September Pre-K, K, 1st graders etc.

[hrk]

HI everyone-
Well this last weekend of August was a big one for us. We potty trained Ari, our younger son. So while the weekend was busy, we didn't do much and stayed pretty close to home. Well this allowed lots of time for summer cleaning, which I did like a mad woman. We cleaned up our entire basement and DH built some great shelves for us to organize all our stuff. Cleaned out the kids closets and did some other misc. organizing.
Logan started Kindergarten on Tuesday and had a wonderful first day. He has 28 kids, split pretty evenly between girls and boys and three teachers. His main teacher has been teaching K for 21 years and just seem to be very in touch with what Logan needs to stimulate him. So I am excited for this year. Yesterday and today are half days for the kindergarteners, so yesterday Logan and I went out to lunch and then he played at the park and today he has a playdate with a friend, so what's not to love about the first two days:D

How is everyone else doing with the beginning or continuation of school?
Joanne- how are things going getting Caitlyn ready for her surgery, any more news.

Hope everyone is doing well.
Heather

[HRJ]

Hi Heather -- thanks for starting this month! It must feel great to be done with diapers for the second time!! :) Glad to hear Logan likes his school.

We're still on vacation here! Well, at least until tomorrow -- Victor starts school Thursday. Day-camp ended the second week in August, and since then he's been going two days a week to a camp run by his after-school program. He really enjoyed it -- it was a much more laid-back program than the day-camp he did during the rest of the summer, but I think he needed that slower pace for a while. He also liked being together with a lot of his friends from school.

We went to my MILs over the Labor Day weekend, and for the past two days have mostly been running errands to get ready for the school year -- back-to-school haircut; getting new cleats for soccer; etc. I bought most of his school supplies earlier in the summer, so at least I didn't have to deal with that at the last minute.

This is a big week for transitions in our house -- DH started a new job on Tuesday. It's a really good move for him, career-wise (and for us, financially) -- and it also gives him an easier commute, he can take public transportation (which will let us put off having to buy a new car for a while).

The downside is he won't be able to work from home as often as he was doing before, and he is expected to put in longer hours than he was doing at his old company, so he'll be getting home later in the evening -- I'm not sure what I'm going to do about dinnertime, but it's possible DH won't be home until about 7:30 -- we've always been pretty strict about having "family dinner," but I'm thinking that's a little late for Victor to be eating. Do any of you have to handle a dinner situation like that?

My other news is that, unfortunately, I need to have another eye surgery in a couple of weeks. What a drag. But at least I know what to expect.

Aside from the surgery, this is going to be a busy fall -- I'm chairing the Ed Committee at our synagogue again this year (last year I had a co-chair; this year she has stepped down as co-chair, but has agreed to remain a "very active committee member.") We have a new Education Director and two new teachers at the Hebrew School, and are doing some big renovations to the lower level of our building, where the classrooms are located. so there is a lot involved with getting Hebrew School started this year. I'm also volunteering on a local political campaign. I hope I'm not overextending myself. (Guess I'll be forced to rest for a couple of weeks when I recover from surgery).

Cheryl, congrats on "retiring" from the consignment sale! You did a great job all those years. Glad to hear Garrett's doing OK with school -- but wow, does he have a lot of homework!

Joanne, I've been thinking about Caitlyn and your family. How are things going?

Lori, has Brian started his new school yet? How's it going?

Susan, very cute photo on the "First Day of School" thread! I asked Victor if I could take his photo tomorrow when he starts first grade -- he told me, "Absolutely not!"

Lara, how is your new job going?

I don't think Kim was around much during the summer?? Hope she shows up here soon!


Helene

[LaraW]

Hi Everyone

Helene, the job is going well, thanks for asking. I'm working downtown which I haven't done before, but I ride the bus and I enjoy having some time to read my book in the mornings and in the afternoons on my way to/from. Plus it is faster, I think, to do that. The bus can take the HOV lane, which I couldn't and I'm going into my 3rd week on a tank of gas ;)

Sounds like you both have had some fun things going on this summer. We're staying put for a while. My parents are coming in early November and my sister is coming for Thanksgiving and so I'm looking forward to that. DH and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary at the end of October and we are buying ourselves a bunch of new furniture. We're getting a new dining room table/chairs and china cabinet and we're getting new dressers and headboard for our bedroom. I'm excited about that!

We are also doing a bunch of work in our house, which has been keeping me really busy trying to get estimates and figuring out how to do all this. We have hardwood floors in our dining room, kitchen and entry and carpet in the living room, family room, bedrooms and all the stairs (and we have a lot of steps b/c we have a split level house). We need to get the carpet cleaned, and the floors refinished, so we are going to move the old/current dining room furniture out, get the floors refinished, get the carpets cleaned hopefully before the new furniture is ready to be delivered. My goal is to have this finished by the time my parents come. We'll see.

In order to do all this though we need to make room in our basement/garage for the old DR furniture until we can get rid of it. Ugh - I don't know how this is going to work. I'm going to figure out how to list it in the paper/online and on craigslist to sell it. I offered it up to my cousins and sisters but nobody wanted it (it belonged to my grandma before she died so I felt like I should offer it to family first). The other thing I'm trying to figure out is if I should get it appraised - my uncle told me that it was 65-70 years old - does that qualify it as an antique?? I don't really want to put the kind of work that will be required into making it nicer, and its in pretty rough shape. The thing that is so funny is that nobody in my family has actually ever paid for this set. My uncle told me that it was left in the house that my grandparents bought, by the people who sold the house to them. They were supposed to come back for it but never did. So this has been in our family since about the early 1940's. How weird is that?

