Preschool/Toddler Moms - Week of Oct. 17th

[RunnerKim]

Hi everyone - not often I get to start the thread!

I was out Friday but I gather there were a lot of problems on the boards.

Lainey had some mysterious stomach issue on Friday. She complained about her tummy hurting and was really upset Friday morning and vomitted a couple of times (at first I thought maybe it was gas). I took her in to the doctor and then she seemed to get better and by Saturday she was completely normal. She pooped normally on Saturday so never had diahhrea. No idea what was going on but I was thankful that we didn't have a weekend of vomitting and diahhrea (or a trip to the ER since the doctor mentioned it could be appendicitis and gave me instructions on which ER to go to).

Sarah - what did you decide to do about the sticker chart?

Cheryl - how was shopping & your hair cut?

Joanne - that's interesting that his math homework is easier - maybe that was a one time thing - a review or something? And it's not looking like Chicago-St. Louis world series :(

Kim

[hrk]

Good morning all

It was very interesting going back and reading about the decisions regarding kindergarden and when to start it. I actually started school in a private school cause the schools wouldn't budge on starting me early and my parents new I was ready. And there are some very valid points- I got my license much later than others, I started college at 17 (before I could legally sign anything) but I never felt it affected me in any great way.

We are starting to think about schools with Logan. We are trying to decide if we want to do public or private. We live in a top rated school district, but they still teach to the test like every other public school and because of that alot of "extra" things have fallen by the wayside. DH and I think those things are important and so we are looking at private schools- but boy they cost alot.

Helene and Tyra- I hope you both had nice holidays.

Sarah- How did things go this weekend? I have been dealing with the initial "no" answer to questions and then a fit recently. I have been standing right in front of him, asking once then if he says no, saying "OK, then I have to do it so it gets done" He usually says "no I do it" or "OK mommy" It seems to have helped.

Well we had a strange Saturday night. We took Logan to the pumpkin patch on Saturday, all was fine, out to dinner, great and then home. He was laying on my lap watching football and I felt his head. He is buring up, take his temp it's 103. So we give him tylenol and a cool sponge bath and put him to bed. Sunday morning- fine, no fever and it didn't come back all day. Very strange.

Hope everyone has a great week.
Heather

[LA98]

Kim and Heather, glad Lainey and Logan didn’t get really sick. Maybe they were just very mild viruses?

Sarah, I had been wondering the same thing about a chart, but I’m sure Brian wouldn’t get it as a concept yet. Is there a shirt or outfit that Ella really loves that will entice her to get out of her pj’s? Of course that won’t work every day, but I think Brian was objecting to my picking out clothes for him and when I’d open the drawer for him, he’d pick out a truck shirt or something and then was happy to put it on.

I’m feeling much better. The physical part is thankfully over, and I think I’m past the sadness, but still feeling disappointed. Brian’s actually the one who snapped me out of it. I couldn’t help crying a little in front of him one day last week. He came over to me and said “Kay, Mommy?” Geez, there’s no guilt like making your 2-year-old worry if his mommy is okay… :( And I think he also picked up on the stress in the house last week. He’s been very, very clingy, almost like separation anxiety again, and nighttime is once again a complete disaster. I’m hoping that things improve this week with my better mood.

This weekend we finally got to go apple and pumpkin picking. It was so nice to be out of the house after a week of nonstop rain! Brian loved the hayride (okay, he loved the tractor) and got to pick some low-hanging apples. And some good news, Brian’s going to be kicked out of the Early Intervention program (I’m sure this will be the last time I’m glad he’s been kicked out of something, LOL). It’s kind of amazing to me: we began speech therapy in June when the only word he was saying at 21 months was “Dada.” Yesterday, I was sitting in his spot at the kitchen table and got “Mommy, get out my chair.” :rolleyes: :)

Lori

[JoanneOR]

Sorry to hear about Lainey and Logan's illnesses. Glad they were short-lived! Maybe Lainey just ate something that didn't agree with her. The boys would frequently have fevers for a day or so and be fine the next day. Cailyn had one this summer during the night and was fine in the morning.

Lori, glad to hear you are feeling a bit better. That's so sweet of Brian to try to comfort you. That's great about his speech! Caitlyn got kicked out of early intervention, too. It's a great feeling!

Now I am totally confused and pretty stressed out about the whole school thing with Jameson. From the beginning we've told him it's his decision whether to stay in fourth or go back to third - that this was just a trial. He seemed to be doing fine, but Friday night we were asking him about it and he said he thinks he wants to go back to third, that the kids are "weird". He said they don't talk to him and there is only one nice one. He said he doesn't feel like he fits in. He was crying while we were talking about it. He has no problem with the school work, but socially he doesn't feel right. DH was telling him to give it a couple more days and he got really upset. He said, but I thought it was my decision. So, it seems like he's really intent on going back to third. I was so upset; I hate to see him so unhappy. But, then he keeps referring to himself as a fourth grader and talking about how he's in fourth grade now. I just don't know what to do. DH had the idea of letting him try the other fourth grade class; I don't think it would make a difference, but Jameson said he would like to do that. I think it's just that by fourth grade, kids are already established in their friendships and it's hard to be a newcomer, especially coming up from a lower grade. DH talked to the principal today and she said she didn't think the other fourth grade is a good idea because they have a substitute teacher. She said to give it a couple more days and see how he feels and we can meet and decide what to do. She was going to observe his class and talk with his teacher to see what she thought about how the kids were treating him. I honestly think academically he is much better off in fourth, but I think the social aspect is just as important. If he's unhappy going to school, that's not good either. But maybe things would change once he's there longer and the kids accept him more. But how do you know that will happen? Now I know what parents mean when they say the school years are harder than the toddler years. I could never understand how before! I did feel better about things later in the weekend when I realized it really is Jameson's decision. I was stressing about what to do, but we told him he could make the final decision and I'm not going to back down on that. So, whatever he decides is what we will do. Of course, I'm wondering if it was a good thing to let him decide, but I'm not going to back down on that, because he is trusting us to keep our word to him.

Anyway, on to lighter subjects! (sort of!) We almost got a dog this weekend. A shelter by us has some pets from Hurricane Katrina. DH and Caitlyn found one they really liked. DH took Jameson and Ian to see it Saturday and to spend some time with it to see if Jameson was allergic. Well, it turns out Ian seems to also be allergic. He sneezed all the way home and Jameson's eyes got all red and watery. So, no dog. Poor Ian was so upset. He was really excited about the prospect of getting one. I want to look into some breeds that have hair instead of fur; those are supposed to be less allergenic.

