Monday Already...

We had such a good family weekend together, that I am always so amazed that Monday comes so fast. I remember when I used to live for my job (obviously, before I had a kids and a husband), and Monday couldn't come fast enough. I was so enamored with my career, and my world that I loved being at work. The weekends just gave me too much time. Now, I cherish every minute I have, and even though there are days during the week when I know I am home with the kids, it's not the same as the weekend. During the week, I'm always rushing to get Erik out the door for work, and then getting the kids breakfast before we rush off to therapy or school. The weekends somehow seem slower, lazier. I know that there isn't a timeline I have to adhere to.

We went to the J. Paul Getty Museum this past weekend, with other families from our support group. One of the moms works at the Getty, so she did a Family and Friends day. What a great day, and what an amazing place to spend a Saturday (especially since it's been so hot everywhere in LA). At the museum, which sits on a bluff overlooking Malibu, and was J. Paul Getty's personal residence, the weather was so pleasant. We all met about 10:30/11 a.m., then toured the museum and had lunch. We were told we could stay all afternoon if we wanted, and considering the weather, we almost did. Owen was having so much fun, walking along the corridors, and looking at the waterfalls and wading pools, saying "water, swimming in the water." For a moment, I thought of how far we had all come: us with Owen and how we dealt with it, Nancy with her amazing little boy Henry, Miriam and her boy, Nicholas, who is so charming and finally walking a little bit!, Jen and Joel with their little girl, Ava, who is the prettiest little girl I've ever seen, and Stacy with her family, including her beautiful little girl Elsie, who has William's Syndrome. I just think how all our lives have collided because of what we probably all thought was originally a bad thing, a horrible diagnosis. And there we were, with our kids who were just being kids, running around and exploring, and we had all survived, we were all okay. I thought of how we were all out there, in the public, showing off our kids because they are just as wonderful as any other kids, just as special, and just as free from the constraints of society's labels. It was truly an amazing moment, when I looked at my son running across marble floors with my husband gleefully chasing him, neither paying attention to what anybody else 'thought' of them.

Nancy and I had a chance to sit and chat (she was the one who invited us). She had missed most of the Mom's Meetings because she had been working on one of the exhibits at the Getty. We talked about how we were advocates for our kids, just by the fact that we were there in their lives, present, and giving them the opportunity to be a part of society. We weren't afraid to bring them anywhere, to have experiences just like everybody else. I'm sure there were people who looked twice at our kids, but so what? I had more people look at Owen and laugh, because his laugh was so infectious. We are giving them a chance to be part of society, to learn at an early age to enjoy what is there, regardless of what people think. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense...

On another note, Owen went back to school today, and he cried for about a minute, and then the minute he turned away from me, he stopped crying. He didn't cry the rest of the class. What a champ he is. I watched him covertly from the car as he walked to his classroom, just following along. What a cute little boy he is. I already miss him being a baby, though. Then when I picked him up (Erik decided to come by too), he was so happy to see us, and clung to Erik. The teacher said he did great, and that he is getting better. I think he's the youngest in his class, so the fact that he's doing this well at all is great. I think their approach is certainly good. He needs a firm approach.

When we got home, his cousins were still at our house, and he just began playing with them, twirling around and showing them a little dance. I couldn't believe how social he was. I think school is really teaching him how to interact. Before, he would have sat down in a corner and watched Nikolas and Emily play. Now, he just joins right in, and wants to play with them.

As for Tess, she is such a sweet little girl. She has thrush in her mouth (it's like a yeast infection in her mouth, gross...) so she has to have this awful medicine four times a day. It's so terrible, and she cries, but when it's done, she's as happy as a lark. I know that she got it from breastfeeding, and a part of me wonders if I should give up breastfeeeding her, since she has begun to favor one side. So the other side is severely neglected and gets really full during the night. I don't' know what to do about it, and I don't want to stop breastfeeding her, because I really like it. I was hoping to go until she gets to be a year old, but she's so easily distracted! Plus, she's hungry, so now she's getting food three times a day. She gets upset if she can't have food at certain times, and tonight, I noticed that she watched me eat every bite. Then she tried to grab my plate. I forget when we are supposed to introduce solid food, but she's not even six months?! It can't happen yet, right?

I love my kids, they are so amazing...will I lose all my readers because I keep talking about how great my kids are?? And one day, I'm going to learn how to post pictures. Here's something to ponder: I'm a pretty smart person, but for some reason, I can't figure out how to post pictures on my blog...