Heather, Colin is getting ready to potty train. I have really held back on training him b/c of the nightmare that getting Natalie PT was. When I took him up to bed tonight he took off his diaper and went in to sit on his "little potty". He went, and we did the whole high-five thing. Then a minute later he went back in and I just waited in his room. A minute later I heard "pee pee come out. Yay me!" I went in and sure enough he had gone a little more in the potty. :D I think we need to just take a weekend and do it - see how it goes.

Hope everyone else is doing well! :)

[tbb113]

The downside is he won't be able to work from home as often as he was doing before, and he is expected to put in longer hours than he was doing at his old company, so he'll be getting home later in the evening -- I'm not sure what I'm going to do about dinnertime, but it's possible DH won't be home until about 7:30 -- we've always been pretty strict about having "family dinner," but I'm thinking that's a little late for Victor to be eating. Do any of you have to handle a dinner situation like that?


Helene - my stepfather worked very long hours. Granted we were already teenagers but I would still sit with him while he ate dinner at 9:30 or so. What I would do is have a salad with Victor while he eats his dinner and then have him join you and your husband and let him eat his dessert while you both eat dinner. That way Victor won't be starving and you all still have family dinner time with him

[JoanneOR]

Hi everyone! Good to see this thread again - I think the August one fell off the first page. We're doing OK - thanks for asking about Caitlyn. I'm kind of up and down. So much going on. DH's father has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Just had a biopsy, but we're not sure of the treatment yet. School started, really busy with that. Lots of soccer games and practices.

We're still set for the 18th for surgery. I'm getting paranoid that she'll get sick before then and have to postpone. Now I'm wishing we would have scheduled it sooner. This waiting and thinking about it is just killing me and affecting our whole family. I'm prone to breaking out in tears for no reason and I'm being too short with the kids cause I have so much on my mind. But, there are days when I can push it to the back of my mind and be almost normal. It's really not the actual surgery so much that I'm afraid of. Well, it is, but it's also alof of the after I'm worried about. Like how she'll react when she wakes up. If it'll change her at all. It's going to be a traumatic experience - I just hope she comes out of it the same little girl. Sorry for being so melodramatic! I'm sure it will all be fine, but I just want it over! I'm seriously thinking of trying to get some counseling to deal with this and some other issues, but I don't know where to start.

Anyhoo, enough gloom and doom!! Good stuff....Caitlyn started kindergarten Tuesday. She got the teacher that taught all the boys and she is just the best! Love her! I was worried Caitlyn would be shy at first, but I didn't have much to worry about. The first day she comes home with a note that she was talking while the teacher was talking. They have this system where all the kids start in the "parking lot", if they do something they're not supposed to they move to the green light and get a note home. There's also a yellow and red light, not sure exactly how those work. But Caitlyn got sent home with a big green light the first day for talking while the teacher was talking. I told her she shouldn't do that, but it was the first day and it was OK, and to pay attention when the teacher was talking. I told her, well, it sounds like you must have made some friends since you were talking. She tells me, "well, lots of kids were talking to me, but I'm not sure which ones I'll pick to be my friends yet!" :eek::D

We're having Caitlyn's birthday party Saturday - invited 21 kids and have no idea how many are coming! Only a few RSVP'ed.

Lara, glad to hear your job is going well. I love my time on the train. I read the newspaper on the way in and a book on the way home. Usually sneak a nap in there, too. Gives me some time to decompress before I get home. I don't know much about antiques (actually, nothing!), but I think the items have to be in pretty good shape to be worth something. Although the furniture being that old really shows how well stuff used to be made. Can you imagine a couch made today lasting that long? Good luck with potty training!

Helene, that's great about your DH's job. Congrats! We try to do family dinners as much as possible, too. I think they're really important, but with soccer practices and other stuff, we might only do them 2-3 times a week. 7:30 would be late for Victor to eat, but maybe you and he could eat together at your normal time, but then have all of you sit together when your DH comes home and kind of make it a "family together time" or welcome home to daddy time? Your DH can eat and maybe Victor can have a dessert. Just set aside a 1/2 hour each day to catch up with each other. Doesn't have to be tied to dinner. So sorry to hear you have to have another eye surgery. That just stinks!!

Heather, congrats on the potty training! Isn't that a great feeling to have no diapers?!

Have to run to a meeting. I'll try to check in more often. Hope Kim is doing OK - I noticed she hadn't been around.

Joanne

[MrsReber]

Hi everyone! I am enjoying the second week of school. Still a lot for me to do around the house between keeping up with things and work, but at least I can run to the store by myself! One day, I just sat in the living room and watched a movie at lunch time to relax. It was very, very nice.

Casey and Brenden are enjoying school. Things seems a bit different this year. The past 2 years, they had workbooks that they kept at home and they'd be assigned pages to do for homework. This year, we have no workbooks at home and we haven't had all that much homework, either. Brenden only had one assignment so far. Casey has a story to read each night, but that's not a big deal as we read every night anyway. She's had some sentences to write with her spelling words, but she already knows how to spell all of them. Brenden started taking tests in the advanced reading program already! I had mentioned it to the teacher. He's a good reader, but not very motivated. I thought the AR program might give him incentive. They get points for taking the tests.

Aside from that, my sister and her crew was here over Labor Day weekend. We didn't do too much. The kids all had fun just running around and playing. I got to spend a bit more time with my sister and her new boyfriend. He's going through a rough time with his son (11). He sent him to a wilderness/survival camp because the boy has some issues which stem from his parents behavior, unfortunately. My sister's boyfriend has completely turned around and is trying to put things right before it's too late. I hope it works out. The boy isn't too bad- he plays nice with all the kids and is polite to me. The problem is his lying and trying to get others in trouble. He's very manipulative and used to getting his own way. He doesn't respect authority. I do hope things work out for him. It's frustrating for my sister, but she realizes that the boy needs all the help he can get. They'll be back for Thanksgiving, I'm sure! It's fun having a house full, though. I can't complain. It makes me appreciate the quiet when everyone leaves, too! :D

Lara, glad the new job is going well. I always loved reading time on the train. That's the only thing I miss about my commute.

