Hotel Mornings

We woke up on the 7th floor. We'd gone to sleep there, so it checked out. This would be a bad hotel for an acrophobe.

Hotels have elevators and breakfast. Something for everyone!

And this one had a pool! I told Shane we should do push-ups to swoll up before any pictures. He jumped in and left me hanging.

Carrie stayed to watch for a little bit which is a step for her. Then the little stink forgot how to swim, because he didn't have goggles. I kid you not.

The stink started to make his way across the pool (which is much shorter and shallower than his lesson pool) got water in his eyes and said, "Help!" He was treading water, trying to blink and wipe away the water in his eyes, and floundering at it. I swam over to him before Carrie jumped into the water with her phone and shoes on. He was near a wall and I would have let him attempt to figure it out if I didn't think Carrie would have dived in.

I made Shane swim a lap across the whole pool to show Carrie, "He just wasn't used to the water in his eyes," but the damage was done. She watched him swim back and forth twice and opted to go back to the room. We stayed and played for at least another forty minutes. Shane likes the water....when it's not in his eyes!

We showered off and crashed in the room afterward. Shane watched a lot more TV than normal.

Carrie fell asleep and I blogged while he was occupied.

We met up with Nana, Pop, Cole, and the foster girls at the kid's museum around 1 PM. Choosing to wait led to meeting up with the foster kids, after all.

The girls were nice, but highly distracted by the mob of toys, kids, and exhibits. Shane was, too! Carrie stayed for a little while, but the museum was packed with kids, noise, and chaos. She left to work in the car (There was a project she was working on).

Meanwhile, play kicked into high gear.

Cole had played with the girls all morning. They'd even gone to McDonald's together for lunch.

He switched gears to follow Shane once we arrived.

The two older girls took off one direction, the youngest another, and the boys another.

Luckily, there were three adults around. I followed the boys.

Our paths crossed from time to time. For the record: I have evidence that Shane did not put paper shreds in anyone's hair.

He may have thrown the first shreds and sown the idea, but his hands are (technically) clean.

Shane is a natural at play areas. He joins a random group or starts his own game. Kids join and he wanders off from place to place doing whatever his current thing is. Shane ended up playing with a group of kids and trying to stop some other kids from "robbering" from their bakery.

Cole's a little quieter. He doesn't jump in as quickly. He wandered off on his own to read some signs and wander on his own. I watched him as he slowly strolled around. Shane, I could hear. Even with all the other noise going on.

I spotted potty sign and suggested a pit stop. Shane was dragged along.

We found Nana, Pop, and the girls downstairs.

Shane loves water. Loves, loves it. He kept at it and hardly even noticed when Nana, Pop, the girls, and Cole left. We stayed and played until Carrie came in looking for a bathroom break.

I warned him not to get wet. I told him he'd get cold. There were aprons. However, I left him to his own devices after my warning. I didn't want to nag and experience is a great teacher.

He was cold.

How much he was dramatizing how cold he was is up for debate. The kid was only a few degrees shy of looking like he'd gone swimming.

I took him outside to try and dry out before we left. It would have been easier if it was warmer, but Shane had fun nonetheless.

We picked up some smoothies and rendezvoused back at Nana and Pop's for the rest of the night. Shane and Cole hopped on Mario Odyssey. The girls played, packed, and then were picked up by the social worker. Nana and Pop had allowed them to stay together for the night by taking them in. Now they were off to their new placement. That's tough. I will be praying for them.

Carrie discovered that Nana and Pop have a ton of Dirty Job episodes recorded. That became the show of choice for the remainder of the trip. Also, I put Carrie on the spot and told Shane she'd tell him a bedtime story. She rose to the occasion and started to tell him a modified version of Sword Art Online (What Carrie likes, she really likes!).

We never did make it hiking to see any waterfalls, but it was a memorable day nonetheless.

A Sudden Turn of Events

It wasn't too early Tuesday to learn something new (according to Nana). She tried to teach Shane how to roller skate for breakfast.

It's probably the one physical activity Nana eclipse's Shane in (unless you count napping!).

Shane might have bruised his way to a deeper understanding, but Carrie came outside to watch. Every fall was a "Strike" instead of a "Suck-it-up." She pulled the plug before enlightenment hit.

Shane went out for an adventure with Nana and Pop and Carrie and I took the opportunity for a date day. I had chicken and waffles for the first time I can remember (Can you believe I'm Texan?) Amazingly good ones, too!.

We went out to explore a little afterward. We went to a tack and a game store. There were no incidents at the tack store, but Carrie accidentally knocked a game behind a display. She wanted to buy a small game as an apology.

She likes kittens and kittens are in.

Carrie and I dropped by Kathleen and Stu's after our escapades (Which included a dollar store, carrying throwing bouncy balls at me from another isle, and discovering an inflatable John). Carrie had work to do and left after a little bit.

Probably a good thing since our son's climbing abilities evoke feelings other than awe in her.

I take a picture, shrug, and go back to the conversation.

Visiting the cousins is one of Shane's favorite activities when we visit SC. He's asked to move to Greenville multiple times.

I can't say I blame him. It'd be a constant party.

If Carrie didn't work with her parents and my retirement wasn't tied to the state, I'd consider it.

Nana left Shane and I to play, so Carrie had to pick us up later. I texted her when it seemed a Cole meltdown was imminent (Evelyn started to stir the pot by kicking him).

