Author: Melissa

we planned  a trip with Cupcake and her mom today.  We all went to Davis’ Farmland which was a ton of fun.  Monkey was a huge fan of all the different goats.  The farm specializes in endangered and heritage farm animals so there were some very unique animals there.  Umma wanted to bring home one of the baby Scottish Highland cows, it would totally have fit in the car.  Too bad they grow up, lol.

There was just the coolest splash park also.  Monkey and Cupcake were both running around and playing.  Monkey watched the other kids and imitated them (laying down in a shallow puddle on his belly, putting his foot over the nozzle, etc.) and he even engaged a little girl in a game.  I’m not sure what the rules were but they both seemed too.  It involved running toward a spray structure shaped like a Jeep and then running away.  I think the goal was to get their bellies but not their faces, lol.

Then the coolest thing???? BOTH kids fell asleep in the car on the way home! Monkey never does that!  It was a good day!

My favorite photo from today.  Monkey, Cupcake and that adorable litte calf I wanted to bring home.

We were invited to the 5th birthday party of one of Monkey’s former classmates yesterday.  Most of the kids at the party were former classmates.  Monkey’s teacher was there as well.  It all started promising.  Monkey was excited to see his friends and he ran around and played with them.  His teacher commented on all the great progress Monkey has made this summer.

Then the music started and he began to toss a fit.  He refused to be in the backyard.  The best I could do was keep him in the alley along the side of the house and block his escape into the street.  He kept signing and saying “home.”

I felt like an absolute ass having to leave the party after a half hour.  I tried to excuse us graciously but I was on the verge of tears after having watched all the other kids dancing, laughing and enjoying themselves while Monkey panicked.  I needed to leave as well.  It was a crappy, crappy day.  Monkey was fine by the time we got home but it took a stiff drink and some sleep for me to shake off the funk.

*Sigh*  I should write the little girl’s mom to let her know why we left.  I tried to explain but I don’t think I did a very good job yesterday.

I’ve taken the next week off from work so that Monkey, Duhdee and I can just *relax.*  Duhdee and I enjoyed out weekend to vegetate so much we decided it was a fine way to spend a week with Monkey.  We have plans to visit a local farm one day and I think we’ll take the train into the city one day as well…we’ll otherwise just have a nice long relaxed period to do just as we please.  We are going to go to Maine again for the last 4 days to spend some time with my parents and my nieces which should be fun.

Ahhhh, I’m relaxed just thinking about it!

It’s a gorgeous morning in the metro Boston area, sunny, 65 degrees, perfect.  I had a wonderful commute in, pondered the potential/pending commercial real estate crisis and how it might affect my job.  I enjoyed the sunshine, people were smiling…I was smiling.

I bumped into a colleague in the hall, as she returned to her office with her  morning coffee, and made small talk.  She asked if that was my little boy on the door of my office (I have two photos up along with a page about Fragile X and the Road Race) and I said it was.  She asked after him and I told her how much I’m loving four, how lovable and huggy he is.  She told me, over her shoulder as she walked into her office, “Nurture that so he’ll make a great husband some day.” 

Immediately tears came to my eyes and it’s taken me a while to recover.  My son, a husband?  I hope he will be.  I fear he won’t be.  I ache for what that loss could mean in regards to grandchildren and, more importantly, his happiness. 

I have to shake off the tears and the fears that lie buried so closely to the surface in my life with Fragile X.  I have to move forward and find that hope that keeps us all going.  I just wish it didn’t have to happen at 9 AM.

It’s nice to have a dad join in on the blogging!

X-Dad

Our neighbors have an adorable little girl, let’s call her Cupcake since she’s so dang sweet.  She is almost 14 months old and she is very fond of Monkey.  She watches him, she follows him and she steals his toys.  Monkey smiles at her, laughs when she tackles him and when she steals his toys, he just finds something else to play with.  Obviously it’s love, right? 

Last night, Monkey was visiting with Cupcake and her mom.  I had to work a bit late and when I got home I stopped by to bring Monkey back home to start the bedtime routine.  Monkey volunteered a “high five*” to Cupcake’s mom.  Normally he only does this when asked so I was excited so I decided to up the ante.  I asked Monkey to give Cupcake a kiss goodnight.   He did!  It was Cupcake’s first kiss from a boy (Daddies don’t count) and it was also Monkey’s first kiss from a boy or girl (Ummas and Duhdees don’t count)  lol. 

and they all, gloriously, did not happen. 

I’m a big planner.  So, when Duhdee and I decided that we’d drop Monkey off with my parents for the weekend so we could celebrate our anniversery I immediately began planning.  We’d get up early, go on a whale watch and have dinner.  OR! We’d get up early, go to some nifty little coastal town and play tourist all day and have dinner.  OR!  We’d sleep in, walk around the city, have dinner and see a movie.

What did we do?  We walked to the bakery and bought a loaf of fresh sourdough.  We walked to the neighborhood hardware store and looked for a canner*.  We picked tomotoes and basil from the garden and made Caprese paninis for lunch.  We spent some quality time with Google researching which type of canner we need.  We went to the grocer and bought steak for the grill, chocolate cake for dessert and then we stopped to rent two movies.  We came home, ate 1/2 the cake and watched Cloverfield (eh, not that scary!)  We grilled potatoes, corn and the steak for a candlelight dinner.  We watched I Am Legend (oh, holy heck!!!) We watched the last few Olympic swimming races and ate popcorn.  It was the most relaxing, quiet day.  We moved at our own pace and did just what we wanted.  We didn’t have to worry about snacks or timing meals so Monkey wouldn’t have a fit.  There was no one to tell us “No! No! No!” when we wanted to hold hands, lol.

Bliss 🙂

Monkey had a great time too.  He did really well with my parents.  He spent a lot of time hanging out with Grampa.  He played in the sprinkler and went on walks with Auntie.  He visited Papa (his great grandfather who lives next door to my parents) and his Great Aunt (who lives just a little bit further down the street.)  His 14 year old 2nd cousin spent most of Saturday with him and he just loves her…the 24 grams of sugar she fed him in the 6 oz KoolAid drink helped *faint*  I guess I should have mentioned that sugaring up Monkey is not a great idea…he wore everyone out before he passed out for the night.

Yesterday, after we moved our strawberry plants from their pot to their new location near the house, we went to pick him up.  We hung out with my family, ate dinner and then went to the beach for an hour.  Monkey had such a good time and it was so nice to see how relaxed and happy he was.  There were no tears until we left the beach which is totally understandable…I didn’t really want to leave either.  Ahhhh…I wonder when Grammy and Grampa will be ready for another weekend?  HA! 

*We found one, no thanks to the teenyboppers working at the store who offered up a TRASHCAN and seem perplexed when I declined and began describing what I was looking for in detail.

It’s 10 AM on a Sunday and I have no idea what Monkey is up to. In fact, I have no idea what he’s been up to in days.  Hopefully he’s enjoyed himself as much as Duhdee and I.  We’ll find out when we pick him up later this afternoon.

Grammy, Grampa and Auntie are all probably dying for a nap right about now so I should probably feel a little bit guilty, right?  Yeah, not so much 🙂