New Idea

Sleep continues to be an issue and I can't wait for the weekend just because it carries with it the possible solution.  I am trying to not place too much hope in the new 'Spider Protector' because if it fails the worst that happens is we are just back where we are today.  Tonight Levi moved his bed to the door where he could be very close but still in bed.  I thought it was worth a try.  He still stayed awake long after he should have been asleep and just as I was mentioning to a friend that this new experiment had failed, he fell asleep!  The interesting thing for me is that he is incredibly afraid of 'snakes and spiders' but only at night as he tries to sleep.  During the day he is a little nervous of them but not the teary shaking fear that he has at night.  Again I wish that it all just made more sense and had a clear answer.  The sweet thing stays in his bed and he tries very hard to sleep, so he is not being bad.  He is just afraid and that makes me saddest of all.

Today was a good day for him.  He came home, did his homework (well) and we went to soccer.  There were no tears (until bedtime) and he was happy all afternoon.  He loves soccer with a passion and is getting pretty good at it.  He loves the friends that he plays with and they are a different group than he plays with at school, which I think is a really good thing too!  It gives him options and more chances for a wider circle of friends.  He is doing better with coping at school and life is looking pretty good for him now. 

Now if only we could get this sleep thing organized, life would be rosy!

More Spiders

We are still chasing spiders and snakes.  Levi is struggling to go to sleep by himself.  At times he is in tears because he is afraid of the spiders and snakes.  Why is still a mystery, but it doesn't really matter.  He is afraid and I am trying to work out ways around it.  Tonight we built a 'castle', impenetrable by any snakes or spiders.  It involved four pillows and him sleeping between them clutching Icy.  I have no idea why he is so afraid.  I wish I had something to go on, to work out where it all came from.  Maybe he just has too big an imagination in a country where the spiders and snakes really are something to fear. 

Finally he sleeps but it takes some work!  This weekend we will build a protector.  My wonderful social worker thought it up.  We are building, or buying a special protector.  I'm thinking it will be a stuffed lion or dragon or some strong fierce protective animal that can help Icy (his special stuffed Border Collie) protect him at night.  He can pick it himself.  Frankly it will be worth every cent if it works for the peace it will give him at night.  When he is tired, he does think logically and this may just override the fear a little.  We can both only hope!

Crystal Levi

The online shop that I bought the 3D crystal of Frankie was having a big sale again.  I was looking for a photo of Levi at about the same age.  I found this cheeky smile and hopefully it will be as beautiful in crystal as the one of his brother!

Teeth Problems

Today the creek went down but really, really slowly.  It wasn't down enough to actually go shopping or really to go out at all.  We made an attempt to go out but it was still way too fast and high to try it without a really urgent reason.  There is still plenty of debris but we have all worked at it and there is a little path down the side, so hopefully we will all get to work/school tomorrow.  It seems that all the rainfall did this time was to make the weekend really annoying and closed in.  We cooked but there was only the muffin mix in the cupboard.  Tip for next time - Even though it looks and feels like silicon, it might not be silicon.  One of the moulds that we used for the muffins, turned out to be an icecube tray and not an oven tray.  Yes, I did spend the next three hours cleaning melted plastic out of the oven.  I also discovered that neither of my two smoke detectors was actually working!  Actually in the scheme of things, I am happy that it only took a melted ice cube tray to give me that critical piece of information!

I think that Levi has more extrovert in him than I do.  He starts feeling the affects of cabin fever after about a day.  I think it takes much longer than that for me.  Last week at work, Kath and I were talking about the Outward Bound Program and how part of the program was the self discovery camping.  It involves pitching a tent and staying all by yourself for a period of time.  I think the longest was a week.  I think that there are different types of reactions in this situation and none of them are wrong they just give a clear window into the person:

1.  The people who love being by themselves and have to be dragged kicking and screaming from their tents at the end of the week,

2.  Those who enjoy the time but get lonely part way through and

3.  Those who are printing hand prints on rocks and calling them 'Wilson' after a few hours.

Now Kath and I are both firmly in the first category and although after some time I would start missing the interaction, I love silence and have no need to hear other people at all.  I love that I have time by myself.  Levi is in the second category and his time is about two days.  It may change as he gets older but he is also happy with silence and that makes it fairly quiet 'under the house' sometimes.

As you can see from the photo above, Levi lost another tooth this afternoon.  He was very happy!  He will lose the one beside it fairly soon as well.  It leaves a sizeable hole in his flesh and it is amazing to see the tip of a new white tooth behind it.  He was so enthralled with the tooth, he needed to wash it with toothpaste over and over.  Of course, eventually, he lost his grip and the tooth fell down the sink.  To say he was devastated would be an understatement!  I assured him that if he wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy, she would understand!  Here is his letter. 

