01 October 2004 - Holiday Road

We've been busy with all sorts of things lately. After a few administrative bobbles, Zack is enrolled in PreK at Beaty school in Plano. His teacher is Mrs. Brown, and she'll be helping him learn English, learn how to play with other children appropriately, and learn his letters and numbers. Zack continues with Aunt Judy after his half-day of PreK, and Aunt Judy gives him guided playtime and continuing help with getting ready for kindergarten next year.

We tried Zack on medication for his hyperactivity, and discovered that he's better off without it. At a low dose, it doesn't make any difference at all, and at a slightly higher dose he goes a little wonky. We had no way to know if his hyperactivity was biological or behavioral without trying the medication, but now we know and we're treating it as a behavior problem. Fortunately, I have a good background in behavior modification, and Zack is responding very well.

Nicky has made the big leap into full-time kindergarten with flying colors. I drop him off in the mornings at curbside, and he finds his way to his class without any problems. He spends the entire day at school, doing exactly what all the other children do, and I pick him up at curbside at the end of the day. He was officially enrolled last week. My little boy! It's amazing how far he's come. His English continues to blossom, and he plays happily with other children. His latest word is "s'okay," which he uses any time someone says "I'm sorry" to him.

Yesterday we went to the Texas State Fair (yes, there are pictures on the website!), and both boys fried their little brains with all the sights and sounds. This was their first time in a big, noisy crowd, and they did splendidly. Zack started getting overwhelmed near the end of our stay -- I caught him covering his face with his hands a few times, and it was also way past their normal bedtime -- but we had no other problems. They each came home with stuffed animals, blinky toys, and lots of memories.

Zack fell asleep in the car on the way home, but Nicky didn't get to sleep until 4:00 a.m. He didn't exactly spin his head and vomit green pea soup, but he was too excited to sleep more than a few minutes at a time. He kept waking up and wanting to talk, which meant he kept coming into my room and waking me up. I couldn't see punishing him for it, so I just got up finally and did some paperwork until he was ready to sleep.

Unfortunately, Zack woke at 5:00 a.m., so I got one hour of sleep. Nicky slept until the alarm went off, but has been somewhat cranky all day. It didn't help that we had to get blood drawn this morning, either!

We leave tomorrow for Denver. We'll spend four days with Uncle Ken and Aunt Liz, then head to Omaha and spend another four days with Uncle Dan, Uncle Jeff, Grandma, Grandpa, and whoever else drops by to visit while we're there. We'll get back on Sunday, 10 October.

Nicky goes in for his operation on Monday, 11 October, and will be out of school for two weeks afterward. We've stocked up on ice cream, and I bought him a headset radio to listen to while he recovers. Although he isn't wild about the idea of going to the hospital, he understands everything that's going to happen, and is okay with it as long as he knows I'll be there with him.

Aunt Judy and Uncle Steve are going to help take care of Zack while I'm taking care of Nicky during his operation and recovery. Our routine is going to be shot to pieces, first by the holiday, then by Nicky's recovery, but we'll survive. Zack will have to adjust to a longer car-ride to school, and to playing in the afternoons without Nicky, but otherwise won't have his routine distrupted too much. For Nicky, it will be a bit harder -- first he has to endure two full weeks of not swimming, not going to school, and not going out very much. Then he'll have to readjust to school. But considering all the changes they've already been though, this is nothing!

Last night, Nicky patted my head and told me I was a good boy. I guess that means he's satisfied. I think I am, too.