So.... we are in hunkered down mode waiting for Hurricane Sandy to blow through. The boys are already off school for tomorrow and I'm hoping Tom's office follows suit. They've already sent out a text message putting everyone on alert. And the city is shutting down some of the roads around the office this evening. So I'm optimistic.
We have water. We have flashlights. We have our gas stove and lots of canned soup. LOL. Not sure what else we can do except hang around and wait.
One of the teachers at the kids' school has already speculated that school is going to be closed for several days. I'm still in wishful thinking mode that everything returns to normal by Wednesday. I do so love my routine.
Waiting.... waiting... waiting.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Jonathan is 26 Months Old...
Dear Jonathan,
You are now 26 months old!
About six months ago, when you started speech and weren't talking much (at all?), I reconnected with an old friend from Ben's preschool class who now has a kiddo six months older than you. He had just started speech too. She told me your friend Brady had a handful of words but was just starting to really get it and have that verbal explosion all of us moms wait and wait for. I found it unfathomable that you might be there in six months... and yet, here, at 26 months you are.
You TALK now. You talk a LOT. You say anything and everything and are stringing words together. Verbs and adjectives! It's wonderful!
You are just now starting to demonstrate this for people other than daddy and me and Ms. Cindy. At school on Friday, Miss Sally was delighted when you answered "yes!" when she asked you a question. You've also started singing and sometimes calling out answers during story time. So sweet and fun.
You have names for all of us. "Mom" "Daddy" "Ben" "Iam" (Simon), and "Kitty". You can name all of your cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. YAY! We exist to you!
You've picked up your letters, numbers, colors, shapes and animal sounds and are also starting to count, which is super cute because you skip all kinds of numbers... "one, two, FOUR".
You still love music and you love to dance. You study dance moves on YouTube videos and recreate them. Your favorites right now are "Eye of the Tiger", "Gangnam Style" and (I'm ashamed of this) "Sexy and I Know It". Songs you love to sing are mostly your preschool songs -- Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Five Little Pumpkins...." You love them all. :)
You can still throw a tantrum with the best of them and little things can set you off... when you don't want to do something, you act like you are VERY tired and just lay on the floor and whine and ask for "Inky" (Binky) This happens a lot at school. LOL. Usually getting to paint or go outside though perks you up.
My favorite new skill this month, other than the talking, is that you have learned to safely go down stairs. Hallejuah! You also spend time in the basement playroom unsupervised, which means you are happy because you are doing what you want to do and I get to make dinner. It's win win. :)
You don't like to sit still and watch tv or movies, which is good I guess, because you get plenty of screen time playing on YouTube and the PBS website. But you do like your Curious George when you get up in the morning.
Outside, you love to ride your little purple bike, write with sidewalk chalk and kick balls all over the yard. You still know no fear, and I'm sure you never will.
If that much can happen in six months, I'm excited to see what changes the next half year brings. Can't wait!
Love,
Mommy
You are now 26 months old!
About six months ago, when you started speech and weren't talking much (at all?), I reconnected with an old friend from Ben's preschool class who now has a kiddo six months older than you. He had just started speech too. She told me your friend Brady had a handful of words but was just starting to really get it and have that verbal explosion all of us moms wait and wait for. I found it unfathomable that you might be there in six months... and yet, here, at 26 months you are.
You TALK now. You talk a LOT. You say anything and everything and are stringing words together. Verbs and adjectives! It's wonderful!
You are just now starting to demonstrate this for people other than daddy and me and Ms. Cindy. At school on Friday, Miss Sally was delighted when you answered "yes!" when she asked you a question. You've also started singing and sometimes calling out answers during story time. So sweet and fun.
You have names for all of us. "Mom" "Daddy" "Ben" "Iam" (Simon), and "Kitty". You can name all of your cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents. YAY! We exist to you!
You've picked up your letters, numbers, colors, shapes and animal sounds and are also starting to count, which is super cute because you skip all kinds of numbers... "one, two, FOUR".
You still love music and you love to dance. You study dance moves on YouTube videos and recreate them. Your favorites right now are "Eye of the Tiger", "Gangnam Style" and (I'm ashamed of this) "Sexy and I Know It". Songs you love to sing are mostly your preschool songs -- Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Five Little Pumpkins...." You love them all. :)
You can still throw a tantrum with the best of them and little things can set you off... when you don't want to do something, you act like you are VERY tired and just lay on the floor and whine and ask for "Inky" (Binky) This happens a lot at school. LOL. Usually getting to paint or go outside though perks you up.
My favorite new skill this month, other than the talking, is that you have learned to safely go down stairs. Hallejuah! You also spend time in the basement playroom unsupervised, which means you are happy because you are doing what you want to do and I get to make dinner. It's win win. :)
You don't like to sit still and watch tv or movies, which is good I guess, because you get plenty of screen time playing on YouTube and the PBS website. But you do like your Curious George when you get up in the morning.
Outside, you love to ride your little purple bike, write with sidewalk chalk and kick balls all over the yard. You still know no fear, and I'm sure you never will.
