Adam is rounding out 2013 with his appointments in one day!
He was super good at the dentist. His 6 year molars are all coming in and he still has one wiggly tooth. He got his first set of x-rays and fluoride treatment today. Very exciting?
Six year check-up at the pediatrician. Not very patient waiting in the exam room. He decided that lying on the doctors' rolling chair and launching himself from wall to wall was the best way to entertain himself. Or doing backwards somersaults on top of the exam table. Fun! He is up to 53 lbs and 49.25 in. (80-something percentile for weight and 95 percentile for height). He was very relieved that he didn't need any shots. Just the flu vaccine (which doesn't kick in for 2 weeks and everyone seems to be coming down with it).
He was cracking me up with his answers to Dr. N's questions. He knew he should answer with healthy things - His favorite food being fruit and and his favorite vegetable being broccoli. HA! He told her he likes to play outside and play freeze tag (- but that's only at school). I didn't say anything but she did tell him he should only have 2 hours of screen time. He said OK and even came home and told Dave. She also told him she would like him to learn to ride his bike this summer and to try one new activity. I told her I've been asking him if he would like to go back to piano or maybe guitar lessons, basketball, soccer, or tai kwon do and he always says no. The place I box at has a combination tkd class (kids and adults) so maybe if I do it with him, it will get him started. As Dr. N. said - many kids that "have a lot of energy" tend to like the martial arts. We shall see....
Monday, December 30, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Contacted Westerville Schools
Last week I contacted Westerville Schools to see if they would be able to provide any addititional speech therapy for Adam since we are in the district. As I was emailing the lady I had spoken to about it last year, I was thinking how speech is usually done during the school day and chances would be slim. I kind of would have preferred the response to be that but I for some reason the response I got rubbed me the wrong way. "Since your son is not registered in and attending Westerville City Schools, the district is not able to provide services for him".
Quick, to the point, and no apologies. I'm just a little overly sensitive, I guess.
Quick, to the point, and no apologies. I'm just a little overly sensitive, I guess.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Progress Report time
Today we had our parent/teacher conference to go over Adam's Fall progress report. In a word, Adam is doing great! They really didn't have a bad thing to say and he is right on track with everything. Yay! The couple of journal entries we got to see were fantastic! He's trying really hard to sound everything out and spell and the stories were entertaining. The only thing was that in some of his journal entries he would write "w" instead of "r" because that's how he hears himself. Same thing with "sh" and "ch" which he is working on in speech. They said he has started to hang out with more of the kids (instead of Will who he seemed to be obsessed with at the beginning of the year and who may be a bit of a bully) and that he is very empathetic.
During our conference, Adam went to CASE (they had people to watch the kids at school so you could go to your conference without having to find a babysitter for 1/2 an hour). Adam thought it was the best and did not want to leave. He watched a movie and was about to play video games when we picked him up. He has been asking to go to CASE after school because some of his friends go and I had to explain that it was for kids whose parents weren't home after school and needed someone to watch them. BUT - he really wanted to sign up for an after school activity that starts in January called "Science, Science, Science!". He will get to spend a little time in CASE before the activity starts. He is soo excited!
We also got a progress report from his speech teacher (which he has had maybe 3 times). She said he is producing the "ch" sound about 70% of the time (the goal is 90%). It was pretty amazing to me because the first week he worked on "ch", he brought home a little book to read/practice. He really sounded like he was saying "sh" and I would try to help him and he got frustrated. The next time he had speech, he came home with another little book and it sounded really good! We never had that quick of a change when were at Columbus Speech and Hearing. Unfortunately in the progress report it said,
"Additional
speech and language services are recommended outside of school at least once
per week, to promote mastery of identified phoneme productions to improve his
overall speech intelligibility in the classroom and across settings."
Adam had a hearing screening at school about a week ago. We got a letter from the nurse suggesting a trip to the ENT for a hearing test because he had issues at 20b, 1000, and 4000. We are used to seeing the 4000 but the other 2 were a surprise. So I wrote to the nurse an email about our journey since last summer's dog toy incident. I let her know he just had a hearing test in August that came back within normal limits and that he has collapsing ear canals when head phones are used (and he had a cold last week- not sure if that would affect it but just in case). She said she would put the email with all the info I wrote in his file and no need for another test. :) I am getting a copy of the audiologists report from St. Louis just so we have it for our files. All they had sent was a letter saying within normal limits.
Adam requested
I think that's about all the excitement here!
Friday, October 25, 2013
Birthday celebration at school
Dave and I went to Adam's school yesterday to read a book and share a snack with the class. At first we were going to read a Piggie and Gerald book. Then Adam said he wanted to read a book that Dave did so that he could say "Illustrated by Dave Aikins - my Dad!". Soo cute! So that's what we did! Mrs. Terwin said Dave "earned some super cool points with the class!" The apple chips I made were a big hit with (most of) the kids as well! It was towards the end of the day and all they had left was recess and dismissal. We asked Adam if he wanted us to stay and take him home, if he wanted to skip recess and go home, or we leave and he take the bus home. He chose have us stay while he played at recess then take him home. So we got to go outside and watch him run around with his friends. A couple of the girls in his class came up and hugged us goodbye. Sweet!
Dave figured out that Adam was mostly upset on his birthday by the fact that he didn't get to unwrap as many presents (because the Skylanders figures were all in little bags). Dave had a couple other "back-up" gifts that he wrapped that Adam could have after he wrote his thank you notes. After unwrapping those, Adam went down to the basement and told Dave they were the best birthday presents ever! Peace has been restored. (And the majority of gifts remain in their boxes on the floor since it's really the unwrapping that's the best part.)
Dave figured out that Adam was mostly upset on his birthday by the fact that he didn't get to unwrap as many presents (because the Skylanders figures were all in little bags). Dave had a couple other "back-up" gifts that he wrapped that Adam could have after he wrote his thank you notes. After unwrapping those, Adam went down to the basement and told Dave they were the best birthday presents ever! Peace has been restored. (And the majority of gifts remain in their boxes on the floor since it's really the unwrapping that's the best part.)
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Happy 6th Birthday!
So the day started off with Dave going to Schneiders bakery at 3 am to get Adam some fresh birthday donuts. When Adam got up, he was excited about the donuts but I said he had to have some real food before them. While eating his breakfast, he found that Dave had installed Minecraft on the iPad. No donuts were eaten and off to school Adam went.
I went to school at 11:20 to have lunch with Adam. Talk about a quick lunch! I had to tell Adam to not talk so much because I was afraid he wouldn't have time to eat. I really enjoyed walking him back to his classroom and talking to his classmates. They are adorable! One of them is the son of Jason Singleton, a former OSU basketball player. I was asking him how his football game went on Sunday (his mom said it was his flag football team's Superbowl Sunday so he couldn't go to Adam's party). He said they did good and they won and, 'Do you know my Dad?" Ha ha! I said I recognized the last name (and honestly, I thought dad was a football player. I had to Google him.) Cute! Then another girl heard me say something about a game (referring to the flag football game) and asked if I saw the volleyball game. It was the last of the season! Then she did a cheer she learned. GO VIKES!
When I got home, Dave and I shared some donuts. Then I remembered Adam had wanted the stick one that we ate. Oops! Needless-to-say, when Adam got home from school - the first thing he noticed was his stick donut was gone! He started crying and calling Dave the worst dad ever! We had to explain that we thought he wanted the chocolate iced ones, they aren't very good the day later, and there were other ones left that tasted much better than the stick. Crisis averted!
Adam wanted to play Minecraft instead of opening presents after that. He actually waited until after dinner! The first thing he opened was some Skylanders games for his DS. He was really excited about it and then just wanted to play that for a bit. He eventually opened up his other presents and he got a lot of the Skylanders figures (along with some other things). Dave had gotten a deal on eBay and thought Adam would really like them. Plus, I think they work with the Wii games so if we ever get it for the Wii... Adam got upset AGAIN! He said he got TOO MANY figures! (I think it was along the lines of too many figures when you could have gotten me more things. Ungrateful little.....) Once again, Dave was the worst Dad ever! Never mind the Mario Galaxy Wii game he got, the Mario brothers dvds, the Angry Birds Telepods, a bunch of really big boxes to make a new fort, and several other things he had on his list... He even said at one point it was the best day ever! Dave was pretty upset. He tries so hard!
