Charlie's Affinity for A's

So far, the boy has been diagnosed formally with Airway Disease, then Allergies, then Asthma. A diagnosis of Autism or Asperger's is in the works. You'd think he'd run out of ways to be defective that start with the letter A, but he's trying Amblyopia on for size.

His appointment is tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how it goes.

here's the first pumpkin i ever carved: the two side views

Charlie is holding his own

While this year's adventure home for Halloween couldn't possibly top last year's, what with its prosthetic arm in the road, trip to a small-town Wal*Mart and dead bear, but it was pretty fun.

I need to back up a week before I start, though.

Charlie has been easing into the gluten-free/casein-free diet for over a month now, and the jury has been out as to whether or not it is working. Yeah, he's making progress, but he's been making pretty steady progress since May, so I hate to just assume that something is working when there are too many factors to isolate.

After last Saturday, I can say with fair certainty that it is working.

Saturday was the day of many halloween parties. While we did our best to carry foods that were acceptable for him and heavily edit anything that made it into his bucket, we clearly failed, as Sunday was the most horrible day we've had in months. He couldnt stop jumping, throwing things, screaming, attempting to kill household pets, biting, shaking--it was like Charlie of six months ago had suddenly reappeared to hit us over the head and show us just how far he'd come.

Monday, Charlie had what I can only describe as a hangover. As the week progressed and the stuff got out of his system, it was like watching in one week what we've been watching over the last half year.

This week, I have been working crazy amounts. When I come home at night, Charlie runs to hug me, yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" He has never done that.

Thursday night, I tried on my ball gown to wear to work the next day and he saw me and bowed, saying, "You're a princess!" He asked where my castle was and took me into the kitchen to dance. Captivated by mommy in purple satin, we spun around and around until he stopped, grabbed daddy's hand and said, 'You dance with the princess!"

On the trip to my parents' last night, he sang a song, all by himself. He sang 3 or 4 verses of The Wheels on the Bus, screaming STOP anytime a sister tried to chime in. It was like having a normal kid in the back seat for the first time I can remember.

I cant remember if i told you guys this

but Charlie has renamed the kids in the family. Dixie is That One, as in, "That One took my toy" or "I hit That One." Melody is This One. "This One in my chair" and "This One need give it to me!" can frequently be heard.

As for Charlie, he is no longer Thawie. He is The Other One. I was closing the door too quickly recently and he ran alng behind, announcing, "No, no! Here comes De Udder One!"

I forgot to include the part where I tell you

how I pimped my laptop.

My friend Sandy is a consultant for Uppercase Living. They do nifty vinyl words and embellishments anywhere from an inch to several feet tall. I keep wanting to be at a place in life where I can place large orders with her and bling-out everything in my life, but I'm not there yet.

I think I may have to place another order, though, because I really NEED flames on my KitchenAid mixer.

She also runs a blog, which you should go check out.
http://www.modern-simplicity.com

I pimped my laptop

Let the partying commence!

We came across this random duck, so we invited it to go trick or treating




Larryboy was not happy about waking up from his nap to go, though we did learn that birds of a feather do in fact flock together




A Musketeer named Viveca made frequent costume changes into her ballgown. See how the cape becomes a skirt and the mask a tiara?




She brought along her trusty steed


and Larryboy was there to Save The Day

She has no future as a detective

Melody woke me up this morning, panicked because she couldnt find Dixie. I looked at all the places she normally ends up: on the floor next to our bed and both couches. I thought I better check her room before Charlie's because I didn't want to wake The Grump.

I walk into her room and look on her bed, where Dixie is sound asleep

I learned this morning that a former student of mine died from H1N1 at age 14. He was a really sweet kid. i had him for 4 years and his dad lived in my neighborhood. he and his sister would come over and play with melody when she was about 2, back in the only-child/little-red-wagon days

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/10/20/1020swineflu.html

Boo!

Did I scare you? I hope I don't scare the fish.



We're getting ready for autumn:



I love the word autumn. So much richer than fall.



Orange is my favorite color.



Yellow and rich reds and bronze browns . . .



What's not to love?



And the best part?



Making Halloween costumes for the Larryboy in my life and turning my Melody into a duck.



This one doesn't photograph too well without a body in it.



While waiting for Dixie to make up her mind already, I got a couple other projects done.



The blanket wasn't supposed to be for Charlie, but he claimed it pretty quickly. The book is his Christmas present. (shh!)



Dixie has finally decided to be Viveca, the purple Barbie and the Three Musketeers character. All I have so far is the detachable ballgown skirt that becomes a cape for fighting in.



And even that needs a bit of work. But I have some fantastic fabrics to work with.H