If that much can happen in six months, I'm excited to see what changes the next half year brings. Can't wait!
Love,
Mommy
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Pleasantly Surprised....
The speech pathologist paid Jonathan her monthly visit this afternoon. I had been dreading this because the LAST time she came, he was NOT at all cooperative. He tried to dive out of his highchair and run away... there was tons of screaming and lots of tears. Ultimately, she worked with him on the kitchen floor with his regular teacher holding him. That day, he used a handful of words with her... I think "pop" "bubble", "more" and "my turn", if I remember correctly.
I felt like the SLP was just NOT as forceful as she needed to be. Our regular teacher takes charge and Jonathan knows now that she ALWAYS wins. The SLP is a little bit timid... Jonathan steamrolls over timid and he can smell it a mile away like a dog smells fear.
Anyway, so I had my concerns about how today would go and I was prepared to play the role of our regular teacher and keep things on track. As it turned out though, I didn't really need to.
I waved her into the house from the front door. Jonathan and I were already playing on the family room floor. This is a trick we have discovered works for the regular weekly visits from the other teacher. Something about not having the transition of getting up to answer the door and then start playing seems to help. Anyway, so he actually smiled at her and shared what he was coloring. Then she jumped into her routines with him -- a dog puppet who eats various kinds of foods he has to name, a couple turn-taking games, some wind-up toys he had to command to do things and a few other activities. He was happy and cooperative the ENTIRE time.
He used words and phrases and asked for things on his own. He did everything she said to do.
She looked at me at one point and said, "Wow. He's like a different kid!"
I know, this is what WE keep saying too! Amazing....
Seriously a-Freaking-MAZING. The combination of weekly visits plus TIME has made a world of difference.
Today he even started using even longer phrases than before... "Kitty, come back here! Pet kitty!!!" "Daddy is HOME. Hi, Daddy!" "Mom move. Want computer!"
It's all very exciting! :) :)
I felt like the SLP was just NOT as forceful as she needed to be. Our regular teacher takes charge and Jonathan knows now that she ALWAYS wins. The SLP is a little bit timid... Jonathan steamrolls over timid and he can smell it a mile away like a dog smells fear.
Anyway, so I had my concerns about how today would go and I was prepared to play the role of our regular teacher and keep things on track. As it turned out though, I didn't really need to.
I waved her into the house from the front door. Jonathan and I were already playing on the family room floor. This is a trick we have discovered works for the regular weekly visits from the other teacher. Something about not having the transition of getting up to answer the door and then start playing seems to help. Anyway, so he actually smiled at her and shared what he was coloring. Then she jumped into her routines with him -- a dog puppet who eats various kinds of foods he has to name, a couple turn-taking games, some wind-up toys he had to command to do things and a few other activities. He was happy and cooperative the ENTIRE time.
He used words and phrases and asked for things on his own. He did everything she said to do.
She looked at me at one point and said, "Wow. He's like a different kid!"
I know, this is what WE keep saying too! Amazing....
Seriously a-Freaking-MAZING. The combination of weekly visits plus TIME has made a world of difference.
Today he even started using even longer phrases than before... "Kitty, come back here! Pet kitty!!!" "Daddy is HOME. Hi, Daddy!" "Mom move. Want computer!"
It's all very exciting! :) :)
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
An Assortment of School Updates....
SO... the first quarter is drawing to a close.
My first bit of exciting news (and I hope I don't jinx it) -- the quarter ends next Friday and they have perfect attendance so far! I'm not sure that has ever happened. :)
On to Simon -- the "I want to replicate everything from school at home" phase has kicked in. It's funny, it took exactly the same amount of time as it did with Ben. (I have pictures of him doing all the same things from Thanksgiving of his kindergarten year) Last weekend, Simon was writing months and dates on little scraps of paper and shoving them into a pocket chart we have to create a calendar like at school. Then he kept asking us to sit down so he could tell us the date. LOL. Yesterday, after we went over his sight words, he wanted to go off and write them himself so he could then test ME. HA!
He's working really hard on his handwriting, but it still doesn't come easily. The teacher told me she referred him (along with a bunch of other kids, apparently) to the school OT just to see if she could help him. That's awesome and wonderful because heck yeah, extra help and attention in a crazy busy school? Yes, please! But I laughed when she told me, replying, "Really? I hadn't even really given his handwriting a second thought... probably because my older one just NOW has somewhat legible handwriting." LOL! All good though. He has been struggling with making some letters backwards and replicating letters he has just traced. (both issues Ben had in kindergarten too). Add to that, he's left-handed and is also writing entire words backwards -- see below. (I did this when I was little too... lefties unite!) ;)
He is doing a great job learning sight words and now recognizing them in books. :) I'm proud of him and so happy he loves school.
He's just Mr. Happy in general. I think he truly might be the happiest, most easy-going child I know right now. Makes the rough patch we hit between 2-1/2 and 4-1/2 seem like a distant memory. Whew. :)
Oh, and he apparently thinks his cousin is his sister... so, there's that... LOL!
