Life's a Picnic

I must say, this week has been an improvement over the past couple for the Chandlers. Updates all around:

Hank has another ear infection -- this time on the right side. However, between a new script for Omnicef and a visit to Auntie Dr. Chickie (aka, our good friend Christine Dunsworth Nix of Dunsworth Specific Chiropractic) who gave him a little adjustment, he's vastly improved since Wednesday. Hank has also been enjoying the good old exersaucer, or as we call it in our house, The Sphere of Neglect. And I believe the replacement motor for his swing should be here today. See? A good week all around. ;)

I also just enrolled Hank as a control subject in an autism study through Washington University. They're looking for two groups: people with an older child diagnosed as autistic with an infant under 12 months (not us), and people with a normally developing older child and an infant under 6 months (us).

At 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months, Hank will go in for developmental testing (2 hours at 6 months; 3 hours at 12 months; 2 days at 24 months), and also receive an MRI while sleeping. There is no medication, sedation, radiation, etc. And should they find any abnormal results, they will immediately refer us to the correct specialist. Aaron and I both feel like it's a very good cause, and if we might make even the tiniest advancement in the understanding of the cause and development of autism, it'll be worth it. Hank's first MRI and developmental testing is scheduled for July 9-11.

Finally, we've started Baby Hank on food! First, rice cereal, of course, which he likes. Then oatmeal, which he hates and spits out every time. And now sweet potatos -- they're a hit!

Milo had his preschool picnic on Thursday, and rode a horse! Well, a pony. But still, this is a HUGE step for a little boy scared of most things furry. And he rode on a donkey-drawn carriage.

See? It's totally a donkey, although the kids were calling it the "little horsey". (The other two kids in the picture are the sitter's boy, Alec, and the other girl she watches, Samantha.)

He and I also had a date night last night -- we went to a preview of the Disney/Pixar movie Up. I thought it was just OK, but Milo seemed to enjoy it. He says he likes the "little guy" (aka, Russell, the little boy) and I like the "big guy" (aka, Carl, the old man). Really, I thought Doug the Dog was the funniest. But whatever.

Not sure we ever announced our final decision on preschool. We have enrolled Milo in Lindbergh's Early Childhood Education program. He'll be attending 4 full days each week beginning June 2. It came down to realizing that we want more for him than he's currently getting. And since he has to be somewhere during the day, he might as well be educated by degreed professionals while being allowed the leeway to have fun, too. We're really excited!

What else? Oh! We just broke down and bought the boys a wooden playset for the backyard. I'm sure Aaron has many hours of enjoyment to look forward to as he puts it together. Ha.

And I'll leave you with a funny Milo story. Tuesday night we enjoyed a meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory with my parents. Just outside the doors, they have horse-drawn carriages lined up for rides around The Landing. Milo was DYING to go on a carriage ride. That's all he talked about the entire meal. And we were trying to discourage him, as we knew it was expensive ($25 for 2 people). I finally told Milo we just didn't have enough money to ride. And here's how it went from there:
Mama, you don't has monies? No?
Daddy, do you has monies? No?
Gramme, do you has monies? No?
--pause--
Papa, I know you has monies. Where your monies is, Papa?

Smart kid. However, Papa was saved when Milo got too scared as we got closer to the horses. They were just too, too big. Although now that he finally rode that pony, we may be in real trouble...