School etc

 Both kids started school on the 1oth of August (so early!).  It's been... a lot.

We started Bertram on Adderall the day before school started.  We practiced trying to swallow pills al Summer (using M&M minis), but he never got the hang of it.  The nice thing about Adderall, is it's a capsule, so I can pull it open and put it in his pb&j or smoothie.  He has gotten used to the idea of taking it, he was very, very anti-medication.  Of any type.  Getting him to take Tylenol when he's sick is impossible.  I "incentivized" him. I said if he took it for at least a week, with out complaining (or balking), I'd get him a Nerf gun.  (And I hate Nerf guns). So far it's been going well.  I sent an email to his teacher, just to check in.  He's not been disruptive, or non-participatory, like last year.  She said he is actually answered too often, and not giving others a chance to talk.  He's been keeping up with his work.  And he hates PE.  Back to school night is next week, so we'll learn more about both kids' classes then.

Bronwyn, on the other hand, has been having a terrible start to the school year. In the first 3 days, I got 2 calls from the principal, and she was sent home one day.  She got a full-time aide (for the meantime) but she hasn't been helping much in preventing behaviours, so I'm not sure hoe much help she is.  Bron has been hitting, scratching, and just being physical with the teacher and other students.  Everyday has been terrible.  I think a lot of it is it's different from kindergarten (which she has expressed wanting to return to), also, there are a lot of kids in the class (23), and one teacher.  She wants/needs more attention, and there is only one adult. (In kindy, there were usually 3-4 adults). Except, sometimes when she's acting up, the teacher will send her to the SpEd class.  She does very well over there.  So we called for an IEP meeting to see if we could switch her too that class.  During the IEP, everyone seemed to think it would be a good idea for her to switch classes, except the special ed liaison from the district.  She sort of implied that SpEd wouldn't be a good fit, because SpEd is the last resort, and the academics aren't as good.  I'm not entirely convinced that that is the case, since there are a lot fewer kids, and way more adults to help.  But we changed around her RSP time, and she will have a full-time, trained aide starting on Wednesday.  After the IEP meeting, we met privately with the teacher, and she was implied that the district isn't offering us everything she is entitled to.  So everything was/is jumbled in my head.  There are pros and cons to each choice.  It's not as easy as I'd hoped it would be.  Nothing ever is, I suppose.  I think what we're going to do is try the aide for 4-6 weeks, and see how that goes, and revisit.  I'm thinking if the aide doesn't help, then SpEd is the best option for now.  She also can go into the regular class to do some work, and return to SpEd for other work.  We also are getting her re-evaluated for ADHD.  She's very young, but I think she might benefit from some medication.  I think we're going to keep her home on Monday, and (as long as it's ok with the teacher) I'll sit with her all day on Tuesday.  Then Wednesday the aid will start.  Bron has her well-check with the doctor on Tuesday so we'll talk about that.

We'll also talk about her sleeping habits.  I think I've mentioned this before, but she has suddenly stopped sleeping at an appropriate time.  Left to ger own devices, she'll stay up til midnight.  We're been able, the last few days, to coax her into bed by 10ish.  It's doesn't matter if we get her up earlier, how many activities we do during the day, how "tired out" she is, she won't go to sleep.  The melatonin has stopped working for her, so we stopped using it.  Benedryl, which we used on occasion, isn't doing much anymore either.  Dramamine works, but I'm limiting the use for now because I don't want her to become immune, and because it's not the proper use of Dramamine.

I am feeling better.  Except, I'm awake at 5am (since 1:30am).  I talked with my GI last week.  Just a check in.  I'm feeling well, my medicine is working.  But it's been 2 years since my last colonoscopy, which means I get to do that next month.  Yay.  I don't really mind the prep, except being hungry all the time.

I ordered birthday gifts for Aaron, my sister, and my niece.  And next week, I'll buy gifts for my other sister.

