Tell the Truth Tuesday: Ten

I'm not one of those moms who wept over first birthdays or the first day of school. I didn't cry when they were baptized or took their first steps (though the first giggle did make me teary eyed hehe) Birthdays are fun, I love seeing the kids grow and see the people they are becoming. They have fabulous personalities and I truly do enjoy them as they get older, however in a month Gabe is going to be ten and it's absolutely panicking me.

TEN. A decade. Double digits. TEN. That means we've been parents for a decade (and still don't feel like we have a handle on it if we're honest) We've been responsible for another persons' well being for TEN years. Gabe, of course, is super excited. Ten is fantastic. Ten is closer to middle school, ten is closer to a facebook account of his own, ten is closer to I don't know, it's just TEN! Wahoo, ten.

It's weird to think that he's going to be ten because *I* remember being ten. I was in fourth grade and remember it fairly vividly. Time is such a weird concept, isn't it?

Here's to...ten *sigh*

And Yet Another Thing to Deal With

Because our life isn't nearly interesting or busy enough, we've decided to add something to the mile long list of things we deal with every day. We've finally gotten some answers on some of Gabriels' more annoying habits and behaviors and it's a naughty A word...Asperger's Syndrome. This is a diagnosis three years in the making. We've already had ADHD, ADD, and OCD ruled out and now it appears that AS is going to stick. It makes sense, he's been showing signs and symptoms for years, he has a shunt (the stats on children with shunts who also have AS are ridiculously high) and quite frankly, if I'm honest with myself, I've known for years that this was coming.

What does that mean for us? A few more specialist and a few more doctors' bills to pay...and a few new coping techniques, but other than that? Not much. Gabe is Gabe is Gabe is Gabe. He's a little "left of center", a bit odd, a bit of a weirdie...but so are the rest of us. I mean, seriously, Geo and I had an in-depth conversation about the impact beavers have on our environment (fun fact: beavers are the only other mammal capable of changing the landscape as rapidly as humans-chew on that ha ha) today and that's a NORMAL conversation for us.

Gabe is really really bright (look at me being oh so humble) and that doesn't help him. He's so damn smart that when he gets interested in something he needs to know everything about it and then feels like he needs to share it with EVERYONE whether or not they are interested (and with the exception of a few like minded Witkowski's-you know who you are lol-not many people care about the inner workings of a jet or want to hear about Captain America for twenty minutes straight) He's always been socially awkward, we just thought he'd outgrow it...turns out he probably won't but that's ok. We love him, quirks and all :)

The biggest issue now is dealing with being part of two disabled worlds: the visible and invisible. People don't understand why an articulate 8 year old melts down over seemingly nothing. People don't understand that an 8 year old can't wear a tag in his clothes because it literally gives him welts on his skin. People don't understand why he NEEDS to tell you the type of jet they used in World War two and when you cut him off he gets pissed. Asperger's has gotten a really bad rap as of late because so many people are "self diagnosing" themselves; it's become somewhat of a buzzword diagnosis; something parents can slap on their children to excuse pretty much any and every type of crap behavior they'd like to. Those sorts of situations make it much harder for me to say "I'm sorry he's on the floor screaming right now, but he has AS" because no one believes it; they think I'm another bad mother with a bratty kid I can't keep under control. Trust me, that's not the case, no one wants their kid up off the floor more than I do.

Gabe knows he's different; he knows he has a large scar on his back, walks with a limp, and has to see doctors other kids his age don't need to see. He's not stupid, he knows that he has AS too, even if he hasn't been able to put a name to it. He told me the other day that he wishes he didn't have fits or feel "weird" inside, that he doesn't like it and that pretty much killed me. Here's my sweet 8 year old baby who is not only "different" on the outside and knows it, he now knows he's different on the "inside" too. It's a really helpless feeling when your kid tells you something like this; in the meantime all we can do is keep reminding him we love him, keep taking him to the best counselors and doctors we can find, and keep getting up each day with the hope that it'll be a better day for all of us. Because at some point, it WILL be a better day for us, it's just a matter of getting there.

Wordless Wednesday: *sniffle sniffle*

But, he's so polite!

Gabe sees a counselor on Thursdays; Dr. B. She's awesome and we love her (and more importantly, Gabe loves her) today she had an assistant to help with scheduling, etc. She's actually the receptionist/medical assistant from the pediatrician's office downstairs. She was polite and kind and chatted away...until she flung the "r" word out.

