As soon as the calendar rolled over to 2013, it was time to start talking birthday parties. Places book up so quickly! Ben is first up, with his March birthday (9! My baby will be NINE!) and he wanted his party where every other third grade boy has had their party this year, RedZone. It's a laser tag, video game, miniature golf, crazy loud insane place.
Turns out, RedZone was already booked solidly through the end of April.
Awwww shucks. LOL.
I sent out a call on Facebook for party ideas and even tried to talk Ben into just having some friends over for pizza, cake and video games. But he's 8 (9! Almost 9!) and wants to do the same thing the rest of them are doing... so we shopped around. There is a video game truck that will park at your house and do a 2-hour gaming party inside the truck. Looked cool... but perhaps better saved for later on, PLUS I felt weird about inviting a bunch of kids over to play two hours of video games in a truck... I don't know why, I just did. Not sure how other parents might have felt about that, I guess?
I looked at a reptile party... but it honestly seemed a little young for him at this point.
We did the bouncy place last year... he's too old for the "Little Gym" type places....
Then someone suggested Earth Treks. It's an indoor rock climbing place nearby. I tossed the idea out to Ben, ever my cautious and fearful child, and was absolutely SHOCKED when he looked at the website and said, "That looks AWESOME!" So rock climbing it is. The cool part is that you get your own private climbing room and lots and lots of climbing time... so it sounds really well organized, and not chaotic. I'm excited!
We're also using this as an opportunity to encourage him to invite kids we know are compatible. Last year, because the bouncy place allowed 25 guests, he had his whole class because "they are ALL my friends, mom!". Yeah. Turns out, not so much. So I took notes at a birthday party he was invited to on Sunday that was all "his people" as I have started referring to them, and together, he and I came up with a nice, small list of friends to invite.
Anyway, it's still two months away, but I am super excited for him. I think it will be a fun one and a great learning experience... both the rock climbing part and socially... :)
Simon is already talking RedZone for his party.... I have four months to talk him out of it. ;)
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Minecraft...
Well, there was a brief Minecraft lull over here, but then somewhere along the way, Simon got into it and asked Ben to show him how to play, so Ben did and now they are BOTH obsessed... and actually, since he follows the other two around like a little puppy dog, Jonathan is obsessed with "Minecwaft" too.
What's a mom to do when they've used up all their video game time and daddy is coming home late on a Monday?
Minecraft PAPERCRAFTS, of course!
I typed that very search term into Google on a wing and a prayer... and lo and behold, someone had created an entire site devoted to printable, foldable templates for tiny paper Minecraft pieces.
TWO HOURS. That's how long we did this last night...
I will post pics of our creations later. Oh and we're not done yet. The boys want an entire paper Minecraft universe. LOL.
What's a mom to do when they've used up all their video game time and daddy is coming home late on a Monday?
Minecraft PAPERCRAFTS, of course!
I typed that very search term into Google on a wing and a prayer... and lo and behold, someone had created an entire site devoted to printable, foldable templates for tiny paper Minecraft pieces.
TWO HOURS. That's how long we did this last night...
I will post pics of our creations later. Oh and we're not done yet. The boys want an entire paper Minecraft universe. LOL.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Day Off...
It's a teacher work day, so the kids are off from school today. :)
It's also rainy and cold, so we are making the best of being stuck inside. Here's a picture of our "Back to the Future" picnic!
We took a brief break for Jonathan's speech session with Miss Cindy during and after which we made a Mario obstacle course... so fun!
Now the big boys are finishing up BTTF and playing their DSs while Jonathan sleeps.
Happy, happy day. :)
It's also rainy and cold, so we are making the best of being stuck inside. Here's a picture of our "Back to the Future" picnic!
We took a brief break for Jonathan's speech session with Miss Cindy during and after which we made a Mario obstacle course... so fun!
Now the big boys are finishing up BTTF and playing their DSs while Jonathan sleeps.
Happy, happy day. :)
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Bros
Jonathan has such a special relationship with both of his older brothers. It has been so incredibly sweet to watch it evolve...
Ben is the one he goes to for hugs and help. Simon is his playmate. Not that Jonathan and Ben don't play together or that Simon and Jonathan don't share hugs... but each one is the go-to brother for his respective activity, for sure.
I definitely need more photos of him with Simon. (harder to get since they are usually moving... and FAST....) but here are two cute ones of him with Ben from yesterday.
In this one, Ben had sat down to watch a show and Jonathan wandered into the room with his sippy cup and literally just BACKED up into Ben's lap and plopped down. Ben, completely unfazed, just put his arm around him.
Ben is the one he goes to for hugs and help. Simon is his playmate. Not that Jonathan and Ben don't play together or that Simon and Jonathan don't share hugs... but each one is the go-to brother for his respective activity, for sure.
I definitely need more photos of him with Simon. (harder to get since they are usually moving... and FAST....) but here are two cute ones of him with Ben from yesterday.
In this one, Ben had sat down to watch a show and Jonathan wandered into the room with his sippy cup and literally just BACKED up into Ben's lap and plopped down. Ben, completely unfazed, just put his arm around him.
In this one, we were getting ready to leave for basketball. Ben is the only actual basketball player in the house, but the other two have commandeered Ben's old jerseys and wear them to all the games. Too funny. Anyway, so it was shoe time and Tom was doing something else, so I heard Ben say, "Here buddy, I'll help you with your shoes." and Jonathan sat right down and stuck his feet out. :) (also, the cat photobombed...) ;)
I love brothers!!! :)
Friday, January 25, 2013
India...
Ben has been working on this "cultures" project at school for a month or so. He had gotten himself all worked up about it because there was a presentation at the end with all the parents invited. I have to say, I couldn't blame him. It's the LAST thing I would have wanted to do at his age... or now, for that matter. But, couldn't be helped... so we just encouraged him as best we could. The last couple weeks were tough the closer it got to D-Day because when Ben is anxious, he gets angry. Oh he was a MESS.
Today was the day and I thought for sure I'd have to drag him into school crying... but, he got it together and managed to make it out of the car on his own.
I went up at 10:30 and signed in... didn't really know quite what to expect, but Jonathan and I made our way down to the classroom. The desks had been arranged around the wall and each kid stood behind their "booth". We were given passports and you had to go to each station and get your passport stamped and hear a short speech about their country. Some kids brought food to share... others, like Ben, had money from their country and flags and clothes and things. It was SUPER crazy cute and all the kids did a fantastic job!!!
Jonathan went back and forth from hanging with me to hanging out behind Ben's booth. His friends kept calling him "Mini Ben". LOL!!!
Anyway, Ben did great and he was euphoric when it was over. He spent the first ten minutes back at home (I signed both kids out early since school was closing early anyway for snow) running laps around the living room.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? ;)
Today was the day and I thought for sure I'd have to drag him into school crying... but, he got it together and managed to make it out of the car on his own.
I went up at 10:30 and signed in... didn't really know quite what to expect, but Jonathan and I made our way down to the classroom. The desks had been arranged around the wall and each kid stood behind their "booth". We were given passports and you had to go to each station and get your passport stamped and hear a short speech about their country. Some kids brought food to share... others, like Ben, had money from their country and flags and clothes and things. It was SUPER crazy cute and all the kids did a fantastic job!!!
Jonathan went back and forth from hanging with me to hanging out behind Ben's booth. His friends kept calling him "Mini Ben". LOL!!!
Anyway, Ben did great and he was euphoric when it was over. He spent the first ten minutes back at home (I signed both kids out early since school was closing early anyway for snow) running laps around the living room.
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? ;)
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Camps...
I can't believe I have to think about summer camps right now when it's 13 degrees outside, the wind is howling, and there is snow in the forecast two days away... but so goes the camp enrollment game.
The kids have been talking about camps already anyway! Ben wants to do Gym-tastic again at his school (great little camp the gym teachers run with the Whittle equipment... they kids LOVE it! Simon is old enough this year and wants to do it too. So that's a done deal.
I don't want to schedule up their summers. We love our downtime and lazy pool-time but would love to find maybe one other one week thing for each of them... maybe just for Simon. Ben is less interested in camps. Simon has talked about Camp Invention and that's a possibility. Ben wants nothing to do with it this year. I would love love LOVE to find a theater camp for Simon though. There is one at the community college across town... full day though. We'll see. I mentioned it to both of them and Simon immediately said, "Ooo! I want to do THAT!" LOL.
Ben SAYS he'd like to do a basketball camp, but if I know Ben, he'll be complaining about how much "work" it is one day into it and I'll regret that decision.
What are you all doing this year?
The kids have been talking about camps already anyway! Ben wants to do Gym-tastic again at his school (great little camp the gym teachers run with the Whittle equipment... they kids LOVE it! Simon is old enough this year and wants to do it too. So that's a done deal.
I don't want to schedule up their summers. We love our downtime and lazy pool-time but would love to find maybe one other one week thing for each of them... maybe just for Simon. Ben is less interested in camps. Simon has talked about Camp Invention and that's a possibility. Ben wants nothing to do with it this year. I would love love LOVE to find a theater camp for Simon though. There is one at the community college across town... full day though. We'll see. I mentioned it to both of them and Simon immediately said, "Ooo! I want to do THAT!" LOL.
Ben SAYS he'd like to do a basketball camp, but if I know Ben, he'll be complaining about how much "work" it is one day into it and I'll regret that decision.
What are you all doing this year?
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Mascot
Ben went outside early yesterday to play basketball and he had his uniform for the game later on.
We heard Jonathan upstairs saying, "Want basketball shirt tooooooooo!" and Ben gave him his shirt from last year. Then he ran around in the driveway for a half hour yelling, "I'm playing basketball!!! Like Ben!!!"
HILARIOUS.
He wore that shirt all day and then to Ben's basketball game at 4.
He did NOT want to sit on the sidelines with me and just kept saying he wanted daddy and Ben. I finally told him that whenever he heard the buzzer, he could run over and visit. So at the end of every quarter, as soon as the buzzer sounded, he took off across the court like a shot and jumped right into the team huddle or sat on the bench until Ben would take him by the hand and walk him back over to the sidelines so the game could start again.
It was adorable. Seriously, crazy adorable. That is, until the third quarter, when he didn't return on his own and I had to run across the court like an idiot and go get him. Did not enjoy that. But otherwise... adorable.
