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 Ethan and I have hit a nice
stride. He's taking another new medication (for about 8 weeks now?) and it seems to be working quite well.
He's gotten his appetite back which is such a relief and he's gaining weight and growing like a weed. I also seem to be able to
be more patient with him since I have more time with him where he isn't quite so hard to manage. It's not a
long term solution in my mind. I would like to get him off medication if possible. But I'm pretty sure that won't happen until
I find some kind of alternative. So, now that it's not an emergency, I can look around. We are going to look
into chiropractic alternatives starting in January to see if it makes a difference. There are also some dietary changes that I
hope to make over time. My goal is to see where he is next summer and attempt to take him off meds when I'm
not worrying about him getting kicked out of school all the time. Because, yes, I did try no meds. And yes, I had to go pick
him up from school.
For now I'm just enjoying him and all the things he does that make me laugh. He's found my "tickle spot" and delights in
making me giggle. He also says the funniest things, like how he warns me, when I'm getting too weird that
I'm "freakin' him out" . He also imitates his principle at school
announcing the day's lunch choices. They have rotating entries and side dishes
"and, as always, the low fat sub" .
Lastly, and one of my favorites, is the
"Polar Bear Creed" that the kids at the school had to memorize. How can you not love that little lisp he still has!
I'd like to end this section with two stories that show you some of Ethan's emerging character traits:
I got a call from Ethan's school not too long ago. The nurse said that Ethan came in with numerous complaints - sore neck,
head hurting, legs feeling weak. He thought he probably needed to come home and she wanted me to talk to him. So
Ethan gets on the phone and lists all the same symptoms that the nurse has just finished telling me about. "Poor boy! It stinks being sick, doesn't it!" I crooned. Then I asked him when he started feeling bad and he said "Just when we
started writing". Hmm. Amazing how it started at such a specific time.... The dialog continued like this:
Me: Oh honey. I'll be right there to pick you up. Then I'll get you home and put you right to bed.
E: BED!?
M: That's right. Sick boys need to go to bed to get their strength back.
E: I'm not sick. I'm just hurt. Hurt boys don't need to go to bed.
M: Oh boy, they sure do. Hurt boys bodies need to rest too.
E: How long do I have to stay in bed?
M: Probably all afternoon. We want your body to heal up fast. So I'll be right there to get you, okay?
E: Well, (he sighs), I think I can probably make it to the end of the day.
And at this point I'm just giggling to myself and wish him a good afternoon. Ethan is crafty, but Mommy is still craftier :)
Ethan got totally obsessed with the whole wishbone thing when he got the smaller half at Grandma's house. We had one too and
he insisted that we do it together. So we broke the bone and Ethan won (thankfully). He then proceeded
to drive me absolutely crazy for three straight days talking about his wish. Would it come true if he wished for this toy?
What if he wished for no more naps? Or no more school? How does the wish come true? If I was a 5 year
old boy, what would I wish for? What kinds of things did I wish for when I was his age? And on and on. It seriously felt ENDLESS.
We were finally at snack one afternoon and I told him that I was done talking about "the wish". He could
either make it now or later but this was the end of discussion. He decided to make it later and we started talking about something
else. For about 30 seconds. "What if I wished for two things, would I get them both?" AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
I got up from the table and told him that I was going to go be somewhere else and to call me when he was done with snack. Two minutes
later I hear him call out from the kitchen "Mommy, I made the wish". Oh, thank all that is good in the
world! I walked to the kitchen wondering what he had finally settled on. What toy was he expecting to drop from the sky? What
miraculous snowstorm would he expect to begin tonight so that there would be no more school until spring? I
sat down at the table and asked what he had decided to wish for. His answer took me totally by surprise and touched me in a way
that I can't describe. I can't think about it without tearing up and being amazed by the generosity of his
heart. Because, you have to understand by now, that he really believes that the thing he wishes for will come to him. And, of
all the things that he could have wished for he said to me "Mommy, I wished for a daddy for you". See, we've
been talking about how Mommy is ready to find a husband (we call it a daddy since that is who it would be for Ethan). And we've
been talking about how much fun this daddy would have to be, how goofy he'll have to be to fit with us, how
he'll have to like to play and read to Ethan. And how happy Mommy will be to have another grown-up to share life with. And so,
of all the things he could have asked for, he asked for my heart's desire for me. I don't know what I did to
deserve him but know that I have a lot to learn from him about being so fully loving and selfless.
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The clock is done. The
clock is done. Holy cow, the clock is finally done. Do you remember that I said I gave Sheila and Rob a
grandfather clock for their wedding present? We'll what I really gave them was the promise of a clock which I've
been slowly working on ever since. I set Thanksgiving as the date and just worked like a crazy person to finish it.
I am SO pleased with how it came out!!! I'm finally learning to overlook all the "mistakes" that no one else will ever
notice and just enjoying the end product. I hope it gives them many happy years of service and that their future
children fight like cats and dogs over who gets it! :) I have some pictures from
