Lightsabre pics...

... of Brendan, of course :)

Anyone who knows us knows who's most interested in actually playing around with the lightsabre (although he always asks me first :). I am having fun with it, too, but just having it gives me such a thrill... Brendan was the one to figure out how to evoke the "clashing" sound from it- I just get the swooping noises- because he wasn't too afraid of breaking it to bash it (gently) against the floor. Maybe the following picture will help explain why he's such a natural at this:

Brendan's had his first few fencing matches against his teacher (putting what he's been learning into practise) & after the first one he practically flew home in the car, he was so excited. :) They put on the jackets & go through the rituals of a real match (saluting, etc) & Brendan just loves it. Notice his best "Inigo Montoya" posture, with left arm behind his back. He checked this out with his teacher, who said it was fine (he's a "Princess Bride" fan, too :).

Brendan's slowly on the mend from the flu. Charlie's let it slip that he thinks there was a touch of pneumonia in there, too. Oy... no wonder he's still so peaky. We had a japanese lesson yesterday, but that was the only thing very demanding that he did. Today we stayed home from church but they're at the pool now, since Brendan was really psyched to go swimming. The toughest part of his recovery, other than the slowness, is that he's been having a lot of trouble with the OCD. The whole time he was sick he barely ticced, & there were no troublesome OCD thoughts at all. Now that he's partway well he's much more vulnerable than before- it seems as though he doesn't have the energy to keep them at bay. The most difficult time is during transitions- getting off the computer, leaving a room, finishing a meal. We stick right by him at those times & do our best to help him calm down quickly when the OCD hits. Hearing him scream with his already hoarse throat is awful... We've been giving him deep pressure, gently steering him physically from where he gets stuck, hugging him, & reading aloud to help. We are planning to send him back to school tomorrow (although it will probably be just for a half day), but I'm a bit worried that he won't have the energy to withstand tic triggers. The visit to the pool should let us know how that's going, though. And we'll just let his teachers know that I can pick him up any time.

It sure is good to have him getting well again, though. We've actually had a very nice time together while he's been home- he was really good company even when he was feeling his worst, & we watched a lot of fun movies together. But it's time for life to get back to what passes for normal at our house... :)