We heard Jonathan upstairs saying, "Want basketball shirt tooooooooo!" and Ben gave him his shirt from last year. Then he ran around in the driveway for a half hour yelling, "I'm playing basketball!!! Like Ben!!!"
HILARIOUS.
He wore that shirt all day and then to Ben's basketball game at 4.
He did NOT want to sit on the sidelines with me and just kept saying he wanted daddy and Ben. I finally told him that whenever he heard the buzzer, he could run over and visit. So at the end of every quarter, as soon as the buzzer sounded, he took off across the court like a shot and jumped right into the team huddle or sat on the bench until Ben would take him by the hand and walk him back over to the sidelines so the game could start again.
It was adorable. Seriously, crazy adorable. That is, until the third quarter, when he didn't return on his own and I had to run across the court like an idiot and go get him. Did not enjoy that. But otherwise... adorable.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Stuff...
I'm getting to the point where I'm trying to be careful about what I put out into the publicly accessible digital universe about Ben. My blog is not currently passworded, so I've tried to be particularly careful here.
It's just that... well, he's going to be NINE this year. He has friends with e-mail accounts and IPod Touches and cell phones ... friends who actually access the internet. Now, most of the ones I know are playing Minecraft or Coolmath or looking up MarioKart Youtube videos. And I don't actually think a 9-year-old would google Ben and stumble onto my blog and find all of his embarrassing baby stories... but it's not out of the realm of possibility in the near future. Kids can be pretty cruel.
So I'm not sure how to continue documenting the things I want to document... I tell a lot of funny Ben stories on FB, but they are only open those I choose, a relatively small list of people.
Maybe the answer is to go back to the google sign-in. I don't know. Have to give it some thought. Any other parents of kids this age pondering this?
In other news...
Simon has some kind of sore throat bug. I am a mean mommy and sent him to school Thursday and Friday anyway since he didn't have a fever. But Friday, he also had a headache, so I told him to go and I'd pick him up at 12:15 after Jonathan's school was over. I would have skipped Jonathan's class if I thought Simon was really all that sick, but once he had some Motrin and the headache ebbed, he was bounding all over the house, so off he went. He was actually fine when I went at 12:15 to get him and I asked if he wanted to stay... but what kid in their right mind is going to take that option? (except for me, because apparently I was the only crazy kid to like school that much!) He was happily eating pizza in the cafeteria... so fun to see him doing his thing there. :) He's super cute at school!
Later at parent pickup for Ben, I found out from the teacher that one of his little friends was out sick with a stomach bug. I REALLY hope that passes us over. Hoping the three-day weekend will be enough time to let that one fizzle out from the class virus pool.
Also at pickup, Ben emerged for the third day in a row without his heavy coat. I marched him back down the hall to his locker to retrieve it and figured while I was there I would dig through and see what else I could find. While I was standing there, in shock and aghast, at all the missing items that suddenly appeared before my eyes, his reading teacher, who had been standing a little ways down the hall talking to another teacher, came running up to me. "I'm glad I found you! I wanted to let you know that Ben and I did a little cleanout of his folders and desk today. We found his reading calendar!"
"Really?" I replied? He brought that to school two weeks ago!
"Well... it never made it to me. We found it in the science folder. Strange! We found a bunch of other things we'd been missing too... OH and here are the books from the Christmas book exchange, even the one you sent in. (it was still wrapped). We also found a couple birthday invitations."
As she continued with the laundry list of things they had come across, I reached down and pulled a pile of gloves out of the bottom of the locker... FIVE pairs of gloves to be exact. Also his winter coat, another jacket I had not realized was missing and some other child's jacket.
Sigh.
She told me she's going to do a weekly shakedown of his folders with him. I thanked her profusely. I don't know what Ben would do this year without the teachers he has watching over him. They have really helped us SO much. I can organize him and make him checklists all I want on my end, but if there is no one on the other end to help him out, it's pointless.
Things have gone a bit more haywire than usual this past week with his homeroom teacher (who is also his math/science/social studies teacher) being out on medical leave. She had taken him on as a bit of a special project and we had a great system going. The longterm sub, while wonderful in that she seems to be inspecting his backpack every afternoon because he is suddenly coming home with all the books he needs... doesn't seem to be as on top of the other details like his folders.... argh....
Somehow though, in the midst of this organizational chaos, and with his absolute hatred of all things school-related, Ben is managing to get As in all of his classes, at least last time I heard. I'm not really sure how this is possible, but we'll take it. He's a puzzle, for sure!
And in still other news, preschool registration for next year is this coming week. Hard to believe my BABY will be going to 3s preschool in the fall. That's wacky. Especially when I consider that that was Ben's first year there and at that point, I had just had Simon and Jonathan was another three years away from even existing. It's actually kind of consoling to me that he'll probably spend an extra year at preschool... I'm not ready to be that close leaving that place yet!
Oh and one more thing! The reading specialist came up to me at pickup Wednesday to tell me she had been in Simon's class Dibeling kids that day and that he blew her away. This was the first time she had done the nonsense word part of the test and she told him he only had to give her the letter sounds for the nonsense words, but that he just went down the list and sounded them all out! Go Simon! I told her that was great to hear because he doesn't always let me know what knows and that I still had a hard time figuring out how his reading was coming along. I will say though, that at the advice of my friend whose son is also in the class, (who she thinks the teacher has kicked the reading lessons up a notch because her son has really taken off) I pulled out the Bob books and sure enough, he could read them relatively well all of a sudden! Love this stage... love love love! So proud of him!
Anyway, so there's a post! A nice substantial one too! ;) Happy weekend!
It's just that... well, he's going to be NINE this year. He has friends with e-mail accounts and IPod Touches and cell phones ... friends who actually access the internet. Now, most of the ones I know are playing Minecraft or Coolmath or looking up MarioKart Youtube videos. And I don't actually think a 9-year-old would google Ben and stumble onto my blog and find all of his embarrassing baby stories... but it's not out of the realm of possibility in the near future. Kids can be pretty cruel.
So I'm not sure how to continue documenting the things I want to document... I tell a lot of funny Ben stories on FB, but they are only open those I choose, a relatively small list of people.
Maybe the answer is to go back to the google sign-in. I don't know. Have to give it some thought. Any other parents of kids this age pondering this?
In other news...
Simon has some kind of sore throat bug. I am a mean mommy and sent him to school Thursday and Friday anyway since he didn't have a fever. But Friday, he also had a headache, so I told him to go and I'd pick him up at 12:15 after Jonathan's school was over. I would have skipped Jonathan's class if I thought Simon was really all that sick, but once he had some Motrin and the headache ebbed, he was bounding all over the house, so off he went. He was actually fine when I went at 12:15 to get him and I asked if he wanted to stay... but what kid in their right mind is going to take that option? (except for me, because apparently I was the only crazy kid to like school that much!) He was happily eating pizza in the cafeteria... so fun to see him doing his thing there. :) He's super cute at school!
Later at parent pickup for Ben, I found out from the teacher that one of his little friends was out sick with a stomach bug. I REALLY hope that passes us over. Hoping the three-day weekend will be enough time to let that one fizzle out from the class virus pool.
Also at pickup, Ben emerged for the third day in a row without his heavy coat. I marched him back down the hall to his locker to retrieve it and figured while I was there I would dig through and see what else I could find. While I was standing there, in shock and aghast, at all the missing items that suddenly appeared before my eyes, his reading teacher, who had been standing a little ways down the hall talking to another teacher, came running up to me. "I'm glad I found you! I wanted to let you know that Ben and I did a little cleanout of his folders and desk today. We found his reading calendar!"
"Really?" I replied? He brought that to school two weeks ago!
"Well... it never made it to me. We found it in the science folder. Strange! We found a bunch of other things we'd been missing too... OH and here are the books from the Christmas book exchange, even the one you sent in. (it was still wrapped). We also found a couple birthday invitations."
As she continued with the laundry list of things they had come across, I reached down and pulled a pile of gloves out of the bottom of the locker... FIVE pairs of gloves to be exact. Also his winter coat, another jacket I had not realized was missing and some other child's jacket.
Sigh.
She told me she's going to do a weekly shakedown of his folders with him. I thanked her profusely. I don't know what Ben would do this year without the teachers he has watching over him. They have really helped us SO much. I can organize him and make him checklists all I want on my end, but if there is no one on the other end to help him out, it's pointless.
Things have gone a bit more haywire than usual this past week with his homeroom teacher (who is also his math/science/social studies teacher) being out on medical leave. She had taken him on as a bit of a special project and we had a great system going. The longterm sub, while wonderful in that she seems to be inspecting his backpack every afternoon because he is suddenly coming home with all the books he needs... doesn't seem to be as on top of the other details like his folders.... argh....
Somehow though, in the midst of this organizational chaos, and with his absolute hatred of all things school-related, Ben is managing to get As in all of his classes, at least last time I heard. I'm not really sure how this is possible, but we'll take it. He's a puzzle, for sure!
And in still other news, preschool registration for next year is this coming week. Hard to believe my BABY will be going to 3s preschool in the fall. That's wacky. Especially when I consider that that was Ben's first year there and at that point, I had just had Simon and Jonathan was another three years away from even existing. It's actually kind of consoling to me that he'll probably spend an extra year at preschool... I'm not ready to be that close leaving that place yet!
Oh and one more thing! The reading specialist came up to me at pickup Wednesday to tell me she had been in Simon's class Dibeling kids that day and that he blew her away. This was the first time she had done the nonsense word part of the test and she told him he only had to give her the letter sounds for the nonsense words, but that he just went down the list and sounded them all out! Go Simon! I told her that was great to hear because he doesn't always let me know what knows and that I still had a hard time figuring out how his reading was coming along. I will say though, that at the advice of my friend whose son is also in the class, (who she thinks the teacher has kicked the reading lessons up a notch because her son has really taken off) I pulled out the Bob books and sure enough, he could read them relatively well all of a sudden! Love this stage... love love love! So proud of him!
Anyway, so there's a post! A nice substantial one too! ;) Happy weekend!
Monday, January 14, 2013
As Challenging as Ben Is....
.... that's how UN-challenging Simon is these days. I'm sure his time will come again as they seem to take turns with these things.