I got a call from Nana before Carrie arrived. For the fourth time this week, a social worker called Nana and Pop begging. This time, there was a trio of young girls who needed a place to stay for 24 hours. They talked it over and agreed to host them.

I am proud that my parents follow God's will for their lives and serve the way they do. I grew up with them hosting different people at our house. They started respite and emergency foster care after I moved out, but it was a natural fit for they way God built them. I figured Shane could sleep upstairs with Carrie and I for the night and if the foster kids were too traumatized (you never know what you'll get) we'd go on our own adventures in the morning.

Carrie has more trouble dealing with the unknown. Her old boss, Gaston, told her some horror stories of when his family did foster care, and she was unable to accept the unknown that came with the emergency placement.

We found ourselves in a hotel. Grandma and Grandpa used some of their points (Travel agents earn a lot).

I told Shane we were sleeping somewhere new, so that there would be more beds if needed for the foster kids. Nana and Pop could focus on them and we'd go do some hiking or other activities Nana and Pop weren't up for.

We taught Shane how to play Battle Kittens before bed (Carrie and I had learned the rules and played it earlier on our date).

Carrie and I talked and she agreed to meet the foster kids tomorrow if Nana and Pop said they checked out. Most kids come in on a honeymoon period. They're normally quieter and better behaved as they reel from the shock and change.

I half wondered if I was a wimp for not insisting we stay to meet the foster girls before leaving. However, I felt like it was wiser to make peace in the present to facilitate a better ending.

What happened? Read the next post.

A Worry and Hope

Shane does not play nicely with children his age. The day-care people have mentioned that he doesn't really interact with the other children. He has a tendency to scream, screech, or cry if another toddler or preschooler comes too close or tries to use the same playground equipment he's using. There was a girl on the playground near Carrie's parents when we visited. Shane would throw an absolute fit whenever she tried to come within ten feet of him or interact with Carrie or I.

It doesn't help that our therapist through the county wanted to make sure they tested Shane for autism. She thought that his intense/borderline-obsessive interest in certain things might be an indicator that he was on the spectrum.

The specialists concerns did not concern me at first. Shane's fixating on his interests comes directly from me. Nana coined it 'what I liked, I REALLY liked." An addictive personality. My brother, Patrick, was similar. There was a span of time he refused to wear or drink out of anything that wasn't green. 

The lack of interest in his peers does pull at me. Originally, I was going to write about my concerns and use how nice he is with Baby Cole as a counterpoint. I've seen Shane interact, but his current screaming and raging around peers definitely caught my attention. The specialist's mention of autism keeps creeping back.

I don't think there's a lot of substance to it, though. I think Shane is more spoiled with attention and not needing to share than anything (the perks of being the only child, I suppose). I've seen him interact very nicely with younger and older kids.

Yesterday, Yordy and Kirby visited Nana and Pop to celebrate Kirby's birthday. Shane asks about the boys whenever Nana takes him to watch the school bus at the bus stop. He remembers them.

When Yordy and Kirby first hopped out of the car, Shane began to go into tantrum mode. I told him to "be nice! Nice boys are happy and friendly!" 

Thankfully, he recovered.

It was an absolute blast to watch all of the boys play with Pop-Pop on the trampoline. Shane charged around saying "I gonna get choo!" Kirby and Yordy laughed and stayed just out of reach or turned the tables and started chasing Shane! 

There were some pics on Nana's camera, but here's what my crappy phone captured:

Shane's in the dark blue shirt. He's dive-bombing Pop in the second photo!

I was an outside observer through the festivities. The trampoline's weight capacity was already close to maxed so I just sat and guarded the entrance. Indy kept me busy by begging me to throw her nasty tennis ball! 

If only Shane didn't say "Daddy go away?" it would've been perfect! Somewhere along the way I picked up the rep as the "Taking Care of Business" parent. I'm sure he was partly afraid I was going to make him leave party-land before he wanted! One day the toot will be old enough to realize I revel in watching him cackling, hyper, and enjoying himself.

The IEP for Shane is set for next week on Friday. I don't think they're going to find him on the spectrum, and I'll be relieved to hear that confirmed. Even if they do say Shane has some form of autism, I think he'd be super high functioning and it'd be more something I'd define as "quirky."

Quirky just means you're more interesting, because you're not cut out of the normal mold. 

You know, like Shane's old man!

Lightning Update

I got behind on blogging again, but it's not wholly my fault! The law of irony struck again.

Thursday was my tech interview.

Monday, my work laptop died.

Tuesday, the school interviewing me requested some samples of work I've done.

No laptop = no access to the school server. Thankfully, I'm good about saving my work on the server and not on my laptop. Otherwise, I'd have been royally screwed when the hard drive blew.

Weekly Bullets:

Oh, Saturday.

It's great to have a Saturday where things aren't moving in high gear.

The house inspection was yesterday from 4:30-7:30, so there's no pressing need to watch Shane and clean-up after him at the same time. This week was full-on busy mode at work, and the looming inspection meant Carrie and I spent most of our home-time working as well. All of that's done now! At least until the appraisal, I suppose.

Foster Kids

My parents switched from emergency foster care into long term. Shane's met kids of all shapes and sizes over the past year! Now he's got three 'cousins' who should be around for at least the rest of this school year. All three love him to death and are as hyper as kids can be. They arrived at my parents right before the first weekend in December and Shane's 1st birthday party was one of my first times to meet them.