The "R" word, is, of course, retard. She said "oh I am so retarded. ah ha ha ha"

I looked at her and politely said "I would really prefer if you didn't say that word."

She said "Um, ok, I didn't mean anything by it, I meant I was being stupid"

My response "And being stupid and being retarded are NOT interchangeable So if you want to say that you're being stupid, just say so. "

She said "I don't know why it bothers you so much"

"Because my son is retarded"

"no he's not" she said

"Yes", I replied, "he is. He is physically retarded"

to which she said "no. no he's not. he's so...polite. there's no way he's retarded"

(at this point I was steaming mad...)

I said, softly, politely-if you will-"Gabe has a hole in his spine as well as other related problems, so yes, he is retarded. Just because he has a physical disability, does NOT mean that he can't have manners"

And at that point, I thought it would stop, but it didn't

She said to me "well, I'm sorry but he's too polite to be that way and I still don't understand why I shouldn't say the word. Besides my nephew is...he's 'like that' and he's fine. He doesn't care if I say it"

I nodded and smiled and the doctor called her away.

A few minutes later, I could tell she was still flustered, whathaveyou so I said as she was leaving, to show that I wasn't angry at her (because I wasn't, more annoyed than anything else) "Have a safe trip home, it's getting icky out there"

She stopped and said thank you and said "you know, my nephew and your son are both really polite, and I don't think of them as having any problems. I just don't. My nephew is really eager to please and I love him"


It's fine that her nephew doesn't care about the word retard being tossed around so cavalierly, that's his choice, but I prefer not to hear it because retard does NOT mean stupid and it's insulting to those who are retarded to have the word stupid equated with them.

After she left, I was still so annoyed that I spoke to the doctor she worked for; the doctor was less than impressed and promised me it would be taken care of. She looked horrified (particularly since she works primarily with children who have Autism and other disabilities) and I'm glad. It's NOT okay to use that word, especially when you're in the position to be dealing with patients day in and day out-of all the people that I've ever encountered, I wouldn't have guessed in a million years a medical "professional" would have used such a derogatory comment-especially while in a medical facility!

I'm just so thankful that Gabriel didn't hear her trying to justify her use of the word, I don't want to have that conversation with him yet. He's too little and doesn't need to know that people out there think less of him and others with disabilities as lesser people, as people whose feelings do not matter. I will protect him as long as I can from the hurtful ignorance of other people...you can count on that.

It was Ah-May-Zing!

Gabe started at a new school this week. He bounded off the bus Tuesday (his first day back) with a huge grin on his face. When I asked how his day was he said "it was AH MAY ZING!" He was darn near giddy with how great his day had been. I was very relieved, I was concerned he'd have a rough day, etc etc.

Wednesday when he came home, I asked "how was your day Gabe?" he said rather dully "yeah, it was fine" I was concerned; he had a great day Tuesday, he was excited to go to school Wednesday morning but the afternoon was a whole different story. We started talking about his day and I asked "so what happened today? what were your specials?" He said he had gym and told me what he did, then said he had library. I asked which books he got and he said "oh some about basketball and race cars" and then he trailed off...I asked "so what's the problem McGooch?"

He sighed very deeply and proceeded to explain why his day was just "fine" (you're gonna love this) If you can, hear this next rambly paragraph in Gabe's voice:

"I went to the library with my class and we were told we could get any book we wanted so I went to look for Calvin and Hobbes but I couldn't find them so I walked up to the librarian and asked her where I can find them because at the big library they are in the 700's but I couldn't find the 700's so I didn't know where they were *deep breath by Gabe at this point* AND then she said, she said I'm sorry but you can't have Calvin and Hobbes until you are in third grade and I told her that wasn't fair because I read them at home and I was just looking for one book that I still haven't read and maybe she would have it and she said no. I just couldn't have them because I am only a second grader and that stinks. She stinks."


A few things about this paragraph:
How great is it that Gabe knows Calvin and Hobbes are classified in the 700's of the library? (741.50 if you want to be specific, but you probably didn't need to know that)

How wonderful is it that he asked the librarian for help rather than saying screw it and ripping shelves apart?

