New Year's Day

Sorry, missed a few days due to New Year's. On New Year's Eve we went to Atz's house for dinner with her sister-in-law. The kids did pretty well, eating nuggets and running up and down stairs. They were getting a little restless because I didn't bring toys for them and they were scrounging around Atz's basement for a few cars. After dinner, in the living room, Ronin was getting agitated with Nikko at the coffee table and then threw a little metal car at him. Unfortunately, Nikko was less than a foot away from Ronin when he threw it. Luckily, there wasn't a lump on Nikko's head, but it sure brought on some major crying and an apology from Ronin to follow. We got home around 8:30, put the kids to bed and then Denis and I fell exhausted on the bed. Next time I woke up was 12:10a so I wished him a Happy New Year and got up to load the dishwasher and clean up. We were both up until 4a doing random things.

New Year's Day, this morning, the kids were up by 7:30a so it was business as usual. By lunchtime we prepared to go to Tita Marina's house in Elgin for the family get-together. She has a big house that had ample space to run around. And luckily for us, someone had found a bunch of Disney Cars that probably belonged to her grandchild Anthony, so the boys were preoccupied with Doc Hudson, Ramon, Chick Hicks and Sally for a long time. Ronin eventually took Sally home because he refused to part with her, so we've acquired yet another Car from someone's house to add to our growing collection. The one big visual in my mind today was when Rory pulled out the laser pointer that Denis got Lego (the dog) for Christmas. She shined it on the living room floor and my boys started running and scuttling after it. They had fun, but it eerily reminded me of how Lego used to pounce after the laser point. Nikko looked like a dog to me, scampering after the laser point, and I felt kind of disturbed by that, but didn't tell him to stop since he was having fun. We stayed a good four hours and it was nice to have everyone around, but since Audrey was still lurking around pulling at ornaments and climbing stairs it was hard to fully socialize because we had to keep an eye on the kids. After the gift opening, Nikko and Ronin were fighting over a V-Tech helicopter and that was my signal to get the family going. We got home to have a late dinner, but still managed to put the kids to bed by 9:30. After loading some laundry I flopped on the bed next to Denis, set an alarm for 11p, and zonked out. Snooze-barred the alarm, and didn't get up until 12:05a. I don't really want to stay up until 4a, so I'll get started on the dishes soon. The Orquiolas have a cat that was in the basement, and I didn't think I'd get affected by it, but my throat was getting scratchy and I was feeling itchy on my face. When I got home I just didn't feel as well as I should have, slightly queasy tummy and overall irritability. I feel a little better after the nap.

With the holidays over, I am looking forward to getting Nikko back to school, not to get him out of the house away from me but for the predictability of routine and for some learning again. I tried to keep Nikko from getting bored, and I think he really enjoyed the times that Denis took him outside to play in the snow, but I also think he didn't improve while at home and without doing anything extraordinary. He got some socialization with the family celebrations, so I'm thankful for that. But as I mentioned before, he stimmed a lot and has been a little bit "lost" lately. Maybe we can make the weekend better for him. The ABA people will be meeting with us in two weeks, so our routines will change again soon, and hopefully for the better!