I have the slightest of disabilities, and it annoys me no end. I’m wearing this wrist brace to keep the pain and inflammation from coming back. I’m not in any serious constant pain now, just an occasional twinge. I could probably do without the brace, but without it I feel exposed. I’ll probably wear it, at least at night and when I’m resting, until I get some confidence back.

It’s not even worth complaining about any more. The worst part of it now is the memory of how bad it was before. But there’s one more advantage to wearing the brace. When I got to Tammy and David’s tonight, D.J. was very concerned. He even let me off the hook for some of the rough play he likes so much, although he did still insist that I chase him. I did my best to make him happy.

I also helped him with his homework. He’s in kindergarten, so the homework was pretty much my speed. We had to look through a magazine and cut out pictures of things that began with S. We found socks and sweaters and strollers. Since it was a baby magazine, we also found stretch marks, but somehow we were discouraged from cutting out that picture. Between Spider-Man and SpongeBob, his page was filled up pretty well.

Tammy got her new glasses today, and seeing her wearing them encouraged Dakota to wear his. They’re not very comfortable, and he’s not at the stage where anyone can insist that he wear them all the time. But they make an obvious difference in how well he sees. He was standing on top of the plastic playhouse in the big backyard, pointing to things across the fence (and in the next block!) and naming them. “Flag!” It was one the neighbor’s porch, and it was if he’d noticed it for the first time.

He’s the sweetest little boy when he’s in a good mood, and he was having a great day during the time I was there tonight. He’s in the midst of potty training and seems to be taking to it well also. He knows what he’s supposed to do and he wants to do it. It’s just a matter of gaining control.

As for Aiden, I watched him try his hardest to roll over from his back to his tummy. Again and again he’d make it about three-quarters of the way, then get stuck and roll back. It didn’t seem to frustrate him that he couldn’t quite make it yet. In fact, while he was doing this exercise was the only time I heard him giggle out loud all evening. We’re going to have a hard time keeping track of this one, I think.