Sooo...this morning I told Adam that he made Dave pretty sad last night. He said, "I know what will help! I'll give him one of my Imaginex guys!" I said, "No. You'll just give him the Lex Luther he gave you that you said you didn't want." He said, "I'll give him the Millenium Falcon!" "No. You don't like/play with that either. I don't think giving him something you don't want is the answer." Then it was time to eat breakfast. I'll have to work on it more when he gets home.... :(
I went to school at 11:20 to have lunch with Adam. Talk about a quick lunch! I had to tell Adam to not talk so much because I was afraid he wouldn't have time to eat. I really enjoyed walking him back to his classroom and talking to his classmates. They are adorable! One of them is the son of Jason Singleton, a former OSU basketball player. I was asking him how his football game went on Sunday (his mom said it was his flag football team's Superbowl Sunday so he couldn't go to Adam's party). He said they did good and they won and, 'Do you know my Dad?" Ha ha! I said I recognized the last name (and honestly, I thought dad was a football player. I had to Google him.) Cute! Then another girl heard me say something about a game (referring to the flag football game) and asked if I saw the volleyball game. It was the last of the season! Then she did a cheer she learned. GO VIKES!
When I got home, Dave and I shared some donuts. Then I remembered Adam had wanted the stick one that we ate. Oops! Needless-to-say, when Adam got home from school - the first thing he noticed was his stick donut was gone! He started crying and calling Dave the worst dad ever! We had to explain that we thought he wanted the chocolate iced ones, they aren't very good the day later, and there were other ones left that tasted much better than the stick. Crisis averted!
Adam wanted to play Minecraft instead of opening presents after that. He actually waited until after dinner! The first thing he opened was some Skylanders games for his DS. He was really excited about it and then just wanted to play that for a bit. He eventually opened up his other presents and he got a lot of the Skylanders figures (along with some other things). Dave had gotten a deal on eBay and thought Adam would really like them. Plus, I think they work with the Wii games so if we ever get it for the Wii... Adam got upset AGAIN! He said he got TOO MANY figures! (I think it was along the lines of too many figures when you could have gotten me more things. Ungrateful little.....) Once again, Dave was the worst Dad ever! Never mind the Mario Galaxy Wii game he got, the Mario brothers dvds, the Angry Birds Telepods, a bunch of really big boxes to make a new fort, and several other things he had on his list... He even said at one point it was the best day ever! Dave was pretty upset. He tries so hard!
Sooo...this morning I told Adam that he made Dave pretty sad last night. He said, "I know what will help! I'll give him one of my Imaginex guys!" I said, "No. You'll just give him the Lex Luther he gave you that you said you didn't want." He said, "I'll give him the Millenium Falcon!" "No. You don't like/play with that either. I don't think giving him something you don't want is the answer." Then it was time to eat breakfast. I'll have to work on it more when he gets home.... :(
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Future career
(I'll post about the birthday party later)
We were driving around yesterday and passed a building being built and Adam said, "They're framing that building!" I said something to Dave about how his class is learning about Community and houses and they watched a video of a house being built. Adam said he already knew what framing was before the video. I made the off-hand comment of "Oh, we have a future home builder or carpenter on our hands!"
Later that day... I somehow got Adam to go through his piano books and play the piano. He was doing really well and then I made the mistake of saying something about keeping his hands in C position. He said, "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to be a piano player when I grow up! I'm going to build houses!" Ha ha! I tried to explain hobbies but he was done.
Oh -and now that he's almost 6 - a "What the Hell?!?!?" slipped out of his mouth tonight. I had to hide behind the newspaper then leave the room so he didn't see me cracking up. Dave had to tell him it was a bad word. Asked him where he got it from and said he just knew it. (I think Dave says it. I'm more prone to the F-bomb.)
We were driving around yesterday and passed a building being built and Adam said, "They're framing that building!" I said something to Dave about how his class is learning about Community and houses and they watched a video of a house being built. Adam said he already knew what framing was before the video. I made the off-hand comment of "Oh, we have a future home builder or carpenter on our hands!"
Later that day... I somehow got Adam to go through his piano books and play the piano. He was doing really well and then I made the mistake of saying something about keeping his hands in C position. He said, "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to be a piano player when I grow up! I'm going to build houses!" Ha ha! I tried to explain hobbies but he was done.
Oh -and now that he's almost 6 - a "What the Hell?!?!?" slipped out of his mouth tonight. I had to hide behind the newspaper then leave the room so he didn't see me cracking up. Dave had to tell him it was a bad word. Asked him where he got it from and said he just knew it. (I think Dave says it. I'm more prone to the F-bomb.)
Friday, September 27, 2013
Reading and ramblings
Adam was soo cute tonight. He wanted to read "One Fish, Two Fish" to me. That book is like 66 pages! He was about half way through, yawning and struggling with a couple words so I asked if we could book mark it and finish tomorrow. He agreed and was sound asleep 2 minutes later! I cannot believe how well he is reading already! And that he wants to read to me. So sweet!
Even when I'm on my computer, he's been looking over my shoulder reading what I'm looking up. Crazy!
There was a big pep rally at school today. The kids got to dress down and wear "spirit wear" (something that said Columbus Academy) on top or a maroon or grey top. I had to scramble yesterday and buy him some new jeans that fit and didn't have holes. The length ended up being OK but even after adjusting the tightners, they were still falling down on him. He needs some hips! Anyway...I sent him in his new jeans, a maroon school shirt, and since it was cool this morning - a grey sweatshirt I found in the gently used closet that had a big maroon A with a banner over it that said Vikings. When I came to pick him up, he was the first kid back to his classroom with his senior buddies. Apparently Adam did not like how loud it was in the gym and his buddies stayed with him in the hallway. (Awwww!!) I asked him if he had everything in his backpack. He said yes and that his sweatshirt was in there because he was told to take it off; that he wasn't allowed to wear it. Huh? It was grey and maroon. Anyway...he then gave me another tour of the school because he forgot to show me some things on Wednesday when I picked him up. I wish he could give everyone a tour. He's adorable explaining what everything is...but I'm kind of biased!
Even when I'm on my computer, he's been looking over my shoulder reading what I'm looking up. Crazy!
There was a big pep rally at school today. The kids got to dress down and wear "spirit wear" (something that said Columbus Academy) on top or a maroon or grey top. I had to scramble yesterday and buy him some new jeans that fit and didn't have holes. The length ended up being OK but even after adjusting the tightners, they were still falling down on him. He needs some hips! Anyway...I sent him in his new jeans, a maroon school shirt, and since it was cool this morning - a grey sweatshirt I found in the gently used closet that had a big maroon A with a banner over it that said Vikings. When I came to pick him up, he was the first kid back to his classroom with his senior buddies. Apparently Adam did not like how loud it was in the gym and his buddies stayed with him in the hallway. (Awwww!!) I asked him if he had everything in his backpack. He said yes and that his sweatshirt was in there because he was told to take it off; that he wasn't allowed to wear it. Huh? It was grey and maroon. Anyway...he then gave me another tour of the school because he forgot to show me some things on Wednesday when I picked him up. I wish he could give everyone a tour. He's adorable explaining what everything is...but I'm kind of biased!
