Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Out of the mouth of a 2 year old

Katie has been saying some of the funniest things lately. Having a conversation with her is highly entertaining. She has started to repeat some of the things that she hears Michael say too.

Some of her recent favorites include: "How you dare me" (How dare you?), "I never get to eat that" (courtesy of Michael), and "Oh, man". It's pretty hysterical to hear these phrases coming out of her mouth. Her tone of voice makes it even funnier as she is very dramatic. She also likes to start sentences off with statements like, "you remember the other day when I....."

Having a conversation with Katie is like talking to a 3 or 4 year old. She is constantly asking questions and making observations. We were at the grocery store earlier this week and I asked her to help me count an item that we were buying. I started with 1, 2 and then she finished with 3, 4, 5. We have also been working on manners. If Katie catches you talking with your mouth full, she says, "You shouldn't talk with your mouth full".

I tried to get a video of her talking but as soon as she realizes that you are filming her, she turns to the camera and says "stop saying cheese". I was able to get a few phrases while her back was turned to me one day. This is such a great age for talking as things really start to come together.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Michael's First Homework

Every day Michael brings home a folder from school that has papers in it to send back to school the next day and other ones to keep at home. Michael's first homework assignment was in the folder today. It is to be completed and turned back in by Friday.

The first assignment was to cut on the lines on a sheet of paper. Michael did that today and let me know that he would do the second assignment tomorrow. Each child was assigned a letter for the second assignment. They have to find something in their house that starts with the letter. Then he has to draw a picture and put a sentence using the word underneath it. As he was sitting at the kitchen table cutting with the scissors, he told me that he loves homework and school. What a great thing for a parent to hear! Let's hope it continues in the years to come.

Working on his assignment at the kitchen table:

Thursday, August 25, 2011

No More Stitches

This afternoon Michael had his follow-up appointment with the ENT to get his stitches out from his ear surgery last week. I have been nervous about this appointment as I know that Michael is very sensitive to pain. I knew that getting the stitches out was not going to be a good experience.

Everything was fine until the doctor came in the room and asked him to lay back in the chair. He did not want to do this. The nurse and I had to step in and hold him still so that the doctor could remove the stitches and look in his ear. After the stitches were out, the nurse said that he could look at them. He was so upset from the removal of the stitches that he did not look at them and the nurse finally had to throw them out. Of course, he wanted to look at them right after she did that. When I told him that she had thrown them out, he got upset and started crying all over again.

By the time we got to the elevator to head out to parking lot, Michael was fine. Everything looked good today and he will go back in one month to check to see how the graft is taking and if the eardrum repair was successful or not.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

He did it

Monday was the second day of school. After getting everything sorted out regarding the bus situation from Friday, including speaking to the bus driver on the phone, Michael was ready to ride the bus home from school.

Fortunately Todd was able to come home from work so he didn't miss this important first for Michael. When the bus pulled up to the corner, all you could see was Michael's little face looking out the window. As soon as he saw us, his face lit up and he jumped up to get off the bus. He was so proud of himself for riding the bus and he got a Lego Star Wars set since he did so well riding the bus by himself.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Michael's First Day of Kindergarten


Friday was Michael's first day of Kindergarten. Todd and I were both able to take him to his first day. When he woke up in the morning, he went downstairs and was so excited to see his lunchbag and what was inside.



We headed to school and took him inside. Only half of the class was there as his school does a staggered start for kindergarten to get the kids used to going. The entire class will be there tomorrow. When we arrived, his teacher showed us to his cubby and we put his bookbag in there. Michael already has a friend in his class and he arrived shortly after we did. The boys sat down to read some books together. It was so nice to see Michael settling right in.



As we left, it hit me that we now have a child in kindergarten. It was a bittersweet moment but I knew how happy he has to be there and I loved his enthusiasm. All of these firsts are hard as a parent but seeing Michael so happy makes the adjustment so much easier.

When he got home, Michael said that his day was great. He told us about what they did for the day and where they went around the school. We also talked about the kindergarten playground, which was fun too. He asked when he could go back to school!

The only thing that did not go smoothly was the bus ride home. Apparently Michael's paperwork got lost so he could not ride. His teacher said that he was all ready to ride it with his friend and Todd had even gotten off work early so he could see him leave the bus. At least now we know that he will ride the bus, even if he didn't get to on his first day.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

How can this day already be here?

Michael's first day of Kindergarten, that is. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing home Michael from the hospital. These past 5 years have just flown by.

I can remember talking with him a few years ago during the time that he loved school buses. He was so excited to ride on one and whenever we saw one, he would talk about the day that he would be able to ride too. I can't believe that day is here and now he doesn't want to ride on the school bus. He asked if I could drop him off and pick him up in our own car.

Tomorrow morning is going to come very early for all of us here. Summer's over and school is beginning. At least the first day is on Friday and we will have the weekend to get ready for the first full week of school. Heading to bed now as soon as I finish packing his lunch and get the camera ready.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Surgery Complete

Michael did very well during the surgery this morning. The doctor was able to take the piece of skin from behind his right ear to use to repair his eardrum. They pack the ear with material that is absorbed by the body as well as antibiotic cream. Both of these help to hold the graft in place. We will go back next week to have the stitches removed and then it will be another month or so before we know if the graft took or not.

When he woke up from surgery, we were allowed to see him shortly afterwards. He was extremely groggy and the first thing he wanted was to have them remove the IV. I can definitely relate to that. First he had to eat a popsicle and drink some juice to make sure he had some fluids in him. After he did that, the nurse was able to take the IV. Until the pain medicine kicked in, Michael was in a lot of pain and out of sorts from the anesthesia.

We got home and Michael got a special present from Todd's parents, who were here watching Katie. He got 2 new Lego games for the Wii. He quickly seemed to forget how much his ear hurt and was ready to play the games! It was pretty funny.

Here is the patient while we were waiting for him to go back to the operating room:

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Another Surgery Day

Tomorrow Michael is having surgery to repair the hole in his eardrum. The ENT will take a small piece of skin from behind his ear to repair the hole. I hope that this surgery goes as smoothly as the hernia surgery did. We have to be there in the morning at 7:30am, which is much better than the 5:30am for his last surgery.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Kindergarten Evaluation

Monday was the day that Michael had his evaluation for kindergarten. This is the first year that they are doing these before the start of school at his elementary school. The teachers are going to use the evaluations to help decide which teacher they should have. I think it's a good idea to meet the students ahead of time.

I only know what went on in the evaluation based on what Michael told me. The teacher asked me if he went to preschool. It lasted about 10 minutes. I had Katie and David in a conference room and was filling out paperwork while they played with toys. As we left, I asked Michael what they talked about. He said that they asked him about some shapes, colors and letters. Since it didn't last that long, I doubt that they asked him much more. It will be interesting to see how they use the evaluation to place the students in each class.

School starts 2 weeks from tomorrow but Michael's first day will actually be Friday, August 19th. The school staggers the start for kindergarten so that the first half of the alphabet goes the first day and the second half the second day. I think it's good to get them used to the new school.