Joanne, I remember your struggles with surgery when Caitlyn was younger and couldn't understand. Poor girl. I guess you haven't told her about it yet? The waiting is always the worst part. That's funny about her "friends" at school.

Helene, sorry to hear about the surgery. As for late dinners- I am the queen of late dinners. I can't seem to get out of that habit ever since I was working in the city and getting home around 7:30 or 8:00 each night. I try so hard to eat by 7:00. Old habits truly die hard for me. Plus, with the weather being so nice, a lot of times we're outside and the time gets away from me. I really should eat earlier! In any event, I agree with what everyone else said- have some dessert or something later on for Victor so he can sit down and everyone can still have that time. I think as the kids get older, the family dinner table becomes much more important. We seem to hear about things more at that time than any other.

Well, I better get going. I've been thinking of Kim, too. Haven't seen her on the boards at all in a while. I'm hoping everything is okay! Time to go to karate. They're both almost ready to test for their next belts! 2 more weeks.

[hrk]

Good morning all

Joanne- Happy Birthday Caitlyn!! How was the birthday party? Hope she had a blast- you were doing a special Tea party or something right? That's great that she got a good Kindergarten teacher. And I will be praying that all goes well and she stays healthy cause having to postpone the surgery will make it only harder.

Lara- Glad to hear the new job is going well. Used to commute by train to work and I loved that alone time, but now I run carpool for both kids so it just doesn't work. I tell DH all the time I am jealous he gets to listen to regular radio in the morning ;) Potty training Ari has actually gone pretty well, and it is funny but Logan is one of Ari's biggest cheerleaders.

Helene- Congrats to DH on the new job. Can't offer any advice on the dinner situation, but I think others have offered some great solutions. Sorry to hear you need another surgery.

Susan- How is school going for you? Are you enjoying it?

Well we got hit by Hanna on Saturday, but while we got tons of rain, thankfully we had no damage. The boys were going stir crazy by Saturday around noon, so DH put them in their bathing suits and let them run around in the yard. They have a small climbing set in the yard, and the slide became a great slip n slide. They had a blast and got lots of energy out. Saturday afternoon we had a duckpin bowling party so we braved the rain and went to that.
Sunday morning Logan started Talmud Torah classes. He came out at the end and said to me- " Mommy we started learning another alphabet- this one only has 22 letters.":D And Ari didn't know what to do with himself those three hours, he had mommy and daddy all to himself.:p

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

[MrsReber]

We got a bit of the hurricane here. We had some rain starting Friday night. It was all over by 11:00 on Saturday and the rest of the day was beautiful, but humid. We could use some more rain. Heather, I bet the boys had a blast playing in the rain!

School is going well. I'm taking a class on the Christian viewpoint as this is a Christian University. As part of the coursework, we learn about 5 other major worldviews (religions). This week we're focusing on Judaism and Islam. I really don't have any knowledge of any religion so this class has been very interesting. I got A's on all my quizzes so far. We had the midterm last week(in week 3!!) and I got a 90 (which is a B these days). I still have a paper to write for week 5, in MLA format (which I have to look up on line!). I signed up for a Theology class next. Got some good news, too. In my degree program, I can pick 2 or 3 areas of study. I wanted to take Education, but wasn't sure I could do the classroom practicum around my work. Well, it turns out that I need 40 hours in a classroom and I can split up that time any way I wish, as long as my "sponsor" can work it out with me. That means I have 8 weeks to fulfill the 40 hours. I'm sure I can do that. I have a few other pre-requisites to take before I get to that class. I contacted the woman in charge of the education program. She wants to start the process so I can get into our local elementary school for the practicum. You know, I wasn't so sure I wanted to pursue education. However, when I wasn't sure if I could fulfill the practicum requirement, I was really upset about not being able to pursue it. I can't get a teaching license from this degree, but it will point me in the right direction. Plus I can do all of this course work on line. It's a total of 30 credits in education. I wouldn't have too far to go after that.

As things stand now, I have no idea if I still have my job next year or not. I sure hope I get to keep it, but there are no guarantees. I have to focus on the next step, in case that happens. In the meantime, I'm working until the end of the year and DH has had lots of overtime so we're paying down everything we can and still saving some, which is all good.

By the way, the boat trip is on! I was pretty surprised when the permission slip came home last week. I emailed the teacher asking if I'd still be able to go along. The boat holds 120 and there's 88 with all the students. She told me it was fine so I sent my money in. I think one of my mom friends is also going. Brenden came home on Friday and I said, "your teacher emailed me today." He was shocked for a moment. He said "what did she want?" He thought he was in trouble. I told him I could go on the trip and he was so happy. It was really cute.

Casey and Brenden are both testing on Thursday night for their next belts in martial arts. They're so excited. They both get to break a board. I can't believe how focused Casey is. Brenden is in they younger class still so his tests aren't as hard. Casey had to study a few things and remember everything she's learned in class in the past 3 months.

I think they're sending out the club sign up sheet from school today. Casey and Brenden both did craft club last year. I'll have to look at the schedule. They have marial arts on Thursday and Saturday now and then we have the riding lessons. Brenden wants guitar lessons, too. And they keep bugging me about swim lessons again. So many choices! They're not into soccer or basketball, though, like all the other kids around here.

