Winter in Indiana

It's been a fairly uneventful winter in Indiana. We have had a good bit of snow, though it seems to be in little chucks and not one big dumping. Aidan hasn't played outside enough in it, which I feel bad about, but Laney won't wear gloves, so I hate to take her out when it is too cold. She will, thankfully, wear her Disney Princess boots and one of Matt's stocking caps. She then heads straight for the swing set. Is she crazy? Nothing like being pushed on the swing in winter. Aidan does enjoy helping daddy shovel the snow. He feels really grown up.

Aidan performed in a Winter Musical earlier this month. He was adorable. Each of the kids had to be a "Community Helper Snowman". Aidan was, of course, a Train Conductor (see photo below). He was really nervous the morning of the performance. So nervous he was having a meltdown and didn't want to go to school. We got him calmed down, he ate breakfast and headed off to school. By the time the performance came that evening, I think he as actually excited. He had to memorize a few lines and talk in the microphone. He was a pro. It was one of those very proud parent moments. He continues to do well in Kindergarten. He's teacher just went on maternity leave, which he is sad about. I tried to assure him that his new teacher will be great. Hope he warms up to her. (Hard to imagine that he wouldn't.)

Laney is wearing a compression vest during the day. It looks a little like a wet suit top, but doesn't have sleeves. It attaches in the back with velcro and it is suppose to feel like a big hug. The purpose is to help her sensory system organize itself, so she can stay focused, complete tasks, etc. Her teachers do think they are seeing a difference. One really fun thing that she is doing is finally singing along with Old MacDonald. She has the "EIEIO" down perfectly and will usually do the animal sound. So cute! Her verbalization really does seem to be improving, so we are very hopefully she'll talk "normally" one day. She is also spelling words out with magnets.

Matt and I are doing fine. He hasn't been getting much substitute teaching work, so I've been working a lot, but that's the blessing of having a job where I can work at home with flexible hours. He continues to plug away at his classes and if all goes well, he's have his Master's completed by May 09!! I'm very proud of him.

I know this post is kind of lackluster, but I hadn't posted in so long-I felt bad and need to do something!! Posting more is something I want to do, but it just doesn't seem to happen. Thanks for your patience. Maybe something exciting will happen in the next few weeks that I can blog about. :)