Ben.
Ben is not always so positive about school, but I do know deep down he likes it most of the time. Organization is still not so great, but his teachers are helping a ton.
He brought home a 91% on a pretty tough math test yesterday. We gushed all over it and hung it on the fridge, especially because a couple weeks ago, he brought home a math test with a very, VERY low B, which would have been fine, but all the problems he missed were because he forgot to do them. D'oh. So we made it pretty clear that was completely unacceptable. It's one thing to get things wrong because you don't understand... but to just be rushing so much that you forget to do entire problems? NOT COOL.
He also brought this writing assignment home yesterday which I was pretty impressed by! (although I later found out he didn't follow the directions AT ALL... sigh)
It's great writing though, don't you think? This was also good to see because the last few writing things he has brought home have been a little disjointed and nonsensical. One was a video that had come from a writing assignment. It truly made NO sense whatsoever. When I asked him about it, he said he had actually written much more, but ran out of time to type it all. Ah-ha! Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise!
All in all, a good year so far. :o) Conferences are coming up and should be interesting and enlightening.... ;)
On to Simon -- the "I want to replicate everything from school at home" phase has kicked in. It's funny, it took exactly the same amount of time as it did with Ben. (I have pictures of him doing all the same things from Thanksgiving of his kindergarten year) Last weekend, Simon was writing months and dates on little scraps of paper and shoving them into a pocket chart we have to create a calendar like at school. Then he kept asking us to sit down so he could tell us the date. LOL. Yesterday, after we went over his sight words, he wanted to go off and write them himself so he could then test ME. HA!
He's just Mr. Happy in general. I think he truly might be the happiest, most easy-going child I know right now. Makes the rough patch we hit between 2-1/2 and 4-1/2 seem like a distant memory. Whew. :)
Oh, and he apparently thinks his cousin is his sister... so, there's that... LOL!
Ben.
Ben is not always so positive about school, but I do know deep down he likes it most of the time. Organization is still not so great, but his teachers are helping a ton.
He brought home a 91% on a pretty tough math test yesterday. We gushed all over it and hung it on the fridge, especially because a couple weeks ago, he brought home a math test with a very, VERY low B, which would have been fine, but all the problems he missed were because he forgot to do them. D'oh. So we made it pretty clear that was completely unacceptable. It's one thing to get things wrong because you don't understand... but to just be rushing so much that you forget to do entire problems? NOT COOL.
He also brought this writing assignment home yesterday which I was pretty impressed by! (although I later found out he didn't follow the directions AT ALL... sigh)
It's great writing though, don't you think? This was also good to see because the last few writing things he has brought home have been a little disjointed and nonsensical. One was a video that had come from a writing assignment. It truly made NO sense whatsoever. When I asked him about it, he said he had actually written much more, but ran out of time to type it all. Ah-ha! Anyway, this was a pleasant surprise!
All in all, a good year so far. :o) Conferences are coming up and should be interesting and enlightening.... ;)
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
P-U-R-P-L-E....
I was vaguely aware of Simon's class learning a purple song a couple weeks ago to sing on their school's Live News show that airs on Fridays because the teacher asked us to make sure they all wore purple that day. Had never heard the song though ... until this afternoon when Simon spontaneously belted it out in the driveway. LOL.
Numbers Man...
Simon is very into writing his numbers right now. (I'm assuming numbers were the project last week at school, in addition to the letters F,G, and H. LOL. ) Anyway, his favorite thing is to write one number HUGE on a sheet of paper. He must have gone through 40 sheets of paper yesterday morning, all of which he stuffed into his kindergarten folder to take to school and give out to friends. He told me he specifically created several of them for his teacher to use when she says, "1,2,3 eyes on me!" He also drew a set of eyes.
I briefly considered emailing the teacher to let her know he was doing this so she didn't wonder why he came to school with a folder stuffed full of paper.
Then I remembered, this is Simon, not Ben.... he won't be shy about it.
I briefly considered emailing the teacher to let her know he was doing this so she didn't wonder why he came to school with a folder stuffed full of paper.
Then I remembered, this is Simon, not Ben.... he won't be shy about it.
When she came over to me at pickup time, she informed me that Simon had "let her" use his numbers during "1,2,3" AND, bonus, he told her "he would allow her" (LOL!) to keep the number 2 and the eyes.
Too funny. I am counting down the days to American Education week... can't wait to see that child in action at school. He's a hoot!
Too funny. I am counting down the days to American Education week... can't wait to see that child in action at school. He's a hoot!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
A Plethora of Updates....
J had such a good day at school on Friday. Participated in everything and only went out of the room once to go find his binky. LOL. He was sneaky about it too and tricked Miss Sally! He told her he wanted to go paint and she said she'd take him. When she opened the door, he immediately ran right instead of left and grabbed it from my bag outside. She REALLY wants me to start leaving it in the car... thinking I'll try next Friday.