I hope everyone is doing well! I have to get back to work. Even with the kids gone all day, the time flies by too fast!

[MrsReber]

We fell off page one again!

I'm a bit nervous this morning. I'm taking Brenden to the doctor. He told me on Saturday that he's got a lump on his head. It's a hard bump on the back on the right side. He and I have been worried about it ever since. I made a dr's appointment- no small task since I had to also find a new pediatrician. Our last pediatrician closed his office due to lack of patients. I found that a bit ridiculous as he was the only pediatrician in town- quite literally. So now I have to drive about 30 minutes to this other dr's office. Anyway, I hate this. I want that stupid bump to go away and I'm scared to death. Brenden is worried about it, too, poor guy. DH isn't worried at all. He tells me it's nothing. My mom and my brother both get cysts on their heads so maybe it's that? I hope it's nothing. I saw something on his neck last night and he seems to have a bump there, too. But then I noticed Casey also has one and she's got some congestion so maybe the two are related. I hope. My stomach has been in knots over this so I truly hope it's nothing.

I got an appointment at 8:30. I have to get Casey on the bus and then leave right after the bus leaves. I plan on dropping Brenden off at school afterwards since we (hopefully) shouldn't be too long at the dr's. Then I have 2, possibly 3, conference calls this afternoon and Casey's riding lesson.

I hope everyone else is doing well. Just needed to come here and get that off my chest. Sometimes it helps to get it out one way or another. DH seems to think it's a bit silly for me to worry so much about things so he's been no comfort to me.

Guess we're all busy these days as our little ones get older!

[LaraW]

Just popping in for a minute for Susan - I hope the dr. appointment goes well and the bump is nothing. It is so hard not to get worried sick over these little things! Check back in and let us know how it went.

(((Hugs)))

[MrsReber]

Thanks, Lara. The appointment went well. The new doctor was very nice. Brenden seemed to like him. The doctor said that the bump on his head- and the one I found last night on his neck- are actually swollen lymph nodes. He says it's most often a reaction to a bite (usually a tick). Well, about 1 month ago, Brenden indeed had a tick fall off him. Since the tick was all blown up and it fell off so easily, I imagine it was on him for some time. I couldn't find a bite anywhere, though. The doctor thinks it perhaps bit him on his head. That could be true as it'd be tough to see a bite there and he may not have felt it. I had one in my head once for a day (ick!) and I only happened to find it when I ran my fingers through my hair on my way home from work. Gross!!!

Anyway, he said that the lumps should go away in 6-8 weeks, so we'll keep an eye on them. I know Brenden feels much better now. I also had the doctor take a look in his ears. He's had so many ear problems, and ear tubes, and a hole in his eardrum. The dr couldn't see a whole lot. Brenden has a slight infection in his left ear, which is his better ear. The tube fell out of that one and it had healed up. The left ear still had a hole in the eardrum as of last year. However, when the dr looked at it, he noticed that it almost looked like the ear tube was still in his ear!! I know that tube came out. He thinks it may be a peice of it. He seems to think it'll fall out on it's own, but he couldn't tell if the hole in the ear drum had healed up or not. There was a glob of wax in his ear as well- which actually came out with all the poking around. I know it was pretty uncomfortable for poor Brenden. So, the dr got us an appt with the ear specialist in the building. The doctor was highly recommended by one of our friends. We go bac on the 30th for that appt.

I do feel better now- we can rest easy! I hate when something is wrong with these children. It's such an emotional thing for me, especially to see Brenden so concerned with it.

Oh, on a side note, he insisted last week that he wanted a riding lesson! I brought him on Saturday and he had his first lesson. He said he liked it. Yesterday, he had a lesson on Casey's pony. He's a very different child than Casey. She was much more natural and has good instincts with the ponies. He's just in it to have some fun and learn something new! He insisted on a lesson yesterday afternoon. I don't think it's something he'll pursue. He just wants to give it a try and learn how to ride. He's learned a lot from his big sister, though. He could name just about all the parts of the pony, saddle, and bridle!

Well, back to work. It's been crazy with conference calls these past couple of weeks!

[HRJ]

Susan, I'm glad that the bump isn't anything too alarming -- anything having to do with ticks really skeeves me out, and I know you have to be careful about watching for Lyme and all, but it sounds like nothing you have to be too overly concerned about.

I don't have much time this evening, because I'm preparing for my eye surgery in the morning, but I know that Caitlyn's surgery is coming up on Thursday, I think? I just wanted to send great vibes to Joanne, Caitlyn and the rest of the family -- and to let you know, Joanne, that I will be thinking of Caitlyn often, and sending healing thoughts and prayers. ((Joanne & Caitlyn))



Helene

[LaraW]

Wow, I had forgotten Caitlyn's surgery is this week. Good thoughts coming from Colorado for her, and for you too, Helene. I hope your surgery goes well and you have a speedy recovery.

Ohmygosh, we have had so much going on. I have been swamped at work, DH has been swamped at work, we have had a lot going on at home too. Poor DH has been working so much - he said he worked 70 hours last week :eek: I took both the kids to church yesterday and then out for breakfast so he could get some extra sleep in the morning.

DH and I ordered our new dining room furniture on Saturday and we should have it by mid-October. It sounds like we will have it just in time for our anniversary.

Natalie is doing well. She started soccer 2 weeks ago and is loving it. She also started gymnastics 2 weeks ago and that is going well too. I signed Colin up for a gymnastics class and he seems to be enjoying it as well.

Colin goes for another evaluation on October 15 to see if he qualifies for additional speech services after he turns 3 in January. He has come a long, long way but he still is not up to age level. If he qualifies for services, it would be in a preschool setting. He would go 2 half-days per week, and be in a classroom with some other kids who have services as well as kids who do not. So, we will see what happens. He does very well in a 1 on 1 setting but is very quiet in a group. I actually think that it could be good for him.

