It's been a minute

 I didn't realize I hadn't blogged for 6 months!  Oops.

I guess I'll start with Curie, since I left off with her. Her birthday is next week!  She'll be one, still a big baby.  She still has a lot of energy.  She did 2 training classes: puppy and intermediate.  She passed the first, but not the other.  We'll retake it at some point, when she's calmed down a bit more.  She love running zoomies in the back yard.  And digging!  This is the diggingest dog we've ever had.  She loves Bronwyn, that's her person.  Bron will grab Curie and hug her, and her tail goes nuts.  In the fall, she cut her paw on something (we never figured out what) and needed stitches.  I think that was $1100 we weren't planning on.  Prior to that she got spayed, which was fine, and the adoption agency paid for it.  She's learned a few commands: sit, paw, down, go to bed.  She loves Monty and the cats. The feeling isn't mutual, except from Waffles.  She likes Curie.  The dog also love boxes!  Well, destroying boxes.  

Speaking of dogs, my dog walking gig is really taking off. I have 2 semi-regular "as needed" people, and 3 weeklies.  Miso is three days a week, Allie is three days, Eddie is 2 days (but his walks are an hour long), and Munch is once a week.  I'll be adding a new dog to the rotation called Enzo, they just live a few blocks away, and he'll have 4 days a week so it's a nice addition.  I had a few one-offs as well.  All in all, I made more that $2100 last year.  I feel really proud of that.  It's been so long since I earned any money.  (While my job, domestic engineer, has a high value, it's unpaid).  I was able to pay for Curie's stitches with my walk money.  I had 2 cat sitting jobs over Christmas as well.  They are the easiest, as they pay well, and they're quick.  Half the time, the cat never comes out.  

Another thing for my last 6 months was tattoos.  I got a matching on with Jessica in September (a silhouette of a cat sitting atop a book) and after that I added on to my flower arm piece (marigolds for dad, lilac for mom, gardenia for Grandma Street and a gerbera, just because I like them.  I got the lines done in one session.  And some of the colour (marigolds) done.  But then Curie got hurt, so I couldn't afford to finish.  After tax time, I'm going to make an appointment to get it finished. 

Last year I read/listened to 109 books. A new record!  If the kids are in school, I can finish the average audio book in about 2 days.  I like podcasts too, but I don't listen to them as often.

Bron just had her annual IEP meeting.  She's doing really well.  The goal, for never year, is to do gen-ed with RSP, and no SPed.  I think that will be a good fit, as she is getting irritated with some of the kids in SPed. And she's doing quite well in the mainstream class.  She is moving into 3rd and 4th grade math on the computer.  She's been in ABA since May, but I haven't seen really any progress.  I was hoping for a little, but it's not doing much for her at the moment.  And, also, we still haven't received a bill for any services.  So that will be a  heavy hitter, if it ever shows up.

Over the Christmas break with dealt with lice for hopefully the only time.  Bron likely brought them home from school.  And somehow, despite very often sharing a bed, I didn't get them.  No one else got them, but her.  We tried for a week, to get rid of them, but kept finding more.  We ended up going to a lice clinic, and $270 later we were lice free.  (fingers crossed)

I spent most of last week sick with a stomach bug.  I had to cancel a couple of dog walks, which I've never done before.  I was so tired.  I forgot how much is sucks to be sick.  And I lost 4lbs.  But I'm sure it's all back now.  Bert had the bug too.  I'm pretty close to well, but he's still not 100%

 I survived my time as a single mom.  Every time I have to do solo parenting, I am always in awe of the people that do that full time.  They are some strong women and men.  While Aaron was gone, I took Bronwyn (and Bertram) to a Scout Pack meeting.  I don't know if it's just our troop, but pack meetings are run poorly, and are generally very dull.  Normally, I would have just skipped it, since Aaron does all the scouting stuff.  But Bronwyn was getting an award, so I wanted her to be there for that.  But then she always gets upset that she didn't win all the awards.  We stayed from 6:30-7:30 and then they'd (and I'd) had enough fun.  

We went to the Fall Outrageous Outgrowns.  (We being Aaron and me).  We often bring the kids with us, so they can choose books, and maybe a toy.  And usually the event is in one big room.  But this time it was in a lot of little rooms.  Some places were hard to navigate with just us two, let alone if we'd brought the kids too.  We got some jackets, and books, and a couple pairs of shoes.  It was a decent haul, considering the set up was not great.  Hopefully in Spring, it'll be in a different building.