Kim, don't lose hope! It's not over yet! I'm not a big Sox fan, but most of our neighborhood is. After they won, everyone was running out of their houses yelling and screaming and blowing horns and setting off fireworks. It was pretty funny to watch.

[tbb113]

Joanne - tough decision for you all to make. I think you are right in asking Jameson for his input and I agree that social interactions are important in school.

You might want to check out some of these sites on dogs and allegeries. Maybe you can find the perfect match? My brother was allergic when he was younger but by HS he had outgrown the allergry

http://www.ask-the-vet.com/dogs-for-people-with-allergies.htm
http://www.dogbiz.com/faq-allergies.htm
http://www.akc.org/about/faq_allergies.cfm

[Sarah428]

Kim- Glad that Lainey's stomach bug didn't turn into something more serious.

Heather - Seems to be a 24 hour bug going around here too. Ella had the same thing about a week ago.

Lori - How wonderful that Brian is getting "kicked out"! LOL! Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend and I'm glad your doing better all around.

Joanne - Are there certain subjects that Jameson would "need" 4th grade work or is it basically all of it? I'm wondering if he could go to the 4th grade classroom for math, for example, but spend the rest of his subject with his normal 3rd grade class. My cousin was extremely gifted, in 1st grade she was sent to do 5th grade math work, and they struggled with the same social issues. Good luck!

Re: The fits and sticker chart. I didn't start the chart. DH & I talked about it and she's not just doing this in the a.m. but all the time and a morning sticker chart won't solve the problem.
Lori, I do the same thing you do (ask once if she wants to pour her cereal, she says no, so I say "then mommy will have to do it") but then she get hesterical (throws herself on the floor, kicks, screams, etc.) and there is absolutely no way of calming her down.

What do you all do when they throw a major fit? We try putting her in her room but she just runs right out, we try holding her and calmly talking into her ear, we try time out, etc. Nothing seems to work :(

[JoanneOR]

Tyra, thanks for those links! I wrote down a list of about 15 dogs that might be possibilities from the links. Ian would love to have a dog more than any of the other kids, I think. I hope we can work something out. Besides, I told DH that if we get a dog, I get my cleaning lady back. :)

Sarah, how old is Ella? I couldn't remember if she was 2 or 3. I wish I knew the answer to tantrums. The good thing is they seem to outgrow them! But, then they start to whine and that's not so good either! With Caitlyn, I'll try to figure out what's causing it. Sometimes I have no idea what she wants and she'll be having a fit on the floor. If I do know what she wants and it's reasonable, I'll get it or do it for her. Like she wants her milk in the sippy cup instead of a regular cup. She is so funny. She'll be having a full-blown meltdown; you finally do what she wants and she'll have an instant transformation and sweetly say "thank you mama" and be back to herself. If she wants something she's not supposed to have, I'll try to explain to her why she's not getting her way. I do try to pick her up or comfort her, but if she fights me I'll leave her alone. I tell her when you calm down I'll talk to you. Sometimes we'll put her on the stairs and tell her she can get up when she calms down. That has limited success. I try not to give in when she's having a tantrum because that will teach her that tantrums work to get her way. But she is quite stubborn! To make a long story short, I guess I don't really have an answer! Maybe it helps to know you are not the only one going through it!

I'm not sure if taking some fourth grade classes would work with Jameson. I think he'd be doing fourth grade work in just about every subject. I know math, reading and science for sure. The one thing his third grade teacher said he needs to work on is his writing. He can explain things out loud no problem, but when they ask him to write it out, he writes the bare minimum. I'm anxious to hear what the principal has to say today after she observed the class and talked with the teacher.

[RunnerKim]

Joanne - that's tough that it's not going to be an easy decision one way or another. The worst would be for him to come to dislike school and be miserable though. I hope it works out for him. I think moving mid-year is tough (more so than it being 4th grade) because kids have already all gotten to know each other and everyone else knows what's going on etc. Is there something the teacher can do to help him settle in? I think it's okay to say that he finishes the week of trial time before he can make his decision but I agree about leaving it up to him (especially since that's what you've told him).

I haven't completely given up hope on the Cardinals - have my red hair band on today (the only red I have in my ward robe!). We don't have cable so we don't get to watch baseball until the post season and it's frustrating to hear how great they do all season and then wonder who they were talking about when we're watching the games (didn't get to see much of the first round of the post season b/c of cable and scheduling).

that's sad about the dog allergies. :( The only thing I can offer is that sometimes the quality of the diet the dog is eating can greatly affect how strongly allergic people react. I've had people who are allergic to cats come in my house and not have any problems with my cats or being in my house and I'd read that others had similar situations when feeding a high quality diet. I think that's a long shot for your situation but thought I'd throw it out there.

Lori - Yeah on Brian getting kicked out! That's amazing progress. I'm glad you're feeling a little better too. (())

Sarah - I have to say Lainey has had very few major fits so what I do may be of no help to you. I walk away. I don't give her any attention. I do not re-locate her, I do not hold her. How long do you try a strategy before giving up and doing something else? She might take longer of the same thing over and over before it affects her. Once Lainey had a melt down while we were out (it was more our fault than hers) and I simply removed her to the car and we waited for DH to finish up and catch up with us. I'm prepared to leave a shopping cart if I have to though. Now I have put Lainey in to time out - if she does something like spitting, biting or hitting. She goes on the stairs with minimal comments from us (we make sure it's clear she knows what she did wrong) and we set a timer. Now that's she's 3, we do 3 minutes. She will stay on the stairs but will call out and cry and carry on the whole time. I think in the beginning we had to put her back on the stairs once or twice. After the timer goes off we talk with her more and then try to be upbeat and re-direct. Now I have a nephew is very strong willed and stubborn (reminds me of a couple of the boys on this thread ;) ) and time out was not an option - my Mom would have to sit and hold him in time out. I don't think she found that strategy very effective for him.

If Lainey were to have a fit about not pouring her milk or whatever then I'd most likely walk away. We often set timers in the morning and I'd set that, when it went off I'd clear away her breakfast. If she didn't eat, too bad. She'll be more inclined to eat the next morning. We've cleared Lainey's food from the table after she's done something inappropriate and been warned (dropping food on the floor for the dog for example). If she hits us with a toy - she gets a warning (this is generally unintentional hitting) and the next time the toy is removed. Generally we'll give it back after it's been in time out. ;)

Kids this age I think want to learn to do things themselves and will eventaully choose to do that if they see that otherwise mommy does it for them. It sounds like she's pretty stubborn and I don't know that there's going to be a majic bullet that all of a sudden makes her compliant. Time will help - hang in there!

