I have an Etsy shop, yay!
Only one item in it for now, and the banner isn’t up yet for the shop, and, and. But still.
It’s at http://sleepykats.etsy.com and be sure to tell your friends. And tip your waitresses.
Abby in her sunshine sweater
Notice “o hai!” G-Lo in the corner there.
What’s on your table?
Been a while since we had a round of this! Here’s what ours looked like yesterday. Click through for notes.
Your turn!
Added bonus – the front of the fridge!
Gilbert and the Red Sweater
I’m knitting Gilbert a sweater for his birthday. He requested red. I love, love, love knitting with red wool. It feels so festive and traditional.
Pictures later, Bede needs help. “Fix it your Dell? Okaysure, innagetchoo fix it Dell.”
coffee update
In my extensive coffee research (that is to say, what you guys said combined with one Google search) I have learned that you can buy green coffee beans, that Episcopalians like fancy coffee, and that Walmart has fair trade coffee. Here’s some background on that, and here’s the actuality. These guys are against it because they say Walmart is evil.
Me?
Walmart here we come. And if it stinks then we’ll try the other suggestions.
coffee?
So what are the best fair trade coffees? Price is the main consideration, since they all taste pretty good. Kind of tired of feeling like I’m supporting child labor.
stim city
I used to really dislike the word “stim.”
But now I don’t.
That said, Bede and Faith are Stimmy McStimmersons. Bede is running back and forth in the living room shouting out “Cheerleader! So and So! What’s Her Face! The Ugly One!” over and over (yes, I let my kids watch Homestar. I am a baaaad parent.) and Faith is spinning in circles. Faith is getting Aspie-er and Aspie-er as she gets older. Just like her ma. Ahem.
Calm down guys! Gee whiz.
TLAPD
Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day, yarr!
It be Talk Like A Pirate Day, mateys! Our wee crew be plannin’ a pirate park party with some of our ne’er do well pirate friends, avast!
In the meantime, ye should watch this song me hearties, sung by the inventors of TLAPD!
YARR!!
baby penguin
We had the annual “Wearing of the Coats” afew days ago, to see who needed a new one etc. (as it turns out – nobody, this year! Found one to fit Bede, yay!)
Anyway doesn’t Gloria look all fwuffy?
hard day
Today has been very difficult. Bede has been unsettled all day, and inflexible. He used to be like this pretty much all the time, and it’s made me realize how different he is now than he was a year ago or so. With children you don’t see the big picture unless you look for it, because you barely notice the incremental progress each day. That’s true of all my kids, not just Bede.
Anyway, he’s had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, which means I have too. It’s made worse by having no place to put Gloria for a nap right now, so if she’s not in my arms she wakes up pretty much instantly. It’s developmental for my kids to do this at this age – I think it’s related to separation anxiety and learning to be mobile – but it’s not any easier to deal with. Especially in this particular house, where the location of Gloria’s room and the stairs combine to make it damn near impossible to get her to nap. Sigh.
But back to Bede. Since we had to put away the swimming pool he’s been having a difficult time. At least I assume that’s it, since he’s not getting the lovely deep pressure from the water every night. I’m going to get some beanbags I think. They’ll get peed on and drink dripped on and so forth very quickly, so I need a waterproof bag with a washable cover. Also going to get a full size futon for the floor in front of the tv to use instead of a rug. I love my rug but it’s gotten peed on and drink dripped on just like everything else in my house and it’s difficult to clean because of the deep shag pile. If I got a futon the kids could sit on it, fall asleep on it, be rolled up and squished with their heads sticking out while they giggle uncontrollably, etc. And with a waterproof cover with a washable cover for it over that it’s easy to clean.
All of this doesn’t convey the difficulty of the day, and frankly the last week or so. I think Bede has spent about 3 hours crying, moaning and screaming from about fifteen minutes after he woke up to about thirty minutes ago. The climax was Bede biting Trixie on the thigh REALLY hard, enough to break the skin in a few spots, her screaming in agony and me instantly snapping clean. in. two. seeing red and literally chasing him around the house roaring NOOO BITE! while I took about three stinging slaps at his rear end and he cried and cowered. Long time readers of my blog will recall that I am NOT a spanking parent so I see this as a HUGE failure, culminating in Bede reinacting the whole event by biting his arm, saying “No bite, Bede!” and then smacking himself on the leg and crying. Also, “Ouch, Mama!” So, yeah, I feel like a complete and total bullying jerk. I know he hurt Trixie and all but I should not have reacted the way I did. He seems to have forgiven me as he climbed up in my chair and hugged me but he has little psychological choice in the matter, what’s he going to do, divorce me and get a new mom? I guess I need to work on forgiving myself. It’s not likely to happen for a while.
Just generally an awful day. I hope tomorrow is better.
the Seanigan
027, originally uploaded by feebeeglee.