The playground is one of his favorite parts of school, and understandably. :) He watches the pictures on the door and keeps checking to see if it's outside time yet. As soon as Miss Sally closes the book after reading time, he leaps into action and takes off toward the door. After that, it's a beeline to the playground.
In other news, Simon shocked the heck out of me Friday afternoon. He came home from school talking about a video about the 100th day they watched. (though I think the actual 100th day is a ways away?) Anyway, so he was obsessed with 100s. He disappeared into the family room with paper and crayons. At one point, he was trying to stretch spell the word "Learning", which ultimately came out "LRN", so I told him that was awesome (first time he's really tried to spell anything on his own at home, I think!) and then showed him how to spell it correctly underneath, the way the teachers do. He then insisted on writing it out correctly himself. I went back into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he set this up on the ledge in the kitchen.
Okay, so first off... This is bad, but I really didn't know he could write his numbers. We have never worked on that and they haven't gotten that far in class, from what I've seen in the papers that come home. (I also like the mirror writing for the 200 one... my little lefty... so cute) ;)
Secondly, I also was not aware he could add. He's never had any interest in math, at least not that he's made us aware of.... but apparently he's absorbed a thing or two. I was SHOCKED and pleasantly surprised. Though he's compliant, happily does his homework and enjoys kindergarten, I wasn't really sure that this one had embraced learning yet, honestly... that'll teach me! LOL! I was also amused to see that ge later added a page that said "Maf". Hee. ;) (it's not pictured)
Next topic -- Halloween....
This is the most unprepared I have ever been. My kids forced my hand though with their constant mind changing every year. Ben finally settled on "some kind of skeleton", so I picked up a couple options ... one at the Goodwill ($5!), and another at Target. He opted for the Target one because the mask has glowing red eyes. (sigh) He has entered "big kid costume" land and I'm sad. His costume this year had to be scary and evil and gross. Bleh... I did NOT, however, purchase the scythe to go with it... just couldn't do it.
Simon wanted to be a Ninjago guy. This costume doesn't exist for purchase. Go ahead, do a Google search. I'll wait. There are a handful, but they are all on Ebay for a ridiculous amount of money. There are also some regular ninja costumes billing themselves as Ninjago. Simon is WAY into authenticity and would never go for that. Oh, but wait... they wouldn't do anyway because Simon wants to ACTUALLY look like a Lego.
D'oh.
Thank GOODness for the internet.
I give you, the beginnings of Lego Ninjago Cole. We have a lot of work to do still... but Simon is pleased thusfar. I'm thinking I need to cover the torso with posterboard because the black spray paint failed to cover the Home Depot Logo. Probably should have primed first. Ah well, live and learn. So, it's back out for supplies later. We still have to embellish the front with ropes and Ninjago Cole's icon thingie, plus figure out the mask, and maybe shoe covers. But, so far, so good...
What's Ben been up to? Eh. Big kid stuff, mostly. Complaining about school. Playing DS. Kicking Simon out of his room. Drawing Pokemon maps. LOL. I really do owe the blog some good new pictures of him. I think it's been awhile. ;) He's my hardest to photograph, by a longshot... even with Jonathan, who never stops moving.
We are headed to Tom's company's "Pumpkin Fest" this afternoon, so hoping to get some nice fall pics. :)
And that's all that's been going on around here. I never thought I'd be this busy! My days fly by lately... it's kind of nice... but then again, it's eating into my blog and photo obsession time. LOL!
The playground is one of his favorite parts of school, and understandably. :) He watches the pictures on the door and keeps checking to see if it's outside time yet. As soon as Miss Sally closes the book after reading time, he leaps into action and takes off toward the door. After that, it's a beeline to the playground.
He immediately heads to the wooden house to play for awhile, circles around to some of the climby stuff and slides, the firetruck, a few turns on the circle bikes and then.... the SWINGS. Ohhhhh the swings. He's too little to stay on by himself, so I have to hold him the whole time and run forward and backward to make him "swing" but BOY does he love it. He says, "Fass?" for fast and truly, can not go high enough or fast enough. Yep. Disney's Tower of Terror is definitely in his future. ;)
Sometimes he'll still sit on my lap to swing and I LOVE that. But now that he has discovered sitting on the swing on his own, he won't do that much anymore. :(
In other news, Simon shocked the heck out of me Friday afternoon. He came home from school talking about a video about the 100th day they watched. (though I think the actual 100th day is a ways away?) Anyway, so he was obsessed with 100s. He disappeared into the family room with paper and crayons. At one point, he was trying to stretch spell the word "Learning", which ultimately came out "LRN", so I told him that was awesome (first time he's really tried to spell anything on his own at home, I think!) and then showed him how to spell it correctly underneath, the way the teachers do. He then insisted on writing it out correctly himself. I went back into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he set this up on the ledge in the kitchen.
