Leo Clement

Thanksgiving rolled in on a blast of icy winter. That is our backyard. In case you were wondering. Our backyard which is located in Vermont, not Siberia though you wouldn't notice the difference sometimes. It's brutally cold and people talk funny. Plummeting mercury, ice and snow, ushered fall out like a cranky bouncer does a unwelcome bar fly.  The shock of it caused a round of colds and probable ear infections and other general wintery symptoms in our house. The humans and animals resorted to whatever coping technique that was available to deal with the sudden decent into the dead of winter. The animals took comfort in the wood stove, and the rest of us had to make do with sweaters and grouchy morning grumbles.  We discovered, unfortunately, that Leo not only reacts to extreme heat, but also to extreme cold. Many special needs kids have temperature regulation issues, but till now, other then getting a seizure during a rare Vermont heatwave, the little ...

Unless you've only been browsing the photos on this blog, and perhaps even then, you've probably figured out that I love horses. A lot. Maybe even in some mad quantity which maybe a little intimidating if you are new to the whole thing.  At 13 I was already a chronic horse addict case. A little history here: I contracted the incurable "horse bug" at a fairly tender age, and have, since then, been counting pennies to keep horses in my life in some shape or form. To be honest, mostly in the shape of hard labor, since there are only two ways to enjoy horses; one is to be independently wealthy so that your unlimited cash can buy you your horsey dreams and the other, if you happen to be poor, is to work for them...and work...and more work, and if you happen to spectacularly lucky, someone may even pay you some pennies for your work. So far in my life I have been in the later category; working slavishly for every couple minutes spent on horseback. Don't get me ...

I, like many parent's of special needs kiddos, get most of my info, support, and Q &A, satisfied by the social media. There is a facebook page for every diagnosis and childhood ailment, and some that cater to all of them at once. My facebook feed resembles a lonely drunk's disjointed late night conversation with the bartender. Between the numerous ads for sale horses, photos of friend's babies and cats, sporadic gluten free cooking recipes and composting tips, I have also posts about severely ill or handicapped children. Following the photo of the gleefully smirking baby posing next to the family dog, is a photo of a child who has severe disabilities, and who will never be able to pose so easily for a family snap. Some days I just shut the whole thing down and walk away. The contrast is too much for me. But lately, I have been blown away by several things that seem in common across the board (or feed, to be technical) and it is surprisingly refreshing. Being a member of...

Fall is always an introspective time of year for me. Full of changes and transitions, it always takes me somewhere I wasn't prepared to go, or in the case of Leo, a somewhere that I didn't even know existed. A crazy land where there doesn't seem to be anyone in charge,  money seems redundant and/or scarce, (take your pick on that one) and plans change seemingly just by pure whim (trust me, there is NO rhyme or reasoning here). Hmm actually this crazy land is starting to seem more familiar by the minute. Never mind, it's a crazy we are all used to at this point.  Leo resents the changes though. It's rough, being him sometimes. Life doled out some of its' hard knocks with a heavy hand to him, and earlier then it does to most of us. Little lion almost lost his roar there for awhile.  But time, they say, heals any wound, though in Leo's case, he may need a good decade or two. But I can say with some authority on the subject; that he definite...

I suppose there is no use fighting the reality of the coming winter now. Vermont peak foliage arrived and with it, the tidal wave of tourists all posed with cameras and iphones to imortalize every leafy moment for all their friends on FB or Twitter.  You couldn't swing a chicken without hitting a iphone trigger happy leaf peeper this fall.  But, I do admit, that it was a stunning display this year because of the wonderfully balmy days and cold frosty nights which is the magic recipe for incredible leafy colors. Even I, the cynical vermonter, (seen one cow, ya seen em all)  had to pull over one morning on the way to Nika's school to take the above snap.  "Oh Lord how manifold are Thy works!" was one apropos comment, when I, ahem, (don't judge) fed it to the social media monster FB. Perhaps it is because of the feeling that these days are precious, since I can feel winter lurking just beyond the door; the feeling is sharp...

Leo the little lion is hitting week three of his new EEE therapy and he has had time to form some opinions on the matter.   First of all: Who are these new people, what have they done with the sweet ladies who cuddled and played games with me every week since the day I came home from the hospital?! Lets see if I got this straight...you want me to start feeding myself from now on? Ha! Nice one. Leo's new schooling has started with a vengeance. The guy has been getting away with murder, and we've been his partners in crime. The skinny is, the fact that Leo can be disobedient and spoiled has us jumping up and down with glee; "Look honey, Leo just smacked his sister!! Wow just like a normal bratty little brother...awww!!" (Needless to say this attitude does not help big sis with her sibling rivalry.) Boy pretty much thinks he really is the king of the jungle.  So... There is some extreme work here that needs to be done to make him a tolerab...

It's that time again. That almost last week in August in which momentous things happen to our little family.  Justin and I got married. (8/22/04) Nika was born. (8/26/06) Major relocation and life change (8/25/07) And then suqential move back to VT (summer '10) The Day of Diagnosis of "something very very wrong with baby." (8/17/10 Please do try to ignore the icky preggie jammies, I had other things on my mind...(like talking on the phone with THE DOCS while mechanicly plucking all the parsley out) Leo was born. (8/23/10) I shudder to think what else will happen to us during this week in the future: apocalypse, local volcanic eruption (a real childhood fear of mine, I think I read too many books and was homeschooled..remember that book on Pompeii? The illustrations gave me nightmares for years...) and/or insert some other surprise of cataclysmic proportions of your choice here.   So far, it's Monday and th...