Caulk... It's what's for dinner... (or maybe just a mid afternoon snack!)

It has been almost year since I last posted anything to this blog. I'm not apologizing for it, because I have been busy living life with a *very* active, autistic 5 year-old, a full-time job and a dear husband who is also stretched very thin.

It's been a very busy year filled with crazy adventures and life-changing journeys. Where to begin is troubling and puzzling all at the same time, so it may have have to remain a void that will slowly be filled in with time.

Today, though, was an adventure that I didn't ever need to have, but is fairly inevitable when you have an active, autistic 5 year-old that puts everything in his mouth. Including, licking the bottom of his shoes! Fortunately or unfortunately (not really sure which), his ingestion of some "toxic" caulk today didn't happen on my watch.

As is most always the case with Seamus, his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to inspect the newly caulked courtyard, at his preschool, with his mouth; ingesting a small fingertip-full of the freshly applied caulk (that staff had been told by maintenance, had cured and was safe) before anyone could stop him.

And so, my portion of the adventure began with a phone call from the school nurse.

I did not think that Seamus' afternoon snack of caulk would wind us up in the neighboring hospital ER, but instead of throwing caution to the wind, I decided to take the safe route and walk across the street to get it checked out. Especially since the Material Safety Data Sheet, provided by maintenance, listed one of the chemical compounds as toxic and instructed one to seek immediate medical attention if ingested!

So, I gathered up Seamus, called Josh and told him to meet us at the ER and headed across the street.

Thankfully, our first visit to the ER went very well. The ER Dr. checked with Poison Control to be sure that the amount ingested was not toxic. Their comment to the Dr. was, "this happens frequently with young children, because they think it looks like frosting." AWESOME! Poison Control also said that we should give him water to drink to help flush the substance out of his system (which the school had already done) and to watch him to make sure his health status didn't change. The ER Dr. checked Seamus' lungs and mouth... much to his chagrin... and gave him a clean bill of health and sent us on our merry way. Which made Seamus *very* happy!

Thankfully, the whole ER visit went smoothly and was fairly quick. The ER staff was excellent and very understanding and flexible when told about Seamus' autism. And Seamus did VERY well too!

And we even finished in time to make it to our regularly scheduled Thursday Night Pizza Party at Gaga's house! That is, after I called everyone on my list to alert them that Seamus would survive another day to test our nerves! Thank the pharmaceutical gods for Lexapro!!

A fresh look, procrastinantion style...

In good ole procrastination style, instead of casting on the sweater that I wanted to start, I decided that it was time to update the blog layout and change the header. The pea green was starting to bug me. Oh, the perile of a designer.

Every once in a while I need a change. It helps brighten the mood I suppose.

Now that that is out of the way... Cable cast on, here I come!!
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/cast-on

Hands Across the Living Room?

Big Bird, Ernie, Count von Count, Cookie Monster and a bat hold hands in friendship and unity.


Oh, yeah... and Oscar lives in here:

Here comes the sun...

It's been a while since I last posted something. I've been busy living the adventure with this guy.
Here's hoping for more posts in the future. No promises, but summer is making an appearance in these parts and the future looks bright.

Gone batty...

DSCF0003, originally uploaded by callaghanse.

Yes, it's December and I'm posting about Halloween. What's the problem??

Besides, Seamus is still playing bat cave and singing Halloween songs. The Christmas spirit hasn't struck him yet, so as far as he's concerned it's fine by him that I'm posting about Halloween the first week in December.

If he knew where I hid it, he'd still be wearing the costume too.

Spin it, Sister!

I'm really digging this making my own yarn business. I can't stop. I'm obsessed.

I think about it at work. I dream about it at night. I even daydream about it while knitting.

Though I don't knit that much anymore. Mostly when I have time to do something other than work, parent, or wife (can I use wife as a verb? It sure feels like a verb!!), I am spinning yarn. Much to the husband's chagrin. Oh, well... go stare at your fantasy football thingy some more.

It relaxes me. It makes me happy. And a relaxed, happy mama is a good thing. Right!?