Kim

[Sarah428]

Joanne & Kim - Thanks for the comments. Ella turned 2 in August. In general I try to ignore her tantrums, but like this morning I felt bad because I didn't even try to find out what was the matter. However, when I ask "what's wrong?" or "do you want to try to pour the milk now?" she just stiffens up and grunts!?! Kim, in reference as to how long I go w/ one tactic, this weekend we literally went 2 hours of putting her back into her room over and over again! We told her she could come out when she was done screaming and we could understand her. During weekdays I stand my ground hard and we just walk to daycare w/ her kicking and screaming.

I'm currently re-reading Happiest Toddler on the Block and hope that helps!

[BeckyM]

Sarah -- I too wish I had good advice to give you about dealing with tantrums. Katie has tantrums like that from time to time too, and if she's really upset, she will sometimes refuse to answer about what's bothering her. I think sometimes she's not even exactly sure what IS bothering her. Sometimes it works to tell her Mama is going to walk away if Katie can't tell me what I can do to help her. Other times that doesn't work. Sometimes we just leave her alone until she calms down. We've been working with Katie on saying "please" when she asks for something, and for a while, she would refuse to say "please" just to be stubborn. For example, on the ride in to daycare, she would insist on a certain song to listen to on the CD player, and if she didn't say "please", we wouldn't change it. DH said there were several days she just screamed and screamed, refusing to say "please", so DH turned it to NPR to listen to news (though he barely got to hear it over the screaming) until she calmed down. There were a few days she didn't comply until they were almost there, but after a little while, she learned. Now when she asks for a song, she'll often say please in the request, or if she doesn't and we ask her "How do you ask?" she'll immediately say "please". I don't know if any of that was helpful. I think you just have to continue not caving in to the tantrums and stick to what you tell her, and eventually she'll learn. I think some kids just refuse to "learn" longer than others. Good luck!

Joanne -- I'm sorry to hear the decision isn't as easy for Jameson as it sounded like it would be. I imagine if he had more time to make friends, he eventually would. I doubt he would be a social outcast forever. But I agree you should stick with letting him make the final decision, since that's what you promised him. Of course you can let him know what you think he ought to do, but once he has made the decision, you'll have to support him in that decision the best you can. I hope the kids in the 4th grade class start being more friendly, since it sounds like academically that's the better place for him. I'll be interested to hear what the principal has to say after observing.

And sorry to hear about the dog allergies. I hope the links Tyra posted about non-allergenic dogs are helpful. (Tyra -- you always provide great resources!) We're hoping to get a dog someday, and I know it would be really disappointing (especially to DH) if we couldn't. His favorite kid of dog is a Golden Retriever, so now whenever Katie sees a picture of a Golden Retriever, she says, "Golden Retriever! That's my FAVORITE kind of dog! And Dad's too."

Katie had her FIRST haircut today! I took her to a place that only does haircuts for kids, and I definitely think that was the right decision. She got to watch the end of a little boy's haircut when we got there, and he was really cooperative, so I think that helped ease her nerves a little. They had a video going (Scooby-Doo), plus instead of regular chairs, they had animals, like on a carousel, but with handles coming out of the head. They turned around and went up and down like a regular haircutting chair, but the kids straddled the animals instead. They had three different animals to choose from, so Katie sat on the frog. She wanted me RIGHT by her the entire time, but other than that she was pretty cooperative. The woman cutting her hair was really good with her. I found out she has a 3-year old daughter too, so she knew exactly how to help Katie feel at ease. They even had a special envelope to save a lock of Katie's hair for her baby book! Katie got a balloon when she was done, which made her pretty excited.

Oops -- Megan just woke up earlier than expected, and she won't let me sit & type. I'll be back later . . . .

Becky :)

[nori]

Becky, glad to hear that Katie's first haircut went well. I want to find those kiddie haircut place around here...Noah's already okay with regular barbar, but for Mary Ann, I may want to try more "hair-salon" type of place instead of barbar.

Sarah, if you let Ellie pick her clothes for the next daybefore she goes to bed, does it help? Dealing with tantrum is very personal and depends on kids personality, I think, but we give them timeout. For Noah I'd put him in his room and close the door, and hold the door from this side. Of course he'd cry and scream for a while, but I'd tell him from this side, that when he calms down I'd open the door. It may seems cruel, but we just have to let them know that throwing fit won't get any attention from us, and that's not the way they get whatever they want. Noah is pretty good at not throwing fit, so I'm thankful for that.

Lori, glad to hear that you're feeling better. Congrats on Brian kicked out from therapy! What a great progress!!

Kim and Heather, like others said, glad Lainey and Logan didn't get seriously sick. Must be something going around.

Joanne, that's very stressful situation about Jameson....hope you had some good insight from principal today. Sorry to hear about not be able to get a dog... :(

Thanks for some comments regarding preschool. DH is VERY strongly said that no need for preschool, and I didn't think so much about it before, but now I have to look into see what kind of program is available. (or how much) I was once asked by one of caretaker at the nursery which we use, if Noah is going to preschool, because he was very, well behaved. So he seems like he's doing okay so far. Not sure if our school system has half-day K....

About potty training...well the next day he did another pee in the morning but that's it. Tonight, I was giving them a bath (Noah and Mary Ann) and I went to get something and when I came back and looked into the tub, I saw he was peeing!! :eek: It was before washing, but I had to drain water and start all over since Mary Ann sometimes drink water from the cup. :eek: I raises my voice over what's going on, because Noah was looking at his private when he was peeing. It was funny, but still he insist that he doesn't need to sit on potty. So far 3 successes came from probably coincidence, not from his willingness to pee. I always tell him how big boys like so and so (his friends' name...a bit older than him) go to use potty. At one childcare place we use( once a week), they have potty time and they ask all kids if they want to use potty and take them to the toilet. Noah always says "No" to that question, but he's seeing kids going to the bathroom there. So I have to think that this is his choice not using bathroom...or maybe he can't really tell when he has to go. But how do you teach him that? I just have to be patient to wait for that moment to arrive....

We went to pumpkin picking too (2 weeks ago, I think..did I mention that here?), and Noah was so excited about hayride and wagon to carry pumpkins. We got 2 big ones, which we hope to carve this year! (We didn't get to do it last year)

Glad this board is back now!! I was worried they may erase all those archives and threads!

[MrsReber]

Wow- the boards were out for a while! I just got a chance to check in.

Real quick- I started kindergarten when I was 4. My birthday is in November, but the cutoff date at our school was Decemr 31st at the time. I had no problems. I didn't go to pre-school or day type of daycare, but I do have 2 older siblings who were already in grade school. I started college at 17- no big deal. I always enjoyed being a little "younger" than my friends. I tease them about it now.