Saturday, September 21, 2013
1st Academy birthday party
Adam went to his friend Will's birthday party today. 10am-2pm! Captain pirate Will had a balloon guy and a face painter, a huge playroom, and (once the rain stopped) a big driveway and nice playground in the back to play on. Adam REALLY wanted to give Will something (it was a "no gifts please" party) so we brought him a card and Dave drew in and signed a SpongeBob book. At cake time, Adam really wanted to give Will his card. I tried to explain that Will would look at the stuff later but Adam found where Will's mom put it and ran to give it to him. Will made Adam open the envelope for him and then briefly glanced at the card and handed it back - he was busy playing. Adam was a little disappointed but I explained again that this was party time and he seemed OK with it. A little earlier Will's dad came up to me and said Will had told them that Will had said some not-so-nice-things to Adam the day before. (Adam had told me that Will said he wasn't invited to the party. When Adam said he got an invitation, Will said it was from a different kid named Will. I'm assuming this is what his Dad was referring to.) I told him Adam talks about Will all the time but I lied and said Adam didn't say anything bad happened. Well, he apologized and said they had a talk with Will about being a good friend, etc, etc and we agreed it was just Kindergartners being Kindergartners. Later - we were leaving and I told Adam to say goodbye and thank you to Will's mom. She said you're welcome and then Adam started spewing everything to her - "Will likes to push me and say mean things to me. I think Will's a bully! ..." Good for him for having the courage to tell Will's mom when I tried to cover for him with his dad! She told him she would talk to Will and if he is ever mean again, to tell him his mom said to knock it off. :)
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
A little funny
Adam had a cookout with his senior buddies today. He said he remembered that one was named Zack but couldn't remember the other one. I said I know it starts with an A...give me a minute. Then he said - Anerd!! His name is Anerd! Ha ha haa! No, it's Anupe...but close.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
A funny from yesterday
Yesterday was swim class day for Adam. He was very excited because they actually got to go in the water! I guess they practiced getting in and out of the water and had a chance to jump in the deep end if they wanted (which he didn't). The funny part was, he said "Before all that, we had to go to the locker room to change into our swim suits. It was SO embarrassing! Everyone's weinerschnitzels were hanging out!!". Ha ha haa!! Get used to it buddy. You have many more years of awkward locker room time. :)
I forgot to post about the parent/teacher conference last week. It went well. The teachers had already noticed Adam get frustrated a couple of times and were able to step in before a meltdown. They also noticed issues with his speech and then saw it on the form I had filled out so I should be hearing from the speech teacher soon. (Adam may have been given something to bring home but he has left his folder in his cubby the past 2 days). They noticed that he likes music. Pretty good for only having him in class over a week! They are able to pay better attention to the kids since there are only 13 in the class. Mrs. Terwin said Adam is a great eater at lunch. She said he has to take one of everything (his decision) before he even starts to eat. I thought that was pretty funny since he'll just look at something I make and says no before even trying it. That was about it for the conference. {Side note - Today's lunch was chicken fajitas. Adam said he put everything but chicken on his tortilla today, including the green beans! Apparently there was tomato in it because there was a big red stain on his pants that he said was from tomato falling out at lunch. Good for him for trying! At first I thought it was blood because he said he ran into the fence at bonus recess and got a bloody nose. Glad it wasn't!}
I posted on FB yesterday about his awesome bus driver! Today she got him home at 3:45 (!) AND instead of turning on our street and having him cross in front of the bus like usual, she turned on the next street over so she could pull up in front of our house with the door on our side of the street so he didn't have to worry about crossing! Love her!
I forgot to post about the parent/teacher conference last week. It went well. The teachers had already noticed Adam get frustrated a couple of times and were able to step in before a meltdown. They also noticed issues with his speech and then saw it on the form I had filled out so I should be hearing from the speech teacher soon. (Adam may have been given something to bring home but he has left his folder in his cubby the past 2 days). They noticed that he likes music. Pretty good for only having him in class over a week! They are able to pay better attention to the kids since there are only 13 in the class. Mrs. Terwin said Adam is a great eater at lunch. She said he has to take one of everything (his decision) before he even starts to eat. I thought that was pretty funny since he'll just look at something I make and says no before even trying it. That was about it for the conference. {Side note - Today's lunch was chicken fajitas. Adam said he put everything but chicken on his tortilla today, including the green beans! Apparently there was tomato in it because there was a big red stain on his pants that he said was from tomato falling out at lunch. Good for him for trying! At first I thought it was blood because he said he ran into the fence at bonus recess and got a bloody nose. Glad it wasn't!}
I posted on FB yesterday about his awesome bus driver! Today she got him home at 3:45 (!) AND instead of turning on our street and having him cross in front of the bus like usual, she turned on the next street over so she could pull up in front of our house with the door on our side of the street so he didn't have to worry about crossing! Love her!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Keb' Mo' - Life is beautiful
Putting this here so I can find it again easily for Adam. This was the song he was singing at the bus stop last week.
Monday, August 26, 2013
The memory on this kid!
Adam came home from school today and proceeded to tell me about his day again. I love that I don't have to try to coax it out of him! He did not do this last year. He remembers every little detail. I got to hear about each little segment of the "Be Safe Around Water" safety film he had to watch for swimming class. He forgot one part but made sure to tell me about it later when he remembered. It was pretty funny but at least I know he was paying attention.
Todays book was "The Frog Principal" but he didn't tell me much about it other than it reminded him of the "Princess and the Frog" we watched this weekend. I asked if someone had to kiss the principal and he was all," NO! Why?" so I guess the only similarity was a frog and a wizard. They got to go to the library today and he checked-out a book called "Duck Soup".
I think his favorite thing today was drama class! (Imagine that! Ha ha!).
Adam said the kids got asked today what their hopes and dreams are for the school year and he said something like "to read as many books as I can". I was shocked to hear him say that because he isn't very fond of trying to read a book by himself so I'm not sure if that means he wants to learn to read, just "read"/look at a bunch of books, or have people read a bunch of books to him. Either way it's kind of funny because one of the questions for our "get to know you" parent/teacher conference form was what are your hopes and dreams for your child this year and I put down "to learn to love to read." Yeah!
Can't wait to hear what "E" day brings tomorrow!
Todays book was "The Frog Principal" but he didn't tell me much about it other than it reminded him of the "Princess and the Frog" we watched this weekend. I asked if someone had to kiss the principal and he was all," NO! Why?" so I guess the only similarity was a frog and a wizard. They got to go to the library today and he checked-out a book called "Duck Soup".
I think his favorite thing today was drama class! (Imagine that! Ha ha!).
Adam said the kids got asked today what their hopes and dreams are for the school year and he said something like "to read as many books as I can". I was shocked to hear him say that because he isn't very fond of trying to read a book by himself so I'm not sure if that means he wants to learn to read, just "read"/look at a bunch of books, or have people read a bunch of books to him. Either way it's kind of funny because one of the questions for our "get to know you" parent/teacher conference form was what are your hopes and dreams for your child this year and I put down "to learn to love to read." Yeah!
Can't wait to hear what "E" day brings tomorrow!
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Loving school!
Adam is loving school! Yesterday he was all proud showing me that he knew how to cross the street in front of the bus when he got home. Then he spent some time telling me about his day but he wouldn't tell Dave anything. He made him go back to the basement. Ha ha! He read the book "Personal Penguin" that had a song sung by Davy Jones that he really liked so we had to look it up on YouTube. (Then it was stuck in my head for the rest of the night and when I woke up.) He had PE. When I said, "Oh, you had gym class?" He was all,"How did you know PE was gym?" Ha! Everyday he comes home with some food on his shirt so yesterday I asked what he ate that was reddish. Watermelon! And peas! And he said he didn't even have to drink with the peas (normally he tries to drink a ton of water with something he doesn't like) because he likes peas now! And some pizza. I am loving whoever is getting him to eat in the cafeteria - adult, peer pressure, whatever - I'll take it.
This morning I thought he would sleep in so I did. The dogs started whining around 9 so I got up and Adam was on the couch playing on the iPad. I asked if he had just gotten up and he said he got up at 6-something and it was still dark out just like when he gets up for school. Oops. I told him to wake me up when he gets up so he's not just watching You Tube videos all morning.
We had a play date at 10:30 that our "host family" set up. It was some of the boys from last years pre-k class so they could all meet each other if they hadn't already. As we were driving out of the neighborhood, Adam said it felt weird to be in a car. He was used to sitting where ever he wanted to and sitting on his knees on the bus. Then when we pulled into the parking lot of Academy Park he started to get whiny. He told me he didn't want me to be there. He was used to me not being around anymore. I explained that it was also kind of a play date for me to meet the other moms and that I wasn't going to be following him around or anything. That seemed to calm him down. He had a lot of fun hanging with the guys. He did not want to leave even after they all left. He said he didn't get a chance to play on everything (because they were running around, climbing on the slide, and doing the zip-line thing) so we had to do that and then we could leave.
He turned into a major cranky pants after lunch. Dave and I wanted to get out of the house but the little tyrant wanted to watch his Mario Bros YouTube videos or play Mario Bros. When we said no, he locked himself in his room and said he wished he had school everyday! Yay??
This morning I thought he would sleep in so I did. The dogs started whining around 9 so I got up and Adam was on the couch playing on the iPad. I asked if he had just gotten up and he said he got up at 6-something and it was still dark out just like when he gets up for school. Oops. I told him to wake me up when he gets up so he's not just watching You Tube videos all morning.
