Hustle and Bustle

We have been incredibly busy this past week (as I am sure everyone else has, too!). The holiday season is so much fun so far. Mairead is in LOVE with all things Christmas, and it is so much fun to watch her enjoy it. When you are a parent, you really do get to see the whole world through their eyes, and it is amazing.



Last weekend was a fun one for us. On Saturday, Dave and I had a big night out with grown ups as we attended the TWELFTH annual Stonehill Christmas dinner! This tradition involves a fancy dinner with our fanciest friends from college. We all make a point to get together a few weeks before Christmas to enjoy the holiday season together. We can't believe we have been doing this for twelve years! We are very lucky to have each other and we are looking forward to many more years of celebrating. Thanks to my mom and dad for babysitting!



On Sunday, we had a small get together with a few friends I have known even longer! We missed a few people due to schedules and sickness, but a couple of friends from high school came over for a visit and it was great to catch up. Thanks to the Lynchs and Moisans for a great afternoon!



Mairead has been studying the catalogs and admiring all of the exciting toys. She does so while seated in Grampy's chair, as that seems to be her favorite lately.





Emma is right between Mairead and the boys in age, so the four of them had a great time playing together on Sunday. The kitchen was full of hungry kids!

On Wednesday, I went to visit the new preschool program that Mairead will attend. It is very hard for me to pull her from her current program because she loves it there, and her teachers and classmates are so good to her. But, this is the best way to get the schools to take a better look at her and her needs. I think I like it. The classroom is nice, the teacher seems nice, and the woman giving me the tour was helpful (and not in the 'I act super sweet but I am actually not' way).

The timing is going to be a huge problem since it is DIRECTLY in the middle of the boys' naps, so I am working on finding a high school student or something to come sit at my house for 20 minutes while I pick her up. I can bring the boys with me to drop off and push their nap back about 30 minutes, but I can't wake them up an hour and 15 minutes later. Hopefully, someone will come up.

While I was there, one of the women who was at the Team Mtg came in and briefly spoke to me. Either she could actually be helpful, or she was just trying to appease me. She told me that in this program, the schools could get more data about Mairead, get a better picture of her, and possibly advocate for more SpEd services for her. She also said that being in this particular school/program puts Mairead in a different zone (there are 31 schools in the city in 5 different 'zones') so if she were to be reevaluated, it would be by a different team, and that might be nice for new perspective. I am curious to know if this woman feels bad for me and sees my case but wasn't in a position to do anything about it... who knows?

Anyway, I am going to bring Mairead next Thursday for the first time. I am going to leave her in her current program until Christmas, but have her attend this new program two or three days as well so that when she returns there after Christmas break, it won't be totally new for her.

That's about it until we get the neuropsych reports complete. We'll go from there in January.

When I brought her to school earlier this week, the cutest thing happened. I was bringing the kids in to do drop-off and Mairead was walking while I had the boys in the stroller. As we walked in, this little girl, Rielly, ran over to us, threw her arms around Mairead, said, "Hi Mairead!" and gave her a kiss. Then she said, "It's ok, don't be afraid. We can play."

So, I am even starting to tear up just typing this. Of course, I welled up and had to control myself in the preschool (again) because this little girl was being so kind and loving to Mairead, that meant more to me than just about anything in the world right now. Mairead hugged her back but did not respond verbally, but that's ok. Just the fact that another little girl wants to be friends with Mairead and look out for her is just about the best gift ever.

Of course, then I was all upset because in a few weeks, she won't GO to this preschool anymore and will lose these kids who have become so kind to her. But- I'm focusing on the positive here- what a sweet moment it was!

In other positive news- the boys have slept through the night- the entire night- for the past three days! This is HUGE for me since they literally wake up 2-3 times EACH every night, and have done this for about a year now. It has been incredibly exhausting and frustrating. We tried some new strategies; one that involved me sleeping on the floor in their room at times-- not ideal, but it seemed to work. They seemed to 'get' that I wasn't going to pick them up, so while they were not happy about it, they did drop off to sleep. Let's hope they keep this up!
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