And...how crappy is it that they wouldn't let him check it out because he is in 2nd grade? Gabe isn't one to be too totally obnoxious when it comes to exaggerating things, and I could tell he was very clearly upset about this...I think I'll be talking to the teacher and librarian to see what really transpired at the library, but in the meantime,  I don't think it's appropriate for librarians to decide which books a child should or should not read; in my opinion even if they can't read all the words in a book doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed the opportunity to GET that book anyway...strong readers continually challenge themselves when it comes to reading new material; how else are kids going to learn if they aren't allowed to challenge themselves?!

On the plus side, unlike his first art teacher, he and this art teacher get along swimmingly, he didn't even have to offer to take her on a date! He also loves gym class and thinks his classroom teacher is AWESOME, which I love. Now to get him and the librarian on the "same page" ha :P

Just One More Book

Gabe is a reader. This is a well known fact. He reads constantly and will read pretty much anything he can get his hands on. It's both endearing and frustrating. Tonight at bed I told the kiddos they could only read one book before bed, so pick one and hop under the sheets. Bitsy picked a Simpsons comic book (whatever floats her boat) and Gabriel the little smart alec picked a jet and plane encyclopedia Grampsey gave him. No joke, the book is easily three inches thick. He said "well you did say just one book Mom"

Indeed I did, Gabe, indeed I did. Gabe 1, Mom 0

Bullying

It's estimated that one in six children is regularly being bullied at school; as a teacher I saw it happening (and tried my darndest to stop it) as a kid in school I saw it happening-and had it happen to me, but as a parent, it was one of those things that I really didn't pay any attention to, other than to stress to Gabe and Bits that friends use nice words with each other and we don't ever hit our friends OR allow others to hit us.

I didn't pay attention because it didn't personally affect us; we have enough to worry about without adding bullying into the mix...and that worked for us until this afternoon. Without going into a ton of detail, Gabe was physically assaulted by a kid from his school on the walk from the bus to the apartment. Because of his shunt and the fact that he was hit ON the head with a loaded backpack, he had to see the dr to rule out a shunt problem or a concussion. Our official diagnosis was "multiple scalp contusions" which is medically talk for bruises on the scalp. We're supposed to let him rest and take some tylenol and just keep an eye on him. Tonight he was treated to a late night snack of cheese pizza and a movie with his sister. He's happily laying on the couch in jams, seemingly unfazed by the events of the afternoon...

But I'm bothered...and Geo is bothered...and our little "village" is bothered and now what? What happens next? I'm the mother of a kid who is being bullied and haven't got a damn clue what to do. The teacher in me is saying "go to the school and talk to them about it" the momma bear in me is saying "rip the kids head off" (irony at its' finest) and the rational part of me isn't chiming in because I cannot rationalize ANY situation when violence toward children is EVER acceptable.

For now, I'm just going to snuggle my babies close tonight and hope that tomorrow is better.

The First Week of 2nd Grade

The first week (WHAT?!) of second grade is nearly over. I'm not even sure how that happened. It's been an eventful week to say the least, full of epic momma failings he he. We had supply drop off and Gabe's teacher handed me his name tag and said "please be sure he wears this on the first day" No worries, I stuck it in my wallet where all important things go and then promptly forgot to stick it to his shirt before he got on the bus. Whoops.

How do you follow that up? Oh let's see, how about mixing up bus times so that your kid misses the bus on the second day of school? Yup, that was what I did for an encore. As Gabe and I were walking to the car so I could drop him off at school he said to me "Jeez Mom, way to go, it's my second day of school and I'm already missing the bus"

So today is day three and what will I mess up? NOTHING! His lunch is packed (and double checked!) he has an appropriate snack in his bag for breakfast, a full water bottle, his gym shoes AND his art shirt. The bus leaves in a half an hour and I'll be down there in 20 minutes! I'm guessing, though, given my luck, I'll probably forget to get him off the bus and he'll wander up here scowling, wondering to himself how he got such a negligent mother. I suppose at least, he'll have something to talk about in therapy when he gets older, right?