Back in October, I went to the NYS Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck. It is the mecca for fiber fanatics of all sorts. People make pilgrimages from all over. Including Canada!?! It is a little puzzling to me, but I'm lucky that I live so close to this treasure trove of fiber goodness.

I even saw a few knitting celebrities this year. I may have sort of stalked one of them for a short period through the stalls of vendors, but if you try to make me own up to it I won't!

I left the boys at home this year. It was out of kindness to all of us... or at least that is the excuse I used and I'm sticking to it. I got to the fairgrounds around 10:30 (hit a wall of traffic about a mile before I got there) and 4 hours later left with a bag filled with fabulous goodness.

Happy and sated, I drove home listening to my favorite NPR shows and dreaming of the delicious colors and textures waiting to be made into glorious yarns.

I procured a large amount of roving and other fiber goodies this year. I was so excited when I got home I didn't even know where to start. I was exhausted, but I did end up spinning up some of the hand dyed Alpaca and merino bat that I got from a farm about an hour from where we live.

I still have a bunch of fiber I haven't even touched yet, but I did dig out the hand painted Tussah silk and started to spin it. It looks awesome if I do say so myself. My hope to is to ply the singles so I can make a hat and mitt set out of it in time for holiday gifting. I have a specific person in mind, but I'm not going to say in case they read this and also in case I pull my usual procrastination routine and don't get it done in time.

Currently on my needles is a hat from "Designer One-Skein Wonders". I'm using yarn that I spun that is a 50/50 merino and silk blend in a dark heathery purple color. It's the first project I have knitted from yarn I've spun.

It has been a pretty awesome experience to be able to see something go from fiber to yarn to knitted object from start to finish. Well, kind of anyway. I haven't finished the hat yet, but the fabric it is knitting into is so pretty... if I do say so myself.

Back in the saddle... again!?

So, I took another hiatus. I thought I was back in July, but I must have had sunstroke... or something.

Actually, the summer was a whirlwind of excitement and mayhem. Though I can't really remember what sort of excitement or what type of mayhem. But it was definitely the Seamus variety. It flew by so fast and...

Summer quickly became fall.

Seamus started full day preschool at his new school. And as predicted he loves it and they love him. (Or at least that is what they tell us.) All kidding aside, it seems to be a really great fit and all our worrying and sleepless nights were all for naught... thankfully.

I didn't really discuss it in this forum at the time we were deciding on a school, but now looking back on the decision making process, we were really lucky that our struggle was not in trying to find a great school, but it trying to decide which great school to send Sea to.

I also may not have made it clear previously, because this past year has been a real struggle in coming to terms with the diagnosis and dealing with the ramifications of raising our child who has special needs, but Seamus is autistic. It appears to be a mild case, but none the less our child is on the spectrum. Something that, surprisingly, is not all that uncommon these days.

We don't live near a big city, if fact, some would say we live in the country. The closest city, if you want to call it that, is about a half hour away. For country dwelling folk, we are lucky to live in a county that has a lot of programs for children with special needs. And we are lucky that they have been fairly easy to find and readily available at no out of pocket cost to us. Though, if we had to, we would pay for Seamus to get what he needs, but it is nice to be able to take advantage of these programs.

The county and school district we live in have also, luckily, been very forthcoming in making these programs available to us without too much hassle. There was one bad meeting in the beginning, but since then we have had no trouble getting services for Seamus. We were even able to justify, and get, the one-on-one aide at his new school for this school year– which has been a huge help for Seamus.

But I digress, I guess the point of my ramblings is that parenting is hard and stressful and then when you add in a child that needs special services and schools, it makes it so much harder and so much more stressful. (Not surprising that statistically most couples with a special needs child divorce, but that's another conversation all together!) My point is that we have been lucky to have had very little trouble finding programs and services for Seamus.