We decided to go to Virginia for Fall break.  I was on the fence, because it's expensive for a short trip.  But both kids were lamenting that they didn't get to go to Nana's house this summer.  And they want to see BB's house.  I decided that If I could get tickets under $300 we'd go.  Aaron opted not to go this time, so he'll watch the animals and the house.  We're going from Saturday to Saturday.  I was hoping to do like Friday to the following Sunday, but those tickets were a lot more expensive.  It's also more expensive to fly out of San Jose, so we'll drive to San Francisco.  But it's off hours, and on Saturday, so traffic won't be an issue.  I wish Aaron were going.  It's definitely easier to travel with kids with 2 adults (and I'll miss him).  But I think they'll do okay, they have in the past.

Aaron had his physical.  They want him to lose weight, 40 lbs.  I decided I'm going to get more serious about losing weight too.  So no snacking after dinner (which is hard, because I'm a night time snacker).  And I'm trying to snack less during the day, and walk more.  I've been walking the kids to school, then walking Monty after, so I get more steps.  Aaron doctor also said to take a 20 minute walk after dinner.  We were doing that most days, but we're skipping it because of the heat.  Now we're committed to our evening walks.

The three Weinberg grandkids.

Bronwyn and Aaron made donuts, on a whim.

This and that

 I'm posting from my phone, I'll have to try to remember to add pictures later.

I signed Bron up for a "science camp". It's really a half day class with lots of hands on things to do. Yesterday she lasted 90 minutes. Today she lasted about an hour. I think I'll see if I can sit in the class with her tomorrow, and see if that might help. It's a good lesson for me though, keep her activities on the shorter side.

Last week they had swimming lessons. Bert did great all week, which I expected. Bron did a little less well than I thought she would. She had a full on meltdown one day during lessons, so that was fun. But she needs to be comfortable in the water before she can swim. Maybe I just need to spring for private lessons at some point. Someone who is used to working with ASD kids. 

My mom was here for 2 weeks, which was awesome, as always. And it went by too fast, as always.

Bron had a very low-key Birthday party. Her favourite cousin wasn't able to be there, so it was her cousin Isaac, and Bertram, and that was it for kids. But we had pizza, which she ate. And unicorn cake, which she did not eat. She was really enthusiastic about every gift she received. "Oh thank you!" "This is what I really wanted!" Etc. We got her thank you notes written and sent, so her birthday is officially done.

And we start birthday month. My MiL, my dad, Aaron, my sister, and the kid's cousin. Followed shortly by my other sister in early September.  Hopefully I didn't forget anyone.

The kids start school in about 10 days. We have a meeting with Bertram's pediatrician in a couple days to discuss medication for him, for school. The ADHD is strong with that one. He is hesitant about trying it, but he seems to be willing. At this point, it is nearly impossible to get him to take medicine. I'm hoping it's something I can crush and put in his smoothies.  We've been practicing swallowing pills with mini m&M's, but haven't had any success yet.

Bron is also going to be re-evaluated for ADHD about a month after school starts. She was close to the threshold last time she was tested, so we'll see where she is at this point.

She has been having major bedtime issues for the last month or so. Most nights she is up past 10. Some nights midnight. Melatonin doesn't seem to do anything for her. We've kept a routine, limited screen time, woken her up early, but nothing has made a difference.  Meanwhile, Bertram is a very good sleeper. Asleep by 8 most nights, up at 530 or 6 every morning.

I've been feeling poorly for the past 4 days. Mostly a sore throat. That's my only remaining symptom. I had body aches, headache, low fever and fatigue. It felt like the flu, without respiratory symptoms. I was covid negative.

Let's see, what else has happened? I can't remember if I mentioned this before. I took the kids to the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Bron really had been wanting to go. I should have done a virtual walkthrough with her, so she knew what to expect. They really enjoyed the aquarium, they were feeding the fish lettuce, which was neat. They weren't very impressed by the dinosaur exhibit (which was specifically what we came for). Then we tried to go in the living rainforest. Bron freaked out! She was screaming and crying and saying we were going to die in there for sure. I felt bad, but it's a one way exhibit, so we couldn't just leave. It was hot and humid in there, and I had to carry her up 3 stories of ramps to the top. I was sweating a lot. The whole time Bert kept asking to go home (turned out he had a fever). After the rainforest, Bron was done. It was a short, expensive day.