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Journal Key:

Green = Steve | George = navy | Janet = Purple | Evelyn = Black

12/12/13 (Thursday)

Owen got to try out being a lollipop today! When Miss Vina asked him to tell me where he had gone, he was even with-it enough to say "upstairs." I asked him what he had done. Then I had to stay in my kneeling position and listen while he rattled off a long list of names: "I played with guys! They had . . . ." There are a lot of guys upstairs. The official report is that Owen did well.

As we were leaving, Owen realized that his book was missing. The teacher remembered that it was in his nap bag, which had stayed upstairs (he's still a Munchkin until January, though). She went and got it. It was one of the little Spider-Man books. Good thing Owen remembered--we only had eleven more at home!

The kids have been opening a box on the advent calendar every day, Owen on the odd numbers and Cara on the even. Owen decided, this evening, that it's my turn tomorrow. That's really lovely of him, but it's ok: I'm content to have filled all of the boxes.

12/13/13 (Friday)

This evening, Owen ran off during dinner, wanting a movie. He was able to describe it--it had something to do with crocodiles--but we were unable to figure out what it was. I don't think it exists. However, while he was looking through the dvd cabinet, he found something else: the Batman movie from 1966 with Adam West.

Everyone actually enjoyed it together!

12/14/13 (Saturday)

We watched Batman again. It was a not-very-snowy snow day. In fact, Owen was in his pajamas all day. He took a nap. It was peaceful and pleasant.

12/15/13 (Sunday)

Owen and Steve are upstairs; Owen just had a bath. They're having a strange conversation.

Owen: This is my back.

Steve: No, this is your front.

Owen: No, this is my back.

Steve: No, Buddy, this is your back. Do I have to explain this to you every night?

I haven't had to explain this to him. I think it had something to do with Owen needing to lie on his back to get a diaper on. I admit, he's not awfully cooperative about that.

Tonight, after Owen's bath, we got to go to a show in Cara's room. It was a shadow puppet show. She gave us each a quarter, which we had to pay to get in. We sat on her bed and watched as she held a variety of objects in front of a flashlight and made them talk. They said "Hi, I'm _____!" I said "Hi, ___!" Soon Owen was echoing me.

I found the glow-in-the-dark necklaces that Cara had gotten at a birthday party today. I put one over Owen's head. He took it off and put it on Steve's head, where it sat on top. "That is an angel," said Owen. When I found another necklace, I also got to be an angel.

Owen wandered off and found a magic wand. Standing in the middle of Cara's room, he announced that he was doing a show, too. He was going to make the door disappear. He accomplished this by walking through it. Then he came back.

12/16/13 (Monday)

This morning all of the children slept very late. Owen woke up after 7:30, and the two of us had to go in and wake up Cara. It was a late morning. Breakfasts were put into portable containers.

Today Owen was upstairs at YBR again for at least part of the day. One of the attractions of the upstairs seems to be their toy collection. They have "guys." They even have Rescue Bots, or so I heard today.

Owen claims he napped today, but he has a bit of a stuffy nose. Maybe it is the latter that contributed to his being rather crabby this evening. He has been very contrary about many of the very normal, routine things that we typically make him do. One thing he did do well this evening was eat his dinner. He industriously ate up his chicken and pasta, and then moved onto the asparagus when it was put on his plate. "I'm going to eat this all up," he said happily, "and then I'll get a cheet!" I believe he did earn half of a chocolate turkey.

12/17/13 (Tuesday)

I asked Owen today whether he remembered being a baby. Yes, he does. He was a little baby, and then something started to itch on his back, and he started to grow up. Now he's a big boy.

We continue to struggle with the idea that sometimes the things that Owen wants to happen do not happen and sometimes things that he really wants are not what he gets. This is difficult for most of us. Sometimes, it is VERY difficult.

I saw, on a positive note, a little bit of trickle-down happening. When we got home this evening, Owen picked up Cara's headphones. She didn't want him to touch them. He gave them back. He went off to play with his guys. He moved some of them upstairs, and he told Shelby that he didn't want her to touch them. Fortunately, she obeyed.

12/18/13 (Wednesday)

Owen woke up his mother at some point in the middle of the night, and really didn't want to go back to sleep. He preferred lying in his room and screaming. Eventually I got up with him as well, and took him to the potty, then back to his room. Where he still didn't want to go back to sleep. He finally did, eventually. The ladies at YBR said he fell asleep really quickly at nap time!

The other day when I dropped Owen off at YBR, I turned to go and one of the teachers asked me if I knew I had a sticker on my coat. "Is it...a nice sticker?" I asked. Upon removing my coat I found not one but at least three stickers. Eventually I realized that they must have gotten there from my having leaned against the inside of Owen's door in my car. He put a lot of super hero stickers there.

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