I have to thank our pediatrician/family doctor for being so awesome and a force in our effort to get help for Seamus. When we first noticed that there was something going on and brought it up at Sea's 2 year wellness check, if our Dr. hadn't taken us seriously and just blown us off I don't know where we would be right now. But he didn't and referred us to early intervention services. The rest is a blur, but if we hadn't been steered in the right direction almost two years ago, I would be telling a much different story, I'm sure!

We have been very lucky. Lucky to have a great child and lucky to be able to give him what he needs!

So, even though I took another unplanned hiatus, I hope that it was just temporary.

I was pretty sure of myself the last time, so I'm not promising anything now!

Always remember that you need to breathe...

A very good friend of mine gave me some really important advice a few weeks ago. I was having a pretty awful day and I felt like the world was crashing down around me. So, I did what I had to do and dropped everything to spend a few hours with one of my best friends to try to get my sanity back.

She is very wise and witty and referenced some airplane logic to aid me in my plight: "Always put your oxygen mask on first before you help others."

We laughed about it, but it is very true and logical. If you can't breathe, you can't help the others around you. You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.

My brain knows all this. Yet, the stress of working full time, raising a child under the age of 5, and the extra things that autism brings to the table with raising said child; it gets to be a real balancing act that sometimes tips the scales and I tend to lose my balance. Or fall of the scale all together.

I didn't even mention the stress of trying to maintain a healthy marriage amidst all this, but we do our best and try to remain a team. Though at times I sometimes feel more like the coach than team player.

So, with the new year upon us, I have decided to make a resolution a little early this year. I will try to remember to always put my oxygen mask on first and take time to do the things that make me happy and healthy. Because if I'm not happy and healthy, I won't be able to breathe.

Still Kickin'

I don't know if anybody actually reads my rambling thoughts, but if you do, you are aware that I took a hiatus for the month of June. It wasn't planned.

June was kind of an allergy filled blur of chaos and confusion and family obligations that ended in an overall feeling of exhaustion, but definitely relief that we made it through to July.

I'm still not quite sure exactly what happened. Nevertheless, as it eventually does, I think the light is finally starting to shine once again, the clouds are starting to burn off and feel like my brain is clearing a little.

Contributing to the chaos and confusion, was the decision of where Seamus would be going to school in the fall. We thought we had made our final decision in April, but we were coaxed to change our minds when another program was "strongly recommended". After much debate, we decided to take a look at the other program. In some ways I wish we hadn't! But we want to make the right decision and do the very best for our child. Unfortunately, it usually just creates more chaos, confusion and limbo to a situation and decision, that in my mind, had already been made. Subject ended. Case closed.

Well, fast forward 3 months, and although a decision has been made, we are still a little bit in limbo because paperwork hasn't been filled out and phone calls have still not been returned. So as I type this, I sit and wait to hear from the powers that be and twiddle my thumbs in wait for the red tape and (more) headaches to come.

But at the very least, a decision has been made. Subject ended. Case closed. (I hope.)

This is why I sometime feel that I need to stop listening to all the people who know best and want to help. I just want to trust my gut, but I guess the unsolicited advise and concern is given with the best intentions. I guess you can't fault people for that.

Another contributing factor:
My mother-in-law, for the first time in about two years, came for a visit. Though always lovely to see her, it sent me into an emotional tailspin upon the news of her visit.

Where would she sleep? The place was/is/always is a mess.

The couch had big holes in it and Sea-monster has removed half the stuffing.
How do you fix that? Or at least cover it up? Can one cover up a big crater-sized hole? Do I even bother?

Do I bother cleaning out the spare room that looked like a tornado hit it? How long would it take? At least the room doesn't leak like a sieve anymore. And the hole where the raccoon decided to, literally, drop in for a visit had been fixed.

What would we do when she got here? Did I need to plan activities?

And so on and so forth. The multitudinous details, dilemmas and quandaries from my already overly confused and stressed brain poured forth. Using some one as a sounding board seemed like it might be helpful, but, of course, all of these musings were met with a blank stare by my darling husband when I inquired with him about my issues.

So, I took a deep breath and realized that he would be useless to aide me in my plight and moved on to dealing with it myself.

