Back in Chapel Hill . . . Again!

Happy Memorial Day everyone. May we remember the soldiers who are giving their lives for our country even as I write. We came back from the beach on Saturday and and comfortably settled into our hotel for the next couple of weeks. This is the nicest place we've stayed yet. And it should be. We all slept like rocks last night and Ben is in his usual good spirits. I haven't been consistently doing ABA with him, but I've been working on things here and there. Yesterday at the park he signed "swing" when I asked him to, completely by himself and I didn't show him how to do it. He remembered! He also did the same thing with "music" yesterday so I really think some things are finally sinking in. He also did his 5 pc horse puzzle completely by himself yesterday, even the tricky neck piece. This upcoming week will be a busy one for me, I have two appointments to discuss the results of the school systems re-evaluation of Ben. I'm so glad the evaluators, or at least two of them, got to see Ben when he's working with Kim, his ABA therapist. I don't think his day at school showcases what he's really capable of doing. I let you know how the meetings go, though I'm preparing myself for a low functioning evaluation, and I'll try not to take it too seriously if that's the case. I don't like to put limits on what Ben might be able to accomplish.

Greetings From Kill Devil Hills!

We're in Kill Devil Hills on the outer banks of NC this week for a relaxing vacation away from our lack of house in Chapel Hill. Our cell phones may be down for a day . . . I seem to have misplaced the chargers and now we have to find a place to buy one. We're heading down to the Cape Hatteras light house today (after mass in Nags Head) and we'll probably be climbing to the top. I'll take pictures. Rob and I both have a thing for lighthouses. Maybe we'll own our own one day. All in all, the kids are doing well. Everybody slept great last night. As always, keeping Ben on the GFCF diet is a royal pain in the you know what when we're traveling. We're doing our best but if you can't carry a Whole Foods around with you, it can be difficult. Ben is really have a great time so far. He LOVES the ocean. Our house that we've rented is a little cottage on the beach. It's simple, nothing fancy, but I think it will be perfect for a week of hanging around. I doubt we'll be hanging around too much, there's actually quite a lot of things to see. We'll go dolphin watching a little later in the week, see Roanoke Island (home of the Lost Colony), Manteo, Duck, Corolla, and maybe the Bodie Island lighthouse too. This area is so full of folklore about sea farers, pirates and ghosts, it's really cool. I'll check back in soon!

All is Still Well

but I'm starting to go crazy in this little apartment. Ben was a little cranky this weekend and didn't want to eat everything he usually does, both of which I attribute to the new crowns he had put in on Friday. He screamed bloody murder the first few times I gently brushed his teeth, but this morning, he didn't cry and tolerated it very well, so I can only suppose that his soreness is going away. I sent him back to school today and his teachers said he did fine and was in a great mood. He's been sleeping well since last weekend (knock on wood!) and since I've been sleeping with him, that's great for both of us. We only have two bedrooms in this apartment and I feel I can't risk waking up the girls with his midnight antics. I really look forward to all of us having our own rooms, and that seems to be getting a little closer to reality these days. Rob is out in Spokane right now and has been looking at houses both on and off base. He visited the school on base today and was impressed the occupational therapist there, whom he said seemed great. The special ed teacher was nice too, he said and right now it looks like Ben will be in a class of seven, with a teacher and two aides. There is only one other boy with autism in the class, and it's K-3. So we're cautiously optimistic that living on base will work out for all of us. Rob says the base houses are fine, and we can have one assigned to us rightn now so it will be ready in June. Cool, huh? I can't wait until June now, so we can get out of Chapel Hill and get on with it. :-)

Surgery is Over, Ben's OK!

Hello everyone. I just wanted to let you know that Ben had his dental surgery today at Fort Bragg - finally! - and everything went well. He was in a cooperative mood and the dentist was able to get everything done that needed to be done. That's a real relief for us, as we're moving next month and would hate to have to tackle dental problems first thing. He's got a mouth full of silver now, but thankfully no more cavities. He tolerates brushing pretty well now, and flossing too, but his damage was done long ago when he was a younger lad, and no amount of fasidious dental hygeine was going to take care of damage already done. But all of it's on his primary teeth thank goodness, as Ben hasn't gotten his 6 year molars yet, nor has he lost any teeth. He's had some crankiness this afternoon, but the anethesiologist said that was to be expected.