As an aside, it's recently come to my attention that people seem to think that I'm singling them out when I blog, that my blogs are an attempt to brag about how *amazing* and *wonderful* I am. Let me say this, I started this blog to chronicle my children growing up for family who doesn't live nearby to see what they're doing on a regular basis. Oddly enough if you go back to my first few entries (and you can't right now because I have to fix my url and I'm not quite internet savvy enough to fix it at the moment) it's nothing but "bitsy can say these words: blah blah blah" or "Today Gabe helped me plant our herbs. Look at all the cute pictures" In recent months, I've become more vocal about politics and things I observe. I am going to have to put a disclaimer on my blog, much like the ones in the front of books, "this is a work of (mostly) fiction, identifying names, events, and places have been changed to protect people. Any resemble to people, past or present, is purely coincidental." Because while I may blog about seeing my family or throwing my niece in the pool with Gabe and Bits, when I blog about feminist issues, parenting issues, social issues, etc I'm not blogging about anyone in particular. I'm a reader, an AVID reader. I often see articles on line that spark my interest and this blog is my outlet to say what I have to say about the things I wonder about. Oddly enough, yesterday Geo came across my "potential blog ideas" list and said "what in the world are these? These don't make any sense together" well of course they don't, they weren't meant to be read in order or as a list of things that make sense!

If for some reason, you come across a blog and immediately think "that Chrissi is such a b*tch, here she is blogging about ME and what I'm dealing with" please take a second and ask yourself WHY I would chose to single you out on MY blog. Take a second and think to yourself "Gee, do I maybe have some issues that I need to work out and it's being vocalized here?" I blog about current events, I blog about things that bother me, I blog about whatever the heck I feel like blogging about, without any regard to what other people may say or do or think about what I am blogging. So here it is: My blog is not a direct reflection of any one thing or anyone person in particular; I write to get things out of my system, I write because it gives me a little bit of spending money every once in a while, and I write because I enjoy it...and with all that being said, if you're so insecure that you think every single thing ever written on this blog is about you, perhaps you ought to look a little more closely at yourself-you're projecting your own insecurities on to me and I simply do not have the time, patience, or desire to deal with it. I deal with more than enough in my own life that I don't need you projecting on to me too.

Now back to your regular scheduled blogging about cute kids, annoying rants on feminism, annnnnd whatever the hell ELSE I feel like talking about :)

The Boy and the Bus Saga

Gabe's bus stop is close to our apartment; I can see it from my front window and can be out to the curb in two or three minutes (provided I don't fall down the stairs on my way out) I've been working on getting Gabe to walk to the bus stop by himself; he's been resisting it from the get go-he does NOT want to walk by himself and will refuse to do so.

The last few weeks though, with everyone sick, I've given him no choice but to have to walk by himself (At this point, I should note that it's a safe walk, I can see him, he can see me, he just doesn't like to do thinks alone) a few times a week. This morning I asked him to walk to the bus himself and he actually didn't fuss. He waved goodbye to Bitsy and gave me a kiss. Even more than that, he only turned around ONCE to give me a thumbs up to make sure I knew he was okay walking. Yesterday when he walked to the bus, he turned around about a dozen times to make sure I was watching him.

What a bizarre twist. I was shocked that he didn't need constant reassurance that I was there and pleased that he's become so independent. Now to see if he can keep it up!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Friday was a busy day around here-I was so busy I even forgot to do a Friday Five!! Whoops. I had Gabe's third quarter parent teacher conference that afternoon and was really pleased with how it went. He's continuing to improve in all academic areas; he's reading well, he loves math and science, and apparently is a really great kid to be around (which I knew, but I'm pretty biased) I was lucky enough to meet Gabe's gym teacher-whom he IDOLIZES. He said that despite what he KNOWS are Gabe's limitations, Gabriel always gives 100% and never tries to get out of doing something because he can't do it. He said he wished all the kids had the determination that he has, which made me feel really good. I mean, yes, as a former teacher, you always want to paint the child of the parent you're speaking to in a positive light, but that was above and beyond. I was so touched by that statement-I can't explain it. It's been a long bumpy road to get to where we are, and I'm so pleased to see what an awesome young man Gabriel is growing up to be.

Now, as amazing and as awesome as Gabriel is...he's also a little dickens-this is a note that he wrote his uncle this weekend when we went out for dinner. I'm totally biased, but I think Gabe is absolutely hilarious-thankfully so did Uncle Dole when he was slid this note:

But still...he's a little dickens...he he

Ugh

Round two of the flu-this time it came with pink eye as well :(

Gabe and Hobbes??