We started back up at storytime at the library - I don't know if anyone remembers a story I posted last winter about the librarian who had some unrealistic expectations for his and Natalie's behavior during story time, but they have a new person doing it now, and he seems to enjoy it. Natalie is old enough that she can sit at the table outside the room and watch a movie on our portable DVD player with the headphones on, and there is a window in the room that looks out right on that table so I can keep an eye on her.

We are having our floors refinished in 2 weeks, our carpets cleaned after that and I'm going to PA this weekend for my cousin's wedding. Oh, and DH's brother and SIL are coming here for a visit...we didn't know about that until recently and so they are going to get together for dinner on Saturday night. I'm bummed I will miss them.

I will be glad when October rolls around and some of these big projects are out of the way! :)

Susan, I am glad that Brendan's bump turned out to be nothing serious. I have a very active imagination and I come up with all these crazy ideas sometimes.

[MrsReber]

Helene, I hope all goes well! Eye surgery seems so..so...weird. I just can't imagine it.

Good wishes are being sent to Caitlyn (and the family!).

You know, I feel so silly worrying about Brenden when others are dealing with surgery. Lara, it IS my over active imagination. I read way too much so I'm always seeing those stories with the parents saying "My child was perfectly normal until one day...." That's probably my worst fear in life, that they'll be one of those children in those stories. Brenden's fast growing bump turned into all kinds of things in my mind.

I'm guessing everyone is quite busy. It's pretty quiet here. I'm actually pretty busy with work myself. Lots of last minute things coming in. Plus I have to get my paper done for my class by Sunday. It's about 1/2 done right now. Just have 2 more full pages to go and my bibliography. I was much better at this when I was 20! I feel like I have good ideas, just trying to get them to flow nicely has become a challenge. I need to write more. At least I don't have any quizzes this week and hardly any reading (only about 8 pages!). There's only 3 more weeks left. Then I start my next class on October 20th.

Brenden brought something home from the cub scouts yesterday. He seems interested, but we can't make the sign up meeting on Thursday because of their class Thursday evening. Plus, I think I need more information before signing up. I'm not sure if he'll like it or not. Does anyone have any experience with the cub scouts and what they do? I know he's not into the camping trips (doesn't want to go anywere overnight) but I'm not sure they do that in cub scouts or for the younger ones.

[hrk]

Helene- Best of luck with the eye surgery, hope it corrects the problem and that this is the last one for a while.

Joanne- More healing thoughts and prayers for Caitlyn and your whole family. Please keep us updated with her progress.

Susan- Ticks are definitely a pain around these parts, but it sounds like the problem should resolve itself soon. I don't know what the cub scouts are all about these days, but I do know friends whose sons are in it and it does seem like there is a large time commitment involved.

Lara- Glad to hear Natalie is doing well and that she is enjoying her activities. It sounds like the new job is going well for you as well.

Well we had Logan's back to School night last night and I am just so happy with his teacher and everything they seem to be doing in the class. He also starts his online math class this week, so we have to log in by the end of the week and get him started on that. Happy hump day
Heather

[cchhbb]

Helene, I hope your eye surgery goes well and recovery is quick. I wish you lived around the corner so I could bring you dinner.

Susan, glad to hear Brendan is doing well and the bumps weren't a big deal. My mom had a tick bite that didn't heal for a long time, but never did test positive for lymes.

I think cub scouts are a lot less demanding than boy scouts from a time perspective at least around here. I think they meet one day after school a week and sometimes take a field trip.

Glad to hear Brendan wants to ride too. You folks lead busy lives. I just feel we can't do a lot after school. By the time we play in the yard and then do homework, its dinner time, read a little, and then baths and bed.

Joanne, I hope Caitlyn does well with her surgery. Best wishes coming from the south. My girlfriend's son who is Caitlyn's age just had his heart procedure earlier this month. He ended up not needing to have the angiogram even though the echo showed blockage. He was home the same day. Please let us know if we can do anything to help long distance.

Garrett has early release today so he'll be home by 11:30. Griffin has an after school program so we won't have to get him until 2:30. Garrett and I have planned to go to the local airport and have lunch, watch airplanes, and play on the playground there. I hope the rain holds off until then.

Garrett got a new teacher last week for his reading and math and the work has been so easy. I spoke to the teacher on Sunday and she said that she would start him on the first grade math and second grade reading this week.

On Sunday, Garrett was so naughty I was about to lose it. He was being so bad just to get attention. I hope that getting a lot of one on one time will help him. Sometimes he will do just about anything for attention.

I think Garrett has chosen to go to the beach instead of having a big birthday party. He has a day off a couple of weeks before his birthday so I think we'll head down to the Florida panhandle for a few days. I'll probably take him out of school on Thursday too. Or maybe we'll go over to Huntsville, Alabama for the weekend to the space museum and botantical gardens.

Griffin seems to be liking school this year. He's such a little leader in his classroom. It's funny to watch him rally the other kids to play what we wants to do.

Cheryl

[tbb113]

Susan - Michael was a cub scout for a couple of years. If I remember correctly, it was a meeting a week at night (because of parents working, etc) and a couple of field trips. Big event was the pine box derby :) When he started 3rd grade I told him he needed to choose between sports and scouts since Hebrew school wasn't optional. He chose sports :cool:

[MrsReber]

Sending good surgery thoughts out to Helene and Caitlyn (and family!). I hope that everything goes as smoothly as possible!