We had a play date at 10:30 that our "host family" set up. It was some of the boys from last years pre-k class so they could all meet each other if they hadn't already. As we were driving out of the neighborhood, Adam said it felt weird to be in a car. He was used to sitting where ever he wanted to and sitting on his knees on the bus. Then when we pulled into the parking lot of Academy Park he started to get whiny. He told me he didn't want me to be there. He was used to me not being around anymore. I explained that it was also kind of a play date for me to meet the other moms and that I wasn't going to be following him around or anything. That seemed to calm him down. He had a lot of fun hanging with the guys. He did not want to leave even after they all left. He said he didn't get a chance to play on everything (because they were running around, climbing on the slide, and doing the zip-line thing) so we had to do that and then we could leave.
He turned into a major cranky pants after lunch. Dave and I wanted to get out of the house but the little tyrant wanted to watch his Mario Bros YouTube videos or play Mario Bros. When we said no, he locked himself in his room and said he wished he had school everyday! Yay??
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Day 2 - Done!
Adam seemed to have had another good day at school. Not a lot of details from him today other than having 2 meltdowns (one for someone cutting in line and another for not getting the spot he wanted for rest time (and apparently the floor is more comfortable than the provided mat). I know he had Spanish class and he read another book ("What would you do if you were a penguin?). More freeze-tag at recess. More noodles for lunch but he ate green beans (!!) and honeydew melon (!!). He got a brownie with m&ms on it at some point. He said he played mostly with a boy named Will.
Another boy showed up at the bus top this morning - older kid. I looked up all the kids in our zip code and found there is a 10th grader just up the street from us. Must have been him. LOL!
Adam said he is the first one on the bus and the last one off. Today he was dropped off at 4:00 (that's about a half an hour early)! Debbie honked the horn to let us know she was here and wouldn't let Adam off the bus until she saw one of us. Adam was yelling out the window when I got out. It was kind of funny!
Ooh - this just in - they made self portraits today! Can't wait to see it. I forgot to write about the puzzle he made yesterday that had his hand print on it.
OK - he is off to bed. YAY! He was a major crank this evening!
Another boy showed up at the bus top this morning - older kid. I looked up all the kids in our zip code and found there is a 10th grader just up the street from us. Must have been him. LOL!
Adam said he is the first one on the bus and the last one off. Today he was dropped off at 4:00 (that's about a half an hour early)! Debbie honked the horn to let us know she was here and wouldn't let Adam off the bus until she saw one of us. Adam was yelling out the window when I got out. It was kind of funny!
Ooh - this just in - they made self portraits today! Can't wait to see it. I forgot to write about the puzzle he made yesterday that had his hand print on it.
OK - he is off to bed. YAY! He was a major crank this evening!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
1st Day of Kindergarten
Adam had an awesome first day of school!
Last night was a little rough between excitement and coughing from a cold. I went up around 11 and gave him some Benadryl. I went back downstairs and I heard him go to the bathroom and then he came downstairs. He asked, "What time is it?" I said, "Almost 11 at night." He said, "Oh, MAN!!" He thought it was morning and time to get up. Ha ha!
I was a little worried about trying to get him up this morning but I went in at 6 and actually got him to smile! He requested waffles so waffles he got! I made sure not to get him into dress code until after the syrup was put away. Then we took a couple pictures and headed to the bus stop. Luckily it's only 3 houses down on the corner. We were a little early so when Dave came to the stop we played "Is that your bus?" every time a weird truck or bus came down the street. The bus was a couple minutes late but not too bad. The bus driver introduced herself as Debbie and Adam got right on. Then Dave and I hopped in the car so we could meet him at the bus circle at school and walk him to his room. It only took us 20 minutes to get there so we sat on the bench right in front of the bus circle. The new Headmaster was out there greeting all the kids getting off of buses. We were really surprised there were no other parents there! We waited bus after bus and by now it was almost 8am and I knew school was going to start soon...my anxiety was through the roof! Where's my kid?? Finally the bus pulled up and out came Adam and a ton of other (bigger) kids! I think Westerville and Dublin had the fullest buses. Anyway...we walked Adam to his new classroom, got his stuff put in his cubby, waited for him to find some kids to play with then said our goodbyes. He was fine!! YAY!!
His bus was scheduled to arrive around 4:30 so around 4:20 Olive and I stood on the driveway and watched. A minute later I saw a bus turning onto our street. It was his! Since the bus was coming from the other direction, Debbie didn't want Adam to cross 4 lanes of traffic so she pulled into the neighborhood. Since she was a little early she was going to stop at our house to make sure we were home. I think he is going to be dropped off right at our house from now on since she has to turn to get back onto County Line anyway.
Adam got off the bus with a big smile and thumbs up when I asked about his day. I got him in and changed and we went to the basement so Dave could hear about his day, too. Adam grabbed the box of chocolate Captain Crunch and started talking. It was funny because he started with, "After I got off the bus, I went to my new classroom and put my stuff in my cubby. Oh, yeah, you were there but I don't remember when you left!" Ha ha!
He told us about meeting his senior buddies (but he doesn't know their names). He read "How do dinosaurs go to school?" and he went into great detail about what the dinosaur was doing on each page. He had recess and everyone was playing freeze tag. He had lunch - cheese quesadillas that he didn't really like so he "ate everything else" which I think was fruit and some kind of noodles. He met his Spanish teacher and Science teacher. The Science teacher asked them to draw what science means to them and Adam said he drew explosions and brains. He said they had another recess with more freeze tag. Somewhere in there was a nap/rest time and a talk about following directions/rules. He also explained that his cubby had to be organized a certain way. That's all I can remember but he was very excited about it all!
Dave and I had bought some chocolate cupcakes that had Optimus Prime and Bumblebee transformer rings on them. I showed them to Adam and he said, "You got those for ME? For my first day of school??" Yes. "THANK YOU!!" It was the cutest the way he said it!
He was a bit wound up but fell asleep at 9. YAY!
Last night was a little rough between excitement and coughing from a cold. I went up around 11 and gave him some Benadryl. I went back downstairs and I heard him go to the bathroom and then he came downstairs. He asked, "What time is it?" I said, "Almost 11 at night." He said, "Oh, MAN!!" He thought it was morning and time to get up. Ha ha!
I was a little worried about trying to get him up this morning but I went in at 6 and actually got him to smile! He requested waffles so waffles he got! I made sure not to get him into dress code until after the syrup was put away. Then we took a couple pictures and headed to the bus stop. Luckily it's only 3 houses down on the corner. We were a little early so when Dave came to the stop we played "Is that your bus?" every time a weird truck or bus came down the street. The bus was a couple minutes late but not too bad. The bus driver introduced herself as Debbie and Adam got right on. Then Dave and I hopped in the car so we could meet him at the bus circle at school and walk him to his room. It only took us 20 minutes to get there so we sat on the bench right in front of the bus circle. The new Headmaster was out there greeting all the kids getting off of buses. We were really surprised there were no other parents there! We waited bus after bus and by now it was almost 8am and I knew school was going to start soon...my anxiety was through the roof! Where's my kid?? Finally the bus pulled up and out came Adam and a ton of other (bigger) kids! I think Westerville and Dublin had the fullest buses. Anyway...we walked Adam to his new classroom, got his stuff put in his cubby, waited for him to find some kids to play with then said our goodbyes. He was fine!! YAY!!
His bus was scheduled to arrive around 4:30 so around 4:20 Olive and I stood on the driveway and watched. A minute later I saw a bus turning onto our street. It was his! Since the bus was coming from the other direction, Debbie didn't want Adam to cross 4 lanes of traffic so she pulled into the neighborhood. Since she was a little early she was going to stop at our house to make sure we were home. I think he is going to be dropped off right at our house from now on since she has to turn to get back onto County Line anyway.
Adam got off the bus with a big smile and thumbs up when I asked about his day. I got him in and changed and we went to the basement so Dave could hear about his day, too. Adam grabbed the box of chocolate Captain Crunch and started talking. It was funny because he started with, "After I got off the bus, I went to my new classroom and put my stuff in my cubby. Oh, yeah, you were there but I don't remember when you left!" Ha ha!
He told us about meeting his senior buddies (but he doesn't know their names). He read "How do dinosaurs go to school?" and he went into great detail about what the dinosaur was doing on each page. He had recess and everyone was playing freeze tag. He had lunch - cheese quesadillas that he didn't really like so he "ate everything else" which I think was fruit and some kind of noodles. He met his Spanish teacher and Science teacher. The Science teacher asked them to draw what science means to them and Adam said he drew explosions and brains. He said they had another recess with more freeze tag. Somewhere in there was a nap/rest time and a talk about following directions/rules. He also explained that his cubby had to be organized a certain way. That's all I can remember but he was very excited about it all!