I went to Aaron's cousin's baby shower.  She has PCOS and some other issues, so she wasn't sure she'd ever have a baby.  And she got a surprise.  So I'm very happy for her.  Her shower was lovely.  Parties are just difficult for me, I'm fine mostly listening, and chiming in occasionally, but I am not good at small talk.  So, events like that are always exhausting more me.  I don't know when this social anxiety because what it is today, but it's really annoying.  I wish I was more normal.

Bronwyn had a mini IEP meeting last week.  Just so it would be documented that she gets to keep her 1 on 1 aide for the duration of the school year.  Aaron went to that one.  It was right after school drop off, and lasted less than 10 minutes.  So I didn't miss too much. 

Aaron and I realized that we both know her PE teacher.  I went to high school with him, he was a grade or two above me.  He is one of Aaron's friends; friend.  He said Bronwyn is a sweet kid.  Which is good to hear, since at school (at least in her previous class) she's usually a terror.

Friday we went to the Trunk or Treat at Presentation.  It's relatively small, so the kids (specifically Bron) don't get too overwhelmed.  They had fun, and got a good amount of candy to boot.  There are a lot of good costumes now a days.

Bert was Foxy from Five Nights at Freddy's

Bron was a princess.

Saturday was a busy day.  It started out with Bertram's first chess class.  He was all excited til it was actually time to go, then I practically had to drag him there.   While he was in class, I walked around the field track at the community center.  He had a good time (of course) but has trouble understanding the teacher, who has a Russian accent.  After that, it was time for a Bertram and mom date.  I think Bert has been feeling a little left out, because Bronwyn has been needing more attention lately.  So I suggested that I take Bert out this Saturday, and Aaron could do next.  I asked Bert what he wanted to do, and he said mini-golf and IHOP.  Mini golf was fun, it was a nice day, and the course wasn't too crowded.  Plus the big group that was there, let us go ahead of them.  Afterwards, we went across the street to IHOP and there was not a single parking space available in the whole lot.  I asked what his second choice was.  He chose Denny's.  Denny's was also busy, but we were able to park and get a table.  The service was slow, as I'm pretty sure they were understaffed.  But he and I had a nice lunch.  

Aaron and Bron were supposed to do something fun too.  But she opted for Macca's and television instead.  Bron and I napped that afternoon.  She'd been up for a long time (I'm not sure what time, but it was early).  We both had to be woken for the church Trunk or Treat.   She was ,understandably, grumpy.  She never quite recovered.  When we went in, she wore her headphones, which helped some.  But she wouldn't eat anything (not too surprising).  And before the actual Trunk or Treating had started, she had Aaron take her and I home.  (For the record, I was dressed at Totoro, and Aaron was a banana).  

Sunday was one of the few times a year I attend church with the family: the primary program.  Bertram was balking before we even left the house.  He has long declared himself an atheist.  Which is fine with me, I'm 90% there myself.  Aaron still makes him go to church.  Anyway, he said he couldn't participate because it would be lying.  I can understand, and am even proud of his scruples, but the day of was not the time to decide that.  I told him the time to dissent was when they were practicing.  I also told him that some times it's ok to tell a little lie, if it makes someone else happy.  But he was not budging. So he sat by me the whole time.  Aaron got Bronwyn to go up to the front, and he stayed with her.  At one point she started crying, and they left.  He came back with her in her headphones.  (We keep a pair in the car, at home, and at school).  Then she participated.  She read both of her parts, and at the end also sang with the kids.

There isn't too much else on the horizon right now.  I'm looking forward to Daylight Saving Time ending next week.  The sun doesn't come up til after 7:30 these days.  In the next 2 weeks, Bron starts gymnastics, and soccer.  I'm anxious about how that will go.  She is quite the wildcard.  Bertram will be doing a ceramics class in December.  And I'm excited because in the new year, there are actually classes for people my age!  There used to be adult classes, but recently, it has been only kids and old people.  There are a couple or art classes and some fitness classes.  So I'll be signing up for something  once the registration period opens.

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.

Now it's July

 The gym is going well.  I'm mostly enjoying it. I do BodyPump 3-4 times a week.  It's like circuit training that turns into cardio.  Sometimes I do yoga.  The other thing I usually do is the treadmill.  I do an hour, either slow (2.8ish mph) with a 6.5% incline, or 3.8-4mph with a 1% incline.  I generally get to t he gym 5-6 days a week.  Now that the kids are home, it's been more difficult.  On days that Aaron goes into the office, I get up really early, so I can get it done before he goes to work.  On days he's home I can usually go whenever.