It was only his mother visiting after all. Why bother cleaning up and trying to make our chaos of a home a little more orderly? Why fret over "minor" details?

If he had it his way, he would have sat down next to the giant, gaping hole in the couch, possibly covering it with some newspaper, if he had it on hand, offered her a beer from the cooler at his feet and told to have a seat, on the side with the gaping hole.

This, of course, is the scenario that would occur if he lived alone. In fact, he probably wouldn't even have a couch, let alone furniture. Seriously, no joke, he told me once that the only reason why he had furniture was because I liked having it. So, basically he's been humoring me all these years because I like the creature comforts, like furniture.

Gee, that's nice of him.

So instead of doing it his way and ignoring the impending visit by avoiding house work at all costs, I decided to spend 3 days cleaning out the spare bedroom and trying to bring order to our home. I tossed an amazing amount of garbage, moved furniture, hung curtains and tried to detract from the fact that I really needed to paint, but time wouldn't allow it.

One nice thing about having a reason to clean, is that, well, you have a reason to clean. And purge all the unnecessary items that have accumulated while you were doing who knows what.

After days of cleaning and purging and sweating and feeling like it was never going to be over, it finally was and I am very proud of all my hard work. In cleaning out the room I was also able to clean out the closet and create a nice craft space for myself.

My mother in law was also quite happy with the room! She said that it was so peaceful to wake up and look out the window at the water all the trees. For us, we see that view everyday, and though I try not to take it for granted, for her it is a special treat because she lives in New York City. And though she does have a "water view" from her apartment, it is certainly an entirely different atmosphere!

There were other contributing factors to my hiatus, but those were the major reasons. Hopefully, the rest of the summer will be calmer and I can return to my periodic bursts of random and crazy thoughts.

Chaos... Can't live with it, Can't live with out it... Apparently!

My skin starts to crawl at the first crash or bang. Shattering glass makes me nervous and edgy. The sound of crinkling paper or crackling plastic is irritating and migraine inducing.

However, being married to man I am and the parent to his offspring, has help me to deal with and learn to live with these sounds. It has become a reality of life. Not my ideal reality, but my reality none the less.

It won't change. At least not until I move into my condo with the jacuzzi, as I sometimes threaten to do when life with boys gets to be too much.

And therein lies the problem.

I'm a girl. I grew up with girls. I have girl friends. I only have sisters. My dad was the one outnumbered.

Now, I'm outnumbered. (However, if you count the cats, we're even, but Lucy isn't very loyal to the girl squad. She tends to go where the pets are. George is actually more loyal to our cause than she is! Moesha is kind of a jerk, militantly loyal to the team, but a jerk none the less. So really, the felines don't really help much to even the score.)

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my boys. And I love that Seamus is a Mama's boy. I am the queen. However, sometimes I get dethroned and overruled. And that is when the chaos gets to be too much.

I can deal with the pants all over the living room. (I even found a pair in the recyclables this morning!?)

I can deal with the coffee stains on the counters and carpet.

I can even deal with the tooth paste in the toilet(?!);Puzzling, but I can deal.

But, when all of these things occur all at the same time and then some, I start to lose my mind.

I've lived with girls and I've lived with boys. Girls can definitely be dirty and disgusting, but there is a certain line that I have found that tends to be crossed by the people with the Y chromosome.

Dry messes I can deal with, but wet messes tend to push me over the edge and the deamon that lies dormant within starts to rise from the ashes and flow like molton lava spurting out of a pressurized fire hose.

The hardest part of all this is that my dear, darling, intelligent husband and beautiful, smart and enormously gifted child, are clueless to my plight.

I beg, ask, plead, for mercy and cleanliness (at least one room) but the depth of my request falls on slient ears.

It must be that Y chromosome, because I truely don't have an answer.

So, when the choas overtakes my solitude, I escape to the codo with the jacuzzi in my mind. Sometimes it helps and sometimes the deamon visits for awhile.

It's how we deal.

Who stole the cookie?