Dave and I had bought some chocolate cupcakes that had Optimus Prime and Bumblebee transformer rings on them. I showed them to Adam and he said, "You got those for ME? For my first day of school??" Yes. "THANK YOU!!" It was the cutest the way he said it!
He was a bit wound up but fell asleep at 9. YAY!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Dr. Visits
Friday morning was our meeting with the craniofacial team in St. Louis. Several of the specialists were out for the day but we got to meet with the ones important to us. We first met with the nurse, DeAnne. She took basic vitals and asked how he was doing. She looked at his tongue and said it looked good! Since the ENT was not there, we asked her about his adenoids/tonsils and whether they would have any affect on him getting so many colds or his speech. She said his right tonsil was fairly large (probably left over from the strep he had months ago) but they wouldn't affect him. She suggested trying claritin or getting him allergy tested. We also talked ADD/ADHD with her, sleep schedules, the miracle of melatonin, her kids....she loves to chat! :)
Psychology was next. We had to fill out a little evaluation form while we were waiting that I assume was a quick screen for ADD. When the Dr. came in he said something like, "You seem to have your hands full with this one" or something like that. He asked if he had been evaluated for ADD/ADHD. I explained he had but since teachers and us didn't match up, nothing was done. He said signs become more evident as they get older. He suggested finding a counselor not just for that but to help with parenting since parents don't get a handbook when kids are born. I think he said the same things 4 years ago.
Next up was audiology. We let them know about his dog toy incident and the hearing loss in his right ear. They do several different tests that show if the ear is functioning and how well he can hear. I guess one of the things showed the damage. When they did the hearing test with headphones, it showed the loss at 4000mhz. When they did it with the in-ear things, he had normal levels! She said there is a small population of people that have collapsing ear canals and maybe when the headphones are on, they collapse and he does not hear as well. Interesting... but good news!
Speech was next. We love Renee! She's just so peppy! She had a little conversation with Adam to see how he spoke. Then she asked if we were doing any speech therapy. I told her we had been in therapy for a year and have been stuck on S's and Sh. She said that's what she had noticed most when he spoke. We asked if it had anything to do with his larger tongue or surgery and she said nope - it was all just basic articulation problems and some are still developmental.
Last, but not least, was Dr. Marsh who did his tongue reduction surgery. He will be retiring the summer of 2015 so he also had Dr. Gage with him who will be taking over the practice. He checked Adam's tongue and jaw. He said if he was a betting man (which he isn't), he doesn't think Adam will need any corrective jaw surgery. He thinks everything can be done with orthodontics. Right now Adam's teeth/jaw meet. (He does not have an over-bite or an under-bite.) He said who knows what may happen during puberty but he's hopeful that it will stay about the same. We also asked him about the tongue and colds and speech. He said the only problem the tongue could cause is sleep apnea if it was still too large. We are pretty sure Adam does not have that. One thing that was interesting - he asked Adam to "do this" (as he touched the roof of his mouth with his tongue). Adam was like, what? So I told him - touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue - and he did. Dr. Marsh said most BWS kids can't do that. He said he has seen them do it at other times so he knows that they can but when he asks them to, they can't! .....but Adam can! :)
That was it for St. Louis. Pretty good visit overall! And we love the Drury hotel there - super nice staff, free beverages and popcorn all night, yummy breakfast in the morning, and an excellent discount if you are there to visit the hospital! :)
Today was a visit to the orthopedist to check on his lower limb length discrepancy before school starts. We had not been there in about 3 years because the last time we went, Adam freaked out tried to kick the doctor. She told us to come back only if he was having any problems.
I made the mistake of letting Adam have chocolate Lucky Charms for breakfast this morning since I wanted him to have something to eat and he wasn't in the mood for the Cheerios he picked out last week. I don't know if it was the cereal or not but Adam was super loud-disruptive-can't-sit-in -my-seat - boy when we got there. It was a challenge just to get checked-in. I had brought the iPad hoping it would keep him occupied - which it did - but then he would make loud commentary on his games. We finally got in a room and got through all the questions from the nurse (all with Adam blurting out things like "butt" and "poop"). The doctor came in and Adam hid under the table! Gah! I pull him out and all he needed to do was stand so the doc could get a good look at his legs but he's leaning/hanging on me. Finally got him to stand and let the doc look quickly. Then the doc wants him to lay on the table with his legs straight. He had to be difficult for a minute but then straightened out and as soon as the doc went to grab his feet to check discrepancy, Adam wanted his shoes off - which actually was pretty smart. I think it would be easier to see without shoes on. Doc eyeballed it and said he's at about 1cm difference. Long story short - follow up yearly. When he gets closer to puberty, we'll be better able to judge surgery options (if needed). There is a new doc that is at the main Children's hospital that specializes in lower limb discrepancies but this guy said he can follow him up until puberty and then send us there.
Psychology was next. We had to fill out a little evaluation form while we were waiting that I assume was a quick screen for ADD. When the Dr. came in he said something like, "You seem to have your hands full with this one" or something like that. He asked if he had been evaluated for ADD/ADHD. I explained he had but since teachers and us didn't match up, nothing was done. He said signs become more evident as they get older. He suggested finding a counselor not just for that but to help with parenting since parents don't get a handbook when kids are born. I think he said the same things 4 years ago.
Next up was audiology. We let them know about his dog toy incident and the hearing loss in his right ear. They do several different tests that show if the ear is functioning and how well he can hear. I guess one of the things showed the damage. When they did the hearing test with headphones, it showed the loss at 4000mhz. When they did it with the in-ear things, he had normal levels! She said there is a small population of people that have collapsing ear canals and maybe when the headphones are on, they collapse and he does not hear as well. Interesting... but good news!
Speech was next. We love Renee! She's just so peppy! She had a little conversation with Adam to see how he spoke. Then she asked if we were doing any speech therapy. I told her we had been in therapy for a year and have been stuck on S's and Sh. She said that's what she had noticed most when he spoke. We asked if it had anything to do with his larger tongue or surgery and she said nope - it was all just basic articulation problems and some are still developmental.
Last, but not least, was Dr. Marsh who did his tongue reduction surgery. He will be retiring the summer of 2015 so he also had Dr. Gage with him who will be taking over the practice. He checked Adam's tongue and jaw. He said if he was a betting man (which he isn't), he doesn't think Adam will need any corrective jaw surgery. He thinks everything can be done with orthodontics. Right now Adam's teeth/jaw meet. (He does not have an over-bite or an under-bite.) He said who knows what may happen during puberty but he's hopeful that it will stay about the same. We also asked him about the tongue and colds and speech. He said the only problem the tongue could cause is sleep apnea if it was still too large. We are pretty sure Adam does not have that. One thing that was interesting - he asked Adam to "do this" (as he touched the roof of his mouth with his tongue). Adam was like, what? So I told him - touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue - and he did. Dr. Marsh said most BWS kids can't do that. He said he has seen them do it at other times so he knows that they can but when he asks them to, they can't! .....but Adam can! :)
That was it for St. Louis. Pretty good visit overall! And we love the Drury hotel there - super nice staff, free beverages and popcorn all night, yummy breakfast in the morning, and an excellent discount if you are there to visit the hospital! :)
Today was a visit to the orthopedist to check on his lower limb length discrepancy before school starts. We had not been there in about 3 years because the last time we went, Adam freaked out tried to kick the doctor. She told us to come back only if he was having any problems.