He is seriously just the most easy-going kid though. Happy all the time, sings all the time, loves everything about everything... except dinner... that's when he does become a little bit of a pain in the backside.
I sometimes have to shush him because while Ben is going on and on about how much he hates school and everything else right now, Simon is saying, "But mommy, *I* love school! Why does Ben HATE school! School is great!" It makes Ben SO angry and really does not help the situation. I don't think he is trying to aggrevate Ben, I think he legitimately does not understand how Ben could possible hate school and the child has no filter whatsoever so if he thinks it, it's coming out.
He's just a relatively simple, straight-forward little boy. And, as much as I enjoy Ben's book-smart, old-soul personality (the booksmart side of which he doesn't embrace right now, but whatever), I also enjoy the typical, average five-year-old "it's all new to me and it's all wonderful!" personality Simon has.
This is not to say he is not very intelligent in his own right. In fact, he's doing really well in school and starting to really read now, which is so exciting! He also seems to have an interest in math, which surprises me, given how obviously right-brained he is. But, he's still young and not jaded on the math thing, so who am I to judge? ;) He has years ahead of him to curse algebra.
He is a master Lego builder already and can put together even the most complicated sets completely on his own and, now that he has his own box of art supplies that he got for Christmas, he's constantly cranking out things for us to decorate the house with. LOL. Love him.
Interesting and so different...
Jonathan? Still not sure where that one will fall just yet... he seems to have Simon's silliness, but Ben's slightly obsessive personality... plus, an added feature all his own of being amazingly fearless go-with-the-flow.
He is seriously just the most easy-going kid though. Happy all the time, sings all the time, loves everything about everything... except dinner... that's when he does become a little bit of a pain in the backside.
I sometimes have to shush him because while Ben is going on and on about how much he hates school and everything else right now, Simon is saying, "But mommy, *I* love school! Why does Ben HATE school! School is great!" It makes Ben SO angry and really does not help the situation. I don't think he is trying to aggrevate Ben, I think he legitimately does not understand how Ben could possible hate school and the child has no filter whatsoever so if he thinks it, it's coming out.
He's just a relatively simple, straight-forward little boy. And, as much as I enjoy Ben's book-smart, old-soul personality (the booksmart side of which he doesn't embrace right now, but whatever), I also enjoy the typical, average five-year-old "it's all new to me and it's all wonderful!" personality Simon has.
This is not to say he is not very intelligent in his own right. In fact, he's doing really well in school and starting to really read now, which is so exciting! He also seems to have an interest in math, which surprises me, given how obviously right-brained he is. But, he's still young and not jaded on the math thing, so who am I to judge? ;) He has years ahead of him to curse algebra.
He is a master Lego builder already and can put together even the most complicated sets completely on his own and, now that he has his own box of art supplies that he got for Christmas, he's constantly cranking out things for us to decorate the house with. LOL. Love him.
Interesting and so different...
Jonathan? Still not sure where that one will fall just yet... he seems to have Simon's silliness, but Ben's slightly obsessive personality... plus, an added feature all his own of being amazingly fearless go-with-the-flow.
Complex Ben...
Of my three children, you would think the two-year-old would be the difficult/challenging one. And yes, he does give me a run for my money. But these days? He's not the one who is making me the craziest... it's Ben!
First off, the negativity. OMG, the negativity. I swear the kid is never happy about anything. And can even find something negative to say about a 70-degree, no humidity Saturday.
His negativity about school drives me insane and I try as I might, I can't seem to make anything better or get to the bottom of it. By all logic, he should enjoy school. He's GOOD at school. Yes, he struggles to bring home what he needs, but despite constantly forgetting things and his teachers' struggles to keep him on task, the kid is getting excellent grades right now, so clearly something is going right for him. His teachers tell me his classmates tell him he's smart and he wows them with some of the things he can do in math.
He should LOVE school.
But he hates it. And he tells me this constantly.
I feel like the only time I see him smile lately is when he's playing basketball or a video game.
Now, honestly? I'm not incredibly worried about his mental well-being because really? This is who he has always been. He was not a smiley baby. He was not a smiley toddler... he has always been super serious and super intense and, frankly, pretty negative. I think it's just how he is wired and I've been working to try to teach him to be more positive.
But lately, I've been worried he just isn't happy.
It doesn't help that he gets picked on at school. Not a ton... but enough to bother him. There's one kid in particular this year who keeps taking things out of his desk and breaking them on purpose. He also calls him names. This is a kid who, for the first three months of school, Ben came home and talked about as his "best friend". NOT the first time this has happened either, which leaves me to wonder about my son's taste in these "friends".
Just at a loss with him lately... he seems unmotivated and has no passion for anything other than video games. This week will be an interesting experiment though because, for the second time, we caught him up playing his DS after we told him it was NOT electronics night (every other night they can play their DSs for an hour before bed). So the DS, the Wii and the laptop are gone indefinitely.
(sigh)
I'm working on organizing playdates with kids I KNOW he's compatible with rather than the ones he is choosing as friends... wondering if maybe he is just lonely and needs someone who understands him.
He had a really great time yesterday with a little boy from his old school who is very VERY similar to him and I hope to foster this and maybe he'll end up with a best friend, which I think he really REALLY needs.
He's so complicated... I shudder to think what the teen years will bring when he goes into total shutdown mode...
First off, the negativity. OMG, the negativity. I swear the kid is never happy about anything. And can even find something negative to say about a 70-degree, no humidity Saturday.
His negativity about school drives me insane and I try as I might, I can't seem to make anything better or get to the bottom of it. By all logic, he should enjoy school. He's GOOD at school. Yes, he struggles to bring home what he needs, but despite constantly forgetting things and his teachers' struggles to keep him on task, the kid is getting excellent grades right now, so clearly something is going right for him. His teachers tell me his classmates tell him he's smart and he wows them with some of the things he can do in math.
He should LOVE school.
But he hates it. And he tells me this constantly.
I feel like the only time I see him smile lately is when he's playing basketball or a video game.
Now, honestly? I'm not incredibly worried about his mental well-being because really? This is who he has always been. He was not a smiley baby. He was not a smiley toddler... he has always been super serious and super intense and, frankly, pretty negative. I think it's just how he is wired and I've been working to try to teach him to be more positive.
But lately, I've been worried he just isn't happy.
It doesn't help that he gets picked on at school. Not a ton... but enough to bother him. There's one kid in particular this year who keeps taking things out of his desk and breaking them on purpose. He also calls him names. This is a kid who, for the first three months of school, Ben came home and talked about as his "best friend". NOT the first time this has happened either, which leaves me to wonder about my son's taste in these "friends".
Just at a loss with him lately... he seems unmotivated and has no passion for anything other than video games. This week will be an interesting experiment though because, for the second time, we caught him up playing his DS after we told him it was NOT electronics night (every other night they can play their DSs for an hour before bed). So the DS, the Wii and the laptop are gone indefinitely.
(sigh)
I'm working on organizing playdates with kids I KNOW he's compatible with rather than the ones he is choosing as friends... wondering if maybe he is just lonely and needs someone who understands him.
He had a really great time yesterday with a little boy from his old school who is very VERY similar to him and I hope to foster this and maybe he'll end up with a best friend, which I think he really REALLY needs.
He's so complicated... I shudder to think what the teen years will bring when he goes into total shutdown mode...
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Preschool Christmas Party....
This was pre-Christmas, but thought I should document anyway.
Jonathan is loving preschool this year! Here are a few pics from his little Christmas party there... I heart preschool. Can we stay forever?
Jonathan is loving preschool this year! Here are a few pics from his little Christmas party there... I heart preschool. Can we stay forever?
Arguing with Miss Sally about having another muffin....
He loves craft time! (and yes, most likely another lefty in the house!)
His masterpiece!
Kicking back with a good book
With Miss Sally
Jonathan always wants to push the button to turn on the Turning Turning song at the end of class. Sally had been letting him, until this day, when it turned into a riot... everyone wants to push the button now! LOL!
Friday, January 04, 2013
Christmas "Break"....
Christmas has come and gone. (Christmas post coming later) Anyone else feel like it was kind of a letdown this year, being on a Tuesday and all?
Ah well...
Maybe it was a combination of things for us. For example, we spent two days right before Christmas dealing with after-hours pediatric care. Ben had a pretty straight-forward ear infection on Saturday and on Sunday, Jonathan stepped on a stuffed Clifford in the basement and rolled/twisted/did something really crazy to his foot/ankle.
He screamed and screamed, and it is rather unlike him now to shake things off quickly. Add to that, he couldn't walk and wouldn't put weight on his foot off to urgent care we went. I sat with him among some grotesquely ill sniffly sneezy people for THREE HOURS. Finally got an xray and they determined there was no fracture they could see (apparently sometimes these things take time to show up) and that it was probably a sprain. They told me he should start putting weight on it in the next day or two and if not, get it looked at again.
Two days passed and he still wouldn't put weight on it. He did, however get really adept about with getting around. It was interesting to watch him adapt so quickly. I started to wonder what went through his head. Did he just think this was how life was now? LOL.
We were concerned because when we would stand him up he would still immediately grab his foot and cry that it hurt. The day after Christmas, we headed off to the pediatrician when Ben spiked a fever despite being on abx for the ear infection (it was neverending over here!!!) so I had the doctor look at J's foot. He manipulated it in a hundred different ways, banged on the bottom of his foot, pressed all over, stood him up (J did his flamingo move, as usual). He said it may have been a fracture we hadn't been able to see at the time of the x-ray... but that we should give it another day or two and if he still wasn't trying to walk, then we should get another x-ray.
I was a breath away from getting the second x-ray, when just Wednesday (1-1/2 weeks at this point) he started walking holding on to furniture. Yesterday, he walked independently (with a limp, but still) FINALLY. He still says it hurts sometimes, but I think whatever it was is healing.
Sheesh.
Ah well...
Maybe it was a combination of things for us. For example, we spent two days right before Christmas dealing with after-hours pediatric care. Ben had a pretty straight-forward ear infection on Saturday and on Sunday, Jonathan stepped on a stuffed Clifford in the basement and rolled/twisted/did something really crazy to his foot/ankle.