Who stole the cookie?, originally uploaded by callaghanse.

What's better than a Girl Scout cookie?

A stolen Girl Scout cookie.

Tumble dry, low heat

dryerfort_3_08, originally uploaded by callaghanse.

Spring is in the air

DSCF0077, originally uploaded by callaghanse.

Seems that Spring is finally starting to show it's face in these parts. Yahoo!

I haven't named her yet, but she's a beauty!

I haven't posted anything lately, because I've been busy playing with my new toy.







After using the drop spindle for 2 months, I felt like I finally had the confidence to take on a real, live spinning wheel. However, I still needed to build up my confidence in the wallet area before I finally broke down and invested that kind of money in something I "wanted" but didn't "need".

The waiting period gave me a chance to research my options and figure out what I needed and wanted in a spinning wheel and what wasn't really necessary.

Cost, of course, was a huge issue. This is the sort of investment that you don't take lightly-- at least in my opinion.

$300 is two trips to the grocery store in my mind. Or lots and lots of diapers. Or half of what it costs to heat our house for 3 months. (Scary, but true!!)

So, I wanted to purchase something that I could use now, but I would not out grow in 3 months or even a year. I realize there will probably come a time when I might need to either add on to the current wheel I have, or even possibly upgrade to another wheel in the future. But hopefully that won't be for some time.

Like maybe after I win the lotto. Or inherit a benefactor's estate. Both seriously, unlikely!

Other considerations were weight, size and durability. After all, I have a 3 year old who likes things that spin! And I also wanted to have the option of taking it with me places, so I wanted something lighter and compact.

Josh said that I am not allowed to take it on vacation with us... we'll see who wins.

Besides appearance, I also had one technical requirement. I wanted a wheel with a double treadle (two pedals, instead of one).

I used a single treadle for the majority of the time when I took a 3 hour spinning class in September. The woman sitting next to me had a wheel with a double treadle and let me try hers out for a few minutes. I found it to be a little easier to operate than the single treadle.

I have also read that it would help me as a beginning spinner. The two pedals make it easier to start and stop, plus it it is less tiring on your legs and feet. You also have to have fairly good posture because you have to sit straight in front of the wheel, which causes your body to fatigue slower, i.e. more spinning action before you feel like your limbs and joints are going to fall off your body. Yay!

So, with all this considered, I started researching my options and I found the Kiwi by Ashford.

It met all my requirements.

It's about $200-$400+ cheaper than other wheels; very light weight, about 11 lbs; compact-- it fits very nicely in the back seat of our 4-door mercury Tracer and I can fit it in my stash closet and STILL have room for more yarn... BONUS!

It also comes standard with a double treadle AND the option for double drive.
I can't actually remember how double drive works, but I think it has something to do with tension. Most new spinning wheels are designed with scotch tension, but I think this is what was used in "the olden days". I'll have to fact check this bit, but it sounds good.

I learned so much information in my 3 hour crash course to wheel spinning back in September, that I have retained a few things, but most of it is hazy. Luckily, I'm armed with some good books and the Internet, so hopefully I can fill in the blanks as I go along.

For now, my new friend is all put together and we have merrily been making yarn for the last few weeks.

Some pretty... some not so pretty.

However, I think I'm getting much better, if I do say so myself, and the more I spin, the more I can see the subtleties in thickness. I'm also starting to understand how to draft and spin at the same time with out making rope.

Really I'm just having a blast learning something completely new.

I'm still very much a beginner, but I think I might be getting ready to take on plying.

For now, though, I have about 12 ounces of roving that needs to be transformed into lovely...
or something like that.

Through the Smells of Time

We live in a very old house. It was my grandparents home, in fact, it was actually my great parents summer home previous to that. So, in reality, over the years five generations have lived here.

Crazy to think of it that way, but it's true.

The house sits on a ravine overlooking a lake. Remarkably serene and inviting. Amazing views in all seasons. I enjoy summer the best, probably because of the memories of time spent in my youth here.

