they are amazing

School is starting soon. This has Hermes all sorts of excited. He knows we are going shopping in a while (read: after payday) to get all knew things! We need a new backpack for him, as last years barely survived through the last day of school, new supplies-which lists for were conveniently mailed out, maybe some new uniform clothes, but I won't know that till I go through all of his old uniforms, to see what still fits, and pre-shrink his new uniform pants to see if they can be worn yet, even with a belt, or if they have to wait. Hermes is surprisingly short, but he is also lean, and has long legs. This gives him the illusion of being tall. This also makes buying pants and jeans a bitch. I will be soooo happy when he is finally big enough to go by waist and leg as opposed to the mystery sizes of 5, 6, slim, long, tall, boys XS and the like.
He has been practicing his Chinese daily, and as school gets closer, is working in his workbook regularly. I am unsure if this is because he wants to learn, or if it's because he wants an award and his name mentioned at the fall assembly.

Buddha is once again living up to his name. Not that those horrid teeth all have at least a corner through, he is once again all serene and gigantic smiles. He loves to sit cross-legged on the couch and just beam at you. Something about it seriously wants to make you rub his belly, and give him exotic gifts. There are days where I am certain he is actually a secret evil overlord, but most days, he is just an eerily, studiously normal, 16 month old.

Thor is talking more and more every day. On top of that, he is using his words correctly. He also overpronounces them in the most endearing of manners. There are times when we can tell that it is hard for him to talk-he will turn his head in a manner to block out as much noise as possible, shut his eyes, wrap himself up tightly in a blanket, and then get four, very determined, words out. Then there are times when he is just Chatty Cathy.
Now that he is moving farther off the autism spectrum,, the Sensory Integration Dysfunction is becoming much more obvious. Thankfully, this should be our biggest challenge, and through the right "sensory diet" it will be controllable. This may mean that he wears heavy bracelets, shoes, and necklaces. Or that we squish him into a little ball every now and then. We still do the gentle deep pressure massages, but they are becoming less effective. I will be making him a new weighted vest soon. One of his favorite things is being roughly toweled down. Give him a bath or a shower, and when he is down, dry him off with a soft towel, but using the amount of pressure you would to...oh...sand granite? Something about that feeling just brings him to the here and now, and gives him something to focus on that seems to last.

The more that Buddha does, the more that Thor does, and th more that Hermes either helps, or whines.
All said and done, they are fairly amazing.