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!
Monday, August 26, 2013
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.
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