I made the mistake of letting Adam have chocolate Lucky Charms for breakfast this morning since I wanted him to have something to eat and he wasn't in the mood for the Cheerios he picked out last week. I don't know if it was the cereal or not but Adam was super loud-disruptive-can't-sit-in -my-seat - boy when we got there. It was a challenge just to get checked-in. I had brought the iPad hoping it would keep him occupied - which it did - but then he would make loud commentary on his games. We finally got in a room and got through all the questions from the nurse (all with Adam blurting out things like "butt" and "poop"). The doctor came in and Adam hid under the table! Gah! I pull him out and all he needed to do was stand so the doc could get a good look at his legs but he's leaning/hanging on me. Finally got him to stand and let the doc look quickly. Then the doc wants him to lay on the table with his legs straight. He had to be difficult for a minute but then straightened out and as soon as the doc went to grab his feet to check discrepancy, Adam wanted his shoes off - which actually was pretty smart. I think it would be easier to see without shoes on. Doc eyeballed it and said he's at about 1cm difference. Long story short - follow up yearly. When he gets closer to puberty, we'll be better able to judge surgery options (if needed). There is a new doc that is at the main Children's hospital that specializes in lower limb discrepancies but this guy said he can follow him up until puberty and then send us there.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Dentist visit
Adam had his biannual dentist visit yesterday. Guess who has some wigglers?? He is also starting to get his 6 year molars in as well! Big kid coming through! :)
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Academy Camp!
Adam is having a great time in his "Crafty with Food" camp with Aunt Brelle and Young Chef's Academy! Yesterday was all, "Guess what?", "You know what?", and "And THEN....." when he was telling me about his day. Soo many cool ''spearmints" going on and yummy food being made...and eaten! I love how he explains all the experiments and how he makes the food in the afternoon. He's pretty detailed!
Eating lunch in the cafeteria is another cool new experience for him. He thinks the cafeteria is really cool. It's like a "restranaut" with all the people talking and all the choices. The only problem he has had is that he has been dropping his food - it just slips off his plate. He was all like "I'm not very good at carrying food on plates." Thankfully someone had seen it and helped him clean up and get some new food. Yesterday he said he got a corn dog, 2 pieces of bread - plain, and chocolate milk. It cracked me up to hear that. He just felt like getting 2 pieces of bread with his dog! Today he just got chicken nuggets. Can't wait to hear about tomorrow since he doesn't like hamburgers but maybe if everyone else is eating, he will too. Seems to work when he cooks in the afternoon. He told me how when he's done he has to put his plate in one place and the silverware in a slot for the chef to clean. Ha ha!
After lunch the kids gets free time. They get to choose to go to the pool, the computer lab, or play outside. He really thought he would want to swim everyday. He tried it yesterday and said it wasn't as fun as he thought. Today he was going to go to the computer lab if it rained or outside if it didn't. Well, it didn't. I asked him if he had fun since he said the kids yesterday said going outside is the best! Umm...it was "horrible". What?? Apparently the boys have some kind of ball game they like to play. Adam said it was like a combo of volleyball and dodge ball. He didn't want to play that game and got sad that none of the boys wanted to go play on the playground. He said he stood by the fence and cried. :( One of the counselors played UNO with him and then some girls came to play but it was time to go in. So, tomorrow he's going to see what the computer lab is.
I tried to explain to him that if he is only one out of a group that they aren't going to all stop what they are doing if they are all enjoying the game. I also said that he could play with the girls. They like to swing, play tag, and play hide-and-go-seek. I think he just gets so used to finding at least one boy at the parks that he was surprised when none of the boys wanted to play with him. It was soo sad tonight at bed time because he said everybody ignores him. I think it's more that if he doesn't get his way, he thinks he's being ignored but it still breaks my heart to hear that
Eating lunch in the cafeteria is another cool new experience for him. He thinks the cafeteria is really cool. It's like a "restranaut" with all the people talking and all the choices. The only problem he has had is that he has been dropping his food - it just slips off his plate. He was all like "I'm not very good at carrying food on plates." Thankfully someone had seen it and helped him clean up and get some new food. Yesterday he said he got a corn dog, 2 pieces of bread - plain, and chocolate milk. It cracked me up to hear that. He just felt like getting 2 pieces of bread with his dog! Today he just got chicken nuggets. Can't wait to hear about tomorrow since he doesn't like hamburgers but maybe if everyone else is eating, he will too. Seems to work when he cooks in the afternoon. He told me how when he's done he has to put his plate in one place and the silverware in a slot for the chef to clean. Ha ha!
After lunch the kids gets free time. They get to choose to go to the pool, the computer lab, or play outside. He really thought he would want to swim everyday. He tried it yesterday and said it wasn't as fun as he thought. Today he was going to go to the computer lab if it rained or outside if it didn't. Well, it didn't. I asked him if he had fun since he said the kids yesterday said going outside is the best! Umm...it was "horrible". What?? Apparently the boys have some kind of ball game they like to play. Adam said it was like a combo of volleyball and dodge ball. He didn't want to play that game and got sad that none of the boys wanted to go play on the playground. He said he stood by the fence and cried. :( One of the counselors played UNO with him and then some girls came to play but it was time to go in. So, tomorrow he's going to see what the computer lab is.
I tried to explain to him that if he is only one out of a group that they aren't going to all stop what they are doing if they are all enjoying the game. I also said that he could play with the girls. They like to swing, play tag, and play hide-and-go-seek. I think he just gets so used to finding at least one boy at the parks that he was surprised when none of the boys wanted to play with him. It was soo sad tonight at bed time because he said everybody ignores him. I think it's more that if he doesn't get his way, he thinks he's being ignored but it still breaks my heart to hear that
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Team meeting
Adam's speech teacher was commenting on the number of colds he has gotten in the past year. She said since he is mostly a mouth breather, the air doesn't get filtered through the nose and that could be a reason why. She mentioned a friend of hers whose daughter has Down's (another syndrome known for their enlarged tongues) who went in for a sleep study and found out she stopped breathing A LOT of times at night . She had her tonsils and adenoids removed and is doing much better. She tried to look in Adam's mouth to see if maybe that was causing him to keep his mouth open (other than his congested nose) but she couldn't get a good look. She said it might be worth checking with his doctor. That's when I realized that Adam has not been back to Sr. Louis for a check-up in a while. I thought it might be good before he gets into school full-time to see what the cranio-facial team has to say so I contacted them today to see if they had any dates still available this summer. The only date left was August 9th. (Happy birthday to me!) The meeting takes 3-4 hours for all the specialists to cycle through. It will be nice to talk to people who are familiar with hemi/BWS! I hope Adam cooperates. I think he did fairly well the first time (he was almost 2) but it's hard to remember. I guess as long as he has the iPad and his DS he'll be OK. Here's all the members of the team....
- Audiology
- Genetic Counseling
- Neurosurgery
- Orthodontics
- Pediatric Dentistry
- Pediatric Nursing
- Pediatric Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Otolaryngology
- Pediatric Psychology
- Plastic Surgery
- Speech/Language Pathology
- Social Work.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Beach part 2
Wednesday we spent several hours playing at the beach. It was such a nice day!! Later on we explored the pier where some kid had just caught a shark! He said it was about the 14th one he had caught this trip. Adam got to touch it (and the guy even offered to let him hold it - yikes!) before he threw it back in. Thankfully it swam away. After that we headed over to Haley's ice cream shop. The kid working there gave Adam a HUGE scoop of sherbet. Dave got to talking to the kids there about music so I asked Adam if he wanted to sit outside and look at the ocean as we ate. As soon as we walked outside our ice cream started dripping too fast to eat so we ran back in. Ha ha! We got back to the house in time for Adam to take a quick evening swim before it got too dark.
Thursday was really warm so we decided to go to Planet Fun! We started off with mini golf. Adam was so excited until he saw the room was dark. (It had black lights and fluorescent paint to look "cool" and underwaterish). He literally went running and screaming out of the building. The place was empty so the nice lady working turned the lights on for us. After our 9 holes of golf and not keeping score, we moved on to bowling. Adam got bumpers. We did not. I won! (Adam was not far behind). Then we loaded up a card for the arcade. Adam LOVES winning tickets (which were paperless and went on the card here - kind of cool) and trading them in for candy!
Later, when it was cooler, the guys went swimming while I enjoyed the beach.
Friday we packed some lunch and headed to Southport to go the Fort Fisher aquarium. We ate lunch on the ferry. The aquarium was a little crowded since it is so small and a school group was there. Adam was interested in the beginning stuff but once we went inside where it got dark and crowded, he just kind of walked by everything. We found a playground and snacks on the way out which he liked but it was time to go catch the ferry. And of course as we were leaving, so was the school group. We stopped at Patronies on the way home for some carry-out. YUMMY meatball sub and calszone! Then we all went swimming. The water was perfect temp and great waves! Great end to a great week!