 As I've mentioned before, Gabe is ALL about Calvin and Hobbes these days, to the point where he's started quoting the book in regular conversation (which amuses me to no end; I love Calvin and Hobbes so much so that in my classroom I used to have them hanging on my door for the kiddos to read) In the morning when he doesn't want to get up, he yells "I'm not getting out of bed until it's as warm out THERE as it is in HERE" (thank you Calvin) This morning on the way to the bus he said to me "I need fur like a tiger, it'd be so much warmer" He's made references to "Susie Derkins" and Moe the bully as well. He even told me that I couldn't clip his nails because he was growing them out to be tiger claws. If I happen to walk past Sam (Gabe's "Hobbes") in the bathtub wearing Geo's hat, there will be trouble though. (I can't seem to find a picture, but in the comic Calvin doesn't want to take a bath so Hobbes puts on Calvin's dads hat and tie and sits in the tub so mom won't suspect Calvin didn't bathe lol)

Gabe's first love, though, is the Chicago Blackhawks...or so I thought. Saturday afternoon while the Hawks were playing the Wings, I walked into my bedroom to find this...

This, of course, is Gabe in his new Hawk's jersey reading Calvin and Hobbes...
Calvin and Hobbes 1, Hawks 0!

Houston We Have a Problem

And it's getting out of control...

We have books all over the house. At any given time there are five or ten piled up on the table next to my chair in the living room, we have a HUGE plastic crate filled with kids books in the living room, I have a pile of books in the kitchen to be returned to the library, we have two bookshelves in the rec room PLUS a stand that I keep filled with books (and the crate of Montessori books I keep at hand) Then...upstairs. The kids both have a full bookshelf, Gabe has a table next to his bed that is covered in books, today I cleaned under Bitsy's bed and found TEN books that had slid off after she fell asleep reading AND in our room we have a full bookshelf and my night stand has books on top of it that I am reading, not to mention that under the night stand I have a pile of books as well. (did I mention the books we still have in storage OR the books in my "craft" room that are all for crafting?)

Thankfully I have an especially tolerant husband who doesn't seem to mind all these books all over the place (oh...and the cookbooks in the kitchen, how could I forget those? and the pile of books on the back of the toilet...) but seriously, we are being over run with books.

It's completely and utterly my mother's fault. That's right Mom-it's ALL your fault. You instilled a love of reading and books and shopping at yard sales and resale shops (and the library book sales...and church sales and friends' houses...) for books. I rarely pay full price for a book so it's almost as if it doesn't count as a "book" PLUS I'm the Friends of the Library president and I get first dibs on the books when they come in as donations...I am fairly certain that I am providing the FOL with at least 50% of it's profit on books every month ha ha.

Did I mention this is my mom's fault? Because maybe it's not ALL her fault...maybe Gabe is to blame too. I mean, how else do you explain that the other day when I went to the bookstore I couldn't bring myself to pick just ONE book for myself, so instead I got him two new books? (and Bits two new books as well, because really, we have to be fair here...) Maybe if he wasn't such a voracious little reader, I wouldn't have to buy books all the time. Yeah, that's it, it's ALL Gabe's fault.

Well maybe not, maybe it's Geo's fault for putting up with so many books...unlike the yarn balls that he insists I either use or pass on to other people (I just gave away 15 yarn balls...) he never discourages me from bringing books home. So it's Geo's fault, just as much as it is my mom and Gabe's fault.

Before you say "Well why buy books when you can borrow them from the library?" I need to say this, I have a problem. A huge problem, bigger than the books in the house...at any given time there are AT least ten books on my wait list at the library and I have four or five checked out. I am one of those people who DEFINITELY get my tax dollars out of my library membership. At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to read 100 NEW books this year. By March I had surpassed it. I have lost count of the new books I've read this year.

Actually, you know who's fault this REALLY is? My sisters. Yep, it's Tori's fault. She reads almost as much as me (Though a lot of it is for school) and she is CONSTANTLY giving me suggestions for books and of COURSE I have to take them. I mean, what kind of sister would I be if I didn't take her advice on books? Also, I feel the need to add that she also contributes to the amount of books in this house...in fact, the last time we saw her I brought a bag of books home! (I left a bag up there too, so it's a trade off, right??? he he)

Alright, I admit it, it's my own darn fault there are so many books in this house. I love to read, I read constantly, and I can't get enough of a good book (Though I will finish a bad book too, just so I can say I finished it) I read quickly, I read often and I am SO SO lucky that both of my kids have picked up my reading habits. Books transport you to new worlds without having to leave your house, books have the power to inspire, make you feel good, make you realize how good you have it and generally give you a new perspective on life.

and besides that, who doesn't love an excuse to curl up under a fleecy blanket with a hot mug of tea and a book??

