Taking a break

We have decided to let Adam take a break from piano lessons. It makes me sad but we fight everytime we try to get him to practice.  We want playing music to be fun and not a shouting match.  He seems to do well at the actual lesson but he has no interest in practicing at home.  He wants to get the stickers for practicing and go up on the "hall of fame" board but he doesn't actually want to practice.  
On the front of the little practice sheet where he puts his stickers it has 6 "rules":
5 days (minimum)
Fast feet (fast feet to the piano to practice - no complaining)
Happy Face
Count out Loud
All songs
No Help
Adam doesn't want to do any of those.  He says he wants to go back when he is older and learn how to play Weezer.  Part of me wonders if he is bored with the stuff he is playing. We'll ask him again in the Spring and Summer.  Maybe get a different teacher.

Merry Christmas!

Adam had thought that Friday night was Christmas Eve.  He couldn't fall asleep and then woke up at 7:30am afraid to go to the bathroom because he thought it was still nighttime and that Santa wouldn't see him awake.  On actual Christmas Eve, he fell asleep no problem.  Must have been all the running around he did at the Chinese restaurant.  He didn't get up until about 9:15am.  He had woken up 2 times during the night but not because he was excited about Santa but once because he couldn't reach his Kleenex box and the next because "there was wind in my room that wasn't the fan".  (Found out later that it was part of a weird dream).  He ended up sleeping in our bed and Dave slept in the guest room because Adam kept waking him up blowing his nose or snoring because he was so congested. 

As usual on any special day, Adam walked downstairs with his hands over his face.  I had to keep telling him he could wait until we were actually down the stairs but he survived.  I think it took him 45 minutes to open everything (he's a slow unwrapper).  Lots of Batman figures,  Imaginext castle and boat, some Lego and Trio bloks, markers, and coloring books.  We asked him if he got "everything" since that's what he wrote to Santa.  He said no.  We asked if it was good enough.  He said yes.  Whew!

Christmas "concert"

Adam had his last day of school before Christmas break yesterday.  We were told to come 15 minutes early for pick-up to hear the kids sing Christmas songs.  We had been hearing small bits of songs at home so we couldn't wait to see/hear them for real.  Plus, with Adam, you never know what he's gonna do (like the Thanksgiving concert where he had a breakdown when they didn't sing the song he wanted).  I tried to edit the video but Adam's expressions crack me up so I kept most of it. (I did cut the very beginning where the teachers were waiting to make sure most of the parents were there and Adam stood picking his nose - both fingers up there!)

Thanksgiving Feast

Today was Adam's class Thanksgiving Feast.  They made T-shirts, necklaces, and head bands that they wore and everyone had to bring one item to eat.  Their "feast" consisted of a slice of (deli) turkey, mini muffins, grapes, snack mix, a hershey kiss and pumpkin pie.  A lot of food for preschoolers!  Adam ate the hershey kiss, mini muffins, and grapes.   Dave ate the pumpkin pie and the turkey was brought home for Mona.

 

Here's his class. 

Before the feast, the kids sang a couple of songs.  Adam...well, let's say he's not very quiet or shy.  As you can see in the video, he was the first to start singing.  (He is the 4th from the left). Then, on the second song, he got very upset because he thought they were going to sing some Marching Band song that they had sang in music class.  You can see him making some mad faces and near the end singing "Blah, blah, blah!"  I accidently cut it off but he actually started crying at the end.  I was crying I was laughing so much. 

Adam's teacher, Mrs. H. said Adam keeps them laughing.  She said that in chapel today, the minister was asking questions and was giving out candy corn for correct answers.  Adam answered something (I think he said God made us), got his candy, then whispered to his friend next to him, "God doesn't have any bones".  She thought that was soo funny.  I'm glad they are enjoying him and don't find him too distracting!

Mr. Kirby Dog

January 7, 2001 - November 15, 2011.  Not a bad life at all!

 

April 2001

 

 

 

 

                                               

Crazy Day!

Since Adam turned 4, I was able to move him up and into a new gymnastics class.  There were supposedly 5 openings in it so I assumed it would just be Adam and 1 other kid (which Miss Dawn had told us a couple of weeks ago).  Well, the class had been combined with another class (due to only one girl in the class) so when it started, there was one teacher, 6 girls, Adam, and 1 other boy.  Too many kids! During warm-up, Adam could not pay attention and was rolling all over the floor and just being goofy and not listening very well..  Miss D. showed up to help Miss A. and took 5 girls and left Adam, Zack, and Mia with Miss A.  Whew!! They went over to work on some of the equipment which went fairly well but it's so hard for the kids to remember what they are supposed to do on each thing.  Plus, this teacher has a hard time making sure she pays equal attention to all the kids so Adam kept skipping one of the things, nearly broke his neck trying to do a backwards roll the wrong way, and putting his arms (instead of just holding on with his hands) inside the rings and swinging.  Finally,  she told the kids to freeze and line up behind her.  Adam paused on the bar he was going to do then I saw him hold on to it and then his face/nose just bounce off of it.  I immediately went "Ooh!' and started coming down the bleachers before he even started to cry... and then it hit him.  Miss A.  handed him over to me and then his nose started bleeding!  Yikes! Through his tears he said he wanted to go home and Miss A. said to get an ice pack on the way out.  He calmed down by the time we got the ice pack and said he wanted to watch the rest of the class.  He was climbing all over the bleachers and back to being his crazy self. 

Later...Adam had piano lessons.  This was a horrible week trying to get him to practice so I warned Mr. Schmidt.  I even tried bribing Adam with a chocolate sucker if he was good.  It ended up being a bad lesson as well.  Adam kept running out and banging on the lobby door screaming for me.  Thankfully Mr. Schmidt has a lot of patience and somehow distracted him enough to get him back in the piano room.  When the lesson was over and we were walking to the car, Adam asked where his sucker was. Ha!

I got a break when I took Kirby to the vet for a recheck by myself.  The vet thinks Kirby looks even more jaundiced.  He gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks but not because he actually ate  (I had to force feed him most of the time) but because his abdomen is beginning to fill with fluid due to the liver disease.  We decided to try an appetite stimulant (Remeron) and another liver nutritional supplement on top of the other 2  supplements and every other day injections of some Chinese herbals.  Hopefully they will help stimulate what, if any, liver he has left.  He is off antibiotics to see how he does. We know that he probably doesn't have much time but it is not time for the big E-word just yet. He is not in pain, his eyes are bright, and he still perks up when Dave comes down in the morning or when asked if he wants to go for a walk (despite not being able to walk very well).  If his liver improves, we will be buying a harness to be able to help him stand up and get up/down the deck stairs.  For now...we wait and hope.

Oedipal complex?

Today, we were sitting in the car, eating some lunch and Adam said to Dave, "I want you to go to sleep and never wake up so I can live with just Mommy because I love Mommy." 
Um....what? 
"I want you to go to sleep, not wake up, and live under the stones - you know, the tombstones - because I want it to just be Mommy and me." 
Soo, you want me to die?  You know if I die, you'll never see me again.
"I love you!"
You love me but you want me to die?
"I was just kidding!  I was just being silly!"
Nice.....