Thursday was really warm so we decided to go to Planet Fun! We started off with mini golf. Adam was so excited until he saw the room was dark. (It had black lights and fluorescent paint to look "cool" and underwaterish). He literally went running and screaming out of the building. The place was empty so the nice lady working turned the lights on for us. After our 9 holes of golf and not keeping score, we moved on to bowling. Adam got bumpers. We did not. I won! (Adam was not far behind). Then we loaded up a card for the arcade. Adam LOVES winning tickets (which were paperless and went on the card here - kind of cool) and trading them in for candy!
Later, when it was cooler, the guys went swimming while I enjoyed the beach.
Friday we packed some lunch and headed to Southport to go the Fort Fisher aquarium. We ate lunch on the ferry. The aquarium was a little crowded since it is so small and a school group was there. Adam was interested in the beginning stuff but once we went inside where it got dark and crowded, he just kind of walked by everything. We found a playground and snacks on the way out which he liked but it was time to go catch the ferry. And of course as we were leaving, so was the school group. We stopped at Patronies on the way home for some carry-out. YUMMY meatball sub and calszone! Then we all went swimming. The water was perfect temp and great waves! Great end to a great week!
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Beach!
We got to the beach Saturday night. We made a quick trip to Food Lion then let Adam unwind at the house after the long trip. I think he ended up staying up to close to midnight.
Sunday morning was pretty chilly! Dave loved it! We took a walk down to the beach with our jackets on and then it started drizzling so we decided it would be a good Walmart day. Ha ha! The day ended up warming up nicely so I took a walk on the beach while the boys decided to hang out at the house. After dinner, we checked out the concert under the bridge. It wasn't really a band - more like a couple of guys in Hawaiian shirts singing along to some music maybe? WE got there when they were doing a "dance break". They were playing the Electric Slide and other songs had a bunch of people line dancing on stage. Adam had fun dancing! Then they took a break so we left. Dave's favorite time to walk on the beach is in the evenings when it is cooler so we headed back out after the "concert". The tide was pretty high which made Adam freak out! I think he was afraid it was going to go all the way up to the houses or something. I don't know but all of a sudden he was screaming and running back up the walkway. Oh, well! Bedtime! Nope - he stayed up again until close to midnight.
Monday was beautiful! I got my favorite of the day - my morning walk/run on the beach in the morning. After breakfast we all headed out to the beach for awhile. It was actually a little chilly for me. Adam and Dave said that once you got used to the water it wasn't so bad but I never got warm enough in the sun to even want to go in the water. The breeze was pretty cool. Once Adam played with everything we brought down and got buried in the sand he was ready to go back to the house. It was lunch time anyway. We went out later (before the tide got too high) to go fly a kite. Adam was more interested in trying to find the kite's shadow and then once he lost that, he grabbed handfuls of wet sand and threw it in the ocean. Then it turned into walking handfuls of sand into the ocean. Next, he was in the ocean. He was having fun but it was that time of day where it looked like he was waaaayyy out there even of the water only came up to his knees. It made me nervous so we finally got him to come in. Showered and asleep by 10:45!
Today we headed out to Broadway at the Beach/Myrtle Beach to check out the Wonderworks museum. It began with yet another freak out. To get in to the attractions you are "supposed" to go through an "Inversion Tunnel" (because the building is upside down). Adam saw it and started to run back out the entrance. The staff showed us the door to bypass it but I just carried him through. One of the first attractions through the tunnel was the Hurricane Shack where you can feel the effects of high winds. Adam HATES wind. Any little bit freaks him out since last year's power outage. (We didn't go in the hurricane shack but man, Dave and I wanted to). Right next to that was a thing where you stuck your hand in a metal like glove and use your hand as a lightening rod. Dave did it to show him it was OK. FREAKED him out again. He says he does not like this place and wants to leave. We get to the next room and there's some basketball hoops games, virtual air hockey, virtual other things...and he's OK! Not the most interesting stuff on the next couple of levels but then we find the arcade and ropes course. We all get suited up for the ropes, walk up the steps, Dave goes across one of the planks to show Adam and Adam says nope so we turn around and head back down the steps and get all unharnessed. It's arcade time! 124 tickets later and a super nice guy working the prize booth and Adam leaves with a push-pop, a couple tootsie rolls, a laffy taffy and a HANDFUL of army guys.
We decided to see what else might me fun in the area. We spot this giant inflatable Superman from the parking lot and find out it is like an outdoor Kingdom of Bounce - just a bunch of inflatables for kids to play in. We told Adam we would see how much it costs then decide if there was anything else to do. $9 so we tell him we are going to walk around first. Adam did not want to go in any stores (not even the giant candy store) and was Mr. Grumpy face until we turned around and went back to the Bounce Houses. Then he was a happy camper for nearly an hour! (Found some kids to play with). We asked him if there was anything else he wanted to do and he said he wanted to go back to he Wonderworks. OK! (They stamp you so you can come and go all day). He Dave played a couple more games of air hockey and attempted the virtual rollercoaster but Adam hit the abort button as soon as it started moving. What he really wanted to do was go back to the arcade. While they did that, I decided to do the rope course on my own. It was fun!! I don't think Adam would have been able to do it since some of the ropes that you can hold on to to help you across were a little high. But that was my favorite part of the place!
Dinner, home, now sleep.
Sunday morning was pretty chilly! Dave loved it! We took a walk down to the beach with our jackets on and then it started drizzling so we decided it would be a good Walmart day. Ha ha! The day ended up warming up nicely so I took a walk on the beach while the boys decided to hang out at the house. After dinner, we checked out the concert under the bridge. It wasn't really a band - more like a couple of guys in Hawaiian shirts singing along to some music maybe? WE got there when they were doing a "dance break". They were playing the Electric Slide and other songs had a bunch of people line dancing on stage. Adam had fun dancing! Then they took a break so we left. Dave's favorite time to walk on the beach is in the evenings when it is cooler so we headed back out after the "concert". The tide was pretty high which made Adam freak out! I think he was afraid it was going to go all the way up to the houses or something. I don't know but all of a sudden he was screaming and running back up the walkway. Oh, well! Bedtime! Nope - he stayed up again until close to midnight.
Monday was beautiful! I got my favorite of the day - my morning walk/run on the beach in the morning. After breakfast we all headed out to the beach for awhile. It was actually a little chilly for me. Adam and Dave said that once you got used to the water it wasn't so bad but I never got warm enough in the sun to even want to go in the water. The breeze was pretty cool. Once Adam played with everything we brought down and got buried in the sand he was ready to go back to the house. It was lunch time anyway. We went out later (before the tide got too high) to go fly a kite. Adam was more interested in trying to find the kite's shadow and then once he lost that, he grabbed handfuls of wet sand and threw it in the ocean. Then it turned into walking handfuls of sand into the ocean. Next, he was in the ocean. He was having fun but it was that time of day where it looked like he was waaaayyy out there even of the water only came up to his knees. It made me nervous so we finally got him to come in. Showered and asleep by 10:45!
Today we headed out to Broadway at the Beach/Myrtle Beach to check out the Wonderworks museum. It began with yet another freak out. To get in to the attractions you are "supposed" to go through an "Inversion Tunnel" (because the building is upside down). Adam saw it and started to run back out the entrance. The staff showed us the door to bypass it but I just carried him through. One of the first attractions through the tunnel was the Hurricane Shack where you can feel the effects of high winds. Adam HATES wind. Any little bit freaks him out since last year's power outage. (We didn't go in the hurricane shack but man, Dave and I wanted to). Right next to that was a thing where you stuck your hand in a metal like glove and use your hand as a lightening rod. Dave did it to show him it was OK. FREAKED him out again. He says he does not like this place and wants to leave. We get to the next room and there's some basketball hoops games, virtual air hockey, virtual other things...and he's OK! Not the most interesting stuff on the next couple of levels but then we find the arcade and ropes course. We all get suited up for the ropes, walk up the steps, Dave goes across one of the planks to show Adam and Adam says nope so we turn around and head back down the steps and get all unharnessed. It's arcade time! 124 tickets later and a super nice guy working the prize booth and Adam leaves with a push-pop, a couple tootsie rolls, a laffy taffy and a HANDFUL of army guys.