Preparing for Battle

We are getting to the hard part of Gabe’s spina bifida. The early years, while tense and filled with worry and grief, were blessedly easy compared to what we’re dealing with now. As a small baby, no one really paid attention to the fact that he wasn’t walking or crawling as fast as the other babies; no one noticed his awful fine motor skills; as far as anyone could see, he was just a baby.

Now he’s six, nearly in first grade (oh my) and it’s becoming more and more evident that Gabe is “different” Watching him on the playground yesterday, smiling, happy, covered in mud and mulch, I couldn’t help but think that he is so amazing. He knows his limitations; he knows what he can do, what he can’t do, and what’s worth TRYING to do. The playground we were at was a “zero barrier” playground; meaning that it’s totally handicap accessible (while I’d disagree with that statement, I will say that it’s MORE accessible than most playgrounds) There were stairs with railings that Gabe could use to get up to the slides, there was equipment on the ground that he could use easily, over all, it was a really nice park. But still, he struggled. He struggled to climb up the rock wall (even the one with “steps” made for smaller children), he wasn’t able to play “chase” with the other kids his age (a huge deal for small kids, they LOVE to play chase) and he was slower on things.

But still…he smiled, he waved, he said hello to people of all ages. He was genuinely happy to be playing at the park, doing his thing, completely oblivious to what his limitations were…or was he? I don’t think he was, I could see it in his face when the kids went to place chase that there was nothing more that he’d like to do than run after them, keep up with them, and not trip and fall when he got up to a good speed. I KNOW that’s what he wanted to do, but he stayed on the slide, smiling as he went down, watching them run off. He watched Bitsy climb up the rock wall seemingly effortlessly as he stood on the ground smiling at her. He’s proud of her for doing what he can’t; in fact, on more than one occasion, I’ve heard him tell her “Good job, Bits, that must have been hard” I don’t know how he stays so positive when most people would be pissed off or depressed about their situation. Lord knows how upset I’d be if I was in his position. As it stands, I get upset when I try to do something but can’t. Even if I know I can’t do something, I still try to do it.

How is it that at six, he already knows more than me? He already knows what his limitations are and how to deal with them? He’s so stoic, brave, and strong in the face of his disability. How has he, in six small years, accepted his fate when even I haven’t? How is he able to be comfortable in his skin, when clearly I am not comfortable FOR him? How’d he already learn which battles to pick? How does he know that fighting his body to write letters and numbers and read are the battles to wage rather than fighting with his body to climb a rock wall?

My mom told me, from the get go, that Gabe was “given” to us to teach us a lesson; here all along I thought the lesson he had to teach was patience (Impatient? Who me? Nooo) I don’t think that was the lesson I was supposed to learn. Maybe the lesson I have yet to learn is when to fight and when not to. Maybe I need to learn to let go of some of the control and just enjoy myself. Or maybe that’s not it either; maybe like all other things in life, Gabriel is showing me that life is a learning experience; that some days are good, some days are bad, and some days are downright awful…but smiling and playing in the sunshine are always good things to do. I guess we’ll see as time goes on, won’t we?

Was His Brain Turned?

Gabe, for those who do not know it, loves Abraham Lincoln; one might even say he obsessively loves Abraham Lincoln. He's always looking for new information on him and thanks to our good friend Jimmy (hey Sailor!) he's gotten quite a bit of info; even how his body was transported back to Illinois (on a train, the most exciting way, in Gabe's opinion, to travel, alive OR dead ha ha)

This morning we were discussing something (his shoes? art class? who knows?) and good ole honest Abe was brought up. Gabe said, "well you know, Abraham Lincoln (always Abraham Lincoln, he never calls him Abe or the Abester, or any variation, just ABRAHAM LINCOLN haha) was shot in the head" Then he made the head jerk motion that I suppose a person being shot would make, which was disturbing, not gonna lie, but anyway, as usual, I digress. I asked him who shot him and he said "John Wilkes Booth, did you know he was an actor?" I said yes, and then asked "why do you think Booth shot President Lincoln?" Gabe said "He didn't like him and he was very sick in the head" I said "What does that mean?" He said "I'm not sure, maybe his brain was turned and that's why he was sick?" I agreed, that maybe it was and it was too bad that he shot P. Lincoln, Gabe concurred then asked if we could go outside.