Okay, so first off... This is bad, but I really didn't know he could write his numbers. We have never worked on that and they haven't gotten that far in class, from what I've seen in the papers that come home. (I also like the mirror writing for the 200 one... my little lefty... so cute) ;)
Secondly, I also was not aware he could add. He's never had any interest in math, at least not that he's made us aware of.... but apparently he's absorbed a thing or two. I was SHOCKED and pleasantly surprised. Though he's compliant, happily does his homework and enjoys kindergarten, I wasn't really sure that this one had embraced learning yet, honestly... that'll teach me! LOL! I was also amused to see that ge later added a page that said "Maf". Hee. ;) (it's not pictured)
Next topic -- Halloween....
This is the most unprepared I have ever been. My kids forced my hand though with their constant mind changing every year. Ben finally settled on "some kind of skeleton", so I picked up a couple options ... one at the Goodwill ($5!), and another at Target. He opted for the Target one because the mask has glowing red eyes. (sigh) He has entered "big kid costume" land and I'm sad. His costume this year had to be scary and evil and gross. Bleh... I did NOT, however, purchase the scythe to go with it... just couldn't do it.
Simon wanted to be a Ninjago guy. This costume doesn't exist for purchase. Go ahead, do a Google search. I'll wait. There are a handful, but they are all on Ebay for a ridiculous amount of money. There are also some regular ninja costumes billing themselves as Ninjago. Simon is WAY into authenticity and would never go for that. Oh, but wait... they wouldn't do anyway because Simon wants to ACTUALLY look like a Lego.
D'oh.
Thank GOODness for the internet.
I give you, the beginnings of Lego Ninjago Cole. We have a lot of work to do still... but Simon is pleased thusfar. I'm thinking I need to cover the torso with posterboard because the black spray paint failed to cover the Home Depot Logo. Probably should have primed first. Ah well, live and learn. So, it's back out for supplies later. We still have to embellish the front with ropes and Ninjago Cole's icon thingie, plus figure out the mask, and maybe shoe covers. But, so far, so good...
What's Ben been up to? Eh. Big kid stuff, mostly. Complaining about school. Playing DS. Kicking Simon out of his room. Drawing Pokemon maps. LOL. I really do owe the blog some good new pictures of him. I think it's been awhile. ;) He's my hardest to photograph, by a longshot... even with Jonathan, who never stops moving.
We are headed to Tom's company's "Pumpkin Fest" this afternoon, so hoping to get some nice fall pics. :)
And that's all that's been going on around here. I never thought I'd be this busy! My days fly by lately... it's kind of nice... but then again, it's eating into my blog and photo obsession time. LOL!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Thanks for Clearing That Up....
I was in Simon's room while he was getting dressed yesterday morning and noticed a weird mark on his chest.
"What's that, buddy?" I asked. "Did you scratch yourself with something?"
Looking down he replied, "Oh that? I don't remember. But that thing underneath? THAT is my nipple."
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
FunDip is Better Than Pepto....
"My stomach hurts."
I hear this just about every other morning from Ben these days. I get it. He's anxious. This is well established. And when he's worried about something, his stomach hurts. I REALLY get this because my stomach is where all my worry goes too.... and when he says it hurts, I KNOW it really does because mine hurts a lot too. It's just how we're made.
Anyway, so yesterday, he got up and immediately started saying his stomach hurt. I told him to get dressed and come downstairs.
I asked if he was worried because he forgot his math homework last night and had accidentally brought home another child's vocabulary workbook. He said he was, a little. I told him I had already emailed the two teachers about both things and that his math teacher said he could do the homework in homeroom. (SO glad this teacher has a kid like Ben, it has been SO helpful this year to have someone who understands) The other teacher said it was no problem either. Worry solved?
"Now I'm not worried but my stomach still hurts."
(sigh)
I have a policy (since I was duped twice, once in Kgn and once in first grade) that now, you go to school unless you have a fever or are actively having stomach issues. (there are a few times I will consider bending the rule, but with Ben I have to be careful because he takes advantage of it)
Anyway, so, especially given that it was Jonathan's school morning, I insisted he was going. For the next hour I watched him. He was a little lethargic but he did eat breakfast. He continued to complain. I took his temp, no fever. He kept at it with the stomach complaints.
He probably could have won this one, honestly, were it not for J's school. So I told him he had to go, but to just let his teacher know if he wasn't feeling well and I'd come get him at 12 when J's school was over.
Given that I was actually a little concerned he might be getting sick, I also shot the teachers an email asking them to let me know the situation and to please, if they had time, drop me a line later and let me know how he seemed to them.
I got an email from the reading teacher in the late morning that said,
"Ben did complain that his stomach hurt, but then he ate all of a FunDip I gave the class as a treat. Now he says he feels fine."
Despite my doubts, he made it through the day and was fine when he got home.
I asked him when he started feeling better and he said, "After the FunDip in reading class."
LOL!
I hear this just about every other morning from Ben these days. I get it. He's anxious. This is well established. And when he's worried about something, his stomach hurts. I REALLY get this because my stomach is where all my worry goes too.... and when he says it hurts, I KNOW it really does because mine hurts a lot too. It's just how we're made.