We decided to see what else might me fun in the area. We spot this giant inflatable Superman from the parking lot and find out it is like an outdoor Kingdom of Bounce - just a bunch of inflatables for kids to play in. We told Adam we would see how much it costs then decide if there was anything else to do. $9 so we tell him we are going to walk around first. Adam did not want to go in any stores (not even the giant candy store) and was Mr. Grumpy face until we turned around and went back to the Bounce Houses. Then he was a happy camper for nearly an hour! (Found some kids to play with). We asked him if there was anything else he wanted to do and he said he wanted to go back to he Wonderworks. OK! (They stamp you so you can come and go all day). He Dave played a couple more games of air hockey and attempted the virtual rollercoaster but Adam hit the abort button as soon as it started moving. What he really wanted to do was go back to the arcade. While they did that, I decided to do the rope course on my own. It was fun!! I don't think Adam would have been able to do it since some of the ropes that you can hold on to to help you across were a little high. But that was my favorite part of the place!
Dinner, home, now sleep.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Parent/Teacher conference
Dave and I went to Adam's parent/teacher conference on Friday. We chit-chatted with Mrs. Tucker while waiting for Mrs. Allen and she showed us Adam's self portrait that will be hung up the school's art show next month and talked about how good the class was on Thursday when they had a substitute teacher. She said, "Even Adam was pretty mellow!" I thought that was funny since he was waiting anxiously for Gramma and Pop-pop to arrive that day. Mrs. Allen arrived and she passed us a folder that had some of Adam's pictures and writing from the year in it as well as his evaluation. She mentioned Adam being as smart as a whip and funny. I told her I think Adam's goal is to be the class clown sometimes. She told us how cute it was one day when they read a book that Dave illustrated. They always read the author and illustrators names and Adam perked up and said "That's my Dad!" For the next 15 minutes, she talked to Dave about work. I looked over the evaluation form and noticed 3 D's (for developing skill as opposed to M for meets) and they were for sitting, following directions, and something else I can't remember but along the same lines. Not surprising but a little because they didn't both check those things on the add evaluation earlier in the year. Mrs. Allen said something about it being the rowdy boy class. Then our time was up and the next parent was waiting. Sooo...I guess he's doing well!
Thursday, February 28, 2013
We're in!
If you couldn't tell from the Facebook post, Adam got accepted into (or is it at?) Columbus Academy!! Yay! We got an acceptance letter from All the Children of the World Academy last Saturday and Adam said that wasn't the school he wanted to go to. We told him we were still waiting to hear if he got in to the one he liked. When I picked him up from school, I told him he got in. I don't think he was nearly as excited as I was. All he asked was which room he was going to be in. Ha ha! I think he wants to be in the room he was in for testing that had a little playhouse thing in it. He's going to be a little disappointed to find out that none of the K rooms have one of those.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Grounded
Weekends tend to be get out of the house and go shopping days. Yesterday, Dave and I wanted to run over to Walmart, Target, and the Dollar Store but as usual, Adam wanted to stay home. We bribed him by getting him a slushy on the way there. We were in Walmart for no more than 2 minutes when Adam took off and disappeared!! Usually we can see him running off to the toys or hear him giggling or something but he was just gone! Dave and I circled the area he ran off in and checked in toys a couple of times but still nothing. I called for him. Nothing. I am FREAKING out! Finally, (possibly after I called for him again), a lady comes out of the sheet/comforter aisle and asks if I am looking for Adam. She said he was hiding on the shelf with the comforters. (At this point I can hear him saying his name or something). Oh. My. Gosh!!! Dave takes him to the car while I finish getting what I need. No one speaks on the way home and he is sent to his room. He had just gotten his DS back and now it is gone for another 2 weeks. At dinner, we tried to explain why what he did was wrong. We asked what he would do if a stranger had tried to take him to their car. He just doesn't get it. He thinks some karate moves will save him. We explained that if for whatever reason we get separated at a store again, that he needs to find someone who works there so we can be paged.
Now, with his DS being taken away again, he acts like he has never been without it his entire life and he doesn't know what to do with himself. He was coloring when I got up this morning. Then he said he was tired of coloring and there was nothing to do. The boy with a playroom full of toys and Legos who never wants to leave the house. Summer is going to be, ummm, fun?
Now, with his DS being taken away again, he acts like he has never been without it his entire life and he doesn't know what to do with himself. He was coloring when I got up this morning. Then he said he was tired of coloring and there was nothing to do. The boy with a playroom full of toys and Legos who never wants to leave the house. Summer is going to be, ummm, fun?
Friday, February 22, 2013
Patiently waiting...
A week from today, we should know where Adam is going for Kindergarden! Hoping he gets into one of the two we applied for since I didn't go to packet pick-up in Westerville.
Monday, January 28, 2013
What's going on...
Just a quick post to update on what's going on around here. It is time to start thinking about Kindergarten! Here are the places we have been thinking about. If we stay in Westerville City Schools, Adam would still go to school for 2.5 hours either AM or PM 5 days a week, which is just a day more than what he has been doing this year. I think he is ready for more. There is a place called All the Children of the World Academy that gives a 3-, 4- , or 5-day all day option (~8am - 3pm). I went to their Open House last week and although I didn't get to stay for the whole Kindergarten meeting, I saw enough to like it. I have also heard great things about it from area moms. I will be calling to get a tour and more info this week. And lastly, there is Columbus Academy. Crazy expensive but you get what you pay for. We've seen the end product. Ha ha! Adam had his admissions screening on Friday. He did run out of the building at first and refused to put on his name tag or take off his coat but once the other kids showed up, he didn't care when we left. When our tour and the testing was over, all the kids were sitting out in the lobby on these little risers and Adam was yelling "surprise!" and jumping up and down. He said it was a lot of fun and the kids were really nice. He had no idea he was being tested..well, other than being asked what some words meant. At dinner that night, he put his thumbs up and said he really liked that school (Academy) and the school we went to the night before (All the Children). Now we wait until March 1st to see if he gets into Academy but in the meantime we'll apply to the others because we know Academy only has so many openings.
Adam started Sporties for Shorties again today. He did a really great job and didn't obsess about being next to any certain kid like he did in the summer. One of his classmates Josie and her little brother are in the class as well so that might have helped. Then they went on a field trip to the New Albany library for school today. I think his favorite part was seeing where the books go when you drop them in the book return from outside. All the kids got to check out one book that the teachers will take back to school for them to look at there. I think Adam was pretty tired after all that. I wish there was Sporties for Shorties and field trips everyday - minus the crazy that Adam gets when he's tired.
Adam started Sporties for Shorties again today. He did a really great job and didn't obsess about being next to any certain kid like he did in the summer. One of his classmates Josie and her little brother are in the class as well so that might have helped. Then they went on a field trip to the New Albany library for school today. I think his favorite part was seeing where the books go when you drop them in the book return from outside. All the kids got to check out one book that the teachers will take back to school for them to look at there. I think Adam was pretty tired after all that. I wish there was Sporties for Shorties and field trips everyday - minus the crazy that Adam gets when he's tired.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Contacted Westerville Schools
So I finally contacted Westerville schools to see if I could get Adam into speech therapy through them. We love Columbus Speech and Hearing but with a new insurance year and $70 a visit, I thought we would try something we're already basically paying for. I emailed the special needs preschool secretary to find out how to go about getting an assessment. The first red flag was "after the second screening...if your child is eligible, would write an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and get him ready to start school in our program”. Umm, start school in your program? So I asked if that just meant starting therapy through the school or actually taking him out of Central College and sending him there (Adam would NOT be happy about that). She said normally the child would come to their school but they offered "itinerant" services where I could bring him to the ELC each week. But I would be contacted by someone soon to discuss any questions I had.
Yesterday I got the call from Ms. O'Leary. After asking some questions about Adam and his speech and development, she said she was sorry but his issues are too minor. She said they could come and do a first screening if we wanted but she could pretty much guarantee there would be no second one and he would not qualify. Apparently, much like the birth to 3/Help Me Grow Program, if your child does not have major delays, you don't qualify. She said to try again through the schools next year once he is in Kindergarten but speech for preschool is only offered through special needs. As thankful as I am that his Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome has given us very few issues, it's still a little frustrating.
Yesterday I got the call from Ms. O'Leary. After asking some questions about Adam and his speech and development, she said she was sorry but his issues are too minor. She said they could come and do a first screening if we wanted but she could pretty much guarantee there would be no second one and he would not qualify. Apparently, much like the birth to 3/Help Me Grow Program, if your child does not have major delays, you don't qualify. She said to try again through the schools next year once he is in Kindergarten but speech for preschool is only offered through special needs. As thankful as I am that his Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome has given us very few issues, it's still a little frustrating.
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