He screamed and screamed, and it is rather unlike him now to shake things off quickly. Add to that, he couldn't walk and wouldn't put weight on his foot off to urgent care we went. I sat with him among some grotesquely ill sniffly sneezy people for THREE HOURS. Finally got an xray and they determined there was no fracture they could see (apparently sometimes these things take time to show up) and that it was probably a sprain. They told me he should start putting weight on it in the next day or two and if not, get it looked at again.
Two days passed and he still wouldn't put weight on it. He did, however get really adept about with getting around. It was interesting to watch him adapt so quickly. I started to wonder what went through his head. Did he just think this was how life was now? LOL.
We were concerned because when we would stand him up he would still immediately grab his foot and cry that it hurt. The day after Christmas, we headed off to the pediatrician when Ben spiked a fever despite being on abx for the ear infection (it was neverending over here!!!) so I had the doctor look at J's foot. He manipulated it in a hundred different ways, banged on the bottom of his foot, pressed all over, stood him up (J did his flamingo move, as usual). He said it may have been a fracture we hadn't been able to see at the time of the x-ray... but that we should give it another day or two and if he still wasn't trying to walk, then we should get another x-ray.
I was a breath away from getting the second x-ray, when just Wednesday (1-1/2 weeks at this point) he started walking holding on to furniture. Yesterday, he walked independently (with a limp, but still) FINALLY. He still says it hurts sometimes, but I think whatever it was is healing.
Sheesh.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Christmas 2012
We came. We saw. We Christmassed.
Also? on Sunday, Jonathan stepped on a stuffed Clifford in the basement and sprained his ankle, so we spent some time in urgent care. Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without a visit to some kind of medical facility and waiting hours upon hours with hideously sick people.
He still can't walk, but we think he's starting to put a little weight on it here and there. (sigh)
Anyway, so Christmas.
Ben, Simon, and gimpy Jonathan coming down the stairs with help from Daddy.
Simon got the Lego set he's wanted forever!
Also? on Sunday, Jonathan stepped on a stuffed Clifford in the basement and sprained his ankle, so we spent some time in urgent care. Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without a visit to some kind of medical facility and waiting hours upon hours with hideously sick people.
He still can't walk, but we think he's starting to put a little weight on it here and there. (sigh)
Anyway, so Christmas.
Ben, Simon, and gimpy Jonathan coming down the stairs with help from Daddy.
The boys got right to it. Jonathan played us a little Kenny G.
Simon got the Lego set he's wanted forever!
Ben and Simon both got Dreamlites Pillow Pets, which I thought were sort of goofy but lit up last night at bedtime? They were super cool. I sort of want one for MY room! LOL!
Jonathan found the potty in the dollhouse.
The furbies... UGH. Jonathan was SO ticked off that he didn't get one too. Also? They have no off switch. Seriously.
Air hockey fun!
Simon and Uncle B building Legos!
Biggest and littlest playing Mario Kart.
Later, we went over to Nanee and Pap's. Then we came home to a quiet afternoon/evening of playing and being lazy and we got indian food for dinner! :) YAY! Love low-key Christmasses...
Now, it's Wednesday and I realize the giant ripoff of Christmas on a Tuesday. Tom is right back to work and I am home with the kids and the Christmas mess. This hardly seems fair... but, I guess we'll build a lot of Legos today!
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Christmas Breakdown...
My friend Beth complained that I hadn't posted a list of links about what the kids are getting for Christmas this year. LOL! I could swear I posted a general summary... but anyway... here goes. :)
Simon has been asking for this Destiny's Bounty Lego set since his birthday. NO I did NOT pay $139 for it. LOL! It was the first present I bought and I got it way back in October for much cheaper! $139... seriously?!
He is also getting:
This cute magic set (my SIL got him one last year? year before? Can't remember... he has played with it so much that he has worn out all but the sturdiest of props!)
These castle blocks (found them on an endcap at Michaels for $29 one day while we were out with the boys and I snuck them into the cart when they weren't paying attention. Simon is going to LOVE these)
He is also getting a box crammed full of pencils, crayons, paper, tape, paper clips, rubber bands, envelopes, index cards, etc... I think I may be most excited about this one. He is going to go bananas! We have art supplies aplenty around here, but he is big into having his very own things and, like me, he LOVES "kits". LOL.
Ben is getting:
This chemistry set. He didn't ask for it, but he was crazy hard to shop for this year and I know he'll love it. It's not something that will get any attention on Christmas morning... but give us a good couple of snow days and it will be a HUGE hit.
Long sleeve Under Amour shirts. THis is literally the only style of shirt he is happy to wear these days. We have a bunch from Target, but they haven't lasted very long. I figured he could use a couple decent ones.
These miniature football pennants. -- last year's big hit gift was a set of miniature football helmets. He still plays with them every. single. day. These are going to be a winner!
Tabletop football field - (I found a generic, non-team one) It's the cheesiest little thing, but he's really into the paper footballs these days.
Plasma Ball
Minecraft Periodic Elements Table T-Shirt
Both big boys are getting:
Furbies -- like the other things, I got these WAY early at Target before they hiked the price by $30. LOL.
Ravens Dreamlites Pillow Pets (gag... but they were on the lists....)
Possibly the 3DSs... I bought them... but may save them for bdays. They were on sale as part of Amazon's last-minute Christmas push, so I snagged them. But yeah, they may be held for a few months. We'll see how generous Santa is feeling.
Jonathan is getting this dollhouse. He's getting a couple other little silly things in his stocking... but I kept him to the one thing this year so he wouldn't get overwhelmed... and frankly, with three boys, we own basically every 2-3-year-old age appropriate toy there is.
And lastly, their big shared gift this year is a SMALL air-hockey table. (hence why the DSs might get held off for bdays)
I'm excited for Santa to come!! :) :) :)
Simon has been asking for this Destiny's Bounty Lego set since his birthday. NO I did NOT pay $139 for it. LOL! It was the first present I bought and I got it way back in October for much cheaper! $139... seriously?!
He is also getting:
This cute magic set (my SIL got him one last year? year before? Can't remember... he has played with it so much that he has worn out all but the sturdiest of props!)
These castle blocks (found them on an endcap at Michaels for $29 one day while we were out with the boys and I snuck them into the cart when they weren't paying attention. Simon is going to LOVE these)
He is also getting a box crammed full of pencils, crayons, paper, tape, paper clips, rubber bands, envelopes, index cards, etc... I think I may be most excited about this one. He is going to go bananas! We have art supplies aplenty around here, but he is big into having his very own things and, like me, he LOVES "kits". LOL.
Ben is getting:
This chemistry set. He didn't ask for it, but he was crazy hard to shop for this year and I know he'll love it. It's not something that will get any attention on Christmas morning... but give us a good couple of snow days and it will be a HUGE hit.
Long sleeve Under Amour shirts. THis is literally the only style of shirt he is happy to wear these days. We have a bunch from Target, but they haven't lasted very long. I figured he could use a couple decent ones.
These miniature football pennants. -- last year's big hit gift was a set of miniature football helmets. He still plays with them every. single. day. These are going to be a winner!
Tabletop football field - (I found a generic, non-team one) It's the cheesiest little thing, but he's really into the paper footballs these days.
Plasma Ball
Minecraft Periodic Elements Table T-Shirt
Both big boys are getting:
Furbies -- like the other things, I got these WAY early at Target before they hiked the price by $30. LOL.
Ravens Dreamlites Pillow Pets (gag... but they were on the lists....)
Possibly the 3DSs... I bought them... but may save them for bdays. They were on sale as part of Amazon's last-minute Christmas push, so I snagged them. But yeah, they may be held for a few months. We'll see how generous Santa is feeling.
Jonathan is getting this dollhouse. He's getting a couple other little silly things in his stocking... but I kept him to the one thing this year so he wouldn't get overwhelmed... and frankly, with three boys, we own basically every 2-3-year-old age appropriate toy there is.
And lastly, their big shared gift this year is a SMALL air-hockey table. (hence why the DSs might get held off for bdays)
I'm excited for Santa to come!! :) :) :)
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Fishie....
I was at swim lessons with the big boys a couple weeks ago and happened to notice a very small girl taking lessons with another teacher. She looked to be about three or so. She was diving down to get things off the bottom and swimming all over the place.
"How old is she?" I asked her teacher.
"She just turned three, " she replied. "But I've had her since she was one... she's ALWAYS been fearless though!"
Later that week, I texted the boys' teacher. "When can Jonathan start lessons with you?"
Generally with the little ones, they do a mommy and me class or a private lesson with mommy in the water to help out, so I wasn't optimistic that she would take him without me and I have ZERO desire to get in the pool right now and deal with getting Jonathan and myself dressed and dried off enough to go back out into the cold winter air.
She replied that we could try it and see how it went. The next week, Ben couldn't take his lesson because basketball conflicted (the time moves around every week), so I asked if we could sub in Jonathan to swim with Simon. She was okay with that, so off we went.
Now, in stark contrast to Ben at this age, who freaked his freak out upon even ENTERING a building with an indoor pool, Jonathan was PSYCHED. "Do you want to swim today?" "YES!!!" was his enthusiastic reply. He waited patiently (kinda) for his turn.
When it was his turn, he didn't even look back. He went right with Miss Tara. She looked over and asked, "Is he going to get upset about going under water?"
"Uh... no." I answered, laughing... thinking back to summertime and all the "More! More!" when he would jump in and go under.
She promptly dunked him and up he popped, giggling.
Then she put him on the little step in the shallow and backed up so he could jump and "swim" to her. I'm pretty sure she didn't even get to three before he lunged forward and went under... she pulled him up and he giggled some more.
"I think this will work!" she yelled from across the pool.
I did have to sit on the side and hold him while he sat on the wall when it was Simon's turn. (she alternates the kids' turns during their lesson. But I'll certainly take getting my jeans a little wet over getting completely in!)
I'm hoping to have a tiny swimmer by June. Do'able? We'll see. LOL!
Today was a banner day for my kiddos! :)
Simon came bounding out of the parent pickup line:
"Mommy! I got this! And I heard my name on the announcements!!! I got it because I did a random act of kindness and cleaned up things people left on the floor in the bathroom."
Of course, this begs the question... why can't he do this at home... but whatever. ;) He was excited.