Winter, though beautiful in it's own right on this lake (or any body of water for that matter), is hard to endure. Ice and biting winds seem somewhat colder and more brutal when staring at the slab of immobile ice just outside your door.

I have noticed as I age, childhood seems to include a resiliency in winter. Somehow the cold and snow evokes adventure, not feelings of ire and fear. Which suddenly emerges in adulthood.

By March, I'm strung out and ready to pull out all my hair. I'm frustrated cold and I can no longer feel my appendages. So, when the early signs of the new season start to emerge, I can start to see the light of Spring, which helps to pull me through the last few weeks of cold, wet and mud.

The time change helps too. That extra bit of daylight at the end of a long day is a blessing after a long period of cold and dark.

With this new feeling of rebirth comes the feeling that this old house we live in is, in fact, old. And everything in it is old. The mold, the cobwebs, the dirt, etc.

So, in the Spring, though much anticipated and necessary, signs emerge to indicate the changing of the season.

And one of those signs is the musty, colorful odor that emerges from the inner fibers of this house. Smells that had been dormant during the frozen months.

There is a different odor for all the seasons, though the winter scent is the mildest. Spring at first is musty, pale and quiet, but when the trees hit full flower peak, the smell turns more earthy and warm.

Summer is certainly more pungent and darker, but definitely still inviting; and Autumn is my favorite-- very earthy and dark, which still has the warmth of summer, but an underlying coolness of the winter to come.

The best part about this revelation is that, these smells have not changed. They are the same ones that I remember from my youth. Probably the same as before my time when the previous generations lived here.

It gives me a warm feeling to know that I can share that with Seamus and though he will never know the amazing people of our past, he can still experience what they experienced in this place that seems to stand still forever, while the world around it is ever changing.

How do you explain the blahs

I am feeling very uninspired lately.



Winter does it to me.



Life does it to me.



Wife-dom and Motherhood sometimes is the cause.



And recent current events (that I am not going to get into, but if you want to know, go turn on your TV) are certainly a cause of blame today.


I guess I'm depressed and spring still seems so far away. I use escapism a lot to get through the rough patches.

That's where knitting comes in. It occupies my mind with color and imagination. My mind is in constant motion trying to conger the next stitch, texture that I will create.


I can create a world of warmth where only happiness exists. (I know, not very practical, but sometimes we all need a break from reality, so just humor me for a few hours. OK?)

Unfortunately, even that hasn't seemed to stifle the blahs lately.


I'm stuck in a foggy forest and I can't find the path to lead me out.

That's what it feels like; my brain can't function properly, because there is some sort of fog around around it.

So, I dug into to my stash to see if I could pull out something to inspire joy and fight off the blahs.

This is what I came up with:



I fell in love all over again with this Noro Sock yarn when I unearthed it this morning. This is actually a new addition and I think this might just do the trick!

Now I just have to figure out what sort of lacy goodness needs to be born from it...

Suddenly I'm feeling inspired!!

What do you do when your bored?

Well, I had planned this blog to be about my life as a knitter. And the trials and tribulations of being a mother who knits. Well, I guess I kind of doing that, but I think it sort of spiraled out of control and into something else entirely the last few months.

These days, my life as a mother is just more interesting to me. And as always, that life is very busy, so I haven't written about knitting or anything related to it in awhile.

Mostly, because I haven't had much to say on the topic.

And I haven't really been knitting much.

I do attend my weekly groups, but the last few times, I brought my drop spindle and roving to play with. Although, I find this relaxing and enjoyable, I know I am just using it as a creative outlet while I sort out my bigger dilemma.

I started a sweater back in August and was chugging along on it. Put in down to finish the infamous pink wrap. Picked it back up again around late October, only to hurl it back into the closet in a fit of disgust around mid December.

While watching a very intense episode of CSI: NY I inadvertently skipped two rows of the lace pattern I was working. Not realizing my error, I kept going for another twelve rows. Yeah, I know... I should have looked, but I didn't.

