty space. And she's okay. She's funny and smart. Sharp as a tack. Way clever. Very manipulative. The girl's got street smarts likes I've never seen. She's very quick to catch on to things. She's super, actually. But you can't have a quarter of your brain missing without there being some sort of risidual effect. It just doesn't happen. So we're starting to see some of these things. And, honestly, it's really hard because we're dealing with a child who spent three years in an orphanage. Who has a brain injury. Who is amazingly strong-willed and has a strong sense of survival - an...

Okay, I know that it seems that I'm always posting Eli stories - but you have to understand. Eli is my only fully verbal kid, so it's easier to blog about the funny things he says. So, anyway. He woke up this morning in a foul mood. Let me tell you... he was SULKING. I just sort of waited it out because he's not a morning person anyway and normally needs about 30 minutes before he turns into an approachable person. So, I sit down at the computer and he comes up to me and thrusts a toenail in my face. A toenail. A nasty ol' toenail. And he's mad because apparently he lost it last night and stuck it under his pillow for "The Toenail Fairy" to come and get it - and she never came. That kid will do anything for a quarter. Seriously. What's next? Pick a scab and get a visit from the Scab Fairy? Lose a strand of hair and place it under your pillow for the Hair Fairy? What about the Booger Fairy? Is she supposed to pay a visit, too? 'Cuz I don't think...

You know that neighbor guy that I blogged about a few months ago? You know. The one who has a bit of a problem with our kids? Well, you can imagine the look on his face when Eli and Nandini raided the dress-up box and came outside to show us their new creations... Mr. Neighbor happened to be outside mowing at the exact time that Mr. Snow White and Little Flapper Girl sauntered outside. I swear his eyes nearly popped out of his head. And then I think he swore under his breath and muttered something about "freaks". Oh, yes. I'm sure we're the talk of our neighborbood.

Two years ago, we created a slideshow for Noah's website to help raise money for his autism treatments. Well, that site has long since been abandoned. Blogging is much easier! I've been wanting to shut the old site down for awhile, but wanted to get some of the content off it first. So, that's what I'm going to be working on for the next week or so. The first step was getting Noah's slideshow on the blog and - fingers crossed - I think it worked. The slideshow shows how Noah changed as he started to regress into autism. It ends with him being 4 1/2 years old. He's 6 1/2 now. So much has changed since then, but also, so much hasn't. It's bittersweet watching the video. I cry each time. I know I have nothing to complain about. We are so incredibly lucky with Noah. He truly has a heart of gold. He is without a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I truly mean that. But, still, the "I wonder's" and the "What might have...

I can't believe Nandi's been with us for 6 months now. Where did the time go??? Here's a slideshow that we put together celebrating the last 6 months. There weren't many options for songs, so the song doesn't exactly fit - but I kind of like it. :-) We love you Nandini!!! P.S. For some reason, you have to turn the music on at the bottom of the screen. I can't get it to turn on automatically.

I'm not a very controversial person. I know. I know. Somewhere, my mom is reading this and laughing. And, yeah, it's true. In my teens and all the way up to just a few years ago, I loved nothing more than a good argument. I would argue anything and everything. Hey. I wasn't the Captain of the Debate Team for no reason, you know. But somewhere along the line, it just stopped being fun. I no longer got an adrenaline rush out of it. I got a headache. And I officially hung up by debating boxing gloves when we started homeschooling. One of the reason we looked into HS in the first place was because I spent all my time and energy arguing with the Special Ed department of our former school district (yeah, I'm talking to you Denton ISD). So, anyway, (and it's impossible for me to make any story a short story), I just decided not to let things rile me up anymore. There are more important things in the world than having to prove I'm right or arguing a point with someone w...

So, guess what Eli's discovered............... Yep. The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley. I blame you, Cedar Creek Public Library. We went in and checked out some movies that Eli wanted to see. Namely, Sound of Music and Snow White. So, a week passes and he remembers that he hasn't watched Snow White yet. Well, we pull it out, put it in and.... it's Mary-Kate & Ashley. Some doofus switched tapes on us. But, hey, I'm a doofus , too, because I once turned in our Lion King video in a 101 Dalmatian's video box by mistake. All Doofuses of the World Unite! We were bracing ourselves for a mega meltdown... but he loved it. In fact, I was in Austin with Noah yesterday and Sim said Eli watched it 8 times. Now, in all fairness, it was "The Case of the Sea World Adventure" and had whales and sharks and stuff. But he also said that the girls in the movies are " soooooooooo pretty" and we did catch him dancing along to the musical numbers. Which br...

You know, most people my age would probably get excited about all sorts of things.... maybe an upcoming vacation. Maybe buying a new outfit. Maybe losing 10 pounds. But do you know what had me doing cartwheels in the living room this afternoon????? This... And this... That's right. I'm doing the Happy Dance over two new Elmo DVD releases. Did you see what they are about??? Dinosaurs!!! And Protecting the Earth! Oh, I love you Jim Henson Productions. My kids are going to love you, too. This will make their day. And when the kids are happy... mama's happy. Ahhh, I can't wait until next Tuesday. The countdown begins.... P.S. You can check out all the upcoming releases here .

Well, I guess all those years of Sensory Integration Therapy really paid off. You'd never know that Noah used to freak out whenever anything touched his hand. Yeah, it made for some difficult times. But no worries now, eh? Because...... Yep, that's our Noah sticking his face full-on in the mud. And, uhm, yeah... that's him eating it.... And, well, uh....hmmm... maybe we did a bit too much therapy...

We finally took the boat out today. It's just a little aluminum boat about 40 years old with a trolling motor. We can row faster than the motor goes - but, still, we had a great time. It was the first time Nandu's been out on the water and she LOVED it. We literally had to hold the strap of her lifejacket to keep her from going over. She just wanted to keep leaning over the side and dunking her face in the water. Of course, she learned that trick from her big brother, Noah. Sim and I are burnt to a crisp. You'd think we'd learn by now.. but, nope. Anyway, here are some pics from the day. We tried to catch some catfish by hooking bits of salami on a toy fishing rod.. but no such luck. I think the Three Musketeers were making way too much noise. Plus, I have no idea what we'd do if we actually caught one. Freak out and throw the whole rod in the water, I guess. :-) -h/DSC00519.JPG">