"Ben, did you hear Simon's name read on the announcements?"
"Yeeeeees...." Ben sighed, rolling his eyes.
He was none too pleased. ;)
However, when I was going through his folder, I discovered something that me proud too!
His mid-term reading progress report! He has an "A"! This is big news because he is in a REALLY tough class. He brought home a solid B on his last report card and I was thrilled about that because he had been struggling with following directions well, finishing work, and giving complete answers (just didn't feel like writing them... sigh.... ) Very excited about this progress so far, as is his teacher! :)
So proud of my big boys. :)
Oh, and they had an assembly yesterday -- a concert for the 4th and 5th grade chorus, band and orchestra. Simon announced in the car, "*I* would like to be in an assembly someday!!" LOL. Not surprised. Ben said, "Not me! Never!" Love that they are so predictable. ;)
Simon came bounding out of the parent pickup line:
"Mommy! I got this! And I heard my name on the announcements!!! I got it because I did a random act of kindness and cleaned up things people left on the floor in the bathroom."
Of course, this begs the question... why can't he do this at home... but whatever. ;) He was excited.
"Ben, did you hear Simon's name read on the announcements?"
"Yeeeeees...." Ben sighed, rolling his eyes.
He was none too pleased. ;)
However, when I was going through his folder, I discovered something that me proud too!
So proud of my big boys. :)
Oh, and they had an assembly yesterday -- a concert for the 4th and 5th grade chorus, band and orchestra. Simon announced in the car, "*I* would like to be in an assembly someday!!" LOL. Not surprised. Ben said, "Not me! Never!" Love that they are so predictable. ;)
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Saturday, December 08, 2012
Whistling While I Work....
I am having the most fun baking this Christmas season! I enjoy baking for Christmas, but usually, things get backed up and I get too stressed out toward the end to really have fun with it. This year, I decided to take a step back, break it down and knock out only one thing at a time, a little at a time, starting way early and putting things in the freezer as I go.
Can't argue with the results.
I'm making a TON of things this year for various groups of people. Truffles, Chocolate Chips, mini bundt cakes, scones, marshmallows, no bake oatmeals, and sugar cookies. (if I have the time, I am going to attempt the ones I have always wanted to make... the fancy ones with the thick royal icing... here's hoping... it's something I've wanted to do for years!)
So far, I'm finished with the truffles (all total, I made 300 over about four days). I'm finished with the chocolate chips (140 dough balls now in the freezer, waiting to be baked the night before I stuff them into bags), and I'm halfway done the bundt bakes. (2 dozen or so) The marshmallows are probably going to be saved for last because they have the shortest shelf life and I can't freeze them. So next up are probably the scones.
I've just been doing a batch a day of something during most nap times. It's amazing what just a little a day can add up to!
So happy I have figured out how to make it a more leisurely experience because it is really something I enjoy, but in years past, the stress has sucked all the joy out of it.
The other thing that has helped is that I have embraced the fact that my kitchen will not be completely clean and clutter-free until after Christmas. I just leave all the non-perishable ingredients, measuring cups and trays out in a pile on one of the counter and it's so much easier.
I'm excited too because with my new system, I have enough this year to give out to people I never had time to bake for before.... some neighbors and friends... that kind of thing. :) YAY!
Can't argue with the results.
I'm making a TON of things this year for various groups of people. Truffles, Chocolate Chips, mini bundt cakes, scones, marshmallows, no bake oatmeals, and sugar cookies. (if I have the time, I am going to attempt the ones I have always wanted to make... the fancy ones with the thick royal icing... here's hoping... it's something I've wanted to do for years!)
So far, I'm finished with the truffles (all total, I made 300 over about four days). I'm finished with the chocolate chips (140 dough balls now in the freezer, waiting to be baked the night before I stuff them into bags), and I'm halfway done the bundt bakes. (2 dozen or so) The marshmallows are probably going to be saved for last because they have the shortest shelf life and I can't freeze them. So next up are probably the scones.
I've just been doing a batch a day of something during most nap times. It's amazing what just a little a day can add up to!
So happy I have figured out how to make it a more leisurely experience because it is really something I enjoy, but in years past, the stress has sucked all the joy out of it.
The other thing that has helped is that I have embraced the fact that my kitchen will not be completely clean and clutter-free until after Christmas. I just leave all the non-perishable ingredients, measuring cups and trays out in a pile on one of the counter and it's so much easier.
I'm excited too because with my new system, I have enough this year to give out to people I never had time to bake for before.... some neighbors and friends... that kind of thing. :) YAY!
Friday, December 07, 2012
That Moment....
...when your five-year-old realizes he has enough sight words/sound-out skills to read part of one of his very own books. Oh and yes, it's painfully slow and tedious and he quickly tires of the huge mental effort of the whole thing. But there is no mistaking the proud look on his face. :)
This moment brought to you by the cover and first three pages of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. :)
I think this is one of my all-time favorite milestones.
This moment brought to you by the cover and first three pages of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. :)
I think this is one of my all-time favorite milestones.
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Christmas is Coming....and more random updates!
December already? Really? I feel like it was just July and I was sitting at the pool dreading the dead of winter... LOL.
Ah well. Here it is...
Our Elf has been busy... although some nights he is lazy and doesn't move. Drives the kids nuts, especially Simon who is the one who is really into it this year. Ben would like for the Elf to sleep in HIS room so he can see for sure if he moves in the middle of the night. That's my little skeptic!
The boys' presents are all bought and wrapped... my big ideas for an 8, 5 and two-year-old include a chemistry set, castle shaped blocks, and a dollhouse, respectively. I also got the big boys a tabletop air-hockey table to share that I think will get a LOT of use.
Ben got suddenly much more difficult to buy for this year as I realized he doesn't really have any TOYS he wants. He got a few "cool" Under Armour shirts and some other random things...
Still working on the Christmas card. That's proving ultra-challenging this year. Ben hates dressing up and smiling for pictures, Jonathan is NEVER cooperative. The only one I can ever get a good photo of these days is Simon, who turns on his winning catalog smile and pose almost every single time.
In other goings on... we're just BUSY!
Ben and Simon are still taking swim lessons on Saturdays and they are doing so well. I am encouraging Ben to do swim team at our pool club this year. He's SUPER fast, plus, I think it would be so good for him and such a confidence booster. Simon is holding his own and is now learning real strokes and can go just about all the way across the pool. I told the swim teacher to just keep us on permanent renewal for the foreseeable future. LOL. There was a three-year-old there yesterday with another teacher who was swimming like a fish and diving down to get things off the bottom. I asked about her and the teacher told me she had had her since she was younger than 2 and that she'd always been fearless. Which means, my NEXT move is to see if OUR teacher will take on Jonathan so he doesn't give me grey hair at the pool this summer.
Here's a little video snippet from their lesson two weeks ago. They've come even farther since this one!
Simon finished up soccer awhile back. I doubt he'll play again... he just wasn't into it. Even less so than Ben was at that age. I suspect his interests may lie in more creative pursuits. Tom still wants him to try another sport, but honestly, I'd like to find him a drama class or something.
Here he is dancing on the field. ;) (I think I posted this before, but it just makes me laugh... it's SO Simon...)
Ben just started basketball on Saturday and Tom and his dad are coaching. They are seriously the BEST kid coaches I have ever seen. (when Tom and I were dating they were still coaching Tom's youngest brother's teams) So it will be fun to see how they do this season. I think it's going to be exciting! Amazingly, Ben is their second-best player! He'll be playing point-guard all season. Really, to see him play, you'd be amazed. He really has found his sport! It's just nice to see him REALLY working to be good at something... that doesn't often happen with him.
In other news. I had conferences for both boys a couple weeks ago. Can't remember if I posted about this or not, but both are doing beautifully.
Simon is doing a lot better than I thought he was! I think this is because he is SO quiet about what he knows that neither of us really knew WHAT to expect. I knew he knew his letters, sounds, numbers, shapes...all the kindergarten screening stuff. That was all pretty solid. But it turns out, he's going great with all the reading too! He's actually fairly close, if not exactly where Ben was in kindergarten at this point and I would never have guessed that. I need to keep reminding myself that he shows it differently than Ben does and just because his interests don't lie in things that are particularly "bookish", he's still a really smart little kiddo in his own right. Add to that he's SO creative and has such a good attitude about school and everything that goes on there... just throws his WHOLE being into it all. He's just really fun. :) We are proud of him for doing so well. :)
Ben doing some really challenging work these days. We have really gotten a handle on his attention issues and all of a sudden, he's acing everything he brings home. I get emails from his teachers all the time now about how amazed they are and what fantastic answers he comes up with. I knew he had it in him... he still complains about school and says it's boring. But I think successes are starting to build up his confidence some and that he is feeling less overwhelmed and perhaps liking it a little more. They told me at the conference that he'll be officially GT in January. (the school's system for gifted and talented is a little screwy... they don't actually determine it officially until the middle of third grade) I had asked honestly at the conference if he needed to go down a notch to feel less overwhelmed and be happier and less anxious. But the teachers assured me he was placed correctly and was absolutely holding his own. This was good to hear! I was prepared to sacrifice some of the academic challenge for a happier kid... but they say he's happy and thriving when he's with them so... for now, that's where we are!
He has the most wonderful teachers this year. I just adore both of them. Both are my age, which is different for me and fun.... they send out cell phone picture updates from their classrooms sometimes. This one came from the math teacher last Wednesday. THey were doing a lesson on surveys and graphs, so they did an activity called "I Moustache You a Question". Hilarious.
It just all sounds like so much fun and they seem to really enjoy the things they do with the kids. Makes me want to be in third grade again!
The little one... OHHHHH the little one. (sigh) He is so hard. He's so defiant sometimes. He thinks everything is a game. He got out of his bed 47 times yesterday afternoon at naptime. Every time I told him to go back to bed he would just laugh and laugh. I have NEVER in my years of parenting experienced this. I have to up my discipline level for sure... I don't think he is ever going to be easy. He's great at school... listens well, so maybe there is hope. But sometimes at home, I am just at the end of my rope.
