goodfountain

We had a very fun and busy kid-centric weekend. I often think those are the best kind of weekends, although they leave me completely exhausted.

Our weekend started early, on Friday, with a trip downtown to see Sesame Street Live. I admit, I liked the show. Cute songs, cute characters. More than anything though, I loved seeing my girls get into something that was designed just for them. Seeing their eyes light up, hearing them shout Elmoooo!! It was a little bit joyful.

I have to hand it to Chee - she was awesome. I had hung a few signs in the kitchen telling what to expect on Friday at the show. That it would be loud, there would be lots of clapping and singing. All things that tend to trigger an over-stim meltdown. I’m not sure if reading those signs helped her process what was going to happen, but like I said, she was awesome. She clapped, she got down and danced (to the Alphabet song of course), she waved Hi and Bye to everyone. She was awesome (did I say that already?). She did get a little upset the last 15 minutes. She cried on and off. But when I told her Five more minutes till the show’s over, she calmed right down and made it through to the end.

(Dad’s wearing the Elmo shirt. What can I say?)

Following The Big Show we did lunch out and then a shopping trip to IKEA, which is always an experience, and that was followed by an ice cream treat and cool rides.

We woke up to clouds and forecasted showers this morning which threatened to cancel our special outing today. But the clouds moved on, the sun started shining, and off we went - Horseback Riding at Chee’s teacher’s house. What a fun day! Chee has ridden a few ponies before - this was no pony. She loved it. She’s very comfortable around horses. She didn’t show the least bit of trepidation. This was completely unlike her sister who shrieked Noooooo at the suggestion she pet the horse or if a dog came too near. Ess did not like the animals. Not one bit.

Chee’s favorite part was feeding carrots to the horses.

I noticed on the way home that she was scripting scripting galore. She was going through entire Caillou episodes scene by scene, word for word. She hadn’t been doing that in the morning or while at the horse outing. There she interacted with the other kids, talked to them, seemed to be very comfortable. I wonder if the scripting is something she used to help get herself re-organized after being socially “on” for the better part of the afternoon. I have heard that kids will outgrow the scripting as their language develops, but that stress can bring it out again. I wonder.

Sunday is going to be a true day of rest for us. A lot of fun and busy stuff this weekend for two little girls. I They need a break.

Chee still seems to be doing okay despite her Shingles. I do think she’s in some discomfort, but not enough to slow her down. They are not getting better yet, and in fact each day they look a little worse. But I’m told to expect that.

I think about her managing all this stuff this weekend - a big, live show followed by a busy day and then a social outing with her peers and some ginormous horses - all the while having an assumingly very painful rash. That is pretty amazing. A testament to just how well-regulated she’s been lately.

I’m proud of both my girls.