Lori, how were the pumpkins? I was worried about all the rain affecting them. I wanted to go picking on Sunday, but I figured it'd be really muddy. It was really windy by us! Casey has a class trip today to go pumpkin picking. Brenden will pick at Goddard. They set up a little pumpkin patch each year for the younger kids.

I'll come back and read more later!

[RunnerKim]

Sarah - i was thinking more how long of a period do you do one strategy - i.e., we tried putting Ellie in her room whenever she had a tantrum for 2 weeks (or 6 tantrums or something). Making sure you weren't giving up on a strategy too soon for Ellie to figure it out type thing. I wasn't thinking so much of duration of one particular episode - 2 hours! You all must have been exhausted! That's beyond anything I experience so I really don't have anything useful for you. The only other thing I can think that we do is that I try to use things Lainey wants to do as requirements. She likes to eat dinner, so she can't sit at the table until she's picked up her toys (this is generally just a few things in the 30-60 minutes we've been home before dinner is ready). In the mornings she wakes up early enough she often has the option of watching a "movie." She has to get her jobs done first (dressed, elephant mask, brush teeth) - often breakfast is afterwards though. DH is normally the one up in the morning and sometimes he'll let that slide (letting her watch before she's dressed) and he always ends up regretting it.

With Lainey, she very much wants to be with me so I could walk away from her if she was goofing around and not being cooperative about putting on her PJs or getting dressed. I'd say come get me when you're ready (or I'd start "reading" my own book). She might mess around for another minute or so but she'd become cooperative soon enough. I found that very helpful instead of escalating the situation by my getting inpatient in trying to force her to get her PJs (or whatever) on. But this is of course totally because she doesn't want to be alone/ignored etc. I know there are kids that would be totally fine with playing by themselves.

Well I don't think my experience is really going to help you that much but it's all I can come up with. I hope you find some technique that will start making it easier - 2 hour battles :(

Susan - my experience was much like yours (end of Nov birthday, although I think Dec. 1st was the cut off point) and I never regretted being the youngest, starting college when I was 17 or anything. I did have some reading challenges but that ended up being a "condition" (not dyslexia but similar) so it wasn't an age thing and with a little intervention I went on to be a good reader.

I was talking to a woman on my bus who has 2 boys that are older than my kids and her oldest is in 1st grade this year. They go to the elementary school we'd go to right now and I was thrilled to hear how happy she was with it. Her son is in a mixed 1st/2nd grade class because his reading levels are high. i didn't realize the had mixed classes and that's another avenue of... challenge that would be possible.

Paula - how did the interviews go at GSK? When I called about changing the dosages amounts in the inhales I put a plug in for you ;)

Nori - why does your DH have such strong feelings about preschool? I do know kids who have gone from being at home to full day kindergarten and done fine (after the initial transition) but they've done other classes (which I think you've mentioned having Noah do - the gym class etc.)

I think those "accidental" usings of the potty will get you there. If you decide you want Noah to go to preschool maybe you can help sell it to DH by telling him about the peer "pressure" he'll get there to use the potty! ;)

(Oh Joanne - you're right - it's not over yet. It was an amazing baseball game last night. I'm glad to have been able to seen that level of play (by both teams) even if the end result isn't too my liking). It would be a hoot to have a Chicago-St. Louis WS. Heard one Chicago commentator say he hoped St. Louis beat the Astros so that Cubs fans didn't know who to root for! )

Kim

[paula]

I have not heard anything from GSK pulmunary - that was a completely cold call , long shot deal. I sent my CV through their website, and have no way to follow up. I do have an interview next week with GSK oncology and am driving myself and DH crazy trying to prepare. Several of my colleague at the National Cancer Institute know some of the folks in the GSK oncology group, so I was "on the inside track".

Paula

[Sarah428]

Becky - Ah NPR, that's what I do too! :) Ella knows we won't play her CD, etc without a "please" and is actually very good about that. That children's haircut place sounds perfect, glad her 1st one wasn't an awful experience.

Nori - Peeing in the tub, poor Mary Ann :p! Hope you're able to find some pumpkin carving time.

Kim - Ohhh, as far as the putting Ella in her room when she's having a tantrum and telling her to come out when she's done...we've been doing that for a couple months.

Well today went a little better. I decided to set the breakfast table w/ our bowls, spoon and cereal choices the night before...this would elimate "I want to open the cereal drawer, I was to open the box, I want to pour it, I want to put it away" etc.

I see that our main problem is she just doesn't like waking up and taking her PJs off. This morning she kept saying she wanted Daddy to wake her up (DH is at work before she gets up). After I finally got her dressed she called DH to say good morning and was perfect after that.

Need to start thinking of some healthy halloween treats to take to daycare. They're having a party on the 31st...I'm sure Ella will have a great sugar buzz before we even get out trick or treating! :)

Sarah

[Laura]

I see that our main problem is she just doesn't like waking up and taking her PJs off.
Sarah
I had to laugh at this; just this morning DD (16) told me that one of the things she hates the most is getting out of bed. She said she doesn't mind waking up, but she hates having to get out of bed and get dressed. This could be a life-long battle. ;)

[Sarah428]

Laura - Maybe they both could go to France for a few months! ;)

[cchhbb]

Hi,

Today was Garrett's parent teacher conference. It didn't go very well. His teacher thinks he might have a learning disability. She would elaborate about what type of one other than she things it is a social/developmental one. She recommended that he be evaluated. Needless to say, I'm very concerned.

She did say that Garrett is extremely bright, but does not want to play with other children. He is perfectly happy playing by himself. He does not engage with the other kids. She had several other things that she mentioned like his refusal to answer questions from her, unwillingness to follow directions, and lack of eye contact.

I called the county early intervention people today and they can't evaluate him until at least January. We have his 3 year appointment next week and I really want to talk to his doctor about this. I know I can't wait until January to know if there is something wrong with my little boy. Hopefully, his doctor can give us a referral to someone who can evaluate him soon.

I don't know that I agree with his teacher assessment. He does make eye contact with me and will sometimes answer my questions (if he wants to).

I'm really stressed out about this.

[tbb113]

(((Cheryl))) - I'm sure its nothing but you are right to want it checked out sooner rather than later. When Alex started Kindergarten, his teacher thought that he needed intervention. I met with her, the staff psychologist, the intervention teacher. I decided that he was just fine and that the problem was the teacher. I didn't do anything and he is just fine.

I'm sure that the teacher just wants to be sure she covers all of her bases and since she sees something she wanted you to know.

I'm sure your doctor will reassure you next week.

