First Day of ESY

This post is long, probably boring, filled with the minutae of my day. But I am about capturing the details of the things that happened to me and to us, so forgive this post that has no profound thoughts or musings. It was a busy day and this is how we get through our life. :)

This morning Denis stayed later so he could walk with us 1/2 a block away to the Fairview School for Nikko's first day of ESY. We started breakfast at 8a. By 8:30 I chased Nikko down for a final diaper change and to dress up for school. By 8:45 I hollered at the kids to put on Socks & Shoes/Crocs No Socks. I wanted us out the door at 8:50 latest because I'd have to get the double stroller from the garage, strap the kiddos in and then walk up the block. Good plan, we got there in plenty of time. For the first day, unfortunately, the administration had all the kids meet up with their teachers in the gymnasium. It was chaos, but we were able to locate Mrs. McCarthy at the front of a line of kids sitting on the floor. I saw her aide Mrs. Damerjian sitting alongside the kids, so I pulled Nikko over to say hello. Mrs. McCarthy crouched down to welcome Nikko, and was pulling Nikko toward the group. Nikko figured out that he was being taken away and that we were not staying, so he started to cry and yell. Mrs. McCarthy took Nikko, said, "Good bye, Mom and Dad, we'll see you later, he'll be fine!" and motioned for Mrs. Damerjian to take Nikko. I pivoted and pushed Denis and the double stroller toward the door, saying we had to leave NOW. I turned to glimpse Nikko one more time and saw Mrs. Damerjian holding Nikko a few feet off the ground. He was crying and pushing against her, but her grip was tight and I marched out the door. I told Denis to steer us toward their classroom, #179 down the hall. I could still hear Nikko crying. At the classroom I was surprised to see Ms. Winters. She was there with her daughter, just helping out on the first day. I was relieved because Nikko would see another familiar face and hopefully understand that he was in school but in a different room. Ronin was free of the stroller and walked toward a play mat set up with some trains and bridges. I told him we had to go, and Ronin protested. OF COURSE! He wanted to stay and play, so he cried and sat on the floor, not wanting to go anywhere. Ultimately I had to carry him out and down the block while he cried loudly. I enticed him with the promise of a surprise at home, and that worked as we crossed the street toward our house. At home, finally, I went into my bag of tricks and pulled out some colored feathers. Both Ronin and Audrey oooo'd and aaaaaah'd while I tickled their faces and showed them how to flap the feathers like a bird. Tweet tweet! Tweet tweet! I had to repeat this to Nikko later with more tweeting. We got home, I straightened the living room as best I could because at 4pm was Nikko's team meeting, ate some breakfast, and then was mindful of the time because we'd have to leave around 11:50a to pick up Nikko. This morning we had used the umbrella stroller for Audrey and Ronin walked, but after his tantrum I decided the double stroller would be best to use from now on. The front seat strap is broken, so I might have to use bungee cords until I can rig up something better. We walked to get Nikko, Denis pushing the stroller while I walked ahead. There was a mass of parents and toddlers waiting in the front of the school to pick up their kids, a logistical nightmare in the making. Sure enough, the kids swarmed out and both kids and parents walked around trying to find each other. I kept an eye out for Nikko's teachers and spotted Mrs. McCarthy in the foyer with Nikko on one hand and another girl in the other. She told me that from now on I could drop off and pick up Nikko directly at the room. Fine with me! Nikko seemed ok with the hustle and the bustle, but also very distracted. He walked home holding my hand. Once we got home, I immediately served lunch because Jenna was scheduled for a 1pm ABA session. She arrived, we went downstairs to get Nikko situated, then we left him and he didn't bolt. Thank goodness it seems like he's getting over that behavior, albeit slowly. The rest of us went upstairs, I changed diapers and read Ronin & Audrey a story before putting them down for a nap. Finally, I was able to eat lunch and read the newspaper, clean the living room and the toilet before meeting time.

After ABA, all the kids were in the kitchen so I served up snack and waited for the team to show up. It was Linda, Maria, Melisa and Sarah. Throughout the meeting, Audrey was wandering in and out, Ronin was running around being loud and sometimes intrusive, and Nikko was dashing from the wall mirror to down the hall, holding his yellow feather plus other figures and yelling/making noises. I didn't glean much information from the meeting so I'll have to look at the notes Maria took. I did hear that Nikko mastered some skills and one or two new skills were added. I also heard the part where Nikko has been asked two questions for personal identification: What's your name? and How old are you? He hasn't mastered either and is not getting either of them right although he will echo his name sometimes. Linda said to drop the age question for now and to concentrate on his name, which will serve more purpose in the event that he gets lost and can tell someone his name so it can be announced. I'll bring his notes up tomorrow, sorry, I'm kind of too tired to do that right now. The meeting finished, Nikko was a sweaty mess, and it was time to chill out before dinner. I decided to make some macaroni with tomato sauce for Ronin & Audrey, and boil some portobello mushroom ravioli for Nikko. He never had it before, only the spinach-filled ravioli, so I took a chance. It bombed with him. Grrrr. While Audrey seemed to eat her macaroni, Ronin stated that he wanted SPAGHETTI instead of macaroni. I told him maybe tomorrow, because I was NOT going to cook something extra after all I did. He had nuggets instead, of course. Denis called during dinner to let me know that some dear friends of his from San Diego were driving through on a Florida road trip and wanted to visit us tonight at 8:30p. It doesn't happen often so I said sure, and wondered how late the kids were going to go to bed. Audrey got a bath but I didn't bother with the boys because the chances that they were going to get all hot and sweaty with visitors (that had younger kids) were very good. They arrived, the kids were off and running in circles, jumping from the couch, being loud and having fun, plus some sugary snacks on the side. The kids finally got to bed between 9:30-10p and I wondered how Nikko was able to handle being up all day without a nap while running on fumes. I am pretty exhausted from trying to keep on top of everything today, being on time/naps/team meeting/out of town visitors. And I was pretty hot myself all day, of course. Time to wind down, check on the kiddos, and go to bed! Tomorrow will be the real test of taking Nikko to school with the kiddos, sans Denis, then picking him up. I may take the kids to Mom's house for a visit.