On the bright side, he is sweet and cute and so funny. (which probably doesn't help)
Speech is coming along by leaps and bounds. We had the speech pathologist here on Thursday, who only comes once a month, and she is just amazed every time she comes at the progress he has made since her last visit. The OT, who is coming now and again for a little while, even said he is basically caught up. The day she visited him to observe at school, she thought he was right there with the rest of the class, and was amazed he sat happily at the table and patiently did the cooking activity. She said that's not really typical of a child his age to sustain their attention that long on something like that. She told me to be sure to keep pushing and fostering this side of him because it's a strength and obviously something he enjoys. He does love his art/creative time, for sure... I think I have another free-spirited artsy one here! (oh and we're 90% sure he's another lefty!!!) So maybe when he grows up, in between jumping off cliffs and out of airplanes, he'll be my little artist. ;)
Here he is with his feather headband he made for Thanksgiving. (and Simon with a crown he made here at home... they are so funny together these days!) He sat at the table and carefully chose every single feather and where to put it. He was SO proud it and wore it for two straight days.
So there's my monster update... which I got typed because Jonathan slept until the late hour of 6:50 this morning. LOL. That never happens. He's almost always up by 6 these days. (yawn)
Anyway, onward to Sunday and a Christmas photo and possibly a Santa visit... or maybe just laying around the house. We'll see where the day takes us. :)
Ah well. Here it is...
Our Elf has been busy... although some nights he is lazy and doesn't move. Drives the kids nuts, especially Simon who is the one who is really into it this year. Ben would like for the Elf to sleep in HIS room so he can see for sure if he moves in the middle of the night. That's my little skeptic!
The boys' presents are all bought and wrapped... my big ideas for an 8, 5 and two-year-old include a chemistry set, castle shaped blocks, and a dollhouse, respectively. I also got the big boys a tabletop air-hockey table to share that I think will get a LOT of use.
Ben got suddenly much more difficult to buy for this year as I realized he doesn't really have any TOYS he wants. He got a few "cool" Under Armour shirts and some other random things...
Still working on the Christmas card. That's proving ultra-challenging this year. Ben hates dressing up and smiling for pictures, Jonathan is NEVER cooperative. The only one I can ever get a good photo of these days is Simon, who turns on his winning catalog smile and pose almost every single time.
In other goings on... we're just BUSY!
Ben and Simon are still taking swim lessons on Saturdays and they are doing so well. I am encouraging Ben to do swim team at our pool club this year. He's SUPER fast, plus, I think it would be so good for him and such a confidence booster. Simon is holding his own and is now learning real strokes and can go just about all the way across the pool. I told the swim teacher to just keep us on permanent renewal for the foreseeable future. LOL. There was a three-year-old there yesterday with another teacher who was swimming like a fish and diving down to get things off the bottom. I asked about her and the teacher told me she had had her since she was younger than 2 and that she'd always been fearless. Which means, my NEXT move is to see if OUR teacher will take on Jonathan so he doesn't give me grey hair at the pool this summer.
Here's a little video snippet from their lesson two weeks ago. They've come even farther since this one!
Simon finished up soccer awhile back. I doubt he'll play again... he just wasn't into it. Even less so than Ben was at that age. I suspect his interests may lie in more creative pursuits. Tom still wants him to try another sport, but honestly, I'd like to find him a drama class or something.
Here he is dancing on the field. ;) (I think I posted this before, but it just makes me laugh... it's SO Simon...)
Ben just started basketball on Saturday and Tom and his dad are coaching. They are seriously the BEST kid coaches I have ever seen. (when Tom and I were dating they were still coaching Tom's youngest brother's teams) So it will be fun to see how they do this season. I think it's going to be exciting! Amazingly, Ben is their second-best player! He'll be playing point-guard all season. Really, to see him play, you'd be amazed. He really has found his sport! It's just nice to see him REALLY working to be good at something... that doesn't often happen with him.
In other news. I had conferences for both boys a couple weeks ago. Can't remember if I posted about this or not, but both are doing beautifully.
Simon is doing a lot better than I thought he was! I think this is because he is SO quiet about what he knows that neither of us really knew WHAT to expect. I knew he knew his letters, sounds, numbers, shapes...all the kindergarten screening stuff. That was all pretty solid. But it turns out, he's going great with all the reading too! He's actually fairly close, if not exactly where Ben was in kindergarten at this point and I would never have guessed that. I need to keep reminding myself that he shows it differently than Ben does and just because his interests don't lie in things that are particularly "bookish", he's still a really smart little kiddo in his own right. Add to that he's SO creative and has such a good attitude about school and everything that goes on there... just throws his WHOLE being into it all. He's just really fun. :) We are proud of him for doing so well. :)
Ben doing some really challenging work these days. We have really gotten a handle on his attention issues and all of a sudden, he's acing everything he brings home. I get emails from his teachers all the time now about how amazed they are and what fantastic answers he comes up with. I knew he had it in him... he still complains about school and says it's boring. But I think successes are starting to build up his confidence some and that he is feeling less overwhelmed and perhaps liking it a little more. They told me at the conference that he'll be officially GT in January. (the school's system for gifted and talented is a little screwy... they don't actually determine it officially until the middle of third grade) I had asked honestly at the conference if he needed to go down a notch to feel less overwhelmed and be happier and less anxious. But the teachers assured me he was placed correctly and was absolutely holding his own. This was good to hear! I was prepared to sacrifice some of the academic challenge for a happier kid... but they say he's happy and thriving when he's with them so... for now, that's where we are!
He has the most wonderful teachers this year. I just adore both of them. Both are my age, which is different for me and fun.... they send out cell phone picture updates from their classrooms sometimes. This one came from the math teacher last Wednesday. THey were doing a lesson on surveys and graphs, so they did an activity called "I Moustache You a Question". Hilarious.
The reading teacher sent out a cell phone picture on Friday of a Wizard of Oz board game they played. (they are currently reading that book) The playing pieces were a shoe, green spectacles, a giant lollipop etc...
The little one... OHHHHH the little one. (sigh) He is so hard. He's so defiant sometimes. He thinks everything is a game. He got out of his bed 47 times yesterday afternoon at naptime. Every time I told him to go back to bed he would just laugh and laugh. I have NEVER in my years of parenting experienced this. I have to up my discipline level for sure... I don't think he is ever going to be easy. He's great at school... listens well, so maybe there is hope. But sometimes at home, I am just at the end of my rope.
On the bright side, he is sweet and cute and so funny. (which probably doesn't help)
Speech is coming along by leaps and bounds. We had the speech pathologist here on Thursday, who only comes once a month, and she is just amazed every time she comes at the progress he has made since her last visit. The OT, who is coming now and again for a little while, even said he is basically caught up. The day she visited him to observe at school, she thought he was right there with the rest of the class, and was amazed he sat happily at the table and patiently did the cooking activity. She said that's not really typical of a child his age to sustain their attention that long on something like that. She told me to be sure to keep pushing and fostering this side of him because it's a strength and obviously something he enjoys. He does love his art/creative time, for sure... I think I have another free-spirited artsy one here! (oh and we're 90% sure he's another lefty!!!) So maybe when he grows up, in between jumping off cliffs and out of airplanes, he'll be my little artist. ;)
Here he is with his feather headband he made for Thanksgiving. (and Simon with a crown he made here at home... they are so funny together these days!) He sat at the table and carefully chose every single feather and where to put it. He was SO proud it and wore it for two straight days.
So there's my monster update... which I got typed because Jonathan slept until the late hour of 6:50 this morning. LOL. That never happens. He's almost always up by 6 these days. (yawn)
Anyway, onward to Sunday and a Christmas photo and possibly a Santa visit... or maybe just laying around the house. We'll see where the day takes us. :)
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Germs. Ick.
Simon brought home some respiratory loveliness two weeks ago. Sore throat, headache, low-grade fever all of which finished off with a lovely, wet cough. He came home from school with it, missed the next day, (his first so far!) and was back the next day feeling fine. Kicked the cough in five days days or so. My little asthmatic sickly one has finally grown an immune system!
Jonathan fell next.. I think it was last Friday? Sore throat, which hurt him badly enough that he gagged himself and threw up all over me. (briefly panicked and saw Thanksgiving and whole-family stomach virus flash before my eyes until I realized what had actually happened) Low-grade fever for a day. Bounced back well enough that he never even missed a day of school over it. Then the cough kicked in... fine... figured it would work its way out like it did with Simon.
Somewhere in there, Ben complained of a sore throat one day, but never had any of the rest of it.
Non-event there.
Anyway, so it has been 8? 9 days? Jonathan is still hacking and it's still the same. Now he's all tired and cranky. No fever. Eating fine. Drinking fine. Sleeping all night. (except for one random night in there where he wasn't tired at all EVER) So I was trying to be nice and non alarmist and wait it out. But for the second day in a row now, he has taken his nap starting at 10:45. Cranky and hacking. We had to leave school this morning because he was just WIPED. He even asked to go home. Poor thing. :(
Guess we're all to the germ incubation center in the morning to have his chest listened to. Joy! Hope we do not pick up anything else while we are there!
Jonathan fell next.. I think it was last Friday? Sore throat, which hurt him badly enough that he gagged himself and threw up all over me. (briefly panicked and saw Thanksgiving and whole-family stomach virus flash before my eyes until I realized what had actually happened) Low-grade fever for a day. Bounced back well enough that he never even missed a day of school over it. Then the cough kicked in... fine... figured it would work its way out like it did with Simon.
Somewhere in there, Ben complained of a sore throat one day, but never had any of the rest of it.
Non-event there.
Anyway, so it has been 8? 9 days? Jonathan is still hacking and it's still the same. Now he's all tired and cranky. No fever. Eating fine. Drinking fine. Sleeping all night. (except for one random night in there where he wasn't tired at all EVER) So I was trying to be nice and non alarmist and wait it out. But for the second day in a row now, he has taken his nap starting at 10:45. Cranky and hacking. We had to leave school this morning because he was just WIPED. He even asked to go home. Poor thing. :(
Guess we're all to the germ incubation center in the morning to have his chest listened to. Joy! Hope we do not pick up anything else while we are there!
Jonathan is 27 Months Old...
Dear Jonathan,
Yesterday you turned 27 months old! Forgive me for missing it. It was a busy weekend and a busy week all around!
