We are a few short days from getting back into the grind and even though we pretty much operate on the same schedule regardless of the time of year, I am looking forward to getting back to the school routine.
Let's start with Grace. She will be a third grader this year - can you believe it? Tomorrow is open house and we'll get to see who her teacher is and which friends will be in her class. Tonight is her first pom class. She is very excited to try something new. When someone asked her what pom was she replied "It's cheerleading with dance". I think she's excited. And not to be forgotten, karate is still her top activity. She tested for her blue belt last night. It feels like she is breezing through the belts, but she knows her stuff!
Adam's visit to the developmental pediatrician went well earlier this month. He pretty much told us that Adam is an active three-year-old who needs firm limits. Well you know who gets part of the blame on that. But he did say that the school calling us when he was acting out, didn't help matters so we need to reprogram him a bit and our sitter Tanya has been doing a fine job of that.
Because we want to get him back into a full-time program, we have elected to put him in a part time pre-school to get him back on track. So he will still spend time at home with Tanya but on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons he will go to pre-school. Hopefully he'll grow out of this phase soon.
For those of you in NJ - look out, we are heading north for Labor Day weekend. This will be time for the extended family to enjoy the kids and for me to enjoy family and friends!!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
Our Beach Trip
Last week we made our annual trek to Myrtle Beach for sun & fun. This year we decided to extend our stay to four full days and we're glad we did since we got a little rain.
Our first stop as usual was the Dinosaur Mini-Golf course. We played our 18 holes and got to spend time with Uncle Sam.
The next few days were all about the beach and the pool. Surprisingly Adam is not a big fan of the ocean - he only wanted to play in the waterpark and on the slide. Grace on the other hand was jumping waves and digging in the sand. She's got a little bit of her great grandmother in her!
We had a good time. The next few weeks will be all about getting Grace ready for 3rd grade. Sunday is our annual girls day out where we shop for school supplies and clothes and take some time to be together before we dive into our hectic schedule of school, homework, karate and pom.
Our first stop as usual was the Dinosaur Mini-Golf course. We played our 18 holes and got to spend time with Uncle Sam.
The next few days were all about the beach and the pool. Surprisingly Adam is not a big fan of the ocean - he only wanted to play in the waterpark and on the slide. Grace on the other hand was jumping waves and digging in the sand. She's got a little bit of her great grandmother in her!
We had a good time. The next few weeks will be all about getting Grace ready for 3rd grade. Sunday is our annual girls day out where we shop for school supplies and clothes and take some time to be together before we dive into our hectic schedule of school, homework, karate and pom.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
The Latest Excitement with Adam
I'm sitting at work today, minding my business when I get a text from our sitter along with a missed call and message. Adam hurt his arm. I call her back and hear him screaming in the background. I give her the usual instructions for his injuries - get boo boo Buzz (his toy story ice pack) and have him rest.
She kept me up to speed via text for a little while and then David said he would run home at lunch and check on him. After he stopped in, he called and said that Adam wouldn't move his arm. So I finished up at work and ran home to take him to Urgent Care to see if he maybe sprained his elbow or something.
We got there and thankfully it was empty. After filling out the paperwork with Adam glued to my side, we went to the back. The nurse checked his height (3ft 5in) and weight (39.5 lbs) and got his vitals. The doctor came in and asked what happened - he was swinging his arms with the sitter and turned awkward resulting in the hurt arm. He touched his arm in a few places and suspected there was a radial separation.
We went back for x-rays of both Adam and Momo. Boy did Adam scream when he moved his hurt arm. After three x-rays of his bad arm, a chat with the doctor and three x-rays of the good arm, the doctor determined it was radial head subluxation which is more commonly known as nursemaid's elbow.
After the diagnosis, he had to fix it by popping it back into place. The first time, it didn't quite work and that was obvious when Adam still held his right arm close to his body. The second time, the doctor did a quick pull and pop and it was fixed. Within no time, Adam was swatting at his 'hand balloon" that the nurse gave him and was allowed to go home. What seemed like an eternity, took a little more than an hour.