"I was going to wash off the toothpaste and it went down the singk (sink)"

I am sure the Tooth Fairy will still find the $3 coins for his tooth.  Besides, who could possibly resist these eyes?

Flooded Again

It was as expected this morning.  The creek had risen beyond any possibility to drive through it.  If you look at this photo of Levi, to the left behind his head and across the creek is the marker for the causeway.  If your eyesight (and my photography) is good enough, you might be able to just make out a one on the top.  it is telling us that the causeway is a little less than a metre underwater.  In front of Levi is the mass of debris that tomorrow will need to be moved.  I made a start at it today but it isn't really worth it while it is still raining.  If the creek comes up again, the eddy that forms will just deposit more debris that has to be moved again!  We walked down a couple of times and drove down a couple of times but the line hasn't shifted much.  We got 93mm or a little over three and a half inches of rain overnight, so it really isn't a surprise.  It would be more of a surprise if the creek wasn't roaring. 

Levi had fun throwing sticks out into the current and he is pretty safe with a whole landmass of debris between him and the current.  Even better he even got to ride on the roof rack on the way down in the rain.  He has had a very farm day and also an internal day.  Apart from the trips to the creek side, we stayed indoors and played, watched TV and otherwise  created things out of paper and cardboard.  There was a large amount of debris left in the house after that as well but it will require much less back breaking labor to remove it!  Tomorrow will be homework day and here's hoping that it will be a little less eventful than the last few!

Levi has been mostly making weapons and armor, the last few days.  Here is his helmet/mask and sword and shield.  I wish that he would put more dedication to his reading but I guess literacy is just harder for him and so he resists it.  Still, if he continues on his path of perfecting weaponry, he won't need writing.  Now if I can just stay sane in the next few days stuck in here! 

Friday Finally!

Tonight it is raining hard.  I am thinking we will be flooded in tomorrow and for once the weather has actually timed this quite well!  We got a few things done tonight and then we have little we have to do all weekend.  We will be able to have a quiet weekend.  I picked Levi up from school today and before I had even picked him up (all I was doing was watching through the window) there were tears involved.  The teacher got that all sorted out but I knew it was going to be an interesting night!  Friends came over for afternoon tea and then he and I sat down and did a bit of homework (with a few more tears).  Dinner tonight was Sizzlers with friends.  It was actually a night where we were all going to sit down and help me decide, well, everything really.  I just needed to be able to talk through some ideas and plans for the future with some smart and loving ears and minds.  Levi loves Sizzler, so it is an easy sell for him.

We made it home through the creek without any drama and then Levi had a shower.  Now most people reading will think he stepped into the bathroom, but no he stripped off and ran around outside in the pouring rain.  It did little to wash him at all but it was a fabulous way to run off a little energy and some of the sugar high that results from the free all-you-can-eat dessert bar at Sizzler.  He had an absolute blast and he danced around until he was super tired.  Then we went to play under the sheets with a set of finger lights.  He got little flashlights that are attached to rings that you can put on your fingertips.  There are five colors but the only ones that we had were the red and green ones.  It was such a cool affect I got the iphone and took a few photos of him.  They are very cool!

Reading and Raining

Levi's reading is improving.  I can't say he is anywhere near fluent yet but he is getting there.  If we could just stay away from the Long Word Freakout he would do a whole lot better.  He stresses if there is a word that he hasn't seen before and unless I can make him laugh with the 'freakout' routine, he will either cry or lose interest, depending on his fatigue level.  He is better though every day and it is heartening to watch him.  I am not sure at what point he morphs into an avid reader but I live in hope!  Tonight he was excited because he read 'celebrate' without a freakout.  I love the concept of the Long Word Freakout because:

A.  It is really Dr Ruth and find that hysterical, the idea that they would slide that  in there and

B.  It is a really good way of reminding them to stop and breakup words into smaller and more managable bits.

It is raining again.  It's raining steadily but not hard and although that will boost the creek's volume, it won't make the causeway impassable.  It has dropped the ambient temperature and that can only be a blessing.  I am chilling out too.  It is nice.  I am feeling less stretched at home and at work and finding that I am getting more done at both places because of it.  Some of it is my endless chest infection is starting to let up and I only cough hard in the mornings now.  The only downside of this sort of rain is that the grass loves it and yardwork on the weekend will be inevitable.