The blessings of fall

This time last year, we were trying to figure out getting Big Oak around with his badly broken, just-put-together-a-few-days-ago, don't-put-any-weight-on-it, multiple-percocet-a-day-painful leg. And we had just gotten Acorn off CPAP completely for the first time (and though we didn't know it, a few days later, he'd be breastfeeding for the first time).

But even so, it was still fall. And while the long evenings at the hospital kept us insulated from the seasons, my drive to work didn't.

I have a really really good job - and even on the bad days, I try to keep that in mind. I get paid lots of money to sometimes do things that make my soul sing, and sometimes do things feel like they will eat me alive. I have insurance that has paid for everything Acorn needs without question. I get to play with cool toys some days, and occasionally my bosses even recognize the really useful stuff I do.

And I have this job, this sometimes good and sometimes maddening job, in the middle of what looks like a park. Every day, if I wanted to, I could go out and walk the grounds, have lunch at a picnic table under 50 year old trees...smell the flowers in the spring and early summer....

...and see the leaves begin to change in the fall, like they are this morning. Dark clouds slipping by in the cool, crisp, dusky dawn, with a mix of dark green, gold, and barely reddish leaves.

Some days, driving to work can be a spiritual experience.

Today's Diaper Post

Dirty Diaper Laundry is giving away a Softbums basic pack - that's one cover and 3 soakers.

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer's Fluff Friday this week gets the winner some Baby Bee Hinds Diapers

Babeelove has a giveaway of Little Bear Bums fitteds on her blog

Playing catch-up

I was home sick yesterday, with a migraine triggered by a muscle spasm in my neck. How fun - NOT!

This morning, I'm back at work, saving the world from insanity - or at least, keeping things moving.

And after yesterday, this week I need to look up a new sign for Acorn - "BITE" - as in, no, Acorn, mommy's toes are not for biting. Mommy's knee isn't for biting either (and the fact that he got enough skin & jeans in his mouth for that to hurt says a lot).

There's another diaper giveaway post coming today too, so be on the lookout for it. I'm sure there are other giveaways I ought to play along with, but nothing lately has struck my fancy. The truth is, there's not much we really need, and we have more stuff than any one family righfully deserves, you know?

more thoughts on prayers

I wrote these two verses tonight - one for morning, and one for evening. I'm not sure I'm done with them, but they're a good start.

Father Sun has ended his day
and Mother Moon is on her way
to watch me while I sleep and dream
she peeks through my window with her moonbeam.

Mother Moon has ended her night
and Father Sun has brought his light
to keep me safe while I play
and brighten up this brand new day.

Therapy - a blessing and a curse

Scheduling, at our house, is a crazy crazy ride.

Since mid-June, Acorn has had 5-6 sessions of therapy a week. 2 physical therapy (PT) hours with the fabulous therapist from our insurance, 2 occupational therapy (OT) hours with the less-than-stellar therapist from the insurance, 1 PT session from the school's early intervention (EI) program (30 minutes only), and the same for OT from the school.

Add in 3-5 doctor's visits a month, plus a nap schedule typical of most toddlers, plus nursing, plus mom and dad working and occasionally having lives, and chaos ensues.

Don't get me wrong - any therapy Acorn can get is usually a good thing. He's behind on milestones because of his time in the hospital, and the only way he'll catch up is with this sort of intensive effort.  But still...it runs our lives. Every interaction, there's a voice in the back of my head wondering what his therapists would think of this latest activity.

And now, to add to the insanity, there's "school." Thanks to our pediatrician, Acorn gets all of his EI services at home, as a homebound student. This includes a whole hour every week with an early childhood teacher. Yes, that's twice as much time as the therapists...she's more important than them, as far as the school is concerned.

It seems odd to me (and I'm sure in the coming week's you'll hear more about our IEP/IFSP drama as I stir the pot trying to get something that works better than what we've got) - his two major deficit areas are expressive language and gross motor skills. She's not a speech therapist, and doesn't encourage him to vocalize. Acorn understands more signs than the teacher knows. So it doesn't seem that she's qualified to help on that front. She does a lot of playing with toys, but nothing that the OT hasn't already been doing. So right now, I'm trying to figure out what her purpose is in our lives, and why she's taking up our time. 

She's pushy about things she really has no knowledge of, like how wonderful it would be for us to meet other EI parents, or how Acorn should spend more time in his high chair.

I was ambivalent about eventually sending him to school....now I'm dreading it, and it's still years away. What a terrible way to encourage faith in the system

And even more diapers

Are you tired of hearing about diapers yet?

The First Time Around has 2 contests right now:
The first is for a Drybees AIO; the second is for a Snap-Ez Eco OS. 

I'm not a super big fan of AIOs, but free diapers are free diapers, you know?

Because diapers are good for the environment...

Monkey Toes Reviews is giving away a Sweet Pea diaper. I'm super impressed - they have loops for making line drying easier! Not that we'll be drying outdoors much soon here in the great white north (it was 50 and raining this morning....welcome to fall!), but it's still a neat idea.