To reward him for being a good patient, we took him to sweet frog for frozen yogurt. Now he's playing with his cars and enjoying his favorite movie! I'm sure this won't be the first Urgent Care visit for an injury with Adam, but it sure was stressful.
She kept me up to speed via text for a little while and then David said he would run home at lunch and check on him. After he stopped in, he called and said that Adam wouldn't move his arm. So I finished up at work and ran home to take him to Urgent Care to see if he maybe sprained his elbow or something.
We got there and thankfully it was empty. After filling out the paperwork with Adam glued to my side, we went to the back. The nurse checked his height (3ft 5in) and weight (39.5 lbs) and got his vitals. The doctor came in and asked what happened - he was swinging his arms with the sitter and turned awkward resulting in the hurt arm. He touched his arm in a few places and suspected there was a radial separation.
We went back for x-rays of both Adam and Momo. Boy did Adam scream when he moved his hurt arm. After three x-rays of his bad arm, a chat with the doctor and three x-rays of the good arm, the doctor determined it was radial head subluxation which is more commonly known as nursemaid's elbow.
After the diagnosis, he had to fix it by popping it back into place. The first time, it didn't quite work and that was obvious when Adam still held his right arm close to his body. The second time, the doctor did a quick pull and pop and it was fixed. Within no time, Adam was swatting at his 'hand balloon" that the nurse gave him and was allowed to go home. What seemed like an eternity, took a little more than an hour.
To reward him for being a good patient, we took him to sweet frog for frozen yogurt. Now he's playing with his cars and enjoying his favorite movie! I'm sure this won't be the first Urgent Care visit for an injury with Adam, but it sure was stressful.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Summer Update
I can't believe it's July already. Before you know it, we will be packing up the book bag and sending Grace to third grade.
Speaking of Grace, she had a great year. She successfully completed the second grade and is excited about going back to school in August. This will be a big year as she will starting receiving "real" grades and taking those pesky standardized tests. She continues to do well in karate and recently received her purple belt. You don't want to mess with her. She has also been participating in Pom class this summer at the dance studio. She has mentioned cheerleading before and we thought this would be a good introduction. Plus it will help her decide what class she wants to take come fall.
Adam on the other hand is struggling. We thought that the move to a new daycare would be the change he needed to get to the root of his behavior struggles. He had a few off days here and there but we thought he was doing great. In fact we commented that he was like a different child. That all changed last week when we were called to pick him up from school immediately.
He was having a tantrum and was kicking his teacher. We had previously discussed with the school taking him to see his pediatrician to see if there was more to his behavior and had made an appointment for early July. Well I called and moved it up to that day and we visited with his pediatrician. We discussed what was going on and that it only seemed to happen at school though there was no trigger for him to become irrational but then again he's three.
Needless to say the doctor suggested we take him to see a developmental pediatrician to see if there is more to his behavior. After calling the school to update them we were told, over the phone, that he could not come back because the teachers feared for their safety and the safety of the kids in the class. This was a shock and disappointment to us as we had been taking the steps they had asked us to and never once did they indicate that being removed from the program would happen while we were making an effort.
So that left us stuck. Thank God for great friends as they helped out while we looked for an option for Adam. After sending out a facebook plea, a friend of mine gave us the name of a nanny. We met her, we liked her and we started working with her this week. In the mean time, we are working on the paperwork that we need to complete before seeing the other doctor. We are also starting to make serious changes to his (and the rest of our) diets by removing a good bit of the processed foods. Hopefully that will be a start as we do not want to put him on medication.
It's been a crazy start to the summer here in NC. Just keep us in your thoughts as we work through the treacherous threes. We've had friends tell us that once their child turned four it was like a switch and we hope that is the case. But for the next 6 months we will hope that it's just the fact that he's an active, three year old boy.
Speaking of Grace, she had a great year. She successfully completed the second grade and is excited about going back to school in August. This will be a big year as she will starting receiving "real" grades and taking those pesky standardized tests. She continues to do well in karate and recently received her purple belt. You don't want to mess with her. She has also been participating in Pom class this summer at the dance studio. She has mentioned cheerleading before and we thought this would be a good introduction. Plus it will help her decide what class she wants to take come fall.