What a little weirdo; he can talk about Lincoln at the drop of a (stove pipe) hat and then go right back on to the next subject. I wish I spend even ONE hour in Gabe's brain, I bet it's the most fantastic thing ever. It would be going a million miles a minute and would be so entertaining.

This summer we are hoping to take Gabe to Springfield to see Lincoln's home and all the other various Lincoln things. We went through Kentucky on our way to see Geo's sister in TN a while back and at the welcome center we stopped at, there was a big sign proclaiming that Kentucky was the "Birthplace of Lincoln" Gabe couldn't read, but asked me to read the sign. He was VERY irate that Kentucky was trying to "steal" Abraham Lincoln's history and said "who cares, he grew UP in Illinois, that's where he's FROM, not Kentucky" and I swear, the child muttered for fifteen minutes about Lincoln and Kentucky. I just hope that a trip to Springfield doesn't end with us having a rail fence around the house and having to wear stove pipe hats; that would be unfortunate all the way around; none of us look good in those sorts of hats and rail road ties are hard to find :P

Oooh What a Lucky Man He Was

Gabe saw his fancy-smanchy new urologist today (we've seen him once before, but it was a while ago) Gabe's bladder is relatively normal, of course he has some irregularities being that he has spina bifida and all, but all things considered-totally normal. He gave us some interesting perspective that I'm going to share with all of you...it pretty much blew our minds...

Out of all children with spina bifida, approximately 90% of them have OPEN lesions. Gabe has a closed lesion, which puts him in the ten percent of "luckier" children. Out of that TEN percent only 5-10% of those children can use the bathroom they way Gabe can. So, he's in the luckiest 5-10% of the 10% of the luckiest children with spina bifida...he's nearly one in a million (ok, not quite, but to us he is)

Pretty mind blowing, huh? That's what we thought!

200!!

Woohoo. In honor of our 200th post...two hundred pictures!!!

Just kidding, how about two?
Bitsy and Cicero


Gabe and Dolan, his "best" friend

Wow

Today was our day to take Gabe bowling with his best buddy, Dolan, and grandma and grandpa. I'm fairly certain Dolan summed up the day perfectly for him and Gabe when he said "This is the best day of my entire life" as he and Gabe held hands and skipped to the bowling alley. Kids say it best, don't they??

Birthday Recap

Gabe is a popular kid...

Last night we had a small party for Gabe with some close family friends; pizza, pasta, soda, and of course, a Chicago Blackhawks cake and ice cream.

He had a blast and I have pictures, I just have to upload them :P

Tonight is bowling night, which means the kiddos will head over to Grandma and Grandpa's house...and Grandma is having a small party for Gabe there...

Then tomorrow his other set of grandparents is coming over, we're picking Gabe's best friend up, and we're going to Portillos (yummy!) for lunch and then over to the bowling alley for a few games.

Sunday, thankfully, will be a day of rest. Gabe's "official" birthday party isn't until March, really, because we are combining parties for Gabe and Bits. Two parties in the span of one month is not only pricey, but exhausting.

We were a little worried that he'd feel like he had missed out on something not having a big birthday party...looks like we were wrong :D

Thank you to everyone who called, sent cards, or wished Gabe a happy birthday-he had a wonderful day!

*pop*

Oh poor Gabriel...the child has never been allowed to play with balloons because we were told he was allergic to latex (and since I break out/swell when I come in contact with it, we played it safe) Last night, however, we were out having ice cream and there was a magician at the ice cream shop. He was making balloon animals and Gabriel and SarahAnne were staring longingly at them, practically drooling. They were more interested in the balloon animals than their ice cream.

The magician came around and asked if they could have an animal. We figured what the heck, we have benadryl if he starts to itch we'll give him some. He and Bits got animals and were soooo excited about it. No itching, no swelling-definitely a good thing.

Today Gabe has decided to pull apart his animal and make his own. No big deal, just balloons, right? Well...because he isn't really familiar with balloons, he didn't understand that you cannot manipulate them the way you might think you can. What a shock when the balloon burst and flew across the room. Talk about heartbreak...the poor kid, what a shock.

Today he has reminded me, at least a dozen times, that tomorrow is his birthday. TOMORROW not a week from now, not two days from now, but tomorrow. He told anyone within listening range last night that he had a birthday coming up and has been bouncing all over, talking about it today. It must be fun to look forward to a birthday like this, huh? Goofy boy.

Blast from the past picture of McGee...he was about 18 months old in this picture...what a cutie!