Well, I did it. I signed Brenden up for cub scouts. We went to karate and then stopped by the informational meeting at the school. We missed the entire presentation. I was surprised at how many people were there! They actually ran out of packages for me. Tyra, as you mentioned, It doesn't seem like a huge committment. The nice thing is that a lot of Brenden's friends are signing up- even one boy who is home schooled. We know him from story time at the library. The den leader will be Brenden's friend's father. They have one pack meeting each month and then one "den" meeting each week for an hour or so. If they have an event one week, they may not have the regular meeting. Seems like the meetings will be later in the evening (around 7:00, I think) so it will fit in just fine. They don't require 100% participation and understand that kids are involved in many activities. They really just want them to have fun. At Brenden's age, they require a parent to be there with them for all meetings and activities- i.e. no overnight camping trips alone. Brenden was very happy about that and he's really excited about joining! This will be great for him. He doesn't have any activities that are just "his." I'm trying to get DH to participate as well. He's not been very communicative lately- working 10 hour days and then sequestering himself in his shop when he comes home :rolleyes: . In any event, I love seeing Brenden so excited about something. The troop leader thought it was very cool that Brenden is learning martial arts. He said maybe he could give the pack a demonstration some time. Just a really great bunch of folks. I am glad we signed up. Besides, I can't wait to see him in the uniform! Can't beat the registration fee- it's $14.95 for this year and next year. If he stays active, there aren't any additonal fees, only the cost of the uniform. Our least expensive activity yet!

We still have to go for the Lyme test. I wasn't feeling so great on Wed so we didn't go anywhere. I know the dr said not to worry about the lumps, but I still hate that I can see them!

Other than that- it's Friday! My paper is still not done. One page to go. I'm also getting nervous about my work situation as I haven't heard anything at all and we're getting toward the end of the year. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they let me continue!

[LaraW]

Susan, I think that is great that you signed Brendan up for Cub Scouts. I figure at this age, it is good to try a little of everything so they can see what they like and don't like. I don't think you get into the bigger time commitment stuff with scouts until they are older. DH and his brother were both big into scouts until they were in high school and both got their Eagle Scout.

I am leaving this morning for PA, so I only have a couple of minutes. I need to vent some worry about something though. It has to do with Natalie's behavior. I know, I have talked about this before and it seems like we go for a long time without any big behavior problems, but then we go for a time with daily struggles. Today is Friday, and she has had at least 7 or 8 major tantrums that I can remember since last weekend. When I say "major tantrum" I mean crying, screaming (shrieking), slamming doors, screaming at me (or anyone in her line of fire), throwing things, etc. These can go on for upwards of 45 minutes. They seem to be set off by...nothing. Today I said "good morning" to her and that was what started it. Other times she starts in when she can't have her way about something.

I keep waiting for her to grow out of it. She will be 5 in December, and it seems like we should be seeing a decrease in the drama. We are very consistent with her, and we NEVER have given in once that I can think of for whatever it is she wants. In fact, when she starts in, she gets sent to her room until she is ready to cool off. I have asked our ped a few times over the years if this is normal behavior and have always gotten the answer that it is within the range of "normal". But, I keep wondering if we need to have her evaluated by a mental health person. She has lost privledges, she has lost toys, and other things. Nothing seems to matter to her. She will be upset over the loss of whatever for a few minutes, but then gets over it.

She is like the girl with the curl...when she is good she is very very good but when she is bad she is horrid.

Sorry, I don't have time to respond to everyone right now - I'm finishing my breakfast and need to get my stuff together to leave for the airport.

[LA98]

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in ages!!! But just read Lara's and decided to try to reply before Jason wakes up. ;)

Lara, I could have written the exact same paragraph about Brian. Seriously! We are extremely consistent with him and he loses privileges for bad behavior. He absolutely hates losing them, but he doesn't change his behavior either. Sometimes I do think it's the age, but sometimes I think he just can't help it (the possible ADHD that was suggested to us). I do think the tantrums are diminishing in frequency, but I'm still surprised sometimes by the intensity, especially when they come out of nowhere like you said... Hang in there. And enjoy your trip to PA, we were just there two weekends ago.

Helene, thinking of you and hoping the procedure went well and that you have a quick recovery. You have certainly had more than your share of these... :(

Joanne, also thinking about Caitlyn and hoping everything is the best it can possibly be. I can't imagine how difficult this is... We were at a party recently and chatting with some parents we didn't know. I mentioned how rough Brian's first year was with his illnesses, etc. These very nice people listened to me blabber on, then told me that their son had a heart *transplant* during his first year. I've never been so ashamed of myself. I will never again say that Brian had a hard time as a baby!

Cheryl, Heather, Susan, glad all the kids are doing so well with school and activities!

So Brian turned 5 last month. He had a Transformers party -- he's obsessed with the toys, which I think is funny since he's not allowed to watch the show and he doesn't actually know anything about them. He makes up his own stories for them. For the life of me I can't figure out how those things transform, but he does them so quickly it's amazing.

