Sick

We are all sick here. Actually, my husband is not sick, but I attribute that to him rarely being here now that he is actually opening his improv theater.

I, on the other hand, estimate that I spend an average of 23 hours per day in my house, which gives me ample opportunity to soak up all the germs that my children thoughtfully bring home with them from school. Ew. Really, I'm not that sick. I'm more an annoying type of sick - the kind where your nose runs and you feel generally worn out and somewhat light-headed when you talk too much. I think Owen is there with me. Aidan, on the other hand, has an upper respiratory infection.

We kept him home all week and then today I really thought he could go back to school (and he wanted to), but, of course, I got the dreaded call from the school nurse where she makes you feel like you should be ashamed of yourself for even considering sending your child to school in his condition. The cherry on top was the way that, on our way out, she reminded me that he couldn't come back to school tomorrow, either, due to his fever (which I SWEAR he didn't have when sent him to school). Ah well...it probably sucks to be a school nurse.

I suppose it all worked out because thanks to the nurse's insistence that we should really bring him to the doctor because he could be developing pneumonia (due to my negligence, I'm sure), we found out he doesn't actually have the flu (or pneumonia), but an upper respiratory infection, which can be treated with antibiotics.

Cross your fingers that we're all recovered enough to walk the Walk Now for Autism Speaks on Saturday because not only do we have the cutest shirts in all the land, but Team Owen met its $1000 goal! Many thanks to everyone who contributed!

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I started this post intending to talk to you about television because I am so thrilled with the onslaught of season premieres. My brain went another direction (which part of my body was thinking about TV?). That means I will have to save my praise for Just Desserts and anticipation for The Amazing Race for another post...get excited.

Pancakes, Piano and Wii...Oh My!

Today I had the rare opportunity to hang out with my little Owen for the entire morning -- just the two of us -- while Aidan was out playing dress-up with daddy at the Renaissance Festival.

Owen is about 400 times more talkative when his brother isn't around and it was nice to get to focus all of my attention on him for several hours. I asked him if he wanted to get something special for breakfast. He chose the Original Pancake House (the kid has good taste). 

Between the hot chocolate and the chocolate chip pancakes, I'm pretty sure he consumed more whipped cream and chocolate chips than anything resembling breakfast, but he had a good time..if there was any doubt about that, he put it to rest by exclaiming for everyone within a 20 foot radius  to hear, "That was SO fun!" as we left the restaurant. 

After stopping back home for some solo Wii time (imagine the excitement of not having to take turns for one short hour of your little twin life), we were off to Owen's very first piano class at MacPhail. 

I should note here that today was our Walk Now for Autism event and Team Owen was regrettably absent...although I think my sister-in-law might have been there to represent us. I had planned on being there with the kids right up until I realized that Owen would have to miss his first piano class. As much as I wanted to show my support for Autism Speaks, I didn't want to set Owen up to be a week behind the rest of his (neurotypical) class. But all the donations went to the cause, so that's still something to feel good about. 

Anyway, back to piano class... 

That's Owen's little head sticking up on the other side of that piano. How CUTE is that? They're all wired up to the teacher via headsets. The whole classroom vibe seems a bit serious for my taste, but I guess that's how they produce the next generation of maestros...plus, Owen likes structure, so it might be right up his alley. He seemed very proud of himself when class was over, which is always a good sign.  

After piano, it was time to go back home and meet up with Owen's other half, who arrived a dirty, whiney mess, but was quickly revived with some mac 'n' cheese and a shower. 

Tomorrow is Owen's day with daddy and my alone time with Aidan. He hasn't told me what he wants to do yet, but I'm looking forward to finding out. 

Team Owen Returns

Team Owen is back in action raising money for Autism Speaks. We're trying to duplicate our success surrounding World Autism Awareness Day, only this time we're going to get out and actually walk.

Those of you in the Twin Cities area are welcome to walk with us on Sept. 20. Those of you in other places are welcome to pledge your support. If you are unable to do either of those things, you can still help by spreading the word and by educating others on Autism Spectrum Disorder.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: ASD is a mysterious disorder. There are millions of children who have it and no one has any scientific evidence to explain why. It's difficult to hope for a cure when we haven't even figured out a cause. 

Every single one of these kids has something special inside of them. Many of them may never be able to express that gift because of this disorder. It doesn't have to be this way. We need more research so we can get more answers so we can help our kids.

Thanks for any support you can give. 

Are You Aware Now?

It's the final day of Autism Awareness Month and I got an email today from my stepsister with some nice news. Her employer does one of those pay-to-wear-jeans-to -work things and they give the money to different charities, as nominated by their employees. Well, she nominated Autism Speaks and it got picked for the month of May! That's not just good for Autism Speaks, it's good for raising further awareness about autism. Yay Molly!

In other autism-related news, I found out through my employer (until the end of May) about a new program that is being offered to Minnesotans insured through Medica for children with ASD. Starting July 1, families referred into the program will actually get a case manager who will help locate and coordinate their children's autism-related services - and they will be covered by insurance! How awesome is that? No, we're not insured through Medica (and even if we were, Owen probably wouldn't qualify for the program), but I'm just happy for the families that are.

It is just completely wrong that even if you manage to find the right resources for your child and then actually manage to get a spot in the program (likely after waiting months on a list), you might also then have to fight with your insurance company to cover the costs. This is a small step in the right direction and I hope more insurance companies will follow. Yay Medica!

And in my last bit of autism news for the day, Autism Speaks finally scheduled our Minnesota Walk Now for Autism Walk (the one where we actually walk). It's September 20. I'll be starting a team - watch for more info if you're interested in walking with us (or pledging us to walk). Yay us!

Better Than Expected

You guys are awesome! I haven't quite deciphered how Autism Speaks actually calculates the total donations raised for a team (I can't get the numbers to add up -- if you know anything about this, leave me a comment), but according to Team Owen's page... 

WE'VE EXCEEDED OUR GOAL! And we did it in 24 hours!

It's really heartwarming to know how many people care about Owen and about supporting this cause. And as a person who isn't always great about asking for help, it's incredible to see how quickly and generously people respond when asked.

What I'm trying to say is THANK YOU. It means a lot.

For those of you still wanting to donate, please do! Visit the Team Owen page and join our team, pledge one of our members, or start a team of you own.