Tyra

[RunnerKim]

not sure if this is a duplicate post or not - posting problems grrrr :rolleyes:


(((Cheryl))) I agree that you shouldn't have to wait until January. I'm sure your doctor will be able to refer you to someone else. I have a friend who's son is on the autism spectrum ("high-functioning") and it was her pediatrician who made the recommendation to have him evaluated, made the referral and it didn't take long for all that to happen. Not months anyway, although I think it did feel like forever at the time. I think teachers are more on the look out for autism/social/emotional type issues and are overly cautious. I'm not an expert at all, just what I've picked up from my friend (they don't live in town) but I haven't heard you mention things that made me go, "I wonder if..." Try to think positive and keep busy until your appointment. Maybe see if you can move his 3 yr appt. up if you're going really insane over it. Personally I don't think its so age-innappropriate to be playing mostly by himself at this age still. I'm sure the teachers are just being overly-cautious.

Sarah - not sure if you're thinking of baking the treats or looking for something simpler but I think a neat "somewhat healthy" treat is Witch's Fingers. Which are soft pretzel sticks for the fingers, score the dough to make the knuckle/joints and use a red colored almond for the fingernail. They're neat looking. Hmmmm, but maybe the almonds wouldn't be so great as they're probably choking hazards if even having the nut would be okay. Could make spiders out of preztel or other bread dough.

Glad to hear you had an easier morning! I hope tomorrow goes just as well! If you think it all hinges around the PJs could you have her do everything else first and then dress last. Maybe she'd be more awake by then and less grumpy about it?

Kim

[MrsReber]

Cheryl, I hope that nothing's wrong. I just wanted to say that Casey was a very quiet child and very content to play by herself. She didn't really interact with any children at all until she was about 3. She also didn't even speak to her teachers at daycare unless she had to until she was 3. After that, though, things really changed for her and she became more social. However, she still won't really talk to certain family members unless spoken to. It's just her nature. Brenden, on the other hand, has always been very social. He's quiet until he's comfortable with someone. I don't mean to sound mean or anything, but does Garrett like his teacher? I mean, really like her? Kids can be funny if there's something they don't like about someone.

Sarah- Casey used to have fits like that. It stopped shortly after it began, though. I'd put her in her bed, but she'd stay there and not get up. Eventually she'd call for me. I'd go in and talk to her calmy. Now she only has a fit if she's very tired or hungry. With Ellie being only 2, do you think maybe it's her frustration with not being able to communicate what she wants or needs? I don't know how her verbal skills are. We had a hard time understanding Casey until she was around 3 and I think that led to some crying at times. I hope the "phase" wears off. I know how upsetting and frustrating it can be on so many different levels.

Well, Brenden did it again. I was afraid that he wasn't learning his numbers and letters. I tried to work with him a little bit. He could never identify any of the letters when I'd ask him and he didn't show much interest in learning. I guess Casey spoiled me a bit since she knew all her letters and could write her name before she turned 3. Last night, Brenden started writing letters. Just out of nowhere. He told me he knew how to write M, L, E- and he did! Then he asked me to spell power ranger. I wrote it on his magnadoodle and he started to write the letters by himself. That kid amazes me. Same thing with walking, potty training. I should just realize it by now. It's like he learns things overnight without ever practicing anything. Of course, about an hour later, DH asked him to draw some letter and he said "I don't know how." :rolleyes: . I can see I'm in for a lot of trouble during the school years!

[hrk]

Sarah- Hope this morning went ok. On the whole LOgan is not a big temper tantrum kid, but when he has thrown some we usually put him in his room, and tell him to come out and get us when he is done. Then we close the door. We did this pretty consistently and now he pretty much can calm himself down after a minute or two.

Cheryl- I am sorry to hear about the teacher conference. My mom has been a third grade teacher for almost 30 years and she complains all the time about teachers being so quick to judge if a child doesn't fit their"idea of perfect" I would follow your doctors lead since he has much more of a history with him.

We had an interesting morning. We still have our monitor in LOgans room so we hear him get up at 5:15. Then we hear his door open and then shut. But rather than him next appearing at our door, he must have stayed in his room. Then we hear all this rustling, his diaper pail opening and shuting and various other noises. Door opens and shuts again. Then he starts screaming "Mommy Potty" I go in and he is naked from the waist down and sitting on his little potty in his room. "He says- Big boys go on the potty" He didn't do anything, but wow, he undressed himself, took off his own diaper, everything.
So now DH and I are wondering if we push a lot and start with underwear this weekend, since the only thing he doesn't seem to get is the feeling right before it happens or if we wait and see what happens. We want to be very encouraging but not overly so that we start frustrating him.
Any thoughts?

Heather

[LA98]

Oh Cheryl, I can just imagine how upsetting it was to hear the teacher saying those things. My first thought was, Geez, he's still only 2! Doesn't that in itself explain not following directions sometimes, etc? From things you've posted, Garrett sounds like a very smart, friendly, normal little boy. I think this teacher is reaching a bit to get to a conclusion like a learning disability. That said, if an evaluation would reassure you, it couldn't hurt to have it done. From the day I called Early Intervention for Brian, they had 30 days by law to get him evaluated. Once he qualified for services, they had 30 days to assign him a therapist and get his sessions started. I don't think this is just a NJ thing, my best friend lives in Massachusetts and had the same experience with EI regarding timing. If they can't take him until January, maybe check into whether your insurance will cover a private evaluation? I'm sure everything will turn out fine. As Tyra said, you're the one who knows your son best, and your gut would be telling you if something was amiss.

Sarah, I thought of you this morning! Brian didn't want to get out of PJ's for anything. I focused on getting myself ready instead, which gave him a few minutes to kind of hang out and wake up. Then I put on Bear in the Big Blue House and started talking a lot about what they were doing onscreen and it distracted him enough for a diaper change and getting dressed. I think he's not a morning person like his mom. ;)

Susan, we wore our old ratty shoes to go pumpkin picking last weekend, thinking it would be a big muddy mess. But it wasn't, I can't figure out why! We got great pumpkins too. I love the orchard where we go, it's a nice scenic ride to get there.

Heather, wow, sounds like Logan's very interested in going potty. I'd say encourage it. I've backed off a bit from Brian because he's lost interest and I don't want to push. Everyone says that's a big mistake, but if the interest is there I say go for it!

[cchhbb]

Hi, thanks for the comments regarding Garrett. I'm not sure if he does have something wrong with him. I have really watched him for the last two days and I don't see everything she does. He doesn't hold eye contact for long time periods (about 5 seconds), he does answer my questions when he wants to, he follows directions when he chooses to, he does whine or cry when I tell him no sometimes, he does engage in pretend play, he does love to play chase with me. He does still put some things in his mouth. He does recognize familar people and want affection from them. This summer he spent a lot of time playing in parallel play or playing with my mother's helper.