He started at his new school last week and has really gotten off to a great start. This is the transitional kindergarten program. He's happy, excited, and he loves the teacher. So do I! She's fabulous. Very warm, very enthusiastic, it's obvious she loves the kids and loves what she's doing. It's a very stark difference from the teachers at his last school and he is eating it up. She gives a homework sheet on Fridays and Brian did a very careful job on the coloring part. No speed coloring! He seems to want to please her and I think that's great. I spoke to the teacher at back to school night, and told her very briefly that Brian had a very difficult year last year and that I was a bit nervous. She asked for a couple of details and when I told her she said she was shocked and that even though it's only been a week, she couldn't imagine Brian having the trouble I mentioned. She said she can see his strong personality and how he tries to steer things toward himself, but she said they work on things like that and she thinks he's a terrific kid. :)

The school is a co-op, and I somehow drew the first day of school for my first helping day. That made Brian the "host" for the day, he got lots of chances to be the teacher's special helper and he loved that too. Some of the kids were very quiet and hanging back at bit, first day and all, but Brian leaped right in and was very talkative and outgoing. I loved being there too and helping out with the kids. (WHY couldn't I have realized in college that I wanted to work with kids -- arrrgh!!!) Another great thing for me being there was watching the other kids. I'm always saying I don't know any other 5-year-old boys and what they do. Well, I got to see a whole bunch of them in action! Most had trouble sitting, they were swinging their legs like crazy, etc. A few had to be told several times not to touch something. Some couldn't write their letters, some couldn't even hold scissors and cut. There was a wide range of skills and behavior and that was a really good reality check for me too. I'd say Brian was right there in the middle of the pack and that certainly was comforting.

He's also doing gymnastics and recreational soccer, and he loves both. With school and all this activity, he's been going to sleep better at night. And he has finally developed a little bit of an appetite! Amazing! He's asking for food constantly and I keep having to restrain myself from saying "Really?" :rolleyes: At his 5-year checkup, he had gained 5 pounds and grew 5 inches from last year. I told the doctor I couldn't imagine how since he doesn't eat, but in the space of just a few weeks that all changed. I guess he's growing up. :) :)

Lori

[MrsReber]

Lara, I do think children can outgrow tantrums. Last year was torture getting Brenden up and ready for school each morning. He was incredibly tempermental and I had to be so very careful not to make him angry or he'd have a meltdown. Then it was impossible to get him to do anything. This year, he is completely different. He still doesn't like getting up early, but he's much more agreeable. He wakes up smiling and we don't have the battles we had last year. If I think about it, his door slamming and yelling had tapered off as well. The only time there's a drastic change in his behavior is when he's sick. He's been a bit touchy lately and we found out on Tuesday that he does have a slight ear infection in one ear.

Lori, that's great that Brian is doing so well! Sounds like he's finally in the right situation. There's such a broad range of behaviors and skills at that age. I'm sorry you had to go through a bad situation at first. As for the eating, my two still eat like birds, except when they're growing. Then they eat everything in sight and ask for more. Casey is going through a growth spurt now. She can eat 2 waffles for breakfast!

[JoanneOR]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to pop in quick and let you know Caitlyn's surgery went well. I'm here with her now in the hospital and besides being quite ornery (who can blame her?!) she's recovering as expected. Will probably be in at least two more days. I'll post more later, but just wanted to let you know she was OK.

Thanks for everyone's good thoughts and prayers - they worked! I can't tell you how relieved I am that the surgery is over!

[LA98]

Joanne, oh I'm so happy it went well!!! Wonderful news! Hope Caitlyn's feeling like herself again very soon!

[cchhbb]

Joanne, I'm so happy to hear the update on Caitlyn. Onery is good sometimes.

Hang in there.

cheryl

[HRJ]

:) Joanne, I'm so glad to hear that everything went well with Caitlyn's surgery!! I was thinking about the two of you a lot last week. Hope she's home and everything is back to normal for the whole family as soon as possible. (And ornery isn't bad at all -- most of the time, that's Victor's standard state-of-mind! ;) )


I have some good news too -- my surgery went well -- much, much better than the previous surgery in March. I'm feeling pretty good and there's not much discomfort with the eye at all, although the vision in that eye is still fairly blurry -- I can manage short periods of reading/computer work, but then I have to stop to rest the eye, so I don't know how long it will be before I'm back at work - without being able to read or work on the computer for any considerable period of time, there's not much I can do at my job, except maybe walk around the office and annoy people! I also can't drive yet. And the big quesiton now is whether everything will heal properly and the glaucoma in that eye can stay "under control" -- but we really won't know that for a while. I go back to the ophthalmologist tomorrow for another follow-up.


Lori, I am so thrilled that Brian is enjoying school and that it looks like such a good fit for him. Phooey on the teachers from that other school! :mad: Has Brian discovered the "Transformers" waffles that Eggo makes? Victor noticed them during a trip to the supermarket this summer, and they have entered into heavy breakfast rotation at our house. Like Brian, Victor has never seen the Transformers show, but he likes the toys and other merchandise anyway -- he has several of the Star Wars Transformers, and they are quite amazing!

Lara, I hope you had a nice trip. I'm so sorry you're having such difficulties with Natalie -- I have to say, I'm torn between thinking that the tantrums are just something she'll outgrow with time, and thinking that maybe it would be helpful for you to get some sort of professional opinion, if for no other reason than maybe to get some more tools for handling the behavior. As you know, Victor, too, is on the "spirited" end of things -- much more so when he was younger, and I do remember periods of tantrums for no apparent reason -- I'm trying to remember when those started to tone down, and I'm thnking it was when he was about 5-ish. (Although we still get stuff like that from time to time, but not nearly as bad, or long-lasting, as it used to be.) I remember one thing that the psychologist from Early Intervention talked about with us (and I think maybe it's mentioned in the "Raising Your Spirited Child" book, but I could be wrong about that) -- about how periodically, when kids are going through big developmental stages, either physically, intellectually or emotionally, their personality sort of "breaks down" and they have to almost literally "put themselves back together again." (I don't know if that explains it well). I'm wondering if Natalie is going through some sort of stage like that right now?


Susan, I'm sure Brenden will like Cub Scouts. I've thought about Cub Scouts for Victor from time to time -- I know there's a troop (or a pack or whatever they're called) with kids from our elementary school, but I haven't gotten around to getting any info on it. It's cool that he's interested in riding now, too! And I had to chuckle about Casey eating two waffles during a growth spurt -- there are many mornings when Victor gobbles down four waffles (and maybe some yogurt and fruit) and wants more, but we have to leave for school!