Anyway, so yesterday, he got up and immediately started saying his stomach hurt. I told him to get dressed and come downstairs.
I asked if he was worried because he forgot his math homework last night and had accidentally brought home another child's vocabulary workbook. He said he was, a little. I told him I had already emailed the two teachers about both things and that his math teacher said he could do the homework in homeroom. (SO glad this teacher has a kid like Ben, it has been SO helpful this year to have someone who understands) The other teacher said it was no problem either. Worry solved?
"Now I'm not worried but my stomach still hurts."
(sigh)
I have a policy (since I was duped twice, once in Kgn and once in first grade) that now, you go to school unless you have a fever or are actively having stomach issues. (there are a few times I will consider bending the rule, but with Ben I have to be careful because he takes advantage of it)
Anyway, so, especially given that it was Jonathan's school morning, I insisted he was going. For the next hour I watched him. He was a little lethargic but he did eat breakfast. He continued to complain. I took his temp, no fever. He kept at it with the stomach complaints.
He probably could have won this one, honestly, were it not for J's school. So I told him he had to go, but to just let his teacher know if he wasn't feeling well and I'd come get him at 12 when J's school was over.
Given that I was actually a little concerned he might be getting sick, I also shot the teachers an email asking them to let me know the situation and to please, if they had time, drop me a line later and let me know how he seemed to them.
I got an email from the reading teacher in the late morning that said,
"Ben did complain that his stomach hurt, but then he ate all of a FunDip I gave the class as a treat. Now he says he feels fine."
Despite my doubts, he made it through the day and was fine when he got home.
I asked him when he started feeling better and he said, "After the FunDip in reading class."
LOL!
Dah-ee....
Jonathan is ALL about daddy these days. I don't think I have ever had a kid quite so into daddy at this age. He asks where Tom is alllllll day long and gets upset when I say he's at work. He checks the office, he checks the deck, he checks the garage. "Dah-ee?" he asks, pitifully.
At night, only Tom can put him to bed. If I put him to bed, he goes down and then immediately gets back up and stands at the door asking for Tom.
On the weekends, it's all daddy all the time. He won't even let me get him his juice in the morning. If he falls and needs a kiss, he doesn't want me, he goes off to find Tom.
You would think I would like the break, but I'm finding it a little weird to be the one rejected! LOL!
At night, only Tom can put him to bed. If I put him to bed, he goes down and then immediately gets back up and stands at the door asking for Tom.
On the weekends, it's all daddy all the time. He won't even let me get him his juice in the morning. If he falls and needs a kiss, he doesn't want me, he goes off to find Tom.
You would think I would like the break, but I'm finding it a little weird to be the one rejected! LOL!
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Monday Speech...
Totally forgot to update about speech yesterday!
So Cindy said she was really pleased with how well J is handling school. Now that we have caught onto his affinity for routine and pictures to anticipate what's next, she encouraged me to just keep working with that. Her only other specific input about school was to discourage others from caving to him at his first squawk of dissatisfaction. when he's not using words. For example, the day she was there, he was playing with the fence pieces to the barn and one of his classmates came by and grabbed one. The mom immediately took it from the little girl and gave it back to him, which I think, is what most moms would do in that situation. I'm supposed to try to intervene and not let them give it back until he uses words to address what's wrong. That will be exhausting, but all things with good rewards are.
Her only other observations were the aforementioned issues with his coordination. She brought this funky inflated pillow thing for him to sit on yesterday and makes him adjust his balance to stay sitting up. (I tried it and it's quite the challenge!) I agreed to her bringing in an occupational therapist to help us set up a "sensory diet" (jargon alert!) which will basically be a toddler obstacle course. So yeah, our house is going to be toddler heaven for awhile, I'm thinking.
Interestingly, I was reading through the handouts she left us yesterday and there are apparently two types of sensory integration issues kids can have -- either overly sensitive to things or not sensitive enough to things. It seems I had one of each in Ben and Jonathan! Reading through the list of overly sensitive kid issues, Ben had almost every single one at J's age. Jonathan, on the other hand, lacks a sense of his body's place in space, so to speak, which makes him clumsy. He doesn't even seem to feel pain the way average people do in that, he will NOT cry when he gets hurt unless he gets REALLY hurt. Anyway, all just interesting stuff. (I'm realizing I may have missed yet another calling in life as I am sort of envying Miss Cindy's job these days!)
She's also helping us put together a book with pictures of everything he uses, asks for and needs on a regular basis. He uses words to ask for things specifically now which is great, but this has something to do with helping solidify the idea in his head of getting someone's attention to ask for something specific rather than just randomly yelling it into the air without initiating a conversation with someone. So I'm slaving away on collecting pictures of everything in his life and we'll eventually categorize it and put everything on velcro in this little binder thing. :)
Also, I'm thinking I need to invest in my own personal laminating machine. LOL. Sheesh.
