May I Have A Birthday "Do-Over" Please?

Yesterday was definitely a birthday that will be remembered!  That doesn't mean it was great, though.  In fact, I'm looking forward to my birthday "do-over".  Haha

You see, the family caught the flu.  Jackson stayed home Tuesday even though I wasn't sure whether he was sick or just sleep-deprived.  (I found him on the computer at 6 a.m. and had no idea how long he'd been there.  It's not unusual for him to wake up in the middle of the night and climb into bed with us.) 

Brotherly Love

I'm so thankful that our boys get along so well.  They still have the usual "sibling rivalry" issues at times but there's been many occasions when it's evident that they really care about each other and look out for one another (Josiah more so on the latter).  Their classes at school are right across the hall from each other and Mrs. Davis (Jackson's teacher) told me that Josiah loves to come over to "get" Jackson and walk him to the car rider area as they leave every afternoon.  In fact, she said that he gets upset if they don't wait by the door for him.  "I'm here to pick up Jackson," he'll say.

Jackson has been at home sick for the past two days.  When I woke up yesterday morning at 6 a.m., I found him playing on the computer and I had absolutely no clue how long he had been there.

Our Little Songbird

Jackson is almost always singing. It's a well-known fact, too. Just ask his teacher who assigned him the Indian name, "Songbird", for their annual Thanksgiving costume party this year. He's a really great singer for his age, too. Most six-year olds have little self-awareness but this is particularly true of Jackson, among others diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I mention that to point out that when he sings, he really sings. He doesn't care who is listening. He is oblivious of whether or not his noise may be bothersome or distracting to someone. He just sings loud and strong. I truly love that about him and I hope it never changes! I love that he enjoys singing so much...but that's probably not surprising to most of you, considering my own passion for music.

Anyway, last night Justin and I were cracking up while listening to Jackson singing one of his new favorite

Cracking Up at Cracker Barrel

The food was good.  The service was good.  The wait was long.

Yet, who knew I had such a polite child?  After waiting patiently for quite a while for our food to arrive, my loving 6 year old son caught our waitress's attention when she came by to check our glasses.  "Excuse me, waiter.  I would like some macaroni and cheese, please."  He had to be hungry.  It was around 7:30 before we even sat down (and I was ready to eat as well).  Even so, Jackson didn't fuss, whine, or pitch a fit.  He just took matters into his own hands and made his desires known in a polite and respectful fashion.

The waitress said she'd go check on his order and it would be out in a few minutes.  As she walked away, he looked at my mom and said, "Well, I think she's going to go tell the chef and then bring my macaroni in a little bit."  If you know Jackson and are familiar with his sing-song, yet matter-of-fact voice, then you can picture how funny this was!

This incident reminded me of another instance that his kindergarten teacher told me about shortly after the school year started.  Apparently, she had called on him to answer a question during one of lessons.  Instead of answering the question, he just said, "Mrs. Freeman, would you stop talking please?"  She wasn't mad or upset with him...just surprised by his response.  Nonetheless, this is not something you say to a teacher.  It looks like at the tender age of six, he's already mastered the art of respectful criticism.  I think this is a character trait that will carry him far, don't you? :)

Jackson's Birth- Part I

If you haven't already read the "prerequisite" to this post, you might want to do so, although it IS optional. ;)

Jackson was born a day after my due date (at least what I considered my due date.  My doctor said it was more like April 8th but I thought April 10th was more accurate.  Turns out I was right...or at least, closer.)  At the time, I was working as a special education paraprofessional at Madison Middle School .  My last day there was April 8th because I thought I was in labor that morning.  When I showed up at school the next day, no one could believe it.  They just knew "Ibby" had joined our world.  Well, one day later he did.

Early, early Thursday morning I went into what the medical community calls "spontaneous labor".  Basically, natural labor.  I remember these contractions felt a bit different than the Braxton-Hicks contractions that I'd been having.  Slightly more intense, closer together, and more consistent.  While I started getting ready, Justin called the doctor to see if this was really it and if we should come in.  She must have asked him if I'd lost my plug because he came into the bathroom (while still on the phone) and asked me if I knew what that meant.  Theoretically, I knew it existed but I really wasn't sure if I had lost mine or not.  (First baby, people.  Still trying to figure things out.)  The nurse told Justin, "Oh, she'd know.  It's hard to miss."  As luck would have it, I lost it a minute or two later...while he was still on the phone!  So, she told us to go ahead and come in.  Once off the phone, Justin came into the bathroom and found me in the shower.  His reaction went something like this:

"What are you doing?!  We're supposed to be going to the hospital."  

"We've got time.  My contractions aren't  that close together yet and I want to look as good as possible for the pictures."  

"This isn't the prom.  You are about to have a baby!"  

"I know.  Trust me, we're good."  

"If you end up having that baby here or in the car on the way to the hospital, don't blame me.  And I'm not going to be very happy about that, either!"  

(Believe me, I know.)

To try to ease my husband's irrational fears, I showered and shaved as quickly as a pregnant woman can and then painted my toenails.  I tried to hurry with that, too, but you can imagine Justin's frustration.  Finally, I was ready to go.  Justin drove like a maniac...which is saying something because many a time I've grown impatient with his leisurely pace.  This time, however, I was more than a little irritated with his speed.  The truck wasn't known for its shocks/suspension and every bump hurt!  In fact, I took to sitting mid-air just to ease the pain.  Justin's behavior was somewhat understandable, though, with this being our first child coupled with the fact that we lived on the north end of town and the hospital was on the south end.  Still, Abilene is no metropolis.  It was only about 15-20 minutes away.

Once we arrived, we had an "informal" check-in and were then sent to a "holding area" (or that's what I called it.  You know, that's where they send you to make sure you are in labor before getting you a room of your own.)  We had curtains for partitions and after only a few minutes in our little "cubby", Justin tells me to put my fingers in my ears and stop listening.  WHAT??  Being the good wife that I am, I humored him even though he wouldn't tell me why.  (Can you picture it?  And I don't know about you, but when I had a contraction, my natural instinct was to put my hands on my sides and my stomach.  You can't so much do that with your fingers in your ears.)  Even with my fingers in my ears, though, I could still hear some of what was going on.  There was another woman in the "cubby" next to us who was pregnant with twins.  Apparently, at least one of them was breech.  She was screaming.  I mean, really screaming.  (That would be the part I heard.)  My sweet husband was concerned that if I heard all that commotion, I'd freak out.  My heart really went out to this woman and I hope she and her babies were ok, but it didn't so much scare me in relation to my own labor.  I don't know why.  It just didn't.

After what seemed like forever, they finally sent us to a room and formally checked us in.  I'll pick up there with the more exciting part of the story next time.  Like I said before, bite-size pieces! :)