Not much to report this month, actually. Your words continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Miss Cindy says you are more or less caught up to where you should be. We are just working now helping you speak more clearly. (and frankly, I don't know a single two-year-old who speaks all that clearly... so, I'm happy to call you basically caught up) ;)
We're working with on OT this month too to develop some playtime ideas that will make you have to stop and think about what your body is doing before you throw yourself forward headfirst into things... this is pretty much how you go through life and I don't expect a whole lot to change. Basically you have the perfect storm of ZERO fear and not a whole lot of grace. But, the playtime ideas sounds like fun! So, onward!
This month, you've really started playing well with Simon and vice versa. You actually seek each other out for entertainment. We've come a long way from Simon not even wanting to acknowledge your existence to this. You really PLAY together now and he is practicing his patience when he teaches you things. It's been fun to watch this new and unexpected friendship blossom.
You can still throw a good tantrum for what appears to be no reason at all... but they are less frequent. So that's something.
You love school. Interestingly, I think your favorite part, aside from going outside or riding bikes in the big room, seems to be craft time. You LOVE all things glue and paint related and you also love cooking days! What you do NOT like so much, however, is getting your hands dirty, which sometimes makes things a little high maintenance during craft time. You'll glue or paint a little and then squeal with your hands up in the hair over the smallest speck of anything sticky or wet on them. I'm usually ready with a baby wipe and then off you go again all willy nilly with the paint and glue. You were VERY into the thanksgiving indian headband project, carefully deciding which color feathers to put on it and where. You wore it proudly for two solid days after that too. SO cute. I'm very excited for when we make the official Two and You glittery Christmas ornament. You spotted Simon's on the Christmas tree two days ago and keep pointing to it. I can't wait to see your face when you realize you get to make one too. :) You are going really enjoy the glitter part!!!
Speaking of Christmas, we put our tree up yesterday and I realized you are still not at the age to be able to resist touching it. You looked at us as if to say, "WOW! Thanks for the tree full of toys for me!!!" (sigh) It's going to be a long December. You do love it though and are mesmerized by all the little Disney and Fisher Price ornaments that light up or play music... your favorite is a Beaker (the muppet) that sings Ode to Joy when you press the button. You stand in front of the tree singing along with it, "Mee mee mee mee meee meee mee mee mee!!!" LOL!
You are such a fun and pleasant (if not still a bit challenging at times) kiddo.... my favorite part? You are still generous with hugs and kisses. :) I love your hugs and kisses. :)
Happy 27 months!
Love,
Mommy :)
Yesterday you turned 27 months old! Forgive me for missing it. It was a busy weekend and a busy week all around!
Not much to report this month, actually. Your words continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Miss Cindy says you are more or less caught up to where you should be. We are just working now helping you speak more clearly. (and frankly, I don't know a single two-year-old who speaks all that clearly... so, I'm happy to call you basically caught up) ;)
We're working with on OT this month too to develop some playtime ideas that will make you have to stop and think about what your body is doing before you throw yourself forward headfirst into things... this is pretty much how you go through life and I don't expect a whole lot to change. Basically you have the perfect storm of ZERO fear and not a whole lot of grace. But, the playtime ideas sounds like fun! So, onward!
This month, you've really started playing well with Simon and vice versa. You actually seek each other out for entertainment. We've come a long way from Simon not even wanting to acknowledge your existence to this. You really PLAY together now and he is practicing his patience when he teaches you things. It's been fun to watch this new and unexpected friendship blossom.
You can still throw a good tantrum for what appears to be no reason at all... but they are less frequent. So that's something.
You love school. Interestingly, I think your favorite part, aside from going outside or riding bikes in the big room, seems to be craft time. You LOVE all things glue and paint related and you also love cooking days! What you do NOT like so much, however, is getting your hands dirty, which sometimes makes things a little high maintenance during craft time. You'll glue or paint a little and then squeal with your hands up in the hair over the smallest speck of anything sticky or wet on them. I'm usually ready with a baby wipe and then off you go again all willy nilly with the paint and glue. You were VERY into the thanksgiving indian headband project, carefully deciding which color feathers to put on it and where. You wore it proudly for two solid days after that too. SO cute. I'm very excited for when we make the official Two and You glittery Christmas ornament. You spotted Simon's on the Christmas tree two days ago and keep pointing to it. I can't wait to see your face when you realize you get to make one too. :) You are going really enjoy the glitter part!!!
Speaking of Christmas, we put our tree up yesterday and I realized you are still not at the age to be able to resist touching it. You looked at us as if to say, "WOW! Thanks for the tree full of toys for me!!!" (sigh) It's going to be a long December. You do love it though and are mesmerized by all the little Disney and Fisher Price ornaments that light up or play music... your favorite is a Beaker (the muppet) that sings Ode to Joy when you press the button. You stand in front of the tree singing along with it, "Mee mee mee mee meee meee mee mee mee!!!" LOL!
You are such a fun and pleasant (if not still a bit challenging at times) kiddo.... my favorite part? You are still generous with hugs and kisses. :) I love your hugs and kisses. :)
Happy 27 months!
Love,
Mommy :)
Monday, November 26, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Graff Family Lab Rats...
Just got an email that Simon has now qualified for a study at Johns Hopkins. LOL. So that's two out of three now. LOL! Not sure if we'll do it or not. Simon is the one of my three who would be weirded out by something like this. But, we'll talk it over and see.... ;)
"In this study we use a remote eye-tracker to investigate how children
understand questions. In order to investigate this, we'll present short
cartoon stories followed by a question about what happened in the story.
By looking at how your child answers the question in addition to his/her
eye movement patterns, we can see whether children comprehend questions in
the same way as adults do. This study will last about 20 minutes, and your
entire stay should last about 45 minutes."
"In this study we use a remote eye-tracker to investigate how children
understand questions. In order to investigate this, we'll present short
cartoon stories followed by a question about what happened in the story.
By looking at how your child answers the question in addition to his/her
eye movement patterns, we can see whether children comprehend questions in
the same way as adults do. This study will last about 20 minutes, and your
entire stay should last about 45 minutes."
Friday, November 16, 2012
Success!
The homemade laundry detergent is a success. I did throw a scoop of Oxy in with every load, but yeah, the clothes are as clean as they were with Tide. Winner! I did the cooked one btw... just had to melt the soap down. The whole process took about 15 minutes. I have enough to last me for what seems like forever. LOL.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Cool!
Ben just got recruited at Kennedy Krieger for a study on reading, processing speed, attention, and genetics. He gets a $25 Target gift card for an hour of his time to take a couple reading assessments and to give a swab of his saliva. Tom and I have to give a sample too. It sounds very, very cool! (especially since we are well aware that there is genetic component to the issues we all have around here... LOL!)
So excited! Ben probably won't be as excited initially, but when he gets the gift card he will be!
In other news, I mixed up my laundry detergent today. Laundry day is tomorrow, so I'll put it to the test!
Thanksgiving table is all set (thanks, Mom!). Just have to start cleaning a little and grocery shopping. Amusingly, after being rejected by a McCormick research study screening about Thanksgiving shopping, I got a phone call the other day that they wanted me. Of course, I couldn't do it because I'd already planned other things for the day I had told them I would be available. Bummer. That would have been $50 just to have people shadow me while I shopped!
I wonder if anyone else in our family will get recruited for a study soon? We seem to be on a roll. Jonathan actually has his name in for a bunch at Johns Hopkins that he qualified for because of his speech delay. Just waiting to hear ! LOL!
So excited! Ben probably won't be as excited initially, but when he gets the gift card he will be!
In other news, I mixed up my laundry detergent today. Laundry day is tomorrow, so I'll put it to the test!
Thanksgiving table is all set (thanks, Mom!). Just have to start cleaning a little and grocery shopping. Amusingly, after being rejected by a McCormick research study screening about Thanksgiving shopping, I got a phone call the other day that they wanted me. Of course, I couldn't do it because I'd already planned other things for the day I had told them I would be available. Bummer. That would have been $50 just to have people shadow me while I shopped!
I wonder if anyone else in our family will get recruited for a study soon? We seem to be on a roll. Jonathan actually has his name in for a bunch at Johns Hopkins that he qualified for because of his speech delay. Just waiting to hear ! LOL!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Random....
* The ingredients for my laundry detergent came today. Hope to have a minute to mix it all up soon! Krystyna, I bought the Purex crystals to make a batch with those too. I like the idea of soft towels that smell good. ;)
* Simon is home sick. It's his first missed day of kindergarten.
He had complained that his head felt "weird" two days ago when he got home. I asked him if that meant it hurt, he said no, just "weird". Later that night, he asked for some Motrin because he said it hurt. When he woke up yesterday though, he seemed totally fine. I checked his temp just in case and sent him off to school. When I got to go in and observe for American Education week around 2p.m., he was a little out of it. He didn't raise his hand or even read along with the story they were doing. At center time, he was dazed and looked like he was going to fall asleep. The teacher and I decided something must be up, but he didn't feel warm. I offered to take him home but he said, "I just have a cold!" and the teacher said he was fine to stay. However, by the time I came for pickup at 4, he was tanking and QUICKLY. When we got home, he wanted to put jammies on and lay on the couch. I felt his head and he was on fire. *sigh*
Today it mostly seems like a head cold with a cough, and he stayed home, but he's still tired, so we'll see what tomorrow brings, I guess. :(
* Jonathan got into some cake yesterday while I was in the office scanning the boys' school photos.
* The school pictures came home yesterday and were BAD, so bad, so. very. bad. I'm not even posting them here because I'm having them retaken. I just don't understand how those photographers manage to make them SO very bad. All you have to say to Simon is "Smile!" and his eyes get big and his smile lights up his face. His photo looked like he was wincing in pain. Ben's was just bad... I can almost forgive that though because he's a hard kid to take a picture of... he just doesn't smile naturally for photos. So between that and Lifetouch's awkward posing and lack of hair combing, yeah, his is bad too.
I think that's all for now... I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment. The holidays are bearing down on us all already (seriously?!) and I am hosting Thanksgiving this year, which I swore I wouldn't do until I absolutely had to. Turns out, that came sooner than later. So yeah... busy!
* Simon is home sick. It's his first missed day of kindergarten.
