Firstly, we decided that we aren’t moving for another year. We just want to have more time to find the perfect home to buy, and that was proving to be more difficult than we thought.

Secondly, we are starting to make some improvement with baby A. Quite some time ago his pediatrician recommended we get him some speech therapy because he just hasn’t been talking much. At his speech evaluation they recommended an occupational therapy evaluation also, because they thought he may have sensory integration dysfunction. After that the pediatrician also recommended we get him tested for autism. Our autism test has gotten pushed back until the end of April, but we have done all of the other things. The good news is that I really don’t think he is autistic. The reason his doctor wants us to check is because speech disorders (they think he has receptive and expressive language disorders - I don’t think he has any trouble receptively though) well the speech problems and sensory problems are a big part of autism, although he doesn’t seem to have any social impairment which is the defining factor in an autism diagnosis. Getting too medical for ya? Well, I must explain what sensory integration dysfunction is also.

Your senses are like a scale, if you get too much with one you don’t get enough with some others. My son A is very visual. Because he is constantly processing so much visual information his body is lacking in what he gets through touch, or just how his body responds to his movements. Basically, when we would start to run for example our body would feel that pressure and exercise. His body has a hard time feeling that, so he continually is in motion, always trying to push himself further so that his body gets the stimulation it needs. With occupational therapy his body will start to get what it needs (through lots of rough and busy active play). Already I have seen that once we get his body satisfied with movement etc. he clams down so much and is able to pay more attention to books, toys, and speech. It’s funny that it’s such a cascading effect, because he is so visual, his body feels less, which constantly keeps him searching for stimulation for his body, which keeps him from being able to focus on things like speech.

So, I am hoping with this therapy, and working with him on speech, and helping him to do the right activities to get his body on track, all his problems should work themselves out. I do hope we can improve very soon. I would love for him to not have to deal with this once he gets into school. Finding the right school for him will also be more difficult.

So much to say. Have you ever seen a dust cloud or a sandstorm? Here in Georgia this week I have seen clouds of pollen blowing across the landscape. Before living here I had no idea that there were places in this country where you were warned not to go outside if you have allergies, or worse warned not to leave home when the city pollution is so bad that you have smog warnings. Thank goodness we kind of live in the country anyway.

Soon I will be getting back to normal here. There are SO many things I have been wanting to post, so many photos and videos to show everyone. I will be updating my websites also in the next few weeks and get my photography back on track. Anyway, I apologize for the downtime and hopefully it won’t continue much longer.

Hey, I almost forgot - it was just our 4 year anniversary!

I suppose I have delayed enough, so far in one whole paragraph and I haven’t really said anything about the zoo. We had a great time. At first, we were weary (wow isn’t that redundant) about our trip. A hadn’t gotten his nap (days without naps can be pure evil) and things didn’t start out too well. We somehow managed to park our car in a lot near the zoo, but we never did find the correct parking place.

We did manage to get A inside the zoo where he was very excited upon seeing the first attraction, the flamingos. I don’t remember what came next but we quickly made our way to the children’s area to get some of his energy used up. I really don’t like him playing on jungle gyms. He is so much younger than the other kids usually that it’s hard to make sure he is safe. He can climb the ladders and net things there so incredibly well, 5 year olds were being careful but he just goes up with ease. A isn’t around other kids much so when he is he just gets excited and wants to play with everyone. He went to spin some thing in the play area while a much older (6 years old at least) was playing with it. The other boy said “No, I am playing with this” and pushed A out of the way, almost making him fall backwards off of the second story of the play house. I never know what to do in those cases, sure I personally think that kid was a jerk but they may have never played with smaller kids, and not known to be gentle with them. I wanted to say something like “Please don’t push him, he’s much younger than you and just wants to play” but would the other child even listen? Anyway, I still get a little mad just thinking about it.

After that we rented a zoo stroller and bought a huge bag of stale popcorn (See photos in the sidebar) and A was happy. He sat most of the rest of the time just eating popcorn. It was nice. We did take him out to see the gorillas and the reptile house, which he loved. He doesn’t speak a whole lot but pointed at every snake/turtle/lizard and said “that”. It was cute.

Well, that’s pretty much our day. We did make sure to stop in the gift shop where we bought overpriced toys that are already broken. Ah yes, and A peed through his diaper soaking his pants, so we had to get back to the car without pants on him (he did get a clean diaper though, just didn’t have that spare pair of pants when I needed them). Here is a movie of baby A eating crap popcorn and saying “Hi” and “Daddy” although his voice does sound eerily low, sorry the quality sux too.

Enjoy!

My husband and I were driving somewhere when we noticed huge explosions over the water. Wherever we were, it was a large city next to the ocean. In the ocean were tons of navy boats. We concluded that there must have been some kind of military land and sea show going on.

As things continued we were on the street of the city watching (you know how you magically change locations in dreams). The streets were filled with people just like us watching the show. A aircraft carrier suddenly shot off lots of explosives, from within the clouds of fire and smoke hot air balloons rose into the sky. Each explosion produced 6 hot air balloons, with people riding inside of them. When they got over the city they started throwing things down to the people. One right above us dropped a bowl of money.