I have a call into Garrett's doctor to talk to her about what his teacher said. Hopefully she will get back to me soon. I also need to check with our insurance to find out if private testing is covered. Our insurance expert was out of town yesterday.

I'm really worried. I also feel guilty that I hadn't recognized some of the potential warning signs to him having an issue, especially since I spend all day with him. I thought it was a good thing that he could entertain himself.

Heather, I think you are right about teachers being quick to judge children. I had heard his teacher often had issues with boys.

Susan, I'm not sure if Garrett likes his teacher. He did tell me that the teachers were nice. He rarely tells me what happened at school unless it's about getting reprimanded. I think Garrett is really social if he wants to be, especially around people he knows. He has very rarely said Yes to something though.

Today is Garrett's birthday celebration at school. We made some cupcakes and I iced them and he put some star sprinkles on them. I had something better planned, but I couldn't get it together. I'm spending all my time worrying about him and trying to perform a self diagnosis on the internet. We made a Costco run yesterday and he decided he wanted to take cheese and bananas too. I gave him the choice of fruits and that's what he picked.

My mom, aunt and dad and due in tonight for the week. Both my mom and aunt were teachers for a long time and I know my mom had several kids with social type disabilities. I'll be interested in their feedback. My aunt taught kindergarten for 30 years and still subs in the school district. She also leads Junior Worship for 3 year olds at church.

Cheryl

[BeckyM]

Cheryl -- I am SO sorry you have to worry about a developmental disorder with Garrett. DH's family has a lot of experience with autism (we have a niece and a nephew in two different families who have autism -- one high-functioning, and one pretty severe), so it's something we have asked our doctor about a lot. Our doctor told us for kids with severe autism, you usually can start to pick up signs of it pretty early. He said often those babies don't engage with people, don't really smile & interact, avoid eye contact, etc. But it's not really until they get older (2-3) that they can really diagnose autism, especially if it's more on the high-functioning end of the spectrum. If I were you, I would REALLY push for someone to evaluate Garrett soon! That way you will have a much better idea whether some sort of intervention is necessary or not. I know my SIL (who was a pediatrician before having kids, and now is working in the area of developmental disorders since having a daughter with severe autism) would say the earlier a child with a developmental disorder is diagnosed, the better the chances of finding an intervention plan that can really help. It sounds to me like IF Garrett does have some sort of disorder, it can't be a very severe one, so an intervention should be able to help. I sure hope you can get some answers quickly. And I REALLY hope Garrett's teacher is wrong! But even though it creates lots of worries for you, I think it's better for the teacher to be on the safe side and let you know if she thinks your child is behaving in a way that might indicate some sort of problem. I'll be thinking of you and hoping for the best!

Things here are good, though I'm trying to recover from a stomach problem that came on suddenly last night. I think I may have had a bad reaction to something I ate, because it came on VERY suddenly and severely. Unfortunately, it happened right as I arrived at my supper club (with Megan), and I was so dizzy and nauseated that I wasn't sure I could drive home right then. After my stomach emptied itself (luckily I was able to make it to the bathroom) I felt much better, though I am still feeling a bit weak and queasy. I tried to stay away from everyone at the dinner in case it was something contagious, and I didn't end up eating any of the food. Luckily after I nursed Megan I was feeling well enough to drive home, and I brought home left-overs so I could try everything once my stomach is up to it. I now have a headache and still have some slight nausea, but I think the headache is probably because I'm a bit dehydrated. I'm trying to take it easy so I can go to the store later. DH is going out of town this weekend for a course (he's a physical therapist and needs to take courses annually to keep up his liscence), so today is my last day for a while with just one child in tow.

And on a lighter note, I need to share something funny that Katie said the other night. I was sitting by her bed after saying bedtime prayers, and I had my head pretty close to hers. She grabbed my nose and said, "Mommy, I'm holding your nose so no mucous will come out." I tried really hard not to laugh, because she said it very seriously, but I didn't entirely succeed. I have no idea where she came up with that, because none of us has a runny nose or anything right now. Kids sure can come up with some funny thoughts!

I'd better go make my grocery list so we can head to the store soon.

Becky

[RunnerKim]

Cheryl - I hope you hear from your doctor soon. To me it doesn't sound like you have a lot to be worried about (I'm not saying at all that you shouldn't be worried - I'd be a wreck too if a teacher said that) but he doesn't sound that atypical to me. Don't beat yourself up about not recognizing possible signs though. Unless you are familiare enough with children that age to know what's developmentally normal how can you know if a child is a little off of that? If he were way off then yes I'd think you'd suspect something wasn't quite right and you'd ask your pediatrician about it.

Like Becky said about the imganative play, I know an email my friend just sent with a picture of her son (who's now 3.5) was of him playing with a lego-type thing that he built and was calling an airplane. She was very excited because it was imaginative play and he hadn't done much of it. His speech/vocab was also pretty delayed so that isn't at all true with Garrett. They went back and really worked on signs with him but on concrete concepts - not more or help but ball, milk etc. When I visited my friend when he was around 18 months I remember distinctly how independently he played - he would watch baby einstein on continuous loop for hours if his Mom let him (literally). He'd go off in another room and do the same repetitive task over and over and over (i.e., pull the same switch on an activity table). He did not do things like peek-a-boo (with his mom, let alone strangers) like Lainey was doing at the time. He did not respond to strangers at all - wouldn't acknowledge or act as if he'd even heard me when I'd greet him. We're not just talking no eye contact. At the time these things didn't stand out to me as I didn't know him that well and was just getting a small slice of his life. I think it was his 2 yr. appointment that the pediatrician expressed concern and refferred him. I know there's a wide variety of behaviors and levels too and this is obviously just one child. ((()))

Sarah - I had another thought for you. How much sleep is Ellie getting? Lainey was having a couple of melt downs this morning - nothing too major but I immediately knew it was because she was short sleep last night. I mentioned it to her teacher this morning (that she was short sleep) and she said it was good to know that Lainey was likely to be more emotional today. She said that's how she responds when she's tired vs. becoming more aggressive like I gather a couple of the kids in the class do. When I heard Lainey carrying on and crying over not turning the TV off this morning, I at first though oh bother why is she upset over that and then I remembered she's short on sleep and thus these little melt downs are to be expected. I immediately of of Ellie too and wondered if sleep could be an issue? I think I read something that 3 year olds need a minimum of 10.5 hours of sleep/day (combined night and nap).

