Still a seesaw, not a roller coaster..more up than down

Friday, September 10, 2010 ~ It was a bit chilly, felt like fall. I'm not complaining because it is one of my favorite season! Marisa finally made it upstairs to give Ethan a hug. Ethan was so happy to have both his sister and daddy there with him before starting the fourth day of school. Ethan was in a really good spirit ~ all set for another day of missing mommy or so I'm thinking! After dropping Ethan off, came home to try and sort through Ethan's clothes. I wanted to put away his summer clothes and gather all of his fall and winter clothes. Off course, time just passes by so quickly! Did not accomplish my goal because I started working on Ethan's birthday invitation. My baby is turning three! What a journey it is thus far.

Picked Ethan up a bit earlier. I went directly to his class to surprise him. He was playing by himself, trying to climb on a huge chair. His teachers saw and walked towards him to let him know that he was not allow to do that. When Ethan got off, he saw my face and walked towards me. He showed his sad face and I gave him a hug and a kiss. His teachers said that he was sad during lunch again. What are we going to do? I know that I have to try to let him get use to being with others...be strong Mary, be strong!

Somebody call 911 ~ shawty fire burning on the dance floor...Monday, 9-13-2010 turned out to be so unexpected! It was expected that it would be very difficult to get my children off to school. We had such a wonderful weekend, perfect weather, perfect family time, perfect dinner at grandma's house, and perfect getting to bed. Marisa was still sleeping at 7 am and Ethan wanted to continue to sleep even though I kept hugging, squeezing, singing, and kissing him. We finally succeeded! Van said "I'm not trying to sound like I'm bragging but our son is a pretty good looking boy!" What Van was trying to say was that he loves seeing Ethan the first thing in the morning just because he is such a bright sunshine ~ smiley face, totally affectionate and makes you love life! I teased Van by saying that Ethan looks a bit roughed up right after school ~ from crying because he misses us. Van and I dropped Ethan off and he was ready to carry his backpack on his own. He also was fine with walking to his class with his teacher but grunted for us to follow him to his classroom. We did and said good-bye to Ethan with a hug and a kiss, of course!
Ethan took the bus home for the 1st time, but prior to this...Dr. Neely said, "Something happen today" all that I was thinking was oh no...did Ethan hurt someone because he's trying to hug or help them? Dr. Neely continued to tell me that Ethan went missing for a few minutes. My mind went blank as I watched the teacher's lips moving up and down and her eyes seem so apologetic...I heard bits and pieces - recess, walking inside before the other class, door closed, opened door, followed the kindergarten class back to the playground, the other teacher brought Ethan back into his room, good door opener, and really fast. Now, my hearing was not catching up to my mind...did the teachers not noticed that Ethan was not in his room until the other teacher brought him back? The teacher's assistant said that Ethan was really good in opening up doors...well, does that mean that they did not see when he left the room and did h e open and close the door without them realizing this? I felt bad for the teachers...I knew that this was difficult for them to tell me. I'm glad that Ethan was safe! All that I could offer to the teachers was whether there was anything that I can do to help. I figure that it must be hard to manage eight children with special need. Ethan have always had my attention, 110% or even more so to let him be in an environment where I know that he has to be with other children...it is going to take some getting use to. Dr. Neely said that she has requested that the other class wait until her students are completely in their class. It's funny now to "picture" Ethan roaming the hallway and into the playground but oh boy...I'm going to have to volunteer and be THE "class room mom"! NOT A CODE RED DAY, BUT COULD HAVE BEEN!

I don't know if I should react any which way...I can't blame Ethan...how can I? Just look at this face! The face of "oh mommy, look at me, I wove ouu soooo much and I know that you wove me too! I know that you are not going to be upset with me, no matter what I do because I wove ouuu...cheezzzzzeeee..I did something good mommy, I went outside to play on my o wn...isn't it great that I am such a big boy now?" Thank goodness that Ethan is so pure... holds our hearts in his tiny chubby fingers...I think he knows that too!

Tuesday, 9/14/10 was pretty good even though I did not pick Ethan up from school. I waited for him at the bus stop. Van and I dropped Ethan off this morning...it was so sweet that when we arrived and asked if Ethan wanted to carry his backpack, Ethan stopped in the middle of the hallway so that Van could put it on him. Ethan was so proud to walk on his own and he said hello to everyone that he passes! We had to rush Ethan, otherwise, he'll be late. Did our thing and said good-bye...it was harder for me today just because I knew that I was not going to be coming to the school to get him. Ethan still wanted to follow us out of his classroom but his teacher kept him occupied or she tried to.

I waited for Ethan at the bus stop...the bus came at 11:59 am. I climbed up to greet Ethan. He was so cute sitting in his seat. I saw glimpse of tears but thank goodness, we nipped it in the buds. Brushed that off right away by hugging and kissing Ethan. I was so ecstatic to hold Ethan so tightly while telling Ethan that I was so happy to see him. He was so brave to be without us today!

I lowered Ethan off the bus and let him walk. Boy, it took us ten minutes to walk back home! Ethan had to see everything. He waited to watched birds flying everywhere. He wanted to see what was beneath the grass. He wanted to walk up to our neighbor's home to knock on their door. Ethan wanted to jump from the sidewalk onto the road. He saw beautiful roses and wanted to touch them. We saw wild persimmon trees with lots of fruits!

Ethan saw a puddle of water and had to play in it. Ethan did his "river dance" and I just had to thank God for this wonderful day!

I ended up carrying Ethan the rest of the way home, otherwise, we'll never make it into the house!