At the very beginning of the summer, both kids did swimming lessons.  Bronwyn started Summer school a couple weeks ago, and had this past week off.  I've been doing school type stuff with Bertram as well.  He has a workbook, we do spelling, flashcards, paragraph formation etc. He doesn't mind it too much.  He did a science camp last week in the afternoon. 
(The first day, I drove over to the community center.  And we looked on the schedule of classes but didn't see the science class.  So we went to the lobby and asked where it was.  It took a little bit of looking, but they found the science camp, which was at the other community center, right near our house.  Bertram was freaking out because he's an anxious kid, and like me, hates to be late.  He was going on the whole way there.  Then started in with "Does this make you feel stupid mom?  I'm not calling you stupid, but do you feel stupid?"  We made our way back across town, and went to pull into the parking lot.  But the parking lot was closed off, for painting.  We drove around to the front, which has a horseshoe driveway with no parking.  But we parked there anyway, because we were already 10 minutes late at that point.  Oh, and Bron was with me too.  And she and Bert spent the time that he wasn't worrying, fighting over a toy.)
He enjoyed science camp.  This week he had Minecraft camp in the mornings.  He enjoyed that a lot too, and had a lot to tell me everyday when class was done.

 Since Bron was off school this week, we enrolled her in another week of swimming lessons.  She is doing way better than last year.  She would barely get in the water.  Now she'll get in, and blow bubbles and practice kicking.  Bertram moved up a level in his class.  But he is overly confident in the water.  He doesn't swim nearly as well and he thinks.  Bronwyn is still overly cautious, but gaining ground.  The both have one more week of lessons the last week before school starts again.  

We were expecting Bronwyn to go to the same school as Bertram, and had enrolled her there.  But after an IEP meeting about her transitioning, it was decided that she would have better access to services at a different school.  (There are not enough RSP teachers at Bertram's school to allow for the hours she needs.  And they'd have to pull her from class to work on things (called "pull out").  At the other school, the RSP teacher will be able to help her while she's in class ("push in").  The other school is rated highly, and is our other neighbourhood school.  (The two schools are just about equidistant from the house).  That's all good.  The intention is that once she is used to a classroom with a lot of kids, she'll transition back to Bertram's school.  They think this process with take one school year or less.  The other school has uniforms, which isn't a huge deal, I started stocking up.  The real sticking point is that the two school start and end within 5 minutes of each other.  Right now, Aaron is working from home three days a week.  Those days, he can help out getting one kid to and from school   The other days my in-laws will help out, or someone will likely be late.  Not sure how to swing the afternoons on the days my in laws can't help.  But I guess I'll figure that out when the time comes.

In a week and a half we fly to  Virginia to spend time with Nana and Papa (and aunts, second cousins, etc)  I'm very nervous about flying with the kids.  Last time we flew, Bron was a year old.  She didn't have any of the ASD stuff that she has now.  And noises is one of her big things.  Planes are loud.  The bathroom especially is loud, and she's only been potty trained since January.  The other thing I'm worried about is flight cancelations.  There are been tons of cancelations this summer, And while getting stuck on one end or the other wouldn't be the worst thing, getting stuck at a layover would be pretty bad.  And I'm thinking about all the extra stuff I have to bring in the carry on.  A change of clothes for everyone, things to entertain them, a ton of snacks. I realized last time I flew, I only need my phone and a sudoku book.  But, on the plus side, I got the TSA pre-check so we won't have as long a line at security.

Now it's March

 We had Bertram's birthday last weekend.  I still can't believe he's 7.  He is smart, kind, funny, and sassy.  He loves all things Sonic, Mario, Battlebots and Lego.  He is doing okay with online school, not great.  (I have to add this so I don't forget it.  They were talking about recess in his class.  The teacher mentioned playing with friends.  A little girl said she didn't have any friends last year, and the kids were mean to her.  That makes me so sad.  Then Bert piped up and said "if you were in my class I'd be your friend." And my mommy heart just melted). But I imagine there are few kids who thrive with virtual school.  Maybe if you had just one kid, and a stay at home parent.  But there is a light in the tunnel.  In-person classes are scheduled to start on 21 April.  I am so excited.  I think only about a third of the student body opted for in-person learning for the rest of the school year, so it'll be a small class, but he does much better in person.  