We had Jamie's 6 month appt. last night. I love that our pediatrician has 5:10 appointment time but yesterday that meant we didn't leave there until 7pm!! She had 3 double-booked patients and got really backed up. I love our pediatrician she still spends a lot of time talkign with us (as I'm sure she does her other patients hence the back log). She even mentioned having watched a movie recently that made her think of us! The worst part though was the nurse had gone home and the other nurse was gone somewhere for ages so I think we sat in the small exam room (all 4 of us) for 30 minutes after the doctor was done waiting for the shots. The good part was we were all able to get flu shots so DH and I don't have to go the flu clinic to get ours. I do have to take Jamie back in 30 days for his 2nd dose though. Then had to stop in at the pharmacy to get his flouride (not in our water). It's in the same building and the doctor calls it over so we couldn't leave and fill it later. They had a tv though and had the baseball game on. Not good news there so it just made the night even longer. We weren't home until Lainey's bed time.

Becky - I hope you're feeling better. How... embarrassing to have arrived and feel that sick. Glad you were able to make it home okay and i hope your back to normal before DH leaves.

Kim

[tbb113]

Have any of you heard of the cd's Mother Goose Rocks (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000B8QFXW/qid=1129825079/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-1470084-4246254?v=glance&s=music&n=507846) . The radio station just played a quick section for a contest (name the song and the rock group they were channeling). Might be a nice change for you all to listen too.

Cheryl - bright kids are different. I don't remember Alex having social issues at that age but one of the main reasons I put him in the ATP class in 4th grade was for social reasons. It was so nice to have him with a bunch of other 'smart' kids whose interests were different from the main stream.
And if there is a problem, the earlier you can get interventation, the better.

[Sarah428]

Quick check-in:

Becky - Hope your "bug" is gone for good! How rude for the bug to show up at your supperclub! :p

Kim - Ella naps from 1-2 hours at daycare, bedtime is 7:30-8:00 and she's up at 7...should be plenty.

Yesterday morning it was just the PJs that got her upset and it was short-lived and this morning went perfect....knock on wood.

Sarah

[nori]

Cheryl, sorry to hear about what you're going through. I also hope that you can get earlier evaluation so that you won't be suspended without knowing what's really going on. It doesn't sound like he has severe problem, though. I know mother's guilt is just everywhere, but please don't blame yourself!! I tend to do that a lot, so I know where you're coming from but maybe there wouldn't have had any other way to find out anyway. I'll be thinking of you. (((((Cheryl)))))

Becky, hope your stomach is better now! What a timing to get sick at the supper club. Ugh. LOL about what Katie said. I wonder where she came up with that? How funny.

Kim, that's nice that you got to have flu shots already. I'm wondering how it's going to be this year....Noah's already 3, but since we have Mary Ann who's still 1, that make all of us in risk category??? Does that mean we all can (or should) get a shot? I need to talk to the doctor about that.

Sarah, glad you had a good morning. Hope this treand continues.

Tyra, thanks for the link. As always, you're such a great resource!! That CD sounds pretty good. Sometimes traditional songs get boring!!

No more potty success here. :( He always tells me after he went, though. I try to stay calm and remind him that he has to tell me before he goes, so he can use a potty. He'd just say "Oh" and not refuse it or anything, but he's not telling me beforehand. Oh well.

[cchhbb]

Hi,

I talked to Garrett's doctor and she doesn't seem to see any red flags. She thinks he might just be a very different kid at school than he is at home. The first thing she said to me after I explained his teacher's comments was 'She is thinking autism.' She then asked me a number of questions and generally was happy with the responses.

Garrett does have weak eye contact. He does generally only have factual conversations. I don't know that I have ever gotten a why type question from him. We do think that he is doing some stuff to push his teacher's buttons to get attention. I think she tells him not to do things a lot and then he does it just to test her. I know at home if I say don't sit on the table, the first thing he does is that. If I say please don't sit on the table, we sit on chairs then he is likely to sit on the chair.

He does spend a huge amount of time doing pretend play. And other than when a new toy comes out he generally doesn't do the same thing for very long. He does love to sit and read books to himself, but he will get up and come find me and ask me to read to him.

I think Garrett is just not interested in doing some of the things. At home, I know that he will just ignore me if he is doing something that I want him to do. I know he hears me, because if I offer a good enough alternative he will immediately jump up and do what I want.

I probably need to get Garrett some playdates. Anyone want to come for a visit? :D We haven't had that many of them since Griffin was born. Before that we would have some with our friends the twins. Garrett's doctor said they weren't the best people to observe Garrett with as they as unique since they are twins. They play together all the time since they have that bond and they often don't let others get involved.

I think Garrett is pretty strong willed and has a hard time with authority and rules. That is one of the reasons I want him in preschool. I just think this teacher is super structured. I went and saw the Dir. of Family Ministries who taught special education for a long time a couple of times this week and she described his teacher as someone who is trying to run her classroom using a day planner.

His teacher said he never interacts with the other kids in the class or is involved in parallel play with them. She sent home a copy of a picture of each kid in the class the first week. I dug it out yesterday and he told me every kids name.

The school year only started six weeks ago and we missed one week. I wonder if only twice a week has been enough for him to get into the routine.

His doctor suggested having the preschool director observe Garrett in the classroom so I put in a call to her. His doctor suggested I go talk to his teacher from last year and see if she thought that he might have some autistic leanings. I know last year's teacher said he would rather play by himself than with others, but by the end of the year he would he was starting to. The first year he was at the school, he loved his teacher and really bonded with her. That didn't happen last year and I have a feeling it isn't going to happen this year.

My mom, aunt and dad got here last night and Garrett immediately was excited to see them. He wanted attention from them. He was exhausted and got a little frustrated when they didn't understand what he was talking about. My mom said that my brother and I didn't really play with other kids until we were much later. I know DH was a pretty quiet child who would have rather kept to himself than play with some of the other kids.

I don't want to go around just thinking that Garrett is bright and that is the reason for all of this. I got the papers from the school board yesterday and am going to fill them out. DH needs to check with the insurance person about getting private testing covered.

Thanks for all the support this week. I've really needed it.

Chery

[RunnerKim]

Cheryl I'm glad your doctor was so responsive and supportive. I do notice that kids in Lainey's room that are only there 1 or 2 days do have a harder time with the routine but that's only naturaly I think. I know Lainey is fairly different at school than she is at home - she's a lot more independent at school. ((()))

Sarah - now that you mention how much sleep Ellie gets I think you had said that early. That's certainly not a contributing factor! Glad it seems to be getting better. Knock on wood!