He had complained that his head felt "weird" two days ago when he got home. I asked him if that meant it hurt, he said no, just "weird". Later that night, he asked for some Motrin because he said it hurt. When he woke up yesterday though, he seemed totally fine. I checked his temp just in case and sent him off to school. When I got to go in and observe for American Education week around 2p.m., he was a little out of it. He didn't raise his hand or even read along with the story they were doing. At center time, he was dazed and looked like he was going to fall asleep. The teacher and I decided something must be up, but he didn't feel warm. I offered to take him home but he said, "I just have a cold!" and the teacher said he was fine to stay. However, by the time I came for pickup at 4, he was tanking and QUICKLY. When we got home, he wanted to put jammies on and lay on the couch. I felt his head and he was on fire. *sigh*
Today it mostly seems like a head cold with a cough, and he stayed home, but he's still tired, so we'll see what tomorrow brings, I guess. :(
* Jonathan got into some cake yesterday while I was in the office scanning the boys' school photos.
* The school pictures came home yesterday and were BAD, so bad, so. very. bad. I'm not even posting them here because I'm having them retaken. I just don't understand how those photographers manage to make them SO very bad. All you have to say to Simon is "Smile!" and his eyes get big and his smile lights up his face. His photo looked like he was wincing in pain. Ben's was just bad... I can almost forgive that though because he's a hard kid to take a picture of... he just doesn't smile naturally for photos. So between that and Lifetouch's awkward posing and lack of hair combing, yeah, his is bad too.
I think that's all for now... I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment. The holidays are bearing down on us all already (seriously?!) and I am hosting Thanksgiving this year, which I swore I wouldn't do until I absolutely had to. Turns out, that came sooner than later. So yeah... busy!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Experimental Erin Strikes Again...
I watched a documentary yesterday called Chemerical about all the chemicals that are in the things we use to clean our houses. Granted, it was a touch leftist/crunchy and I can't get on board with some of it. (sorry, I like my shampoo and lotions!) But the cleaners stuff made a LOT of sense and I am one who is guilty of using every fancy cleaner under the sun. The air in my house is probably crazy toxic. LOL. So I got a bug to experiment...
I thought I'd start small, one thing at a time. So I got the ingredients to make my own laundry detergent. This one is a no brainer for me because I have at least one kid with horribly sensitive skin, one who has occasional sensitive skin and one for whom the verdict is still out, but genes are, frankly, not on his side.
Anyway, it looks easy. I found all the ingredients on Amazon... and I already had the Borax anyway.
I went to Safeway to see if they had any of it and all they have is Borax.
Of all the things the family in the documentary tried, this was, by far, the most quickly accepted and adopted and, apparently, effective. (That's is the issue I am going to have... if a natural alternative doesn't seem to get things as clean, I'm going to have a hard time adopting it 100%.)
After this, I might try the wood floor cleaner. I use Mr. Clean on my floors... it smells great, but who knows what's in it. And my kids and the cat spend a lot of time on the floor. So that would be another good one to start with.
We'll see... I'm so ADD with this kind of thing. There was a statistic in the documentary that struck me though.... stay at home moms are 54% more likely to develop cancer than moms who work outside the home. That's kind of scary.
Anyway, stay tuned... ;)
I thought I'd start small, one thing at a time. So I got the ingredients to make my own laundry detergent. This one is a no brainer for me because I have at least one kid with horribly sensitive skin, one who has occasional sensitive skin and one for whom the verdict is still out, but genes are, frankly, not on his side.
Anyway, it looks easy. I found all the ingredients on Amazon... and I already had the Borax anyway.
I went to Safeway to see if they had any of it and all they have is Borax.
Of all the things the family in the documentary tried, this was, by far, the most quickly accepted and adopted and, apparently, effective. (That's is the issue I am going to have... if a natural alternative doesn't seem to get things as clean, I'm going to have a hard time adopting it 100%.)
After this, I might try the wood floor cleaner. I use Mr. Clean on my floors... it smells great, but who knows what's in it. And my kids and the cat spend a lot of time on the floor. So that would be another good one to start with.
We'll see... I'm so ADD with this kind of thing. There was a statistic in the documentary that struck me though.... stay at home moms are 54% more likely to develop cancer than moms who work outside the home. That's kind of scary.
Anyway, stay tuned... ;)
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
My Tax Dollars at Work...
Jonathan's speech teacher has wanted to bring in an occupational therapist to look at him for months now, claiming he has low tone, a weak core, he doesn't always protect himself when he falls and he lacks the motor planning to be able to stop himself when he runs.
If he were not already working with Cindy, I honestly never would have done anything about this because I never would have known. It's really subtle and until you know what to look for, you really wouldn't notice. Yes, I had my doubts... but I've started to see what she means.
So the OT came out yesterday to join us for Jonathan's regular speech session. Her name is Joanne. She's really sweet and Jonathan took to her right away too, which is always nice.
It wasn't more than a couple minutes before she saw all the things Cindy has observed and explained them to me in further detail and what we can do to work with him. She said he's interesting because all of his issues are easy to miss because he has such great gross motor skills and is such an adept climber. But when you look closely, he'll do things like still support himself with one hand when he is playing on the floor, or fall over when pushed gently instead of tensing up his middle to stay upright.
Interesting stuff. Sooooo, she'll be joining us for school in a couple weeks to work with him on the playground one day. Fun!
We have her enlisted for six sessions total to work with him and give us strategies for things we can do when we play with him to strengthen his core and teach him how to play less impulsively (always assuming someone will be there to catch him) and more safely.
Anyway, so she was working on her paperwork and getting ready to leave when Jonathan wandered off and picked up my phone. He pulled up Gangnam Style on YouTube and started dancing. Now, I haven't gotten this on video yet because he always quits on me, but he dances every bit as well as Simon. And it's not just that song either. He knows the choreography so all his favorite songs on the Wii game Just Dance. It's very, VERY funny. So he was doing this -- lasso-ing, galloping... all completely in rhythm. She OT put her pen down, stopped what she was doing and just watched. "Does he do this all the time? This is amazing!"
Her biggest observation was that some of the developmental motor milestones he doesn't seem like he has hit under normal circumstances (doing separate things with his hands was one.... getting both sides of the brain working together), he DOES while he's dancing.
She told me I should see if I could find a dance class that would take him... and to let him play the Wii Dance game lots because it's really good for the issues he has.
Once again, music is the thing that is the way to get him to progress.... I have to think this is going to play into his future somehow. LOL!
If he were not already working with Cindy, I honestly never would have done anything about this because I never would have known. It's really subtle and until you know what to look for, you really wouldn't notice. Yes, I had my doubts... but I've started to see what she means.
So the OT came out yesterday to join us for Jonathan's regular speech session. Her name is Joanne. She's really sweet and Jonathan took to her right away too, which is always nice.
It wasn't more than a couple minutes before she saw all the things Cindy has observed and explained them to me in further detail and what we can do to work with him. She said he's interesting because all of his issues are easy to miss because he has such great gross motor skills and is such an adept climber. But when you look closely, he'll do things like still support himself with one hand when he is playing on the floor, or fall over when pushed gently instead of tensing up his middle to stay upright.
Interesting stuff. Sooooo, she'll be joining us for school in a couple weeks to work with him on the playground one day. Fun!
We have her enlisted for six sessions total to work with him and give us strategies for things we can do when we play with him to strengthen his core and teach him how to play less impulsively (always assuming someone will be there to catch him) and more safely.
Anyway, so she was working on her paperwork and getting ready to leave when Jonathan wandered off and picked up my phone. He pulled up Gangnam Style on YouTube and started dancing. Now, I haven't gotten this on video yet because he always quits on me, but he dances every bit as well as Simon. And it's not just that song either. He knows the choreography so all his favorite songs on the Wii game Just Dance. It's very, VERY funny. So he was doing this -- lasso-ing, galloping... all completely in rhythm. She OT put her pen down, stopped what she was doing and just watched. "Does he do this all the time? This is amazing!"
Her biggest observation was that some of the developmental motor milestones he doesn't seem like he has hit under normal circumstances (doing separate things with his hands was one.... getting both sides of the brain working together), he DOES while he's dancing.
She told me I should see if I could find a dance class that would take him... and to let him play the Wii Dance game lots because it's really good for the issues he has.
Once again, music is the thing that is the way to get him to progress.... I have to think this is going to play into his future somehow. LOL!
Friday, November 02, 2012
Half Day....
Today is a weird day.
I'm not feeling fantastically wonderful... annoying cold thing that has left me more tired than anything else... otherwise just a little sniffly. But I don't have time for tired and more than I have time for being sick.
Jonathan had school, which is normal. There were only three kids in his class though because everyone else was out sick. So, it was quiet, but nice. He had a great day and enjoyed every bit of it.
Usually, right after school, he goes right home for a nap, but the big boys got out at 12:50 today, so we went over to the bagel shop and grabbed a quick bit to eat then headed over to get Ben and Simon.
The elementary school was a madhouse today. My head was pounding from lack of coffee, Jonathan was tired, kids were everywhere, parents who don't usually pick up were also everywhere. Simon brought home a painted pumpkin, in addition to all of his usual stuff, so I got to lug that to the car along with Jonathan.
Home now, thank goodness. Jonathan went down happily for his nap and I can finally take a motrin and some DayQuil. I have so much to do and no energy with which to do it.
Thank goodness it's Friday!
I'm not feeling fantastically wonderful... annoying cold thing that has left me more tired than anything else... otherwise just a little sniffly. But I don't have time for tired and more than I have time for being sick.
Jonathan had school, which is normal. There were only three kids in his class though because everyone else was out sick. So, it was quiet, but nice. He had a great day and enjoyed every bit of it.
Usually, right after school, he goes right home for a nap, but the big boys got out at 12:50 today, so we went over to the bagel shop and grabbed a quick bit to eat then headed over to get Ben and Simon.
The elementary school was a madhouse today. My head was pounding from lack of coffee, Jonathan was tired, kids were everywhere, parents who don't usually pick up were also everywhere. Simon brought home a painted pumpkin, in addition to all of his usual stuff, so I got to lug that to the car along with Jonathan.
Home now, thank goodness. Jonathan went down happily for his nap and I can finally take a motrin and some DayQuil. I have so much to do and no energy with which to do it.
Thank goodness it's Friday!