Glad to hear that Logan and Garrett seem to be liking their schools.


We're still adjusting to DH's new work schedule -- I'm getting a little better at making dinners that Victor and I can eat earlier, and that can hold until DH comes home. One thing is that now that DH is commuting by public transit (he's able to buy a "T" Pass through his company with pre-tax dollars), I can't believe the amount of money we're saving on gas.

I think I'm going to sign Victor up for biddy basketball (why do they call it that? :confused: ) after the soccer season is over. He has asked to take a break from swimming lessons for a while, which is fine, but we want him to be involved in at least one sport outside of school.

We did not sign him up for after-school Spanish this year -- it was a really hard decision, but I observed some of the Spanish lessons at the end of last year, and realized that having him sit in a classroom for an extra hour after school was over was just a little too much for him -- it was too long a day, and he kept "disconnecting" from the class. Part of the problem is that school ends at 2:15, and Spanish starts at 2:30 -- there was no time for him to burn off any energy or decompress. Plus, he has more homework this year, so we figured it was better not to push it, and just make sure he applies himself on the things he 's supposed to do. I'm thinking if we want to get serious about Spanish language lessons, we'd be better off hiring a private tutor at some point.

One quick story -- in his first-grade classroom, the kids sit in groups that are named after colors. Victor was assigned to the "pink" group. His remark: "And I don't have to tell you, I'm not happy about that!" :rolleyes:


Gotta go rest the eye

Helene

[LaraW]

Helene, I am glad your surgery went well and you are recovering. And, Joanne, I am so happy to hear that Caitlyn is doing well too.

My trip to Pittsburgh was really nice, but it was 3 long days in a row. I left home at 8:30 am and was finally picked up at the airport at about 10:00 pm, then we had to wait around to pick up my 2 sisters whose flight got in at 10:30ish, and we finally met up with them at 11:00. Then, we had to drive an hour or so to get to our hotel. So, it was pretty late, but my body was still on mountain time, so even though the clock said midnight, my body still thought it was 10pm. We got up Saturday AM, went to get pedicures (all 5 of us!) and then went to lunch, and got ready for the wedding. The wedding was at 1:00, we met up with some cousins for a while afterwards, went back to hang out at the hotel and then went to the reception around 6.

Got back midnight-ish, called for a 5:45am wake up call :eek: and then left for the airport at 7 yesterday morning. My flight was at 10:30, but one other sister's was at 8:30, so we only wanted to make 1 trip to the airport. My flights were on time all the way through, and DH picked my up around 3:30 pm. He was so wonderful - had most of the laundry done and did the menu-plannign and grocery shopping. The time difference worked against me, in that the clock said 9pm but my body said it was 11 pm. I got a lot of sleep last night and feel a lot better today. And, it was really nice to have a break from the kids.

According to DH, there was a little bit of drama over the weekend but not like earlier in the week. One thing I forgot to post was that I did take her in to the doctor on Weds. I took her in last Saturday b/c she was saying her ear hurt. No ear infection, but the dr. did see some post-nasal drip and her nose and throat were both a bit red. We started some Zyrtec at her suggestion and Natalie said that her ears felt a lot better. Weds she was still complaining of a sore throat so we went back in for a throat culture and she was positive for strep. The dr. said she was barely positive and it didn't look "strep-y" at all. She was started on antibiotics on Weds and so we're doing that this week.

I have heard that too, that kids do this when they are going through some developmental milestone. I guess maybe I should keep a journal of sorts and see what our doctor says when we go for her 5yo checkup in December.

[MrsReber]

Joanne, great news! Thanks for stopping by to let us know.

Helene, I'm glad your surgery went so well, too. I hope it's a long time before you have to go for another procedure.

It always amazes me how little my kids eat and how much energy they have. I think I'd pass out! 2 waffles is a lot for Casey. It makes me laugh, too. Brenden just started to eat 2 regularly. Of course, sometimes he still buys breakfast at school.

Well, on Saturday, I took Brenden to the walk in doctor. His ear actually smelled bad. I could smell it while sitting next to him. Plus DH really wanted me to get the Lyme test. They did it, although they didn't see any reason for it (I'm on the fence about it). He's got no symptoms whatsoever. I doubt the insurance will pay for it. Anyway, the doctor was alarmed that the other doctor didn't treat Brenden's ear infection. Then she told me that the swollen lymph nodes are most likely related to the ear infection (the other doctor told me there was no correlation between the two??). I Googled it to see for myself. And of course, ear infections are a leading cause of swollen lymph nodes! I'm not sure what to think of this other pediatrian we saw. I was trying to get in with a regular pediatrician, but it almost seems that we're better off with the walk in place! Crazy. So Brenden now has antibiotics, which he loves. On the way home, he said to Casey "don't you wish you were sick so you could have some, too?" Then she asked why she didn't get any! Brenden offered her a taste after dinner :rolleyes: .

Thankfully our riding lesson today was cancelled. Brenden's first "pack" meeting for cub scouts is tonight. We could've easily done both activities, but they're in opposite directions. The pack meeting is with all scout levels. They have those once a month. Then we'll figure out when our "den" meeting is. Brenden is so excited about the meeting.

Lara, sounds like a nice trip, even with the long days. I hope Natalie's temper improves. Strep is a weird thing. Casey had it once and the test was like Natalie's- barely there. However, she was having stomach trouble for a couple of days. Apparently that's a symptom. So maybe that was the cause of the behavior issues?

Helene, that's funny about the "pink" group at Victor's school. Brenden would have pretty much the same feeling about that!

I better go get the kids started on their homework.