First grade track and field day!

Sammy and I spent the day with Elijah at school for Track and Field Day. For the first two hours, it was FUN! It was great to see Elijah out there with the rest of the kids, trying his absolute best. He needed a little help and struggled a bit, but he TRIED! I was proud. On the first "hippity hop" race, he got about halfway before one of the gym teachers carried him the rest of the way.

The second race was a relay, so he didn't have as far to go. He was very much behind everyone else, but he finished!

Sammy even got to run in a race! He was thrilled about it. He got a "participation" ribbon and was telling Elijah's friends that he won first place. "I'm SO speedy! And strong!" :)

It was sunny and HOT! The boys got a little too much sun, despite the layers of sunscreen I slathered on them. I was so busy taking care of them and worrying about them becoming dehydrated that I forgot to put sunscreen on myself. Ouch!

Toward the end of the event, all of the kids were just plain tired. I love this photo of Elijah in the center and everyone sprawled out and so exhausted. He has some really sweet kids in his class! There are a handful of boys I could actually say I adore! They were so kind to and patient with Elijah. They approached him and asked him questions and tried to play silly games with him. Sometimes he responded appropriately and sometimes he didn't. He has improved SO MUCH in this area. Sammy was really comfortable around E's pals and asked them all sorts of things and told them very random things about our family. "My mom likes to take baths at night!"

Tug-of-war was fun. Elijah got a kick out of it, although this was right around the time when I saw the switch flip in him. He went from being happy, cooperative Elijah to I-want-to-make-everyone-mad Elijah. I was his first victim. I saw it coming. He sat down next to me, dug his fingernails into my arm and said under his breath, "I'll smack you in the face." Yeah. :( I couldn't discipline him like I would have at home, so the only thing I could think to do was walk away and sit somewhere else. I saw him cry big dramatic tears as he screamed, "My mommy LEFT ME!" Oh please. A few minutes later, he came over and said sorry and asked me to sit by him. Then I started noticing that he was pushing his friends just a little too hard and grabbing Sammy's arm and yanking him around. I pulled him aside and spoke to him firmly. His response was a screaming, "I DON'T WANT TO SIT DOWN." Ugh.

Sammy had a really rough day, too, so I feel depleted and disheartened tonight. These boys are so tough right now. They are both in tough stages, and feed off one another so negatively. I have been doing EVERYTHING possible to get them good sleep at night, but nothing seems to work.

Sammy was whiny from the moment he woke up this morning. When we got to E's school, he wanted to do absolutely everything his own way. "No, Sammy, you cannot walk through that race! You'll get trampled!" "BUT I WANT TO." Ugh!

At lunch the first graders went into their classroom to eat. Sammy and I stayed outside with some other parents/families to eat our lunch. After I opened Sam's cheese wrapper for him, he FREAKED OUT. "DON'T OPEN MY CHEESE WRAPPER! I WANT TO DO IT!" "Ok, well it's done, Sam, so you'll need to get over it." "GO BACK HOME AND GET ME A NEW ONE SO I CAN DO IT MYSELF!" "Uh no, that's not going to happen." He whined and moaned and cried about that for ONE HOUR. I'm not joking. When we got home, he didn't like something I had said or done so he ran outside in circles in hopes of not being caught. The whole time he was SCREAMING as if I was going to hurt him. "DON'T TOUCH ME! I'M NOT GOING INSIDE!" I finally grabbed him, flailing, hitting and kicking my body, and brought him inside. I carried him to my room and put him in my bed and hugged him until he stopped.

When I told him what we were having for dinner tonight, he told me (as usual) that he'd rather have something else.

If there was ever a question that we might have another child, today confirmed an absolute NO for me.

On a totally different note, Elijah surprisingly had a great afternoon at therapy (PT/OT). And Sammy was a perfect angel in the waiting room. ??? E's wonderful PT chatted with me for a few minutes about the neuropsychologist's report. She has been a PT for many many years, keep in mind. Her words: "That was the best neuropsych report I have EVER read." Based on his report, she requested more time with E from our insurance company and it was granted! She has all kinds of new things to work with Elijah on based on Dr. M's recommendations.

The boys are finally quiet. I am going to go outside and read my new book on Nonverbal Learning Disorders. Have a great rest of your week! Thank you for the white board/chalk board recommendations!