Two weekends ago, I finally unearthed the sweater from the pits of hell-- otherwise known as the closet-- and proceeded to frog back to the spot in the sweater known as "where the episode started to get interesting and I lost my mind and my place in the pattern".

Successful in my ripping, I figured out where I left off and I started to work a little bit more of the lace pattern. Since that point, I have yet to pick it up let alone look at it. I did remove it from the closet and I returned it to it's previous spot at the bottom of my knitting bag, but I have no desire to deal with it.

Honestly, I can't get excited by anything knitting related right now.

Actually, that's not completely true. I did knit these adorable hearts with faces embroidered on them for Sea's Valentine to his classmates. But it was a quick project. It took me a few nights to finish all nine, but they were small and easy. Also, very portable too!

I also crotched a pair of baby booties. Again, it took me about 4 hours to complete them.

So, I guess I have the attention span for projects that take a few hours, but anything long winded, like a sweater, is asking a little too much.

So, for the time being I will ignore the sweater and spin pretty colored, lumpy, bumpy yarn.

Waxing Philosphical... How do you stop time?

100_8321, originally uploaded by callaghanse.

I have been working on this dilemma since Sea-monster was born. The time is just slipping through my fingers faster than sand it seems.

Even faster these days.

He started preschool the beginning of January and I cried.

I don't cry.

Well, sometimes, but it has to be pretty upsetting. Usually I just get mad or sad and depressed and yell... a lot. Then as quickly as I explode, it's over. Apologies follow and I move on. Crying is usually saved for moments when the stress is too much and yelling isn't going to help. I guess Sea's first day of school was one of these days. It snuck up on me though, because I thought I was handling it so well.

Once, Sea was diagnosed with autism we labored over every decision twice as much as before. The whole transitioning process from home-based therapy to preschool was a nightmare. And despite the headaches and sleepless nights that making a decision caused, we finally made one. All the while crossing our fingers and toes. Luckily, it seems that we did, in fact, make the right decision.

However, on the day he started school, he climbed into the school bus and he was strapped into the car seat. My little boy looked at me and said, "OK. Bye, Bye Mama. I go. See you!" The door was closed and shortly there after the driver pulled out of the driveway and started down the road.

I completely lost it.

Where did the time go?

The dialog running through my mind... He's too little! Yes, he will be 3, but... He'll only be JUST 3!!! He's still a baby... my baby.

Well, he returned 3 hours later, fast asleep. Exhausted and happy. Everyone raving about what a good day he had.

Probably sugar coated because it was his first day. We don't call him Sea-beast for nothing.

But, none the less, he got through it and it was a good start.

He has missed two days total, so far. One, because he had his yearly Dr. checkup-- passed with flying colors! And two, due to a snow day-- part and parcel for this area.

On the days he missed, he kept going to the door and saying, "Look! A door. Bye, bye bus. Let's go!"

As the weeks have gone on and a month has sped by, the consensus is that he loves school. He is still adjusting to the structure, but it seems to be what he needs.

He talks more.

He's more outgoing.

He's affectionate.

He's calmer and can be calmed easier.

And I'm more charmed by him than ever before. And I was very charmed already!

I love his personality. Yes, he has personality. He is a little person with his own sense of self. Striving to make his voice heard.

Amazing.

So, I still want to stop time and always keep him little, but I know that this is impossible, impractical, and he's not going to let me do it anyway.

He's stubborn and fiercly independent, just like me. Not necessarily the highlights of his personality (or mine), but important ones. I think, anyway.

So, I have pictures and written words to remember the silly and wonderful, as well as maybe the not so wonderful, moments in his life. And I will continue to document these moments. All the while annoying the child in the process, but I like to think that he will come to appreciate it later on.

And, honestly, seeing him grow into the person he will someday be is so much better than preserving the unfinished version for eternity.

He may look exactly like his father...

100_8320, originally uploaded by callaghanse.

...but when it comes to being handy with tools, he seems to take after his mother.

Maybe he can fix the kitchen sink?!

Some days...

100_8196, originally uploaded by callaghanse.

...you just need to wear pajamas on your head.