At this point I think it was a bit of a lucid dream because sadly I knew I would never just be handed a bowl of money. Anyway, inside the bowl were bills, bits of paper, checks etc. Someone in the crowd suggested that I share the bowl with everyone so I took a few things then passed it on. I looked at what I had, two $1 bills, and a check. I looked closer at the check, the name of the account holder was cut off, the memo line said “Account balance $63,868.00″ and the amount line was blank.

I was astonished. A blank check. We could be holding 63 thousand dollars. My first thought was of course to fill it out for the exact account amount. It’s funny because if someone gave us that much cash, we would definitely use it all without question. The idea of a blank check really give you a choice. I didn’t know if we should use it at all, or give it to charity, or use a portion. I thought of all the great and useful things we could do with that money. I also thought of how many people could use it so much more than we could. What about the benefactor? What if that is his/her life savings? What about a billionaire who would hardly notice it was gone? In any case, I knew that it was going to be a long hard decision to make.

What would you do?

In other news, updates are now finished! They were actually done some time ago but it took a bit to get some other things done with this update. One of which is the groovy new “Share This Post” button. Try it out. I will be posting as much as possible this weekend, but should be back to the regular schedule on Monday.

What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
- There are so many new things you experience with a first child, far too many to list. We did take our first real family vacation.

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions? Will you make more for 2007?
- I didn’t have much of a resolution last year. I resolve to make 2007 a healthier year, in every way. I just thought of another fantastic resolution, and also just forgot it. It’s too bad, maybe it would have changed the world.

What places did you visit?
- Our first family vacation to Florida, and a mini trip to Colorado.

What events marked 2006?
- J started a new job. J bought a car. I started my photography business, and many websites.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
- Everybody is having babies lately.

Did anyone close to you die?
- No, it has been a pretty healthy year for everyone.

What do you wish you’d done more of?
- Saved more money (just like last year), taken more trips to the park.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
- Could have spent less money (although I am sure that if I had it to do over again I would spend the same or much more). Could have eaten less, that would have been great. (Those two things I took directly from last year, man I am predictable.)

What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
- I think we are buying a home this summer, that will be fantastic. I would also like to have health insurance that costs less per month than paying for a doctors visit out of our own pockets. (You don’t want to get me started on the problem with health care in this country. We are so much more fortunate than so many of the world’s people, but we could improve on this.)

What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory?
- I am not sure that there is one. Nothing sticks out to me for a specific date.

What “things” did you want and get?
- J got a new car. A got lots of things. I got lots of things for A that make my life as a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom - **it as* ho mother****er) much easier.

What “thing” did you want and not get?
- The social life of most people our age, although we have really grown out of that.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
- I turned 24. (wow that’s just 1 more than last year. This questionnaire was made for geniuses.) I don’t think we did anything specific on the actual day, but our family vacation was just the week before. That was the best trip I could have ever hoped for.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
- More sleep! More time with husband J! (again the same as last year, I’m not sure this is an answer that will ever change)

What was the best thing you bought?
- I think it was this year that we purchased my camera that allows me to have my photography business. It is a great camera, although I really do need a more professional one, specifically one that costs an unfortunate $3000.

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
- Husband J. We are always calling each other and sending each other messages.

Compared to this time last year, are you……Happier or sadder?
- I think I’m about the same.

Thinner or fatter?
- I plead the 5th.

Richer or poorer?
- Richer I suppose; although we spent most of it.

What were your favorite films of this year?
- I love movies. The recent ones that stand out are V for vendetta, Lucky Number Slevin, and Casino Royale.

What was your favorite TV program?
- CSI (the original in Vegas, not those other crappy ones), Shark, House, Till Death, The Loop.

What was your greatest musical discovery?
- When I get around to it I will ask my husband the band names. I do however really like all of Justin Timberlake’s new stuff. He has come a long way since the boy band days. This is his best musical accomplishment. Amazingly, I couldn’t want him more after this song.

Who were the best new people you met?
- I don’t know that I really met any new people.

How many different people did you kiss in 2006?
- The answer to this question will never change.

How many people did you have sex with in 2006?
- Will also never change.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
- Hate is such a strong word.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
- My photography business. Hopefully the achievement for next year will be for it to have actually made some money.

What was your biggest failure?
- If I could think of one I don’t think I would admit it.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
- I am working on a whole new page for this. I will link to it here once I finish it.

dooce: I resolve to eat more leafy green chocolate
“In classic Armstrong fashion our new year began when we walked into Leta’s room yesterday morning to find that she had decorated her body with puke during the night. Red twizzler puke. With chunks of refried beans and a glaze of Sprite. A festive quiche of holiday vomit. It was in her ears, in her hair, up her nose, wrapped around each knuckle, lodged in the zipper of her pajamas. Her right hand had been covered in puke so long that when I finally washed it off, her fingers were so swollen with wrinkles that she couldn’t even wiggle them. They were frozen in place. Stuck. Five little rigid reminders of what can happen when someone lets a toddler go to bed with gum in her mouth.”

Cheers!