Zoë's birthday party went well, especially considering that all of the children present were on the autism spectrum (with the exception of Miranda). By the end of it, we had a few kids who were showing signs of being overstimulated or overwhelmed, but nobody got into a fight, had a meltdown, or otherwise misbehaved. A couple of the boys decided not to get their faces painted (which was okay with me), and one young man kept leaving the party room to sit with his parents (which was also okay; he obviously needed the time out). Overall, it was noisy and lots of fun for little kids, and Zoë got all kinds of lovely presents, most of them pink (all the kids know for sure, Zoë loves PINK).
The photo, by the way, is Zoë's face painting choice. She wanted to be, and I quote, "a pink dog" but she didn't want whiskers. So that's the best that the very helpful and charming young lady who was looking after us managed, and Zoë was happy with it, so, well, there you go. A pink, whiskerless dog!
Today is Zoë's eighth birthday. Yesterday, she had a party at school, tomorrow she's having a party at McDonald's (with the same exact kids who were at the school party, plus Miranda). Today, being election day (which is why we didn't schedule the party for today), we're having a bit of a rest, but we'll be filling goody bags for the party at some point.
She got to go out on Thursday and pick out a present for herself (from the school/teachers), and she chose a Mushabelly puppy. The teachers were surprised she didn't choose the pig, which is bright pink, but she wanted the puppy (she's a big "dog person", which is a shame, as we haven't got a dog and really don't have the means to have one and won't for an indefinite period of time).
Eight years ago at this time, I was trying to decide if I should go to the hospital. I wish I hadn't gone when I did, actually. I ended up being there for hours and hours, and because they gave me an epidural early on (didn't want one, but it was medically indicated because Zoë was breech), I wasn't even able to get up and move around. Feh. And she was born breech, too, we had the entire staff in to watch, I'm pretty sure. It's pretty rare to see a breech birth these days!
Ah, well. My very little baby is eight years old today, and happily playing with her Mushabelly puppy (whose name is Spot, by the way), and with the Lego truck construction set her grandparents gave her a day early, and fighting with her sister (because that's just what they do). Happy birthday to Zoë! Hip hip hooray!
I wrote before about sitting Zoë down with a headset to listen to The Beatles. Specifically, it was "Love You To", which, if you're not familiar, is on the Revolver album and it's one of George Harrison's Indian influenced pieces, with sitar and other Indian instruments (it's also in the very odd 5/4 time, just for those who might be interested).
She was quite impressed with that song (which was actually on a loop) and said, "That's a good sound." (And I agree, it is.)
Today I was listening to music and she wanted a listen, and so I put on "Within You Without You", which is on Sgt. Pepper and is also one of George's "buckets of curry" (as one reviewer irreverently called these Indian influenced songs).
When it started to play she said, "The Beatles?" and I said, "Yes!" quite enthusiastically. I don't know if she remembered the sound from before or if she was just reading it from the screen, but either way I was pleased. She listened to the entire song (which is a fairly long one, over five minutes) and then turned to me and nodded sagely, as if to say, "Yeah... that's good..."
That's my girl, right there.
I still need to make up a compilation CD of Indian and Indian influenced music for her. I've actually got a fair bit of it around...
Miranda found out firsthand that roses have thorns, while having a look at our neighbor's garden (politely, of course, not tramping through or anything). So at dinner, she announced, "I hurt my finger today!" Zoë piped up with, "I hurt my finger, too."
So we asked Zoë how she hurt her finger and she said a rainbow parrot bit it. We found this somewhat unusual, so we asked more questions... Getting a story out of Zoë can be an interesting proposition. She usually doesn't volunteer information in any way that resembles a story, and you kind of have to ask a lot of questions and piece it all together.
Which is just what we did. Apparently, a badly injured or very ill rainbow lorikeet was on the ground in the playground, and Zoë spotted it. She went over to the bird and tried to pick it up, and it bit her on the finger (poor thing was probably terrified). A teacher got a box and put the bird in it and took it to the vet, and Zoë got a bandage on her finger.
I did actually confirm this story with one of the teachers, just to make sure, and we had it right. Zoë knew exactly what happened. She just told us the most important parts first (that she hurt her finger, and that it was a "parrot" that bit her). You just have to ask the right questions!
Zoë's birthday party went well, especially considering that all of the children present were on the autism spectrum (with the exception of Miranda). By the end of it, we had a few kids who were showing signs of being overstimulated or overwhelmed, but nobody got into a fight, had a meltdown, or otherwise misbehaved. A couple of the boys decided not to get their faces painted (which was okay with me), and one young man kept leaving the party room to sit with his parents (which was also okay; he obviously needed the time out). Overall, it was noisy and lots of fun for little kids, and Zoë got all kinds of lovely presents, most of them pink (all the kids know for sure, Zoë loves PINK).