Adam on the other hand is struggling. We thought that the move to a new daycare would be the change he needed to get to the root of his behavior struggles. He had a few off days here and there but we thought he was doing great. In fact we commented that he was like a different child. That all changed last week when we were called to pick him up from school immediately.
He was having a tantrum and was kicking his teacher. We had previously discussed with the school taking him to see his pediatrician to see if there was more to his behavior and had made an appointment for early July. Well I called and moved it up to that day and we visited with his pediatrician. We discussed what was going on and that it only seemed to happen at school though there was no trigger for him to become irrational but then again he's three.
Needless to say the doctor suggested we take him to see a developmental pediatrician to see if there is more to his behavior. After calling the school to update them we were told, over the phone, that he could not come back because the teachers feared for their safety and the safety of the kids in the class. This was a shock and disappointment to us as we had been taking the steps they had asked us to and never once did they indicate that being removed from the program would happen while we were making an effort.
So that left us stuck. Thank God for great friends as they helped out while we looked for an option for Adam. After sending out a facebook plea, a friend of mine gave us the name of a nanny. We met her, we liked her and we started working with her this week. In the mean time, we are working on the paperwork that we need to complete before seeing the other doctor. We are also starting to make serious changes to his (and the rest of our) diets by removing a good bit of the processed foods. Hopefully that will be a start as we do not want to put him on medication.
It's been a crazy start to the summer here in NC. Just keep us in your thoughts as we work through the treacherous threes. We've had friends tell us that once their child turned four it was like a switch and we hope that is the case. But for the next 6 months we will hope that it's just the fact that he's an active, three year old boy.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Brad Paisley Concert
Tuesday night HMS celebrated our 200th win with a private Brad Paisley concert. It was a fun event and even though I'm not a big country music fan, I did get to meet him and his wife - Kimberly Williams Paisley from the Father of the Bride remakes in the 90s. Here's a couple of pictures from the event.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
First Communion
This past weekend Grace made her first communion. We were happy to have a nice group of family and friends there to share her special day. She was very excited. Not only was she receiving communion for the first time but she got to participate in the ceremony by taking the gifts to the altar. Here are a few pictures from the day. Unfortunately my computer is down at home so I can only share the pictures from my phone. But you can visit the church website to look at the ones taken at church. Go to www.sainttherese.net select the ecommunity tab and go to photo albums then choose 9:00 communion. Grace is in several photos on page 2 and 3.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Positivity!
Last Friday we had a conference with Adam's teacher and the director of his preschool. It was an opportunity for us to learn first hand what is really going on with him at school.
As we somewhat suspected, Adam likes to do his own thing. He does not care for people to be in his space however it's ok for him to be in someone else's. Of course we are still trying to understand what has triggered this behavior but for now we are taking a new approach with him - POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT.
This approach is so he hears the right things rather than the bad stuff. So instead of saying "Adam don't run" we say "Adam walking feet"; or rather than tell him "don't hit" we say "soft touches". It was also suggested that we not punish him for things that happen at school; we leave that for his teacher to do and we deal with the stuff at home. Of course we don't have these issues at home so that's a moot point.
Well yesterday was the first day of this approach and he had a good day. He got two stickers for following directions and cleaning up and he got to enjoy the whole soccer practice. Now I'm not going to shoot off fireworks and strike up the band after one day, but I will try to focus on the positive a little longer.
As we somewhat suspected, Adam likes to do his own thing. He does not care for people to be in his space however it's ok for him to be in someone else's. Of course we are still trying to understand what has triggered this behavior but for now we are taking a new approach with him - POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT.
This approach is so he hears the right things rather than the bad stuff. So instead of saying "Adam don't run" we say "Adam walking feet"; or rather than tell him "don't hit" we say "soft touches". It was also suggested that we not punish him for things that happen at school; we leave that for his teacher to do and we deal with the stuff at home. Of course we don't have these issues at home so that's a moot point.
Well yesterday was the first day of this approach and he had a good day. He got two stickers for following directions and cleaning up and he got to enjoy the whole soccer practice. Now I'm not going to shoot off fireworks and strike up the band after one day, but I will try to focus on the positive a little longer.
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