Sean’s in-progress cardigan!
superbrain for superboy
Bede is very intelligent (self-taught reader by age 2, hacks our passwords frequently) very autistic (unable to carry on a conversation, refuses to wear clothes) and very disabled (must have 1:1 aide in public and constant supervision at home.) He is quite the puzzle, to use a tired metaphor. So it was with great interest that I read this in the Telegraph: Autism is caused by a ‘supercharged’ mind.
Children who develop autism have “supercharged” brains that are so clever and sensitive that they make everyday experiences utterly overwhelming, new research claims.
“Our hypothesis is that autistic people perceive, feel and remember too much,” Kamila Markram told the New Scientist.
Faced with this “intense world” , autistic infants withdraw, with serious consequences for their social and linguistic development, she added.
Repetitive behaviours such as rocking and head-banging, meanwhile, can be seen as an attempt to bring order and predictability to a “blaring world”.
Most of the theories surrounding autism involve the idea of an underperforming brain but the Markrams believe the opposite is true with the brain being “supercharged”.
Their research, which included studying their own son who is borderline autistic, is backed up by one of the most replicated findings in autism which is abnormal brain growth.
At birth the brains of autistic children are small or normal sized, but grow unusually quickly.
By age two to three, when symptoms of autism occur, their brain volume is roughly 10 per cent larger than average.
Sounds right to me.
Finger-flick to Autism Vox.
Bede!
Trixie with the blue eyes
012, originally uploaded by feebeeglee.
Gilbert asleep
018, originally uploaded by feebeeglee.
So angry I could spit
I’m livid with anger at the Chinese toxic formula sicknesses and deaths.
I am all about breastfeeding.
Obviously.
But I know several women who HAVE TO use formula because they have very low milk supply. Low supply affects a lot of women, I’ve read various statistics, but I’d say five to ten percent is reasonable. And that’s not to mention all the women I know who were misinformed by doctors and others and ended up with formula because they eventually had no milk due to poor advice on breastfeeding.
The current theory is that someone is diluting the milk with water, then adding melamine powder to make it look like it’s actually high-protein milk. It’s not accidental.
Somebody in China just doesn’t care that this is killing babies. Living, breathing, lovely babies. It’s just luck that this hasn’t happened here.
Enraged.
the GREAT State Fair of Oklahoma!
Like every other year ya went!
Sean, Faith, Abby and Gilbert are off to the State Fair this afternoon, possibly under heavy clouds but hopefully no rain. I think this will be the first time Gilbert’s been old enough to do any rides, so I hope he has fun. He wants to ride the Ferris wheel, which he has examined for months in Go Dog Go! “Go around again!”
The girls have planned out the entire trip, I am told. Rides and food and rides and food and rides. And food. And cows and chickens.
Have fun kids!
Father and son rescued at sea
MOM-NOS links to the video. The son’s autistic, you see. And a Toy Story fan.
Impossible not to cry watching Christopher’s arm pump the air at “To infinity… And BEYOND!”
the button and the button creator
I got the button at http://tools.blogflux.com/buttonmaker/ with the following specifics:
left block: text mccain color #003366 background #FFFFFF
right block: text palin color #FFFFFF background #003366
button options: border color #cc9900 background #FFFFFF.
retail therapy
I guess it’s not really therapeutic if you need it. And it’s on super sale. But aaaanyway. I bought shoes for the boys for winter from oldnavy.com – they have some good deals if you’re not picky about specific style. Gilbert got some dragon hightops and Bede got wavy pull-ons. Now they need socks, which I confess confuse the hell out of me with their sizing. So I didn’t order any yet.
And Bede needs a coat, but I think everyone else can get by on last year or handmedowns. In theory Bede could wear a handmedown but the only ones for his size are silver and lilac or pink. And he doesn’t care, but Lord knows he gets enough looks without also getting the hairy eyeball for wearing a feminine colored coat. Boy needs a boy coat, you know? (Anything I can do to painlessly unweird Bede I do. If he insisted on the pink or silver-purple coat that’d be one thing.)
And now Faith needs the computer back!
a few new things
I’ve started a new blog for our homeschool stuff. It’s at http://unschoolmonkey.wordpress.com and you’re welcome to wander by, but it’s mostly notes for me. I was inspired by Melissa Wiley’s Bonny Glen Up Close.
Also, I debated whether or not to add a political allegiance button to the blog and as you can see, decided yes, I would. I hope my more liberal friends remain with me, and I promise I won’t blog about politics!
I think that’s all for now.
power low, then out, then back
Our circuit breaker box made a loud fzt! sound yesterday afternoon and our stove stopped working. And our air conditioner and clothes dryer and hot water heater, but we didn’t really notice them til this morning. After flipping all the appropriate switches and scratching his head and squinting manfully at the fuse box, Sean called an electrician we’ve used before, TJ.
TJ showed up a few hours later with fresh bakery danishes from Ingrid’s Kitchen, now that is the kind of electrician I like to have, I tell you what. “Figured you guys would enjoy these so I picked some up, what will all these little ones running around” he said. He and Sean went to examine the fuse box some more.