So that's that. Today was a relatively good day at school which only some mild transition issues. He got to ride bikes int he big room and he was SO happy!!! I love school.... :)
So Cindy said she was really pleased with how well J is handling school. Now that we have caught onto his affinity for routine and pictures to anticipate what's next, she encouraged me to just keep working with that. Her only other specific input about school was to discourage others from caving to him at his first squawk of dissatisfaction. when he's not using words. For example, the day she was there, he was playing with the fence pieces to the barn and one of his classmates came by and grabbed one. The mom immediately took it from the little girl and gave it back to him, which I think, is what most moms would do in that situation. I'm supposed to try to intervene and not let them give it back until he uses words to address what's wrong. That will be exhausting, but all things with good rewards are.
Her only other observations were the aforementioned issues with his coordination. She brought this funky inflated pillow thing for him to sit on yesterday and makes him adjust his balance to stay sitting up. (I tried it and it's quite the challenge!) I agreed to her bringing in an occupational therapist to help us set up a "sensory diet" (jargon alert!) which will basically be a toddler obstacle course. So yeah, our house is going to be toddler heaven for awhile, I'm thinking.
Interestingly, I was reading through the handouts she left us yesterday and there are apparently two types of sensory integration issues kids can have -- either overly sensitive to things or not sensitive enough to things. It seems I had one of each in Ben and Jonathan! Reading through the list of overly sensitive kid issues, Ben had almost every single one at J's age. Jonathan, on the other hand, lacks a sense of his body's place in space, so to speak, which makes him clumsy. He doesn't even seem to feel pain the way average people do in that, he will NOT cry when he gets hurt unless he gets REALLY hurt. Anyway, all just interesting stuff. (I'm realizing I may have missed yet another calling in life as I am sort of envying Miss Cindy's job these days!)
She's also helping us put together a book with pictures of everything he uses, asks for and needs on a regular basis. He uses words to ask for things specifically now which is great, but this has something to do with helping solidify the idea in his head of getting someone's attention to ask for something specific rather than just randomly yelling it into the air without initiating a conversation with someone. So I'm slaving away on collecting pictures of everything in his life and we'll eventually categorize it and put everything on velcro in this little binder thing. :)
Also, I'm thinking I need to invest in my own personal laminating machine. LOL. Sheesh.
So that's that. Today was a relatively good day at school which only some mild transition issues. He got to ride bikes int he big room and he was SO happy!!! I love school.... :)
Saturday, October 06, 2012
Worlds Collide...
A few weeks ago, Jonathan's speech teacher mentioned wanting to come to J's class and observe him in that setting. (this is not unusual for the Infants and Toddlers teachers to do, so I knew it would happen eventually) We finally set a day and it was this past Friday.
My stomach was all in knots because I have a hard enough time some days with Jonathan and his transitions between activities without throwing a familiar face but in the wrong place into the situation.
I thought he might freak the way he does when he wakes up from his nap and encounters my mom instead of me. (even if I'm right there too)
When we walked in, his teacher mouthed, "She's here" and pointed to the corner where Ms. Cindy was turned completely around. I chuckled at that and set about getting Jonathan settled in. Eventually Cindy wandered over to another corner and just sat down in plain sight. Jonathan played for a good ten minutes or so and didn't even notice her there.
Finally, when I felt like he was fairly comfortable, I pointed her out. He grinned from ear to ear and ran over to the play kitchen, where he dug out the hotdog (one of his favorite toys Miss Cindy brings with her when she comes to our house every week) and took it to her. Then, he put a pretend doughnut on his head and "achoo"ed it off, the way she does when she plays with him. After that, he went back to play with the hotdog with her and she gave him a bear hug. This back and forth went on for all of the freeplay time. It was all too cute.
Her visit timing was fortuitous because, verbally, he was really showing off that particular day. I overheard him tell Miss Sally, "Horse in! Cow in!" while they were playing with the barn. She looked over at me and raised her eyebrows and mouthed something like, "He's never done that for me!" The thing is, he really does talk a LOT these days and says anything and everything, including phrases. He just doesn't do a whole lot of it at school...he also doesn't engage other people a whole lot at school, so his chattiness and playfulness came as a surprise for all of us. He kept it up for most of the class and even sat happily for snack, which he rarely does!
Cindy's biggest spoken concerns that day (she took a TON of notes while she was there but I won't hear about the rest of it until Monday when she comes over) were about his motor planning... she is still sort of thinking he has some body awareness/core strength issues which means he has trouble stopping himself and, consequently, lands on his face a lot and/or runs smack into people or objects. Years ago, they would have just said he was klutzy. Now, he's got "low muscle tone". Part of the cure is, she tells me, to build him obstacle courses out of couch cushions and whatnot... seeing as how winter is coming and this is usually part of my go-to entertainment routine, this will not be a problem. LOL. Among my concerns for him, this one ranks very low, but I like and trust Cindy a lot now -- she is working so hard for us and we are seeing such amazing results, that I pretty much go along with whatever she says these days.
