movin on up

liam and i walked into his school this morning and were walking through the redbird room (the big kid's class) toward the bluebird classroom, when i saw his photo in one of the redbird cubbies. i pointed it out to liam, whose jaw dropped for a moment before he leaped into the air, yelling, "i'm a redbird... right NOW?! woohoo!!" the other kids from his class who had moved up in the last few weeks surrounded him, actually lining up to give him a hug, happy that he was one of them once again.

i stayed for a while to talk to his new teachers, tell them the latest happenings with him and to let them know that i am very involved in what happens to him at school, so to not hesitate in calling me about anything. they've always been very nice and have liked liam for a while. every morning for many months, when liam and i walked through this classroom to get to the bluebird room, liam would call out, "good morning redbirds!" the teachers loved this and think he's great, according to the bluebird teachers. plus, one of the teachers in this classroom is a friend of a new friend i have made. emily told me that she is the best thing to happen to this school in a long time, so i'm looking forward to getting to know her.

so even though i was nervous about the impending change, i'm feeling better now that i've had the time to talk to the teachers he'll be with everyday. the one redbird teacher who said some nasty things about liam to his teachers (who told me) is no longer at the school and that makes me very happy. i guess she had been a problem for a while, which is why she's no longer there.

i am a little sad about something else i discovered this morning at school. emily, my favorite bluebird teacher is leaving after she gets married next month. she has been the most helpful with all of the craziness and is a wonderful teacher. but i know that we'll keep in touch after she leaves. and she is still offering to babysit liam because she thinks i need some nights to myself. for this, i love her. she has invited us to her wedding and even the small reception, which she is keeping for her closer friends and family.

i'm really so happy that i found this school and that the director was kind enough to bump liam up ahead of other kids who were waiting. i can't even imagine what things would be like with liam at a different school.

happy trails

i just watched my friend tamra drive off in her budget rental truck, headed off to D.C. to start law school next week. tamra was one of my first friends in chattanooga back in '97 and our friendship lasted through my many moves across the country, so i'm a bit sad to see her go. but i'm so happy for her because she's just brilliant (the girl scored in the 97th percentile on the LSAT for christ's sake) and i know she'll exceed even her own expectations. i really do love having such smart friends.

tam, i hope your drive is/was a safe one and i can't wait to visit you. i'm sure you did a good job of convincing randy into our impending trip out there (right, randy?). have fun, call when you need to vent and try to remember to sleep, ok? love you!

the results are in...

liam has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. i won't say much more, because i have a lot of research to do and an appointment with the doctor on the 16th to discuss strategy without liam being present. i'm not quite satisfied with, or convinced of this diagnosis and definitely not happy with the medicinal direction in which he seems to be leading me. this confuses me, since in the initial paperwork, he claimed to not prescribe medication. i don't know. i guess that's all i have to say until i have time to process this information that i'm gathering from the reading list i have and the many ADD parent message boards that i'm just beginning to scan. i'll let you know more as i learn more, possibly (probably) from another doctor. thanks again for all of the positive feedback.

not just dabbling in babbling, but straight out babbling.

even though i spent four of my eight days of vacation in an airport i had an amazing week. we arrived in florida on wednesday and spent the next two days with my mom. my mom and i are still learning a little more about each other, which surprises me still, with it just being the two of us throughout my childhood. she is so good with liam and he adores her, very happy that she is his mommy's mommy. "Noni" is unquestionably one of his favorite people.

friday i flew out to connecticut on a very fun plane with individual tvs in the seats that had movies, tv, music (somewhat decent selection), and a trivia game with my fellow passengers. it was fun to see the names and seat numbers of the others playing the game. i came in second the first game with my 100% correct guesses, only short 50 points because i came in at question four. i even got a respectful nod from the first place winner, seat 23C.

i got off the plane and was met by randy, who had arrived an hour earlier. we got the rental car and headed off for the farmington inn, which was in the historic district of hartford. it's a very pretty area and after he opened his birthday presents from me (which he had expressed wanting to get only a day before i gave them to him) we dined on panini (mine) and chicken parmigian (his). we then got ready for the rehearsal dinner, stopping by his co-worker's room for some pre-party fun. little mark's big bbq could have had better service (it couldn't have been worse), but the drinks were strong and the company was good. we went back to our room to finish the leftovers of our food we ingeniously (in our opinion) left on the AC unit to keep cold.

we decided to make it a quick breakfast in the dining room the next day before getting a free movie from the front desk and spending the day in the room, merely enjoying each other's company before the wedding. we don't have to do much to keep ourselves entertained when together, which is really nice.

the wedding was a beautiful outdoor location, though we opted to go back to the inn with friends to drink rather than hit the museum tour before the reception. we later heard about the stunning artwork that we missed out on and regretted it a bit. the reception was SO much fun and the people at our table were great and easy to talk to. still, the open bar was my favorite part of the evening.

at one point, randy and i set out to find the bathrooms. he was walking behind me and i got caught behind some of the waitstaff. he had circled around and came out in front, looking back at me with an evil chuckle that he was oh, so clever. as he continued to gloat, still looking back at me, he pushed hard into the double doors, only to smack some poor little ten-year-old boy directly in the face. the kid was stunned, unable to say a thing, even as randy took him by the shoulders, trying to find out if he was okay. he was finally able to respond and walked off (teetering a bit, i teased). we later found that same kid on the dance floor, out-shining every other adult out there with his break-dancing moves (the worm!). i swear, this kid has inspired me to make sure that liam somehow learns how to breakdance at a very early age, which he tries to do anyway. yeah, i don't know exactly where that comes from. especially the gangsta west side hand signal he gave me today when he was talking about being a cool kid.

so yeah, the evening went well. sarah and stefan are a wonderful, adorable couple and i was surprised how much one-on-one time i spent with them, considering i had never met them before. the next afternoon randy and i were a bit shocked when the front desk called us to find out why we hadn't yet checked out. we didn't think we had to be out until two, so our mad rush to get out before being charged for another day helped us decide what time we would actually start heading to the airport. we had a sad goodbye when randy's plane finally started boarding, but i was really starting to miss liam at this point, too.

liam was already in bed when i got home that night, but woke up and looked so peaceful when he saw me walk in. he did nothing but smile and cuddle up to me, which was a great hello. i love moments like that with him. the next day was very relaxing. i was able to wake up naturally and sit in bed reading the book, The World Is Flat, that i bought at the airport the night before. when i finally emerged from bed, i found liam in the pool with my mom and sat poolside, enjoying the sun and laughter coming from my content boy.

on tuesday, liam was sooo excited to find a limo in the driveway, ready to take all of us (liam, me, my mom, her boyfriend) to the airport. my mom's off to new york and europe for the next two weeks and i couldn't be happier for her. and even though this last leg of travel was a complete bitch, i had a great conversation with my friend christy and my new chattanooga friend, mark, on the drive back from atlanta. liam's in bed, as am i, with a glass of wine, eagerly anticipating the appointment with the child psychologist tomorrow afternoon. and! school is merely days away, which makes me very excited. all in all a perfect week, but i'm glad to be back in my own space too.

we're off.

liam and i are heading out to atlanta in a few minutes. we're flying out to florida tomorrow to see my mom. friday, i'll be flying to connecticut to be randy's date for a friend's wedding and we'll stay there until sunday. i've never been to connecticut before, so i'm looking forward to it. plus, i've already turned down one all-expenses-paid trip from a boy this year, i certainly couldn't do it a second time. this blue-collar girl will be living the white-collar life for a few days. see you all in a week!