Bertram had winter break (formerly called ski week at the richer schools), in February.  We went to Emma Prusch Farm, The Golden Gate Bridge (and ghirardelli square), and the SF Zoo.  The farm was a hit.  There were chickens and ducks everywhere, and the kids loved that.  The rest were kind of meh.  I mean, I had fun, but the kids were whiny.  The bridge is really loud, because you're right by the traffic, that bothered Bertie.  Bron didn't care much, except she wanted to walk, and she is such a slow walker.  Then she was upset at Ghiradelli because she wanted her own ice cream, not to share with me.  The ice creams were like $7 each, which would have been fine, except I knew she wouldn't eat it.  We tried to walk on the pier with the old ships, but it was closed.  The Zoo was about the same.  Bertram didn't want to walk (he wanted to ride in the wagon), and Bron did want to walk, but is slow.  In retrospect I should have let her walk and him ride.  We weren't in any hurry. The animal they both wanted to see was the river otter.  They both really enjoyed that, and we stayed and watched it for about 10 minutes.  (The rhino's penis was out (maybe erect, but it didn't look like it) and it was weird looking, like it had angles.)  The rest of the time was Bertram wanting to go home, his legs were broken, etc.  Oh, I just remembered, Bron said she wanted to walk, but then would collapse at regular intervals.  On top of all that, the weather was drizzle-y, cold, and overcast.  (Like a common SF day).  

Bron won't wear a mask, so we have the shield hat/

We had Bron's IEP meeting.  She is eligible for a few different services.  Namely preschool, OT and ST.  The problem is the school is currently online only.  And 4 hours a day of online preschool sounds like torture for both of us.  But they don't have to hold her spot for in-person if she doesn't attend virtual. So we're trying to figure out if we want to do it.  I have an email out to our lesion at the district, so we'll see what happens.

The other thing that happened in February is out BT for ABA randomly quit.  No notice given.  So we've been without ABA for almost a month.  Bert's behaviour is worse, and not having the regularity of the ABA has messed with his schedule.  Bron had only started a few week before, but was making progress.  It's really frustrating, as the scheduling guy, Ken, is so slow!  And our supervisor is getting a promotion, so we're losing her too.  Anyway, all that makes me grumpy.

Bron's potty training is also stalled.  She doesn't want to even sit on the potty.  On the rare occasions I can get her one it, she doesn't pee.  I never though I'd have an almost 4 year old still in diapers.

We had been tossing around the idea of a third child.  Our family feels a little incomplete.  But there are a lot of reasons not to.  Either Bert and Bron would have to share a room, or one of them a a baby five years their junior would have to share.  Bron would become the middle child, which sucks.  The kids would be quite a bit older than the baby.  I'm not sure my mental health could take the rough parts of new parenthood.  Plus pregnancy is hard, and I'm already overweight.  We'd probably have to get an actual minivan, instead of the Mazda 5.  And then there are the later costs, mainly college (or whatever post high-school education they want to pursue).  Just thinking out loud.  

ASD stuff:
We had Bertram's IEP meeting on Thursday.  It was much more pleasant than I expected.  Bertram is going to continue speech at school (and through Kaiser), and he is going to have an evaluation for OT through school.  We have been approved for group ABA but I'm still waiting to hear from Kaiser about that. 

Bertram's behaviour at school, last week, was fantastic.  He had two days that were all smiley faces!
Aside from that, things are much the same.  He's been reading a lot, and getting better with phonemic awareness. 

Bronwyn has been talking a lot lately.  She loves to identify all the things she knows.  When she eats she likes to say "big bite!" She can count to 20, identify 1-10, and knows and can identify all the letters.  She loves reading, singing, dancing, and helping.  Now, if I could get her interested in using the potty...

And she is also awake, so now I have to go...

Today/ ASD

Today Bertram had his ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) eval with Kaiser.  We had a few concerns that mostly coincided with school.  There were a couple concerns with preschool issues (that he didn't want to participate in the Christmas or graduation program, really gloaming on to one friend).  Then, this year, with kindergarten, he has been having trouble with transitions, doing work he isn't super interested in, cooperative groups, things of that nature.  He had a couple instances of rocking himself, pulling on his ears, or just laying down on the floor.  (The rocking and ear pulling were new, as Aaron and I had never seen them).  We have been in communication with the teacher a lot, mostly trying to make sure he isn't too much of a distraction, and is keeping up.  We had his parent/ teacher conference last week.  He is doing well academically, and his behaviour is improving (but is still an issue).  He is reading at a 3rd grade level, but his comprehension isn't quite that high.

For the first part, we watched him through a one-way window, as he did different tasks with the evaluator, and we talked to the other doctor about what he was doing, whether it was typical, and translating as needed.  Then we had a break.  Then we did an interview with the doctor and Bertram did an analysis of his ability to learn (I can't remember what that part was actually called), but he scored average, or above average on all that. But in the end, he is ASD level 1, though fairly mild.  The next step will be receiving the full report, and then we will step up ABA therapy.  And we'll have to get a full IEP set up through the school district.

It all feels a little overwhelming at the moment.  And I feel a little sad that there are now more challenges that he'll likely face.  But we'll cross those bridges as they come.