The First Snow Day of 2015

In Ohio, we had the first significant snowfall of this winter yesterday into this morning - our local school system cancelled school for the day, so the twins didn't have preschool, either. Kind of nice, since neither of the boys went to sleep before midnight last night - our local Walmart has been out of melatonin for ages now (at least a month). Since they'd gone to bed so late, they slept in a little.

For those of you who don't follow our shenanigans on Facebook, my 4-year-old ASD twins sleep horribly most of the time, melatonin or no - so when Gamble slept until 8, and then went back to sleep after his daddy put him in bed with me, and Gage slept until 9, it's a good day. Their normal wake up time is about 5 am, regardless of when they go to sleep. Kind of makes me wonder if they have too-vivid dreams and wake up from them with the melatonin, because the last several nights without melatonin have been pretty solid sleep, even if they don't get to bed until 11:30/12:30 they're actually sleeping a solid 7-8 hours.

Anyway, we had a snow day today - no school - one day back from their almost month-long Christmas break. I think that one day back to school worked wonders for the boys, though - they have been much better behaved today than any day of their break! Before their grandma brought them their second trampoline this morning, they were taking turns jumping, Gage was dancing around with his 'raver wand' and Classic Rock was playing on Pandora while I washed dishes, scrubbed cabinets and generally cleaned up from their breakfast mess.

This isn't my every-day cleaning ritual, to say the least, but we were expecting our first visit from a home-based preschool program (we'll take whatever extra help we can get with them!) - so for 1-2 hours every Tuesday, Ms. M will be visiting and working on some things with us - including using utensils, not throwing food on the floor and trying new things - I specifically asked if she could come during their lunch time for this reason. We'll also work on some sensory stuff, and they should be starting occupational therapy at their preschool soon, too!

Along with the home visits, we get the services of a behavioral therapist - which, technically, we've had since they started Early Head Start two years ago, but I didn't realize that even if they weren't still enrolled with the EHS, we could utilize our behavioral therapist, so I'm hoping it's the same lady, because I really liked her. And Ms. M said she should also be able to provide some extra tools to help with meal times, since the boys are enrolled in her program.

Honestly, before she called me to ask if we'd like to start home visits, I had no idea the boys could be enrolled in two separate preschool programs. So now they'll have 12 hours a week at their special needs-typical mixed school, and they'll get 1-2 hours a week extra at home. I'm also hoping maybe we can get some extra in-home therapies through our insurance. And I need to set up speech and OT for this summer so they don't lose the progress they've made.

Throughout the day Pricklypants and I discussed the possibility of getting the boys outside to play, and decided we wanted to try to take them sledding. We made a game plan, gathered materials and got everyone ready with triple layers, hats and gloves, and blankets for when they got back in the car...We took two vehicles, knowing that Pricklypants and Uncle M would last much longer than the twins and I (or, me, as it turned out).

I hate the cold. It makes me hurt, it takes my breath away - cold is a bully to me. And really, I wasn't that cold in general, but I had thin, fingerless gloves (only pair I could find) and in the 5 minutes between getting out of the car and getting down the hill, I couldn't feel my fingers, couldn't bend them without immense pain (an hour later they still hurt).

I also couldn't breathe, and carrying my almost 40-pound son up a hill, through the snow, wasn't helping. I let the boys go down the hill a second time, and decided I was in too much pain, and it was too cold, so we walked back to the car (y'know, carrying the twins, because they steadfastly refused to walk) - well, the twins threw an absolute fit about getting back in the car, they weren't ready to leave - but seriously, I couldn't handle it any longer. So I guess next time, they'll have to go sledding with daddy and uncle, because mama doesn't tolerate cold.

Gamble was worn out, Gage almost took a nap but we got home right around the same time he fell asleep, and I forgot to turn the TV off before we left earlier. Nothing wakes Gage up faster than hearing the TV, so of course he was wide awake as soon as I opened the front door and he heard Johnny Test. Gamble napped, though.