Sick Day

I knew something was wrong when Alex wasn't anxious to get out of bed this morning. I checked his forehead and he felt warm. When I took his temperature I found that he had a low grade fever. He slept most of the morning, with no appetite; not even for the chocolate cake left over from his birthday party. When he was able to get up in the late morning, he threw up. Now, we needed to focus on getting him liquids.

He laid down in the living room and there I read him 'Dumpy, the Dump Truck', a book he receieved from Grandma on his birthday. It turned out to be a good story for a sick day. Dumpy is a forgotten truck that doesn't run until Charlie and his grandpa take to fixing him. In other words, Dumpy spends most of the story very sick and getting better. Alex loved the story given the context.

Shortly thereafter, he got up and walked back into our bedroom to put himself into bed again. Eventually, I was able to get Alex to suck on an ice cube, which he did with relish by the time he trusted the process enough. I stayed in bed with him for the afternoon while I worked on my homework.

He got out of bed at around 6 PM, still with no appetite beyond the one chocolate chip cookie he ate. At least he drank some water now. I expected him to be up very late, so I made some popcorn and we watched 'The Empire Strikes Back'. Oddly enough, he was sleepy by about only a half hour past his bedtime. We continued the movie in my bedroom and Dan came home. Alex fell fast asleep to the sounds of space battles. I hope he had some great dreams that night.

Do or Do Not Do. There is No Try

I was really proud of Alex's accomplishments in Super Soccer Stars today. Normally, he doesn't follow instruction as well as the other kids do, because he's the youngest in his class this session. (For 4-5 year olds, but he joined it two months ago). There's a developmentally challenged boy in his class named Ian. He was allowed to take the class at what appears to be an older age, but he's really a good sport and kind to the smaller kids. That boy's brother, Luc, is also in the class and I think he's also over 5 (of standard development level). He's a good kid who watches out for his brother and he tries to be gentle with the younger kids. These two are noticeably bigger than the other children. Alex is almost the smallest in his class.

I should also mention that Luc and Ian are French, so they have likely seen a lot of soccer and played a lot of soccer. Luc most certainly seems it. He's the best player there. (I believe he's in the class because it seems that Ian isn't bilingual.)

Today during a team game, Luc was on the team opposite Alex's. Alex isn't a very good player at all because he doesn't follow the coach's instructions. He was supposed to be the goalie, but never stayed there, preferring to play offense. Luc was the goalie for the other team. He was really good. Nothing was getting by him. Alex tried to get goals, but Luc successfully blocked them all and tossed Alex's ball back on the field. Alex had to go chase it and do small kicks back toward the goal, only to lose to Luc again.

At one point, Alex ran up to me with tears in his eyes. "I can't get a goal. He won't let me!" I explained to Alex that Luc was doing what he was supposed to do and that Alex had to keep trying to get the goal. Alex objected through tears that Luc wasn't playing right. (He was. I was watching them.) I encouraged Alex to keep practicing to get a goal and someday he'd be a really good player too.

Alex kept trying and....got one! Against Luc! I told Alex that I was really proud of him for trying so hard against a bigger boy who was a so much more experienced player. I told him he should proud of himself for having kept at it like he did because what he did was really hard.

It took him a few hours to get over the frustration in it all, but by the time Dan came home, Alex was able to boast of the whole story. "And he was a really good goalie, Dad and I still got the goal! I did it because I kept trying!"

Not So Long Ago, In a State Only 10 Minutes Away

Jedi Alex entered our lives. In fact, four years ago today, Alex came home from the NICU at around 1 PM.

Today, we celebrated with Star Wars everywhere. There were balloons and posters. There was confetti and special table settings. There were toys - OH so many new toys. The blasted safety packaging made gift opening take longer than it needed, but Alex showed remarkable patience with it all.

This was the first birthday party on which Alex really 'got it' and understood what was happening. Like he had at Applebee's on the night of his actual birthday, he 'conducted' the crowd along with the Star Wars main theme that I had played upon his entrance into the living room.

We shared his excitement with his new toys. We laughed as he immersed himself into being Obi Wan Kenobi that day, with his new light saber and costume. (He had come into our bedroom early that morning to get a start on his birthday party and spotted the light saber on my dresser.) Prior to the party, he enjoyed being out at the park with Dan and even marching around Food City while they got the luncheon meats.

All around, it was a magical day. Alex told me that it was his 'favorite' birthday party so far. He remembers his pirate party of last year, apparently. But I think he's using photos to inform him about the Blink-Blink party of his 2nd birthday. I KNOW he's using photos to clue him into the Elmo Party of his 1st birthday. In any event, my baby had a very happy birthday.

Birthday Party Excitement

Last night was a long one for Mommy. She was wrapping presents and hanging streamers well into the night. She thought she'd hidden everything she needed to hide - but nope. She forgot to hide the light saber that comes with Alex's birthday costume.

This morning as he walked into our bedroom, he started to talk about how he wishes he had a real light saber. It would be so cool. Then Mommy saw that the light saber was out on her dresser in plain sight. Our good little boy knew it was for him, but hadn't grabbed at it. So, Mommy asked about the light saber and Alex talked about it theoretically.

When she gave it to him, he said 'Oh thanks!' And he's been walking around the living room, spying the streamers and some decorations saying how cool everything is. 'The best birthday party ever', he says. Oh, we hope so.

Welcome Spring! Welcome Sunshine!

After a too long period of neglect of my Cozi journal, I will be trying to get caught up this month. Unfortunately, I will have to rewrite February and March in retrospect, aided by photos and posts on Yuku along with notes I've taken. It's been a crazy several months between the two courses taken: Statistics from September to December '10 and Calculus taken January to May '11. Both had/have required so much work to be done alongside holiday planning, standard housework and Alex's new, more advanced needs.

This is an exciting time in our lives. I don't care to lose a record of it. For now, this day will be spent getting things together for Alex's birthday party tomorrow. It will be a Star Wars theme, along with lots of decorations and a cool triple chocolate cake with a Stormtrooper photo on it. It will be the last 'holiday' of the holiday crunch season. After this, I can concentrate on my WW work and my class. Then May arrives and so does fun. The days are longer now. I can see the light out there! Welcome Sunshine!!!