Life Update

[selenite0]

Started out the weekend by getting the van back from the shop, just in time to let celticdragonfly go to her knitting meetup.

Friday was Jamie's speech therapy appointment. I had the day off, which was good because I need to keep up on the physical therapy routine for him--it's physical enough that it's a lot easier for me to do it than celticdragonfly. She took Maggie off on some errands, because otherwise she's always trying to take over the therapist's attention. That was a lot of fun. Jamie can be a great kid, and he loves the physical play. We're a little worried about his delay in talking. He does have a wonderful laugh, and he does connect on the emotional level. He'll rush up to me and give me a big smile and then go back to playing. So I'm not really worried about autism yet. But it is a possibility, which is why we want to keep giving him the therapy.

We followed that up with a bookstore run. Went to the Borders to see the monthly animal demonstration, but it turned out the zoo guy was in Africa. So we went to Barnes & Nobles and got a discount card (and some books) instead.

Saturday celticdragonfly went off to the ORAC meeting. I stayed home to get a little work done around the house. Jamie went down for a nap after lunch, so I took Maggie out with me to do the work. There was a big pile of boxes to break down. She was my helper--as I finished cutting up each box and stuffing it into the barrel she'd bring me another. When I was cutting weeds and such she just watched. What amazes me is we were in the front yard and I could trust this three year old to stay close to me and come back if I called her. No worries about her running into the street. Wonderful kid.

When Jamie woke up we ran down to ToysRUs to get a kiddie wading pool. Now that the temperature has dropped down to "hot" instead of "OMG heatstroke" we figure we can give them more backyard playtime. Had to go to ToysRUs because everybody else who used to carry the things is now devoting the shelf space to Halloween stuff. I suppose I should be glad for Halloween . . . it keeps them from moving the Christmas season any earlier. Anyway, we got the display one that had been shelved almost to the ceiling. Drove home through darkening skies and got a few raindrops. Washed the dust off the thing, then put it in the shed so the rising wind wouldn't blow it away. Sunday was also cloudy and windy. If I'd known this would've happened I'd've bought the thing months ago.

celticdragonfly returned from the meeting with Gerry and sandytyra, who'd given her a lift. We all went to dinner then came back to watch the first two Dr Who episodes--not the new one, the original. People liked their pacing a lot slower back in the 1960s, didn't they? We enjoyed it. Maggie was practicing for her major, though, so we finally put the kids to bed.

Went to church in the morning. I took Jamie down to the nursery while celticdragonfly and Maggie went to the service. The attendent didn't show so I was stuck there with him through the service. Sigh. I hate missing chances to do stuff together, and discussing the service gives us something new to talk about (which can be hard to find these days).

We've had some issues with the house settling--doors getting misaligned and such. celticdragonfly found out from the ORAC folks that it's standard around here to water your foundation to keep the ground from shrinking. Wasn't an issue last summer with the record rain, but now we're getting a lot of cracks in the ground. I got out the drip hoses the previous owner left here, but they were rotted to the point that I couldn't get water any reasonable distance from the faucet. Time for another hardware store run.

Fencon is coming up and we're trying to get ready. Going to a con with two little kids in tow takes logistics. I also have to prepare for a con game. I'm going to run a GURPS Serenity session. First time I've ever GMed at a con, so it'll be interesting dealing with strangers. Hopefully it'll be a good time all around.

Comments

1960's Pacing

[bkseiver.livejournal.com]

There was a significant phenomenon noted by teachers in the 70's, influenced by the pacing of Sesame Street (first - other shows followed): kids no longer had the attention span of more than a couple of minutes, because that was how frequently topics changed. They had to change all their teaching techniques to deal with it. Suspect the difference you notice is before this trend came along.

Re: 1960's Pacing

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Hm. Must remember to keep Maggie away from TV more. I don't think the shifts in Blues Clues are too bad.

Re: 1960's Pacing

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

This was never more clear to me than over the weekend when we watched Casino Royale, a spoof of the James Bond movies, dating from about 1967 or '68. I *remembered* it as a frenetically paced comedy. Seeing it today, although it was still hilarious, it moved VERY slowly.

I guess my eyes and brain are just not totally equipped for the screen, the banners scrolling underneath, and the inset pictures of something else. It was actually quite nice to see Just One Thing!

[macgyvergal.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to ask-how old is Jamie? Boy are usually a little later to develop language skills than girls. I've got a nephew, Jake, that's nearly 4 and he really didn't talk all that much until he was well past his first birthday. Of course he also has two older brothers and an older sister, so he tended to be the quiet type.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Coming up on 21 months. But his halfbrother is autistic, and he's backslid a bit on the little talking he had done. So we're hoping the therapy can help him.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Plus it's not just us thinking he's talking late - the ECI people evaluated him, and they give us the little info sheets on how much he should be sayihng at given ages. And he's not doing what they say he should be.

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

I could trust this three year old to stay close to me and come back if I called her. No worries about her running into the street. Wonderful kid.

Well, she's been raised right, after all! :)

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

We did have to worry about it with Brendan. And the autistic kid next door to us in California had real problems with it - they had to have special high latches on the doors to keep him from running out and into the street. And they were a lot older than her.