This week has been easier than usual. For one thing, Callahan wasn’t with us the first three days of the week. He went with the rest of the 5th grade class to Cal Wood, a camp in the woods used by the school system. He and the rest of the 5th graders stayed in cabins and, according to Callahan, had great meals, seconds and thirds on everything.

Lots of hiking and exploring too. Callahan found a somewhat rare Water Scorpion in one of the ponds there too. He’s always finding critters in the woods. He’s a natural born naturalist.

While he was gone, the house was calmer and quieter, with just the two boys home with us. Callahan’s energy usually gets Jake and Zane really going. I also felt like I was on vacation, having to only take care of the two of them.

The best thing that happened all week was, when the school week was over on Wednesday (a short week this week,) we realized that Jake hadn’t been suspended all week. This was the first week he made it through the whole week since he started back to school three weeks ago. His teacher also told me that Jake was quieter and less disruptive in the class too.

Jake did bring a note home with him when he came home Wednesday. Although he wasn’t suspended all week, he still did get in trouble. Apparently he burped in the cafeteria, not just once but over and over again. When I heard this, I just laughed. The schools are so uptight. What if he had farted?

Thursday and Friday were no school days – but the two older boys were tested for their reading skills. Both did well. I was worried about Callahan because he doesn’t like to read, but he did great.

Jake, of course, reads all the time, from the funnies to books on trucks and space travel and Star Wars to books like Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat (Calvin and Hobbs.) He’s also an avid game player on Mom’s computer.

Zane went to school all week, although he has had a cough. As the boys get older, they can better deal with coughs and other viral invasions. When Zane was younger, if he started coughing, he would always get really sick, scary sick. He was even hospitalized once with pneumonia.

So was Callahan, when he was younger. We almost lost him. He could hardly breathe. I saw that he wasn’t well that morning and called Doctor Weber, who, thank god, was in his office, although it was a Saturday. He took one look at Callahan and told us to rush him to the hospital. We did, and he was in there for five days. It’s scary being a parent.

Then there’s Jake. He has Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy. He’s in serious trouble, not expected to walk in a few more years, not expected to live much past 30. And he hardly ever gets sick. He’s always warm too, sleeps without a blanket over him all winter. And he sure doesn’t buy into the standard MD prognosis. He still walks, runs, jumps, hops, and almost leaps up the stairs here at home. He’s an amazing kid.

He can be quite depressed too. He knows what’s coming. His depression comes out mostly in anger or in expectations that he won’t get what he wants or sometimes just in not liking the world around him. “This foods tastes bad,” as he gulps it down. “This toy is broken. I might as well throw it away,” as he fixes it. “This is a bad movie,” as he watches it to the end.

Jake’s very good with his hands. He’s really good with all his many transformers. He likes all kinds of cars and trucks. He probably has a hundred or more. When he’s not playing games on the computer, he’s looking up various toys and seeing their larger prototypes. He knows the make and model and year made of all the cars and trucks we see on the road.

I have noticed something really interesting about Zane. He is only four, although soon to be five. I watch him as he decides to watch one of our DVDs. First he selects one, takes it carefully out of its case, turns on the DVD player and the TV, opens the disc drawer, sets the DVD in, shuts the drawer, uses the remote to start the movie, selecting what he wants to watch when the DVD asks for his selection. He’s like this with everything. He acts like he’s at least twice his age.

His brothers couldn’t do any of this when they were his age. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it said about younger brothers – and I have heard a lot said about them – but if Zane is any indication, they certainly grow up quicker.