Turns out it wasn’t the fuse box, it was the cable leading from the electric meter to the house. Both men were outside when I heard the fzzt! again and then “Wow!” and “Good Lord, look at that!” I wandered over to see as well and was told that it emitted many sparks and much smoke (it still smelled acrid) and was basically completely burned up and frankly it was a wonder that we weren’t dead. Well, ok, nobody said that last part, but I was thinking it. But the electrician said it was OG+E’s box so they’d fix it, and he left.
When OG+E came, they too were impressed with the level of destruction inside the box, so much so in fact that they said we had to have all the power shut off. And furthermore they couldn’t fix it, it wasn’t their wire, call an electrician. Bede was completely freaked out by the power outage. He asked me every question he could think of in an effort to get things back to normal. “Want see fix it your Dell computer? Want see fix it the television? Want see Daddy come fix it lights?” and so on, until he was reduced to a puddle of boy in my lap, sobbing pitifully. It was awful.
So Sean went off to the hardware store to get what he could to try to fix it himself. On his way out the door he ran into our friend Chet and his son Aden, here to pick up milk for baby Emma, and Chet insisted that Sean take his cell phone so we would have a phone to use. I have awesome friends. Sean came home and was squinting manfully some more when the OG+E guy came back to give us a part they supply for free. Sean got him to come look at what he was doing and he stayed for two hours helping! Sean tried to pay him and he flat out refused. Wow. My mother was also heroic at this time, showing up with a package of cookies and many extra flashlights and batteries. With this many kids one or two flashlights is not going to do it, you know?
The wiring done, Sean called OG+E to get them to turn us back on. The guy who helped said they’d be quick, and we’d be back on tonight! Yay! So the turn-it-back-on OG+E guy comes and the final round of squinting is done, this time tinged with suspicion.
“I cain’t turn it back on if it ain’t been inspected by the City,” he said.
Sean pleaded, “But… but… we… but!” and finally TIBO OG+E guy relented.
“Well, if you promise to get it inspected in five days or less, I reckon I can turn it on tonight.”
Sean assured him we would and then… drumroll please… POWER!
Air conditioning has never felt so good.
Sound bite
Everything is Trixie’s. “Hey! At’s MINE dolly!” “Hey! At’s MINE chair!” And my personal favorite, when she sees another kid in my lap if she has recently vacated it, “Hey! At’s MINE holdyou!”
Gloria is commando crawling everywhere. And very interested in food.
Gilbert is reading, thank you Starfall.
Faith is very indecisive about her Halloween costume and has become interested in costume design.
Abby is writing adventure stories, mostly fantasy, and some poetry.
Bede is watching old television station IDs and movie studio IDs on YouTube. Like this, I mean. For hours.
And that brings you to now.
School supplies 2008
Just a few notes for me.
- Child’s History of the World to read aloud. Loved it as a kid.
- Unifix cubes EDIT: Cuisenaire rods?
- Undecided on math. Singapore, probably EDIT: Perhaps Miquon?
- A globe and an atlas. Online’s not cutting it for a real sense of scale.
- OKCMOA membership
Labor Day meme
How long were your labors?
- 8 hours
- 12 hours
- 16 hours
- 14 hours
- 12 hours
- 6 hours
How did you know you were in labor?
- Water broke while I was napping, contractions started about an hour later
- Contractions woke me up around 5AM
- Contractions woke me up around 5AM, petered out from 10-2, reorganized, he was born late that night
- Contractions woke me up around 5AM
- Contractions woke me up around 5AM (are you sensing a trend here?)
- Erratic stop start labor all day, water broke at 1AM and labor began in earnest.
Where did you deliver?
- Hospital
- At home
- At home
- At home
- At home
- Same hospital as #1
Drugs?
Nope.
C-section?
Nope.
Who caught the baby?
- OB
- Midwife
- Midwife and Sean
- Midwife and Sean
- Sean
- Sean
Scarves for Special Olympians!
Coats and Clark is trying to get enough scarves for every Special Olympian in the 2009 Winter Games, and you can help! The scarves can be any design, knit or crochet, but must be in delft blue (885) and white (311) Red Heart Super Saver yarn. More information can be found at the Coats and Clark website.
I think we can manage at least one, with three knitters in the house – Abby learned too!
Asperger King
Snort.
Milk Share and breastmilk donation
I’m a milk donor and you can be too.
I am pumping and donating directly to a family in need and many (many!) more such families can be found through Milk Share, a list which connects donors and recipients. We are cash-poor and spare time is also hard to come by around here so it’s not often that I get to really help someone. It’s just a wonderful feeling.
Another option is to donate to a milk bank. There’s a controversy as to whether you should donate to a HMBANA bank, the nonprofit organization that collects freely donated milk and only charges a very minimal processing fee to hospitals, or to a Prolacta bank, which collects freely donated milk and resells it for up to $45 an ounce. You can google, decide for yourself. Personally, if I wasn’t donating directly to a family I would donate to HMBANA.
So go on, get pumping!
ot update
It went very well. We’re going to go weekly. In a small world kind of way, the office manager there is my old nice boss from the bookstore I worked at about 16 years ago.