Anyway, interesting day all around... I felt a little, no a LOT self conscious being watched with Jonathan the whole time, but I tried my best to block it out and focus on him. I always feel like you look dumber when you are acting self conscious than when you just throw your whole self into enjoying an activity with your child and forgetting who's watching. Easier said than done and the effort exhausted me, but I did my best. I don't know how teachers handle parent observations days and whatnot. I would be a wreck.
I'll be interested to see what other thoughts and observations she shares with me on Monday. She did say before she left that she thought he was doing really well there (I gather, better than she expected) and would continue to do even better as he gets more and more into the routine. All good things! :)
My stomach was all in knots because I have a hard enough time some days with Jonathan and his transitions between activities without throwing a familiar face but in the wrong place into the situation.
I thought he might freak the way he does when he wakes up from his nap and encounters my mom instead of me. (even if I'm right there too)
When we walked in, his teacher mouthed, "She's here" and pointed to the corner where Ms. Cindy was turned completely around. I chuckled at that and set about getting Jonathan settled in. Eventually Cindy wandered over to another corner and just sat down in plain sight. Jonathan played for a good ten minutes or so and didn't even notice her there.
Finally, when I felt like he was fairly comfortable, I pointed her out. He grinned from ear to ear and ran over to the play kitchen, where he dug out the hotdog (one of his favorite toys Miss Cindy brings with her when she comes to our house every week) and took it to her. Then, he put a pretend doughnut on his head and "achoo"ed it off, the way she does when she plays with him. After that, he went back to play with the hotdog with her and she gave him a bear hug. This back and forth went on for all of the freeplay time. It was all too cute.
Her visit timing was fortuitous because, verbally, he was really showing off that particular day. I overheard him tell Miss Sally, "Horse in! Cow in!" while they were playing with the barn. She looked over at me and raised her eyebrows and mouthed something like, "He's never done that for me!" The thing is, he really does talk a LOT these days and says anything and everything, including phrases. He just doesn't do a whole lot of it at school...he also doesn't engage other people a whole lot at school, so his chattiness and playfulness came as a surprise for all of us. He kept it up for most of the class and even sat happily for snack, which he rarely does!
Cindy's biggest spoken concerns that day (she took a TON of notes while she was there but I won't hear about the rest of it until Monday when she comes over) were about his motor planning... she is still sort of thinking he has some body awareness/core strength issues which means he has trouble stopping himself and, consequently, lands on his face a lot and/or runs smack into people or objects. Years ago, they would have just said he was klutzy. Now, he's got "low muscle tone". Part of the cure is, she tells me, to build him obstacle courses out of couch cushions and whatnot... seeing as how winter is coming and this is usually part of my go-to entertainment routine, this will not be a problem. LOL. Among my concerns for him, this one ranks very low, but I like and trust Cindy a lot now -- she is working so hard for us and we are seeing such amazing results, that I pretty much go along with whatever she says these days.
Anyway, interesting day all around... I felt a little, no a LOT self conscious being watched with Jonathan the whole time, but I tried my best to block it out and focus on him. I always feel like you look dumber when you are acting self conscious than when you just throw your whole self into enjoying an activity with your child and forgetting who's watching. Easier said than done and the effort exhausted me, but I did my best. I don't know how teachers handle parent observations days and whatnot. I would be a wreck.
I'll be interested to see what other thoughts and observations she shares with me on Monday. She did say before she left that she thought he was doing really well there (I gather, better than she expected) and would continue to do even better as he gets more and more into the routine. All good things! :)
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Tired.
Oh my goodness I am tired.
Jonathan has decided lately that 5a.m. is a good time to wake up and stay up. It's exhausting. It wouldn't be all that bad of a phase to wait out if it weren't for two things.
1) He's completely mentally exhausting anyway when he's up. It's just constant with the activity and the touchiness and wailing because I won't let him drool all over my laptop and trash all my files.
2) He has been climbing out of bed an average of 20 times or so at night when we put him down. Lately it has been almost an hour after actual bedtime that we actually get him to stay in his bed.
He's not upset or anything. In fact, he leaps out and comes tearing down the hall laughing manically.
(sigh)
This kid is crazy tough.
On the positive side, his naps are usually about 2-1/2 hours now AND he is still letting me rock him.
So life is not all bad. ;)
Jonathan has decided lately that 5a.m. is a good time to wake up and stay up. It's exhausting. It wouldn't be all that bad of a phase to wait out if it weren't for two things.
1) He's completely mentally exhausting anyway when he's up. It's just constant with the activity and the touchiness and wailing because I won't let him drool all over my laptop and trash all my files.
2) He has been climbing out of bed an average of 20 times or so at night when we put him down. Lately it has been almost an hour after actual bedtime that we actually get him to stay in his bed.
He's not upset or anything. In fact, he leaps out and comes tearing down the hall laughing manically.
(sigh)
This kid is crazy tough.
On the positive side, his naps are usually about 2-1/2 hours now AND he is still letting me rock him.
So life is not all bad. ;)