Nori - I don't remember exactly what the risk categories are. I know babies under a year (and over 6 months??) are in the high risk, I know Lainey is high risk b/c of the asthma and I know pregnant woman are high risk -- although I'm pretty sure pregnant women get the shot to protect the baby not themselves so only need to get the shot if they'll deliver during flu season. Family members of high risk people are in the next level of risk. I don't think there's the shortage this year like there was last year so I don't think that really matters so much. This week only high risk people could get the shot at the flu clinic though - I think that was more to make sure they could get in before the wait time became long etc. fortunately we could do it during Jamie's appointment instead. DH never got a flu shot before last year and would still prefer not to get one but does it because of the kids and how at-risk they are. He very rarely gets sick of any kind and feels invincible I think. I'm generally a minimal medication type person but respiratory things scare me now (for the kids). Our pediatrician was pretty strong in her opinion that we should all get it and its free through Kaiser.

Tyra - I checked otu that link too, I think I might order one as a stocking stuffer. The 3rd and 4th volumes seemed to have the best reviews.

Jamie ended up with a fever yesterday so I took him home in the late afternoon. He'd been off-and-on grumpy all day so I wasn't surprised. I think it's mostly a combination having had shots the nigth before and majorly teething. I gave him tylenol before taking him home and he was happy for the rest of the day - made me feel bad that I hadn't done it earlier. It was funny to watch him on the bus he was trying to connect with someone on the bus - I could see him do it. He'd smile and laugh at someone. It was mostly men on the bus and they were oblivious to his charms though. He has the most amazing belly laugh - it's really captivating and can't help but make you laugh. I've overhead people out in public tell someone to "listen to that baby laugh!"

Kim

[HRJ]

Hi -- Haven't had much time this week, but wanted to stop in to say hello before the weekend.

((Cheryl)) I'm sorry the teacher's comments have been causing you so much worry. This is a really tough area -- on the one hand, you want the teachers to be aware of kids' behaviors, and not to ignore things. On the other, I think there is a tendency, these days, to be quick to want to "diagnose" or "label" any behavior that isn't entirely typical -- and from what I hear, it seems to happen more with boys, although that's just an impression on my part. I also think that sometimes teachers, day-care workers, etc. are worried that if they don't report every little observation, it's going to come back to bite them -- they're afraid that if there is a problem that's detected later, the parents will come back to them and demand, "Why didn't you notice this?"

I hope you can get an evaluation scheduled soon, for your peace of mind. I'm glad the ped. doesn't seem to think there's much to worry about. I'll also agree with what Kim said -- it seems the kids in Victor's room who are there two days a week seem to have more difficulty with the routine. I even noticed a big change back when he was 2, when we moved him from three to four days a week, in terms of adjusting at school. Didn't you also say that Garrett is the oldest child in his room at preschool -- or am I confused about that? If that's the case, it could be that he just doesn't find playing with the younger kids as interesting as playing by himself, especially if he's very bright.

Gotta get back to work -- will try to drop in later. I'll be getting my flu shot tomorrow (I'm high-risk because of diabetes) -- have an appt. to get one for Victor in two weeks. Other than that, not much scheduled for the weekend.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Helene

[BeckyM]

Cheryl -- I think the fact that you've been able to talk to your doctor, and she sees no "red flags" would make me feel a lot better about the whole thing. I think you're right to continue pursuing additional evaluations just to be sure, but it sounds to me like Garrett is just a normal boy who tends to be more of an introvert than an extrovert.

Your doctor may have already asked you these questions, but I thought of a few other autism indicators that might help you evaluate whether you think there's an issue or not. One is about emotions. I know autistic children tend to have a difficult time reading other people's emotions. Is Garrett able to understand emotions like happy and sad? Does he talk about them with you? Does he show empathy if you're sad or hurt? If he sees a child or a picture of a child with a sad/happy face, can he identify that (s)he is sad/happy? Another indicator is how the child deals with change. Both our autistic neice, who is on the severe end of the autism spectrum, and our nephew, who is more high-functioning (I believe his is actually called Asberger's Syndrome, but is within the autism spectrum) both have a difficult time with change. Their parents have to explain EXACTLY what is going to happen so the child can deal with it. They both tend to really need schedules, and when something happens outside of what they understand the schedule to be, they get REALLY upset. Like our niece will absolutely flip out when there's a substitute teacher she hasn't met before (to the degree of hitting, biting, screaming, and having an all-out temper tantrum, and she is 11 years old), and I believe our nephew does the same (though maybe not quite as severely). Anyway, those are some additional indicators that hopefully Garrett does not have, so you can feel better.

Oops -- Katie's waking up from her nap and calling me, so I'd better go get her. If I wait too long, she may get loud and wake up Megan too!

Becky :)

[tbb113]

Cheryl - I'm glad that the your doctor doesn't seem to worried. I would still follow up with testing/another opinion to put your mind at ease if it isn't already there.

[nori]

Cheryl, that's very encouraging your doctor didn't see any red flag going on. Hope you can get the private testing covered by insurance, and get it done soon.

Kim, sorry to hear that Jamie had a rough day. Must be from that shot. That's so funny about him trying to connect with someone on the bus...Mary Ann used to smile mainly at MEN, and we used to laugh about that. She was (and of course still is,) such a charmer, and really, she did show that smile to men/boys!! And when they notice her and smile back or say something, she'd bury her face to my shoulder etc., pretending to be shy. Noah used to get those complements like "How cute!!!" from women a lot.

Well we went to Nemo Ice show!! It was great. They did such a good job on making that whole thing, just like a movie story. It was amazing how they made the stage looked like an ocean, and then, like a fish tank. This was my first time to go to Disney On Ice, but boy, everyone was so excited when characters came out on the stage! Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy came out first, as an intro, and everyone was clapping and screaming like, "Mickey!!!!" even adults!!! Same thing with Nemo, Dory, Marlin etc. Ice skating was wonderful, and fun enough for grown-ups to see it. Noah had fun, although he's getting probably a cold and wasn't totally feeling himself (I debated to cancel it, but he wasn't totally sick and no fever, and was up to it, so I thought it'd be okay), but he enjoyed it. At first, as we descend to out seats from upstairs where the entrance was, he looked at the stage and said that he doesn't want to see. :confused: I think he thought the show will make the place totally dark or something. I assured him it'd be fun and he was okay after that. I bought each of them a toy...there were so many vendors and it was hard to resist, although the price was pretty ridiculous!! I asked Noah if he wants to have a toy, or some food (they had snow cone with souvenir cup etc.) He said he wants to have a shark (Bruce) toy, so that's what he got. Mary Ann liked it too....she even clapped whenever people were clapping, and was pretty much engaged to the show. Noah was clapping very excitedly at the final parade and it was fun. I'm totally enchanted by Disney Magic........If your kids love Nemo, you should go to see it, if it comes to your town!!! I don't mind watching it again. (They run it till tomorrow in town, then next year they come to Phoenix....should I buy the tickets again??)

Noah's cold seems okay but he's coughing and he doesn't have much appetite. We'll see how he does tomorrow.

Hope everyone's having a nice weekend!