End of February

 Bertram's birthday is tomorrow. We're having the family party today. I still can't believe he's going to be 9. I still remember this tiny baby, the chubby cheeked toddler, preschool. Now he's lanky, and funny, and smart still with a mop of curly hair. He's generally a very easy kid, and a good listener. He puts himself to bed at night.  He graduated from ABA this week. He was ready. Well, he says he was ready a long time ago. I think he did it for the right amount of time.

Bron had her first psychiatry visit a couple weeks ago. It went well, she's looking forward to the next one. We have quite a few strategies, but she won't implement them, try as we might. She was off school this last week, but the previous week, she was sent home twice. I'm not sure what to expect when she goes back tomorrow. Well, that's not true. I expect it will be more of the same, unfortunately. She is funny, and smart and kind. But she can be difficult, when she really digs in her heels.  Which is often.  She's reading over my shoulder...

My mom is here, which is awesome. It's always good to have an extra set of hands.  Plus, I love hanging out with my mom.

I took the kids to the aquarium with my dad on Monday. They did well, a good time was had by all. I'm glad we (my dad) has a membership there.

I think I mentioned previously, trying to talk with Bertram about sex. He has shut down all attempts, because it's "weird". So maybe he knows more than he's letting on. But he's been broaching the subject a little bit here and there.  Hopefully, we can have a good conversation at some point in the future. I bought him a book (sex is a funny word), but he doesn't like the illustrations (they're sort of psychedelic, for lack of a better word).  

February catch up

 The biggest news is we bought a car. A new car, not just new to us, I think it had 3 miles on it when we drove it home. I think more exciting than it being new, it's electric. It's very comfortable and fun to drive. It has all the bells and whistles. But considering that our current cars were an 07 and a 2010, anything new, even without the bells and whistles would have been amazing. My dad gave us a some money for the car, we used part of our savings/tax refund to finance the rest through our credit union.  The only thing I don't like about the car is the colour. It's silver. I really wanted a blue car.  I've never had blue (I've had rust orange, hunter green, silver, red, and now silver again).

Bron seems to be getting kicked out of class more frequently since the beginning of the year. She's hitting or kicking, or being generally disruptive.  She just seems kind of angry. And I can't think of any sort of triggering event. There have been no big changes, no traumas. We have an evaluation with children's psychiatry later this week. Hopefully we can help her better express herself.

Bertram has been doing pretty well. Nothing too exciting going on with him. He's had substitutes for the last 3 weeks, because his teacher caught covid. Hopefully, she'll be back today. For the past 3 weeks, he hasn't had any homework, which is a blessing and a curse. Homework is something that is a spot of contention, so sitting down together to do it sometimes feels torturous. But with no homework to do, he doesn't actually have a lot to do after school. I guess on no homework days, I should make him read or do chores or something.  But his behaviour has generally been good. He is set to graduate from ABA at the end of the month.

Aaron has been going on a lot of job interviews as of late. He really doesn't like the way his department is being run, and when he, and other employees voice their concerns they're brushed off, gaslit, or ignored completely. It seems very frustrating and demoralizing. So he's had quite a few interviews (all this within the county), and a few 2nd interviews as well. So hopefully he'll find something that is a better fit for his talents.

I'm presently in Virginia visiting my sister and her new baby, Eddie. Well, I'm staying with my mom and stepdad, but the purpose of the visit was to meet the baby. He's a very serious baby, at least so far. It was/is a short trip Thurs -tues. 

My scrappy quilt 2 is about 80% done. I've had to do a lot of hand quilting. I'm getting quicker, but it's a slow process.  My other current project is my temperature quilt. I've kept up with it so far, except I need to get ahead on my cutting. Maybe, finally get all the squares cut.